The Government’s new chief scientist will press ministers to reopen the case for growing genetically modified crops commercially and back the construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations.

John Beddington, who succeeds Professor Sir David King in the influential job next month, endorsed his predecessor’s outspoken support for the controversial technologies yesterday, saying that he saw both as important to Britain’s future.

In his first public appearance since his appointment, Professor Beddington told MPs that he saw no safety reasons for opposing GM crops, which could help to boost farm yields and keep down food prices. Although GM technology would not be the right solution for every agricultural problem, and it would be important to assess the environmental impact, he said that the new crops should be considered on their merits, case by case.

Professor Beddington took a similar approach to nuclear power, saying that although a new generation of reactors would not solve Britain’s energy needs on their own they would be an important part of the mix.

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His support for GM technology comes as scientists and business leaders have sought recently to put the issue back on the Government’s agenda.

Sir David used his valedictory speech last month to urge the Prime Minister to give his active support to GM crops.

Last week Michael Pragnell, the chief executive of the biotechnology company Syngenta, told The Times that excessive regulation of gentically modified products was threatening agricultural yields and would push up food prices beyond affordable levels.

Professor Beddington, an applied population biologist at Imperial College, London, told the Commons Innovation, Universities and Skills Committee that science “points in one way” for GM and nuclear power.

“I think there is little doubt that GM has real potential for increasing food production in a friendly way, though clearly we need some fairly serious controls,” he said.

“The fact that GM crops have been grown for a very long period in America, and there hasn’t been, as far as I’m aware, any litigation in a very litigious society, indicates that they are relatively safe.

“It is a case-by-case situation. I don’t think we are going to come up with a slogan that GM is good and non-GM is bad. It is that particular GM crops need to be explored and looked at on a case-by-case basis, both for their environmental impact and their potential benefits.”

Nuclear power, he added, would be an important part of the energy mix needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“You’re going to have a mix of solutions. I think there is impetus on renewables, but that impetus is unlikely to carry us through to a situation where essentially the UK can be dependent entirely on renewables. I just don’t think that’s feasible.”

Professor Beddington paid tribute to Sir David’s role in raising the political profile of climate change, adding that he intended to build on this by supporting technological solutions to the problem.

“We have really got to take climate change seriously, but we have got to look for technical and engineering solutions that can mitigate this as soon as we can,” he said.

“David has done a tremendous job in publicising the issue of climate change, there is absolutely no doubt about that,” he told the commmittee. “I feel that in a sense, part of the problem has been solved, in the sense that now it is recognised as a serious problem worldwide.”

He said that another priority would be to raise the status of scientific advice within government, so that it informed policy decisions in the way that legal advice did.

“I would contrast the position of science in government to the position of legal or economic advice, where it is unimaginable for policy to be made without it. I would like to see that situation with scientific advice.”

John Beddington

Age 61
Most recent academic position Professor of Applied Population Biology, Imperial College, London
Research areas application of economics and biology to sustainable management of natural resources, particularly fisheries Past advisory work Chairman of Science Advisory Panel at Defra; work on Antarctic conservation and Falklands fisheries; work for European Commission, UN Environment Programme
Honours Fellow of Royal Society, 2001. Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, 2003

Source: Imperial College, London

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