Lord Rooker criticises anti-GM

Lord Rooker has criticised anti-GM protestors with their arguments that are 'a religion based on perception'

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Lord Rooker, food and farming minister, has criticised anti-GM protestors for ignoring science, saying that opposition to GM crops was 'a religion based on perception'.

Lord Rooker said: 'I will not accept arguments that are just based on perception.

'There is no evidence that anyone's ever been damaged by GM food. On the other hand, a massive consumer benefit to GM technology hasn't been proved yet.'

In June, environment minister Phil Woolas also spoke in favour of GM crops, and Country Life has included GM crops in its Manifesto 2008.

Lord Rooker, speaking at a Labour Party Conference fringe event in favour of GM crops, criticised anit-GM protestors, saying: 'We need to allow experiments to take place to see what the benefits, if any, GM crops could bring.'

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Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.