MPs attack 'Luddite' Charles over GM fears

The Prince of Wales warned that the mass development of genetically modified crops risked sparking an environmental disaster.

But Labour MP Des Turner, who sits on the Commons all-party science committee, said: "Prince Charles has got a way of getting things absolutely wrong.

"It's an entirely Luddite attitude to simply reject them out of hand."

The MP for Kemp Town, a former biochemist, added: "The whole point about GM crops is that they are not intrinsically evil and there are circumstances where they can be of great benefit.

"Some developing countries where for instance there is a problem with drought or salinity, if you can develop salt- or drought-resistant crops there are great benefits."

Former biology lecturer Ian Gibson, Labour MP for Norwich North, said: "Prince Charles should stick to his royal role rather than spout off about something which he has clearly got wrong.

"Scientists and others who have seriously looked at the problem have found no solid evidence that GM crops affect people's health.

"Where I agree with him is about big corporations thinking they can walk through people with their products."

And Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis, chairman of the all-party Commons science committee, said: "While I admire Prince Charles's commitment to environmental causes, his lack of scientific understanding and his willingness to condemn millions of people to starvation in areas like sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely bewildering.

"The reality is that without the development of science in farming, we would not be able to feed a tenth of the world population ... which will exceed nine billion by 2050."

Prince Charles accused multinational corporations of conducting an experiment with nature which had gone "seriously wrong". He said: "I think it's heading for real disaster. If that is the future, count me out."

The comments put the Prince on a collision course with scientists and politicians who believe GM crops could hold the key to creating cheap food sources for developing countries.

British GM researchers recently lobbied ministers for their crops to be kept in high-security facilities or in secret locations to prevent them from being attacked and destroyed.

Gordon Brown, who has urged Britons to use up leftovers to tackle food waste, has also said GM crops have a key role in boosting agricultural production and lowering the spiralling prices of food staples.

But the Prince said: "What we should be talking about is food security not food production - that is what matters and that is what people will not understand.

"And if they think also that somehow it's all going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another then again count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time."

Charles said relying on gigantic corporations for the mass production of food would threaten future food supplies, and that small farmers would be the victims. He said: "If they think this is the way to go we will end up with millions of small farmers all over the world being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness."

Today a Defra spokeswoman said: "There is an important debate to be had on the role of GM crops in the future, and we welcome all voices in that debate."

The biotech industry says GM technology can be used to tackle hunger and poverty by delivering higher yields and reducing the use and cost of pesticides.

But green groups and aid agencies fear claims about the potential benefits are not being borne out in practice.