Tony Blair will be at the centre of a new storm over GM foods this week as scientists protest against a claim by the Prime Minister that the products could be harmful to human health.
In sharp contrast to his previous comment that he would be happy to eat GM foods, Mr Blair said yesterday that he understood the concerns both of environmentalists and the “safe food” lobby.His remarks will be attacked by leading scientists who are meeting in Edinburgh this week for a conference on genetically modified crops.The controversy was heightened yesterday as protesters celebrated victory in the battle to prevent a ship carrying GM soya from docking in Liverpool. The ship, the US bulk carrier Iolcos Grace, set sail again with its 60,000-ton cargo after five activists climbed aboard on Friday and barricaded themselves into the anchor chamber.Mr Blair said there was “cause for legitimate public concern” and that the Government was proceeding “very cautiously indeed”. He added: “There’s no doubt that there is potential for harm, both in terms of human safety and in the diversity of our environment, from GM food and crops.”His comment, in an article in The Independent on Sunday, drew an angry reaction from one Labour MP, who said it had little basis in science.Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich and a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee, said Americans had been eating GM foods for at least 15 years with no noticeable ill-effects.”Unless Tony has been doing experiments in his spare time, there is no evidence, scientifically, that any GM food causes harm to human health,” he said.Scientists at this week’s meeting would be bound to react with anger, he said. “I think scientists will feel the Government isn’t necessarily on their side. They will ask: Where is the evidence is that it is harmful to people?”Michael Meacher, an Environment minister, welcomed Mr Blair’s statement but denied it was a major change of policy.

“I am pleased, of course, but I am not surprised,” he said in a radio interview “Nothing has changed. I have said many times that we have to proceed very carefully. I think the Government has been listening to public opinion.”Environmental groups also welcomed Mr Blair’s apparent change of stance.Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said the statement marked a fundamental change of policy.”At long last Mr Blair is listening to the public, who have made it perfectly clear that they don’t want GM food on their plates or GM crops in their fields,” he said.The shadow minister of agriculture, Tim Yeo, called for Mr Blair to show further evidence of his change of heart.”Given his record on this issue, his words need to be backed up with action,” he said. “Firstly, will he shut down the GM communication unit – a Downing Street spin operation that has actively promoted GM crop technology at the expense of the taxpayer?”Secondly, will he remove Lord Sainsbury of Turville from any responsibility for the forthcoming Government White Paper on biotechnology?”. Mice are as selective as humans when choosing the type of house in which to live.

Mice are as selective as humans when choosing the type of house in which to live.
According to a report from the Mammal Society, the house mouse prefers terraced homes in towns and cities, while wood mice like a detached or semi-detached house in the suburbs.The rarer yellow-necked mouse was even less of a city dweller. The survey, which is released today, shows it prefers houses near deciduous woodland.The study, which covered almost 1,800 households across Britain, showed that 68 per cent of homes had been visited by mice at some point in the past five years. The age of a house made no difference to the chances of a mouse infestation – houses built from before 1800 or since 1970 all had mice.Dr Aidan Marsh, of the Mammal Society said: “House mice were more common in terraced houses. Terraced housing is more common in urban areas so this confirms our feeling that house mice are the most urban of [Britain's] mice.Wood mice were more common in detached or semi-detached houses, especially those that were near the countryside. In fact, the further a house was from the countryside, the less likely it was to have wood mice or yellow-necked mice.”The main purpose of the study was finding the habits of the yellow-necked mouse, which was only recognised as a separate species in 1894. The Mammal Society’s chairman, Professor Richard Harris, said: “The yellow-necked mouse has a limited distribution but it may be common in some areas.