Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I shall speak very briefly on this issue, mainly because I followed the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, into that portfolio in MAFF, which was something of a poisoned chalice at the time, and lived through some of the very bitter and divisive debates around GMOs. I work often and very closely with the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, but I think I did not agree with almost anything that she said this evening. At the time, a quarter of a century ago, the debate was almost impossible to have with any clarity or without high emotion, and that was terribly destructive on all sorts of levels. In particular—the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, said this, and I think he was so right—that somehow a technology in itself became something that people either believed in or did not believe in, instead of looking at the application of that technology, what its effects were, whether those effects should be allowed but people should be aware of them, or whether they had no traceable consequences, and therefore labelling was in some ways itself dishonest.

The noble Baroness, Lady Freeman, made a very interesting speech about trust, and I agree with her. However, there is a problem if we pretend that there is something that can be identified and that ought to be flagged up, against the advice of the FSA, the department and all those who spend years of their lives looking at these issues, because 1.5% of respondents to the survey, when asked specifically whether this is something they would like to be informed about, say that they think that is a good idea. We could put the most enormous list of things that 1.5% of the population would be interested in being informed about when they buy something. It is a really interesting and important debate, but I do not believe that it is relevant to this subject.

All I will say is that I formed my view on this issue not only on those rational, scientific grounds, but because I went to the John Innes Centre very early on in my ministerial job. There, I met young scientists and agronomists from Africa, who were so enthused about and grateful for the opportunity to spend time in that scientific institution, because they thought of the relevance that this work could have for their populations and their agriculture.

I went back to John Innes a few months ago with the Action Against Hunger group. That same commitment, not to the agro-industry conglomerates nor to business, but to the improvement of crops that will help the world—and help agriculture in this country—and which could have such potential, was still there. They had kept the faith over those 25 difficult years when we did not make progress, so I am absolutely delighted to support these regulations tonight.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)]

My Lords, I will make just a brief contribution. It is nice to be able to enter a debate where we are not confusing genetically modified organisms with gene editing; that has been the problem in the past.

I think the Government have got it right. We have been around the labelling track and seen how practically impossible that is. They have got it right because there is a balance to be struck, but if we are not careful, the perfect will be the enemy of the good, and we know this is good for so many different reasons—some of which were outlined by the previous speakers.

I welcome the Government’s approach. It is right, it is evidence-based and it is designed to take us on a path which will improve food security in this country and throughout the world.

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, we on these Benches support the aims of this statutory instrument but welcome the questions raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, in her regret amendment.

The Liberal Democrats have always made it clear from these Benches that we are not anti-science and support the idea of encouraging a science-based approach to technologies such as gene editing for precision breeding. We believe that such methods can be helpful in addressing challenges such as climate change, reducing the need for pesticides and fertilisers, and in mitigation against disease and pest issues for food and food crops.

We recognise, as has been mentioned by other noble Lords, the scientific consensus from bodies such as ACRE and the European Food Safety Authority—which has not been mentioned—that these organisms pose no greater risk to health or the environment than traditionally bred counterparts.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, for their fascinating historical context and insight, and especially for the important information about when not to eat potatoes, which I will take with me.

However, the point of a regulatory process is to manage both the benefits and risks in an appropriate way. While the existing legislation carries a significant burden, these draft regulations raise some questions. They appear to take away some of the safeguards that apply to other genetically modified organisms, such as mandatory risk assessments, public notice, traceability, and environmental monitoring.