Feeding or Fooling the World?
The 2020 Vision Collective invites you to a free evening of debate and discussion on the future of agriculture at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, 7.15pm, Wednesday 18 April, Lecture Theatre 1
---
Blair fails to convince on food safety
72% of public distrusts cajoling
Sarah Hall and Esther Addley
Saturday April 14, 2001
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,473151,00.html
Tony Blair is losing the battle to reassure voters about British produce, according to a new poll which reveals that three-quarters of the nation no longer trusts the government on the crucial issue of food safety.
Last year's exposure of the mass Whitehall BSE cover-up, together with vast public opposition to GM foods and anxiety about the foot and mouth crisis, has led 72% of the public - and 57% of Labour voters - to disregard ministers' blandishments, the ICM research suggests.
The findings, which appear in the Ecologist magazine, are likely to make uncomfortable reading for the prime minister, already aware of the cynicism surrounding "spin" and the levels of distrust surrounding farming methods, in the immediate run-up to the election campaign.
The research, conducted three and a half weeks ago as the foot and mouth epidemic escalated dramatically, also reveals the public are sceptical of the prime minister's claims to be "green" - despite him promising five weeks ago to make Britain a leading player in "the coming green industrial revolution". Mr Blair announced 100m of new money to support wind and solar power and pledged to ratify the Kyoto protocol before the end of next year.
Sixty-five per cent of the public believe Labour has done nothing to improve the environment since it came to power, mirroring the cries of opposition parties, which point to the fact Mr Blair made no speech on the environment for his first three and a half years in office.
The figures also reflect the words of his own chief environmental adviser, Jonathan Porritt, who last September accused the prime minister of "downgrading" green issues, despite promising in Labour's manifesto to put them "at the heart of government".
Two-thirds think there should be more emphasis on organic research - rather than GM foods, which gain 13 times as much government funding - and almost half (45%) believe there should be a ban on importing and testing GM crops in Britain.
In a further embarrassment for the government, three-quarters of those surveyed believe Britain's beleaguered railway should be re-nationalised. Support is cross-party, with two-thirds of Tory voters calling for privatisation to be reversed, despite the Thatcher government having introduced it.
But, with Railtrack due to bring havoc today with its most extensive Easter engineering programme "for decades", ministers are adamant re-nationalisation is not an option.
"The government has always said it would be too expensive and the money is better spent on priorities such as health and education," said a Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions spokeswoman last night.
Commenting on the survey of 1,000 adults, Charles Secrett, director of Friends of the Earth, said: "Labour ignores this poll result at its peril." The magazine's editor, Zac Goldsmith, added: "This is a picture of a public which cares a lot about issues that don't even appear on the radar screens of most politicians."
Last night opposition parties were quick to capitalise on the government's perceived lack of delivery on environmental issues. "The environment's always been seen as an add-on by the government, a luxury," claimed Damian Green, the shadow environment minister.
"What we've seen is a pattern of three and a half years of doing nothing about the environment followed by six months of intense action and these days people are a bit too cynical to accept that. It's seen as too little, too late."
"They've achieved some things but fallen very far of their original claim to put the environment at the heart of their government," said Don Foster, the environment spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.
A Labour party spokesman said: "We don't comment on polls but, as the prime minister's recent speech to the WWF shows, he is fully committed to environmental protection and environmental policies."