Farm leader slams ‘Nazi’ crop trashers

Farm leader Peter Kendall has likened activists who destroy GM crop trials to the Nazi book-burners of the 1930s.

The NFU president condemned the vandalismof the country’s first GM wheat trial at the Rothamsted Research Centre, Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

In a speech written for a presentation at the House of Commons, Mr Kendall is expected to liken the damage caused by activists to Nazi book-burnings.

The burnings were a literary purge in 1930s Germany which sought to burn all the books that did not correspond with Nazi ideology.

Mr Kendall will use the analogy during a speech to MPs as he launches a new NFU Farming Delivers for Britain campaign.

“I am sorry to say that there still is a widespread view that farming is a low-skilled, low-tech backward looking industry,” he will say.

“The truth is that much of British agriculture is using cutting-edge technology and the application of science will determine our future.

“In passing, I have to condemn the scandalous attempts over the weekend to destroy the trials of GM wheat at Rothamsted. This is criminal and must be dealt with as such.

“It’s worse than that. It is the willful imposition of ignorance, directly comparable to Nazi book-burning in the 1930s.

“Those who have incited this activity, under the guise of a peaceful demonstration, should hang their heads in shame.”

Mr Kendall said science was the key to help farming deliver to help meet the challenges that lie ahead – including feeding a world population set to reach nine billion by 2050.

“To achieve this we will need every single tool in our toolbox – and that includes GM crops that have been adapted to cope in dry conditions, need fewer pesticides or offer nutritional benefits.”

A strong legal framework is needed for approvals and effective co-existence measures to allow GM and non-GM systems to operate successfully together, Mr Kendall plans to say.

But these must be proportional to the need so that growers can retain their markets, and must be based on sound science.

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