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Ban on bee-harming insecticides would be a mistake, says chief science adviser
Mark Walport's defence came as beekeepers marched on parliament against the government's
opposition to planned ban.
Hundreds of beekeepers and nine major campaigning organisations demand environment minister
Owen Patterson vote in favour of a ban on bee-harming pesticides,
Plans to ban insecticides linked to serious harm in bees across Europe would be a "serious mistake"
and could harm food production, according to the government's chief scientific adviser. Sir Mark
Walport's strident defence of the government's opposition to the proposed ban came on Friday
as hundreds of beekeepers and environmental campaigners marched on parliament in protest
and delivered a petition signed by 2.6 million people to the prime minister at No 10 Downing Street.
"This plan is motivated by a quite understandable desire to save the beleaguered bee and concern
about a serious decline in other important pollinator species,
. But Walport, who is just a month into the job, said the European commission must drop its
proposal to suspend three neonicotinoids from use on flowering crops, such as corn, that bees
feed on: "The consequences of such a moratorium could be harmful to the continent's crop
production, farming communities and consumers."
Supporters of the ban, likely to be passed in a vote on Monday, argue the greater risk to food
production is from the long-term loss of bees. Experts at the European Food Safety Authority
have concluded there is now sufficient evidence to impose a precautionary ban while further research is done.
