23 March 2002
VITAL - GM THINGS TO DO
from anthony jackson of the Munlochy vigil <jacko@roskill.fsnet.co.uk>
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please forward on all e-mail lists:ngin
MUNLOCHY VIGIL - IN PARLIAMENT
ON WED 27TH MARCH THE MUNLOCHY VIGIL PETITION CALLING FOR AN END TO GM TRIALS
+ A FULL DEBATE, WITH A FREE VOTE ON THE FUTURE OR NOT OF GM IN SCOTLAND WILL BE HEARD IN THE TRANSPORT + ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE:
This is a powerful committee, however the balance of its make-up is on a knife-edge meaning that the vote whether to take this forward could be very close. It is at this stage that they will determine if they will continue to look at the issue + take evidence or decide there is nothing new to look at in the GM issue.
To this end we are asking you to E-mail the members of the committee, stressing the importance of the issue and your personal view of it, especially highlighting new evidence of environmental damage (English Nature report on "superweeds", preliminary data from the trials showing environmental damage by GM oilseed rape: Sunday Times Feb 17th 2002, and the recent European Environment Agency report, highlighting the high risk of contamination of crops + wild relatives, from GM oilseed rape)
It is also worth raising concerns over health, asking the committee to refer to the Health Committee as the Petitions Committee requested + take evidence from Dr. Charles Saunders (chair of BMA Public Health Committee), who declared that" the Executive was taking a gamble with public health" by running the trials, (The Herald March 2nd 2002):
Other areas of concern to raise:
Democracy/ Environmental Justice
Purity of organic + convential farming
Consumer choice
Other environmental/economic + health arguments.
The Committee Members' E-mails are:
Bristow.Muldoon.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Maureen.MacMillan.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
John.Scott.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Nora.Radcliffe.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Angus.Mackay.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Adam.Ingram.msp@scottish.parliment.uk
Des.McNulty.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Fiona.McLeod.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Robin.Harper.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
It is also vital to E-mail the local MSPs encouraging to pass on the local concerns to their fellow party members on the committee esp:
John.Munro.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Maureen.MacMillan.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Rhoda.Grant.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Please do this asap, the committe is meeting on Wed, and pass this on to others to encourage them to do the same.
Contact: Anthony Jackson (07720 817 847)