Greenpeace Action in Norfolk

Green­peace Nor­folk GM action

The fol­low­ing week­end, Green­peace activists, includ­ing its exec­u­tive direc­tor Lord Melchett, decon­t­a­m­i­nat­ed a GM maize farm-scale tri­al in Lyng, Nor­folk.

This action, in which 28 peo­ple were arrest­ed, could have turned into a tragedy when the farmer who owned the land, William Brigham, became vio­lent, dri­ving a trac­tor into the mow­er which was dri­ven onto the field to destroy the maize, as well as chas­ing the activists around the field. Of those arrest­ed, only Lord Melchett was remand­ed, and his treat­ment ignit­ed a long-await­ed debate in the press regard­ing direct action and whether it is the action of a small unrep­re­sen­ta­tive minor­i­ty who want to derail the demo­c­ra­t­ic process. The gov­ern­ment would say that, would­n’t it! Unfor­tu­nate­ly, much of the press debate focused on ‘estab­lish­ment mav­er­ick’ Melchett, rather than the valid­i­ty of farm-scale tri­als or why ordi­nary peo­ple take action. Because the police arrived before the site was com­plete­ly destroyed, the tri­al remains valid.

No-one fan­cied going back to fin­ish off the job and pos­si­bly meet­ing rabid farmer Brigham again! Those arrest­ed await a court date for a crown court tri­al.

Scot­tish GE simul­ta­ne­ous decon­t­a­m­i­na­tions

Some oth­er local actions and events Scot­land — Scot­tish Genetix Action report that on Sat­ur­day 24th July 1999, in a simul­ta­ne­ous action, GM oilseed rape test sites in Edin­burgh and Aberdeen were destroyed. Scot­tish Genetix Action will con­tin­ue to cam­paign for a GMO-free Scot­land.