> The vast majority of the UK public, 88 per cent, are opposed to the rule change allowing gene-edited food to be sold.
And yet a bill to that effect is introduced in Parliament at a time when arguably there are many, many more pressing issues...
And yet a bill to that effect is introduced in Parliament at a time when arguably there are many, many more pressing issues...
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...
A consultation isn't an opinion poll. It's something anyone can write in to because they invite responses, so you get a biased sample. There's no evidence in this report on which you could make claims about the British public in general (most of whom would not have any opinion on the topic). Not entirely shocked that New Scientist would garble this / lie about it so badly.
Moreover the 88% figure is actually for a different question:
"We asked whether organisms developed using genetic technologies should be regulated as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), even if their genetic changes could have been produced through traditional breeding"
"Most individuals (88%) and businesses (64%) supported continuing to regulate such organisms as GMOs"
Not quite the same thing.
(the UK is not the US)
(regardless, the commons is superior, as set by the precedent of the passing of the parliament act)
the term "government" includes government departments (Whitehall), which are mostly staffed by civil servants
meanwhile the state ("The Crown") is something completely different again
My cynical speculation is that relevant interest groups think that this is a good time to push through legislation that will allow something that the public is overwhelmingly opposed to because they can hide behind the cost of living crisis/ War in Ukraine and claim that this would help the country's food independence and food prices.