Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of putting the future of Scotland’s food and drinks industry at risk by pushing ahead with a ban on GM crops.
Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson challenged the first minister after the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) published a “highly-critical” paper on the bid to ban chemicals from farming.
And she called on Ms Sturgeon to publish the scientific advice she has received to prove there is more to her decision than “polling and focus groups”.
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Ms Davidson said: “This is not just about GM crops – this is about her approach to government.
“It’s vote-chasing, political calculation – it’s not science, not industry and not jobs.
“But in this case there was no prior consultation with Scotland’s scientific community, the food and drink sector or the farming industry.
“The Royal Society of Edinburgh has published its highly critical paper on the decision, and rightly points out it wasn’t based on scientific evidence and could place Scottish businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
“But it is just one of more than 30 academic and agricultural organisations who are urging the Scottish Government to listen.
“If the first minister is so confident of the advice she based her decision on, then she should publish it.
“I suspect there’s far more polling and focus grouping than scientific papers.”
However, Ms Sturgeon defended her position to MSPs, and said the scientific officer was consulted and that the ban was designed to protect the Scottish food and drinks industry.
She said there are now 18 countries across Europe who are following the Scottish Government’s strategy on the issue.
Ms Davidson’s comments follow the publication of the RSE paper yesterday, which said the SNP’s GM policy did “nothing to enhance Scotland’s long-standing reputation for scientific creativity” and “could disadvantage the growth of important Scottish businesses”.