George Freeman is a former UK science minister who now chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture (APPGSTA).

He congratulated the government on a "landmark moment for genetic innovation in agriculture" last week as the secondary legislation needed to implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 completed its passage through Parliament.

It was also welcomed by Norwich's world-leading plant science community as a "monumental step" which could open the door to faster breeding of more nutritious and resilient food crops.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre use gene editing to develop more nutritious and disease-resistant plants (Image: JIC) But now Mr Freeman has written to Defra food security minister Daniel Zeichner, expressing concerns that this advantage could be lost if the government agrees to "dynamic alignment" with the EU’s food safety rules in return for easier trading arrangements, as the UK........

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