Post-Brexit Britain can be world leader in 'gene editing'

BRITAIN must use its post-Brexit freedom to become a world leader in gene editing to cut costs and reduce chemicals used in growing food, MPs have said.

- By Steph Spyro

The innovation can create crops that are more resilient to extreme conditions, increase resistance to diseases that could devastate harvests and slash the environmental footprint of farming.

Brexit meant that the last Conservative government could bypass EU delay, cut red tape and allow UK scientists to spearhead gene-editing technology.

But Tory MPs have warned that with Sir Keir Starmer’s bid for closer ties, the bloc may insist the UK adopts the same tighter regulations as the EU single market.

Alan Mak, Tory MP for Havant, said: “Keir Starmer campaigned energetically for a second referendum with free movement of people.

“So it’s no surprise he seeks the lazy embrace of the EU when it’s not in the national interest.

“The PM should be making the most of our hard-fought Brexit freedoms.