Campaigners who have threatened to destroy the GM wheat trial say they are now ready to debate the subject with scientists.

Protest group Take the Flour Back were accused by Rothamsted Research of ignoring their invitation to hold a public debate over the GM wheat trial.

Rothamsted director Maurice Moloney told Farmers Weekly he had offered the protest group a public debate to be hosted by a neutral chairman – but no one replied.

An exchange of letters between the two sides, published on The Guardian’s website on Friday (1 June), shows that Take the Flour Back has welcomed “further dialogue”.

A spokesman for the group said: “We have had a hard time about not wanting a debate, but as far as we are concerned, the debate is ongoing and we are ready to engage.

“The exchange of letters (in The Guardian) is the latest step in continuing the debate.

“The details of the next steps have not been agreed, but we are going to be talking to other brands about a wider debate. We are not burying our heads in the sand.”

The spokesman added: “Rothamsted only gave us a short time to agree to an open debate – 24 hours – and we did not have the time to do it as we were busy organising the protest.”

The GM wheat trial at Rothamsted is a small plot field experiment designed to test if new wheat plants, engineered to emit an aphid repellent, have lower aphid infestations under real field conditions.

Take the Flour Back has vowed to “rip up” the trial unless it is halted. But their plans were foiled by a heavy police presence at the protest last Sunday when police outnumbered around 200 protesters by almost three to one.

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