Biotech minister made GM millions

A GOVERNMENT Minister has made about £20m on GM food shares - while having official responsibility for regulating the 'Frankenstein food' technology.

Lord Sainsbury's shares in a leading biotech investment company, Innotech, have risen from £26.9m in 1998 when he became Minister for Science and Innovation to £42.6m today.

The billionaire peer, who also owns fast-rising shares in another company with interests in GM food, has donated £9m to the Labour Party, nearly half of it since assuming office.

He has said he always 'stands aside' if a conflict of interests arises, but Green campaigners reacted with fury to the revelations. Charles Secrett, director of Friends of the Earth, said: 'This is an outrageous conflict of interests. He is responsible for a key policy area and has been making millions as a result of those policies.'

The GM food issue is anathema to environmentalists but the Government is receptive to the technology. Last week Tony Blair condemned those who sabotaged GM crops and called for an 'informed debate'. But Lord Sainsbury's profits will create a new talking point.

A Government spokesman said that Lord Sainsbury avoided any conflicts of interests and his investments were run by a blind trust. 'He has no knowledge over the assets in the trust which is independently administered on his behalf,' he said.