Shropshire MP tells of 'bee-pocalypse' hysteria

Certain neonicotinoid pesticides were banned for two years by the EU in 2013 for use on crops that were attractive to bees, such as oil seed rape, amid concerns over impacts such as damaging their ability to forage and navigate and colony growth.

The ban was opposed by the Government, which said it was not backed up by the evidence.

Now the use of two "neonicotinoid" pesticides on up to five per cent of oil seed rape crops sown has been approved following an application by the National Farmers Union.

Former environment secretary Mr Paterson said the original EU decision was based on "faulty science and pressure exerted by environmental lobbyists, and has since caused a widespread deterioration in crops across the UK and Europe".

Following the temporary lifting of the ban in Britain, Mr Paterson said the EU has a chance to "correct its mistake before any more damage is done".

He said the most compelling argument against the ban is that the honeybee population has not been in decline.

He added: "The EU's own official statistics show the number of honeybee hives rising by 900,000 during the two decades that neonics were on the market. Meanwhile, other wild bee species – those that pollinate crops and thus would come into most extensive contact with neonics – are thriving.

"When the EU first imposed the ban, it cited the work of the French scientist Mickaël Henry. Mr Henry now confesses that he may have overdosed the bees with neonics in his experiments, as many of us suspected at the time, and admits he has "no real clues" how much insecticide bees encounter in the field.

"Many of us had vehemently disputed the science used to justify the action. The reality is that the policy was heavily influenced by the environmental non-governmental organisations whose "bee-pocalypse" hysteria had then reached a fever pitch. Enormous political pressure was exerted on politicians through a "save the bee" campaign. As Britain's Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at the time, I received 85,000 emails denouncing me for my opposition to the ban.

"That sentiment persists. Just this month, a petition signed by nearly half a million people was delivered to Downing Street asking that the neonics ban be upheld. But the petition, like the policy, appeals more to misinformation than to science.

"As a result of the ban, an increase in insect pests has led to crop losses.

A spokeswoman for Defra said: "We have fully applied the precautionary ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced by the EU, and we make decisions on pesticides based on the science only once the regulators are satisfied they are safe to people and the environment."

NFU vice president Guy Smith said: "The NFU has worked relentlessly to submit a robust application and we're glad to finally see a positive result."

But Friends of the Earth bees campaigner Paul de Zylva said: "It's scandalous that the Government has caved in to NFU pressure and given permission for some farmers to use banned pesticides that have been shown to harm our precious bees. Ever more scientific evidence shows just how dangerous these chemicals are to bees."