UK government gags advisers in bees and pesticides row

Expert Committee on Pesticides told to postpone publication of minutes after refusing to back farmers' request to use banned neonicotinoids on oil seed rape

The government has gagged its own pesticide advisers, after they refused to back an application by the National Farmers Union to lift a ban on bee-harming chemicals. The gag is intended to prevent campaigners lobbying ministers on the issue, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

Neonicotinoids, the world's most widely used insecticide, were banned in the European Union in 2013. Substantial scientific evidence indicates that the nerve agents cause serious harm to bees, whose pollination is vital for many crops.