The Labour Party has said glyphosate should be re-licenced for a "restricted time period".
In an interview with Euractiv, Labour MP and Shadow Defra Minister David Drew said the UK should develop a "real food policy" focused on consumer health and self-sufficiency.
On the subject of glypshosate, Mr Drew said the world should come up with some kind of alternative due to technological innovation. But he cautions, and said "there aren't really any".
He said Labour will support the re-licensing of glyphosate, but only for a "restricted time period".
Mr Drew said: "One problem with this debate is that people obsess over the term ‘glyphosate’ instead of focussing on the quantities used. This is the area we should really focus on.
"The NFU has clearly linked glyphosate to the GMO debate and said it’s fine if you want to ban the pesticide but you have to let us use GMOs instead.
"Now, I haven’t got a problem with the science behind GMOs, but I do have a big problem with how a couple of companies control all the patents, and that’s dangerous," Mr Drew explained.
Farming bodies across the EU, including the UK, have stepped up action to call for glyphosate to be re-authorised for fifteen years after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) gave a positive assessment.
During this year's general election, the Labour Party campaigned against the Conservatives "bonfire of red tape", saying it was a "threat to our environmental protections and to the quality of our lives’ and pledges various measures to tighten legislation in a number of areas affecting farmers."
Their manifesto read: "We will use reconfigured funding streams to promote cruelty free animal husbandry and consult on ways to ensure better enforcement of agreed standards."
The Shadow Defra Minister, who is vegetarian, was appointed his role in July.
