today

Lord Sainsbury was recently cleared of breaching the ministerial code in April after failing to disclose a £2m loan to Labour. He later said he had "confused the cash" with a declared donation he had made. His financial interest in the development of genetically-modified food has also aroused controversy at a time when the government has come under attack for not banning GM crops.

Lord Sainsbury's interest in science was kindled at Cambridge University in the 1960s. Although initially a history student he transferred to psychology because of a fascination with the breakthroughs then being made in the study of DNA. The future government minister once said that if a fairy godmother were to grant him a wish it would be to become a Nobel Prize winner in plant genetics.

At about the time that the police 'cash for honours' investigation seems to hotting up, he has announced his retirement as science minister after eight years in the post, citing personal rather than political reasons.

IMO: His shops don't seem too bad and are even improving a little. They are actually slightly better, as shops, than Tesco's but not quite as cheap. Many say there have been far, far worse science ministers too. But what could damn him is Tony B. Liar's statement "His contribution to government will have a huge impact in future decades and we owe him a real debt of gratitude." If Bliar says that, one imagines the reasons are not good.