Piers Corbyn

Credentials

• B.Sc. in Physics, Imperial College London. [1]
• M.Sc. in Astrophysics, Queen Mary College, University of London. [2]

Background

Piers Corbyn is an astrophysicist who regularly speaks at climate science denial events. He is founder and director of the weather forecasting company WeatherAction. [3], [4], [5]

Corbyn bases his forecasts on activity on the surface of the sun. He claims the sun is the main driver behind changes in global temperature, not human activities and the burning of fossil fuels. [6]

His younger brother is Jeremy Corbyn MP, the leader of the UK’s Labour party. There is no indication that Jeremy Corbyn shares Piers’ views on climate change, with Labour strongly committing to action on climate change in its latest party manifesto. [7]

Corbyn characterises climate science as a tool of the “globalists” and sees George Soros as a kingpin in a global movement of “globalist elites” who are using climate science as a cover for a “deindustrialisation” agenda. He has appeared at events alongside conspiracy theorists, including Holocaust denier Nicholas Kollerstrom. [8], [9]

Stance on Climate Change

October 2018

During a discussion on LBC radio, Corbyn rejected the findings of a recent UN report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: [10]

“This report is a pack of lies, it is anti-scientific nonsense based on fraud which is intended to regiment people into paying more in carbon taxes and help the oil companies increase profits by increasing prices.” [10]

“CO2 has no effect on the temperatures. The levels of CO2 are driven by temperatures.” [10]

January 2016

Corbyn told the Guardian: “I was thinking of using the weather to discover what the sun had been doing in the past… But then I thought, that’s just stupid: why not use the sun to predict what the weather will do in the future?” [6]

Key Quotes

February 2017

In an interview with fringe YouTube channel Windows On The World, Corbyn said:

“The warming that we are told about is 100 per cent fake.” [11]

On climate change science and policy, Corbyn said:

“It's a massive ideological tool by the globalists who are under massive pressure right now to justify the de-industrialisation agenda making super profits for the biggest corporations and more and more money for the super rich.” [11]

January 2017

In one of his regular interviews with YouTube channel Windows on the World, Corbyn said that President Barack Obama's climate change action plan was “part of a globalisation agenda to export jobs from the west and generally lower living standards worldwide to the benefit of this super elite.” [12]

January 2016

Speaking to The Guardian, Corbyn said:

“For one thing science doesn’t do settled opinions. And for another they are all wrong.” [6]

He also told The Guardian that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher plotted to popularise and endorse the science of man-made climate change, as a way of converting Britain from coal to nuclear power, to defeat striking miners. [6]

Indicating there is a network of climate science denying politicians who turn to him for advice, he told The Guardian:

“Graham Stringer, of Labour, is sympathetic.” He continued, “Sammy WilsonDUP, a number of Tories, Boris is very sympathetic [Johnson has often used Corbyn, in an unlikely alliance, as his climate guru]. Now I think we have George Galloway which is significant, because he can be very persuasive…” [6], [13]

Key Deeds

September 2016

Corbyn was an invited speaker to the “New Dawn of Truth” conference organised by the climate science denying Independent Committee on Geoethics (ICG). The ICG initially advertised the conference as being associated with the University of London. The university was quick to remove its support once it became aware of the group’s climate science denial. [14], [15]

At the conference, Corbyn declared his support for Clexit– a climate change denial campaign group formed shortly after the UK’s decision to leave the EU. According to Clexit's founding statement (PDF), “The world must abandon this suicidal Global Warming crusade. Man does not and cannot control the climate.” [16]

March 2016

Corbyn appeared on BBC 1 programme The Big Picture, discussing whether it was “time to take climate change seriously?” His appearance was criticised for being misleading by many mainstream scientists, including the Met Office’s Michael Fish. [17]

December 2015

Corbyn Attended a meeting of climate science deniers in advance of the international climate change talks in Paris, in which the group agreed “the key messages they want to get across to the press,” Open Democracy reported. [18], [19]

Alongside Corbyn were UKIPMEPStuart Agnew, prominent climate science denier Christopher Monckton, and Canadian Tom Harris, executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition and former operations director of the High Park Group, a Canadian lobbying company, and Breitbart London reporter James Delingpole. [20]

July 2014

Corbyn spoke at an event in the Houses of Parliament organised by DUPMPSammy Wilson on behalf of “Repeal the Act” a group that argues the “climate is always changing.” [21], [22]

At the event, Corbyn claimed the jet stream is to blame for all bad weather (without mentioning the melting Arctic), declared war on termites, and sent a hearty congratulatory message to the Heartland Institute’s annual climate denial conference in Las Vegas. [21]

Also at the event were University of Sussex climate economist Richard Tol, fossil fuel funded former Conservative MPPeter Lilley, and Conservative MP for Monmouth David Davies. [23]

October 2010

Corbyn attended a meeting to celebrate “Climate Fools Day” – the anniversary of the day MPs passed the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act. Corbyn is listed on the invite as an expert at “successfully predicting extreme weather events.” [24]

The meeting was organised by DUPMP and environment minister at the time, Sammy Wilson, and was held in the Houses of Parliament. The event was supported by Labour MP and now Global Warming Policy Foundation member Graham Stringer. One of the event invites read: “The danger is not Climate Change but Climate Change Policy – for which there is no evidence in justification.” [24]

October 1995

Corbyn was present at what DeSmog has described as the UK’s “first major climate denial conference.” The conference was organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), and listed speakers including Fred Smith, the founder of the Koch-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), who had flown over from the United States along with the coal-funded sceptic scientist Dr Patrick Michaels. [25]

Affiliations

• WeatherAction— Founder/director. [5], [4]
• Windows on the World— Regular interviewee. [12]
• Repeal the Act— Supporter. [22], [21]
• Clexit— Supporter. [16], [14]

Social Media

• @Piers_Corbyn on Twitter

Publications

• “Heat-doom claims by the BBC-UN-EU Climate charlatans are false narrative + cover-up,” WeatherAction, August 1, 2018.
•  “MPs called on to justify their 'Global Warming/Climate Change' policies - letter to Environment Audit Chair Tim Yeo MP,” Climate Realists, July 11, 2008.
• “Letter: Green politics needed at Westminster to weather storms ahead,” The Guardian, July 24, 2007.
• “Basic physics supports solar activity as cause of global warming,” The Guardian, November 18, 2006.

Resources

1. “Don't Bet on Man-Made Origins of Global Warming,” Executive Intelligence Review, June 1, 2007. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/zMLlp

2. Quad, issue 16 (Spring 2007). Archived December 8, 2015. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/G1Rt4

3. Megan Darby. “Meet the sceptics: why science can’t compete with beachballs,” Climate Home News, July 11, 2014. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/QUcQD

4. James Walker. “Channel 4 weather presenter takes aim at Express and other tabloids in crusade against 'fake weather stories',” Press Gazette, December 10, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

5. “Home,” WeatherAction. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/47rwH

6. Tim Adams. “Piers Corbyn: the other rebel in the family,” The Guardian, January 24, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Tguth

7. Mat Hope. “Leaked Labour Manifesto Promises 'Leading Role' on Tackling Climate Change,” DeSmog, May 11, 2017.

8. “Piers Corbyn – “CO2 Climate Change story is not science but a fraudulent POLITICAL mission to export jobs and make super-rich richer,” WeatherAction News, December 10, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/qNyyl

9. Jake Wallis Simons. “EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers gives a speech alongside a notorious Holocaust denier and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist,” Daily Mail, November 13, 2016. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/kh2Oa

10. “Piers Corbyn Clashes With Scientist Over Climate Change Report,” LBC, October 8, 2018. Archived January 23, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/7ebtk

11. “Climate Change Hoax Over?” YouTube video uploaded by user Windows On The World on February 12, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

12. “Fake News and Fake Protests,” YouTube video uploaded by user Windows On The World on January 29, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

13. Boris Johnson. “I can’t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming,” The Telegraph, December 20, 2015. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eB5p3

14. Victoria Seabrook. “I Went to an Obscure Climate Science Denier Conference and This is What I Learned,” DeSmog, September 17, 2016.

15. Kyla Mandel. “Monckton’s Independent Committee on Geoethics’ Climate Science Denial Conference ‘Will Not Take Place at UCL’,” DeSmog, July 22, 2016.

16. “After Brexit, Clexit,” Clexit. Archived August 4, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

17. Victoria Ward. “Viewers criticise BBC for 'misleading' Piers Corbyn appearance,” The Telegraph, March 20, 2016. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/6RCIA. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

18. Brendan Montague. “Monckton Teams up with Climate Denier Philip Foster for Paris COP21 Disruption,” DeSmog, November 6, 2015.

19. Adam Ramsay. “Climate deniers agree their key messages for journalists (with a journalist in the room),” OpenDemocracy, December 3, 2015. Archived January 23, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

20. “Tom Harris,” Heartland Institute. Archived January 25, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

21. Cindy Baxter. “Richard Tol Dons Cloak of Climate Denial,” DeSmog, July 14, 2014.

22. “About,” Repeal the Act. Archived January 28, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/5xOjJ

23. Leo Hickman. “MP Peter Lilley has received more than $400,000 in oil company share options,” The Guardian, November 20, 2012. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/tPPSs

24. Leo Hickman. “Cabal of climate sceptics to descend on UK parliament,” The Guardian, October 26, 2010. Archived January 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/bKE3s

25. Brendan Montague. “You'll Never Guess Who Attended Britain's First Major Climate Denial Conference,” DeSmog, February 11, 2015.

Other Resources

• “Piers Corbyn,” Wikipedia.
• “Piers Corbyn,” Sourcewatch.

Image credit: YouTube video screenshot.

Sammy Wilson

Credentials

• According to his biography, Wilson was educated at Methodist College, Belfast and graduated an Economics and Politics program from Queens University, Belfast. [1]

Background

Sammy Wilson is an MP for Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for East Antrim. He is a former environment minister and one of the DUP’s most controversial figures when it comes to climate change. [1]

Until Brexit, the DUP hadn’t garnered much attention in the British press but the party has a long history of science denial. A survey among DUP members found that 40 per cent believed creationism should be taught in science classrooms. And largely thanks to DUP lobbying, Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK with no legally binding climate change targets in place. [2], [3], [4]

In June 2017, following rumours of a Tory-DUP post-election deal, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas referred to Wilson and his Party. She said: “Is her [Prime Minister Theresa May’s] failure to propose a Brexit bill on the greatest challenge that we face because she simply doesn’t care about the environment and climate change, or because she’s been influenced by the DUP dinosaurs who sit beside me and don’t want to take that kind of leadership in the future?” [5]

Stance on Climate Change

Wilson believes human caused climate change is a “gigantic con” and an “hysterical semi-religion,” and denies that there is a scientific consensus on the causes of climate change. [4]

According to his website: “His appointment and tenure as Environment Minister were heavily criticised by Environmental Groups because Sammy believes that climate change is not man-made and the myth of climate change is based on dodgy science not proven. He is not a fan of the Green Lobby who try to scaremonger people with their alarmist views.” [1]

September 5, 2008

Wilson wrote a article for the News Letter where he “spells out his scepticism about man-made climate change.” [6]

“We have never clearly understood the causes of these changes and despite what some environmentalists say there is no scientific consensus around the causes. Some claim that recent climate change is due to CO2 production from industrialisation, our energy use, our love affair with the car and foreign holidays by jet airplane. The difficulty with this explanation is that climate change occurred even when we did not have the increase on CO2 emissions experience in the last 200 years. Another difficulty they have is that the increase in CO2 occurs after the increase in temperatures.”

According to Wilson “resources should be used to adapt to the consequences of climate change rather than King Canute style vainly trying to stop it.”

Key Quotes

June 2017:

Wilson welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement, stating: [7]

“[V]ery wise decision by the US President to pull out of the totally flawed and pointless Paris Climate Change agreement.”

In the same statement published on his website, Wilson said: “The Paris Agreement itself is a delusion,” adding:

“[P]ulling out of the agreement which was only a piece of window dressing for climate chancers who wished to pretend that they were doing something about an issue which they can’t affect anyhow is not the disaster which the green lefties are getting hysterical about.”

December 2008:

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph: [8]

“I think in 20 years’ time we will look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on earth were we ever conned into spending the billions of pounds which are going into this without any kind of rigorous examination of the background, the science, the implications of it all. Because there is now a degree of hysteria about it, fairly unformed hysteria I’ve got to say as well.” 

“I don’t care about CO2 emissions to be quite truthful because I don’t think it’s all that important but what I do believe is, and perhaps this is where there can be some convergence, as far as using fuel more efficiently that is good for our economy; that makes us more competitive. If we can save in schools hundreds of thousands on fuel that’s more money being put for books or classroom assistants.” 

Key Deeds

June 2018

Wilson was photographed with major Brexit funder and UKIP backer Arron Banks after his appearance in front of a parliamentary committee to defend accusations of collusion with Russia in advance of the EU referendum and President Donald Trump's election. [9]

June 2017

Wilson welcomed Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change as “very wise.” [7]

March 2016

The DUP reportedly distanced itself from Sammy Wilson following “racist remarks” given by Wilson off camera while being interviewed for BBC Spotlight. Video of the interchange is available at the Belfast Telegraph, courtesy of BBC Spotlight. [10],[11]

In the video, Wilson was talking to a member of the public, who said, “Get the ethnics out,” to which Wilson appeared to reply, “You are absolutely right you know.” [10]

A DUP spokesman said: “Sammy Wilson is reported to have made comments this morning about ethnic minorities. The DUP values everyone who comes to Northern Ireland and makes a contribution to our society. [10]

“Ethnic minorities are vital to our biggest and best companies never mind our Health Service. 'Get the ethnics out' is a disgraceful phrase. We disassociate the party from the comment made by a member of the public. [10]

“Whilst there needs to be a discussion about how we control our borders, this should be conducted in a factual and respectful manner as part of the EU referendum debates.” [10]

July 2014

Wilson organised a meeting in the House of Commons in central London on behalf of “Repeal the Act”, a group that argues the “climate is always changing” and seeks to repeal the UK’s Climate Change Act. In attendance were known climate science deniers Peter Lilley and David Davies, alongside contrarian economist Richard Tol. [12]

October 2010

In 2010, Wilson hosted a group of climate science deniers at the Palace of Westminster for “Climate Fools Day.” The event was supported by Labour MP and Global Warming Policy Foundation member Graham Stringer. One of the event invites read: “The danger is not Climate Change but Climate Change Policy – for which there is no evidence in justification.” [13]

February 2009

Wilson placed a ban on UK government TV and radio adverts that were encouraging people to cut their carbon emissions. Wilson described the ads as insidious green propaganda. [14]

Affiliations

• Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)  — Former press officer. Elected DUP Councilor to Belfast City Council (1981 – 2010). [1]
• Brexit Committee at Westminster — Serves on the Committee. [1]
• Leave Means Leave — Supporter.[15]

Social Media

• @eastantrimmp on Twitter.

Publications

Sample publications by Sammy Wilson below:

• “As a Unionist, I just cannot support Theresa May's Brexit deal in all good conscience,” The Telegraph, December 7, 2018.

Resources

1. “Sammy's Biography,” Sammy Wilson. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AGsOZ

2. Frank Swaim. “Five things you need to know about DUP politicians and science,” NewScientist, June 9, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/lO9ok

3. Liam Clark. “Party conference: Teach creationism in science class - 40% of DUP,” Belfast Telegraph, November 25, 2013. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/av7xq

4. John Gibbons. “Let's Take A Closer Look at the DUP's Climate Science Denial,” DeSmog UK, June 11, 2017.

5. “John Bercow confirms it's completely fine to call the DUP'dinosaurs' in parliament,” Shropshire Star, June 22,2 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/qFQTo

6. “Debate must replace scaremongering of green climate alarmists,” News Letter, September 5, 2008. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/dVzLH

7. “Trump’s Climate Change Decision Poses Huge Problem For UK,” Sammy Wilson. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/1bvSB

8. “Sammy Wilson: I still think man-made climate change is a con,” Belfast Telegraph, December 31, 2008. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Uj5FJ

9. “Somebody needs to turn the DUP off then turn it on again,” Twitter post by user @NewtonEmerson, June 12, 2018. Archived via Archive.is.

10. Sheena McStravick. “DUP distances itself from Sammy Wilson 'racist remarks',” BelfastLive, March 1, 2016. Archived December 8, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/VkZdk

11. “Video: 'You're absolutely right' - MP Sammy Wilson's apparent response to 'get the ethnics out' comment,” Belfast Telegraph, March 2, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

12. Cindy Baxter. “Richard Tol Dons Cloak of Climate Denial,” DeSmog, July 14, 2014.

13. Leo Hickman. “Cabal of climate sceptics to descend on UK parliament,” The Guardian, October 26, 2010. Archived December 7, 2017. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/48nIs

14. “DUP stands by climate change sceptic environment minister,” The Guardian, February 10, 2009. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/YgXvA

15. “WHOWEARE,” Leave Means Leave. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/PJEGd

Other Resources

• “Sammy Wilson (politician),” Wikipedia.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons | CC3.0

Sir James Spooner

Credentials

• Spooner was educated at West Downs School during the Tindall Era (1922 - 1954). [1]

Background

Sir James Spooner is the former honorary treasurer and former trustee of the UK think tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a group founded by climate change denier Nigel Lawson with the purpose of combating what Lawson has described as “extremely damaging and harmful policies” designed to mitigate climate change. [2], [3]

Spooner is also a former chairman of Barclays Bank and Sainsbury’s supermarket. He was also once the chairman of the Royal Opera and a variety of other groups. [4], [5]

Stance on Climate Change

Spooner has been a director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a group that has released reports contending that policies to mitigate climate change are “based on climate models that completely failed to predict the lack of warming for the past two decades” and that “Carbon dioxide has been mercilessly demonized as ‘carbon pollution’, when in fact it is a benefit to the planet.” [6]

Key Quotes

Speaking to the Guardianabout donating to the GWPF, Spooner said: [7]

“I’m a very small contributor – a four-figure number at the most.” He added that the foundation received “no money from companies whatsoever, nor from anybody anywhere near the energy industry in its broadest sense. The foundation is funded by individuals, foundations and trusts, but their identity is confidential.” 

Key Deeds

January 2011

The Guardian revealed Sir James Spooner as a GWPF funder following the think tank publishing its annual accounts listing Spooner as the honorary treasurer. [7]

Affiliations

• Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) — Former member, Board of Trustees. Appointed 2012 and resigned 2015. Listed as “honorary treasurer.” [8], [9]
• Open Europe — Formerly listed as a supporter. [10]

Other Affiliations

• Glanmoor Investments — Director. [4]
• Royal Opera — Former chairman. Resigned as director in December 1997. [5]
• Pytchley House Estate — Director. [4]
• Merger Investments — Former director. Appointed 1995, resigned 2010. [4]
• Cleveland Square Properties — Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 2010. [4]
• Glover Agency— Former director. Appointed 2002, resigned 2010. [4]
• Goldsmiths' College Estates— Former director. Appointed 1993, resigned 2009. [4]
• Goldsmiths' College Developments— Former director. Appointed 2000, resigned 2009. [4]
• Ram Development Company— Former director. Appointed 2002, resigned 2008. [4]
• St. Andrew's Healthcare— Former director. Appointed 2004, resigned 2007. [4]
• The Beef and Liberty Company — Former director. Appointed 2005, resigned 2007. [4]
• The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music — Former director. Appointed 2003, resigned 2006. [4]
• Wonderful Beast— Former director. Appointed 1997, resigned 2004. [4]
• John Swire & Sons— Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 2003. [4]
• Minorplanet Systems — Former director. Appointed 1997, resigned 2002. [4]
• Hermes Fund Managers — Former director. Appointed 1995, resigned 1998. [4]
• Britel Fund Nominees — Former director. Appointed 1992, resigned 1998. [4]
• Britel Fund Trustees — Former director Appointed 1992, resigned 1998. [4]
• Folkenstone Race Course — Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 1998. [4]
• Roh Pension Trustee — Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 1998. [4]
• Roh Holdings — Former director. Appointed 1992, resigned 1997. [4]
• Roh Management — Former director. Appointed 1992, resigned 1997. [4]
• Morgan Advanced Materials— Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 1997. [4]
• Roh Developments— Former director. Appointed 1991, resigned 1997. [4]
• Hemming Group — Former director Appointed 1993, resigned 1996. [4]
• J Sainsbury— Former director. Appointed prior to 1992. Resigned 1994. [4]
• J Sainsbury Common Investment Fund— Former director. Appointed 1993, resigned 1994. [4]
• Barclays Bank and Barclays PLC — Former director. Appointed prior to 1992, resigned 1994. [4]
• Longford Trust — Patron. [11]

Social Media

Sir James Spooner does not appear to be active on social media.

Publications

Sir James Spooner does not appear to have published any articles in major news outlets.

Resources

1. “Old West Downs Society – Memories of the Tindall Era, 1922-1954,” WestDowns.com. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mR6a6

2. “THEGLOBALWARMINGPOLICYFOUNDATION: Company number 06962749,” Companies House. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/uHVCW

3. “Ed Miliband clashes with Lord Lawson on global warming,” BBC News, December 6, 2009. Archived August 17, 2015.

4. “James Douglas SPOONER,” Companies House. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/nieFH

5. “Royal Opera board offer to resign,” BBC News, December 4, 1997. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/t2Wx2

6. Andrew Montford. “Unintended Consequences of Climate Change Policy,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 2015. Archived August 17, 2015. 

7. Leo Hickman. “Global Warming Policy Foundation donor funding levels revealed,” The Guardian, January 20, 2011. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mTREc

8. “THEGLOBALWARMINGPOLICYFOUNDATION: Company number 06962749,” Companies House. Archived December 14, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/uHVCW

9. “Board of Trustees,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived July 1, 2014. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/c8eCa

10. “Supporters,” OpenEurope. Archived March 31, 2010. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9TSNp

11. Homepage, The Longford Trust. Archived March 4, 2010. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/nvjMU

Other Resources

• “Sir James Spooner,” Sourcewatch.

Terence Mordaunt

Credentials

• Details on Mordaunt's educational background are not readily available online.

Background

Terence Mordaunt is the owner and chairman of the Bristol Port Company. In April 2017, he became a director of The Global Warming Policy Forum, the advocacy arm of the climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. [1], [2],[3]

Mordaunt is a major Conservative party donor, having donated £34,600 to the Conservative party between 2003 and 2009, according to Electoral Register data. His companies also donated at least £135,000 to the party since 2008, including a £25,000 donation in 2017. [4]

The Bristol Port Company also donated £100k to Vote Leave in 2016.  [4]

Stance on Climate Change

Mordaunt is a director at the Global Warming Policy Forum. The group's parent organization, the Global Warming Poilcy Foundation, has suggested “Policies to ‘stop climate change’ are based on climate models that completely failed to predict the lack of warming for the past two decades” and that “Carbon dioxide has been mercilessly demonized as ‘carbon pollution’, when in fact it is a benefit to the planet.” [5]

Key Quotes

April 7, 2017

After joining the Global Warming Policy Forum's board of directors, Mordaunt said: [3]

 “I am delighted to continue my support for the GWPF which has brought much needed rigour into the climate debate.”

Key Deeds

April 2017

Mordaunt became a director of the Global Warming Policy Forum, a subsidiary of the climate science denial campaign group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. [3]

Affiliations

• The Global Warming Policy Forum  (GWPF) — Director. [6]
• Bristol Oil and Gas Limited — Director. [7]
• C2 Partners LLP—LLP Designated Member. [7]
• The Bristol Port Company — Chairman and co-owner. [1]
• Pendennis Shipyard Limited—  Former Chairman. Listed as Director in Companies House records. [8], [7]
• First Corporate Shipping Limited — Chairman/director. [7]
• The Outward Bound Trust — Trustee. [9]
• Bristol and Gloucester Pilot Boat Company — Director. [7]
• Actual Limited — Director. [7]
• Crestcredit Projects Limited — Director. [7]
• The Mordaunt Foundation — Trustee. [10]

Social Media

Terence Mordaunt does not appear to be active on social media.

Publications

Terence Mordaunt does not appear to have published any articles, papers, or otherwise in major publications.

Resources

1. “Organisation structure,” The Bristol Port Company. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/yxA4K

2. Mat Hope. “Pro-Brexit Oil Company Boss and Major Tory Donor Named as Director of Climate Science Denying GWPF,” DeSmog, August 7, 2017.

3. (Press Release). “TERENCEMORDAUNTJOINSGWPFBOARDOFDIRECTORS,” The Global Warming Policy Forum, April 7, 2017. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/I6GZj

4. Electoral Commission search. Performed December 2018. Data on file at DeSmog,

5. Andrew Montford. “Unintended Consequences of Climate Change Policy” (PDF), Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 2015. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

6. “BOARDMEMBERS,” The Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/RTbWQ

7. “Terence Charles MORDAUNT,” Companies House. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ST5ur

8. “Board of Directors,” Pendennis. Archived May 25, 2013. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AqUmj

9. “OURTRUSTEES,” The Outward Bound Trust. Archived December 28, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/JY6Jh

10. “The Mordaunt Foundation,” Charity Commission. Data for financial year ending June 30, 2017. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/INHAz

Other Resources

• “Terence Mordaunt,” PowerBase.

• Bloomberg Executive Profile: Terence Mordaunt.

• Mordaunt Faimily History and Geneology.

Boris Johnson

Credentials

• Boris Johnson was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a Brackenbury Scholar in Classics. [1]

Background

Conservative politician and former Mayor of London Boris Johnson was appointed the UK’s Foreign Secretary in July 2016 following the Brexit campaign, where he endorsed the official Vote Leave campaign and acted as a member of the“core group” of its campaign committee. [2],[3]

Johnson’s career began in journalism working at The Timesof London, however he was eventually fired in 1988 for falsifying a quote. Later he became The Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent. From 1994 to 1999 he worked as assistant editor at the conservative-leaning magazine The Spectator, before becoming editor from 1999 to 2005. In 2001, he was elected as the Conservative MP for Henley. Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. [4]

At school, Johnson was a member of Oxford University’s exclusive Bullingdon Club, which also had senior Tory politicians such as David Cameron and George Osborne as members. Johnson was also on the board of advisors for the now-defunct right wing think tank The Atlantic Bridge. [5], [6], [7]

Stance on Climate Change

June 2017

As foreign secretary, when asked his views on President Trump’s intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, Johnson told Sky News: [8]

“We continue to lobby the U.S. at all levels to continue to take climate change extremely seriously.”

December 20, 2015

Writing in the Telegraph, Johnson argued recent warm winter weather had nothing to do with climate change: [9]

“In the view of Piers and his colleagues at WeatherAction, it is all about sun spots, and he is on record as believing that we are now due for a new 'Maunder Minimum' – like the famous cold spell in the 17th century, when the Thames froze several times,” Johnson wrote. 

“Whatever is happening to the weather at the moment, he said, it is nothing to do with the conventional doctrine of climate change.”

In the column, similarly to one he wrote for the Telegraph in 2013, Johnson refers to the “great physicist and meteorologist Piers Corbyn” – brother of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and a known climate science denier.

January 20, 2013

In a Telegraph column, Johnson claimed a cold snap in weather casts doubt on the science. [10]

“I am speaking only as a layman who observes that there is plenty of snow in our winters these days, and who wonders whether it might be time for government to start taking seriously the possibility — however remote — that [Piers] Corbyn is right,” Johnson wrote.

“Of course it still seems a bit nuts to talk of the encroachment of a mini ice age.

“But it doesn’t seem as nuts as it did five years ago. I look at the snowy waste outside, and I have an open mind.”

Key Quotes

December 2015

In a Telegraph column entitled “I can’t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming: We may all be sweating in the winter air, but remember, we humans have always put ourselves at the centre of cosmic events” Johnson wrote: [9]

“It is fantastic news that the world has agreed to cut pollution and help people save money, but I am sure that those global leaders were driven by a primitive fear that the present ambient warm weather is somehow caused by humanity; and that fear – as far as I understand the science – is equally without foundation. There may be all kinds of reasons why I was sweating at ping-pong [in December] – but they don’t include global warming.” 

January 2013

In a Telegraph opinion column entitled “It’s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age. Something is up with our winter weather. Could it be the Sun is having a slow patch?” he wrote the following: [10]

“As a species, we human beings have become so blind with conceit and self-love that we genuinely believe that the fate of the planet is in our hands — when the reality is that everything, or almost everything, depends on the behaviour and caprice of the gigantic thermonuclear fireball around which we revolve.”

“I am all for theories about climate change, and would not for a moment dispute the wisdom or good intentions of the vast majority of scientists. But I am also an empiricist; and I observe that something appears to be up with our winter weather, and to call it “warming” is obviously to strain the language.” 

“I wish I knew more about what is going on, and why. It is time to consult once again the learned astrophysicist, Piers Corbyn. Now Piers has a very good record of forecasting the weather. He has been bang on about these cold winters. Like JMW Turner and the Aztecs he thinks we should be paying more attention to the Sun. According to Piers, global temperature depends not on concentrations of CO2 but on the mood of our celestial orb.”

“Of course it still seems a bit nuts to talk of the encroachment of a mini ice age. But it doesn’t seem as nuts as it did five years ago. I look at the snowy waste outside, and I have an open mind.”

Key Deeds

September 2017

On September 27 inside the Foreign Office, Boris Johnson launched a new thinktank to push “the moral case for open commerce.” The Institute for Free Trade (IFT)“sees Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union as a unique opportunity to revitalise the world trading system,” according to its website (IFT now operates under the name “Initiative for Free Trade” following a dispute over its name). [11],[12], [13]

The IFT is based at 57 Tufton Street, sharing an office with the anti-renewables thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies, and next door to many of the organisations DeSmog UK previously revealed to be at the heart of a UK climate science denial network in 55 Tufton Street. [14], [15]

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who gave the 2017 annual lecture at the climate science denying Global Warming Policy Foundation, is on the IFT’s “international advisory panel.” The IFT's president is climate science denying Tory MEPDaniel Hannan. [12]

March 2015

Johnson launched a new “Prosperity for All” project at the Legatum Institute lead by Tim Montgomerie, founder of Conservative Home. As Johnson was reported telling the audience: “It is time to reclaim capitalism as a moral force.” [1]

December 19, 2010

Johnson wrote an article at The Telegraph promoting the work of climate change denier Piers Corbyn, “meteorologist and brother of my old chum, bearded leftie MP Jeremy.” According to Johnson, Piers “seems to get it right about 85 per cent of the time” with regards to forecasts. [16]

“I have not a clue whether his methods are sound or not. But when so many of his forecasts seem to come true, and when he seems to be so consistently ahead of the Met Office, I feel I want to know more. Piers Corbyn believes that the last three winters could be the harbinger of a mini ice age that could be upon us by 2035, and that it could start to be colder than at any time in the last 200 years. He goes on to speculate that a genuine ice age might then settle in, since an ice age is now cyclically overdue,” Johnson wrote.

“The question is whether anthropogenic global warming is the exclusive or dominant fact that determines our climate, or whether Corbyn is also right to insist on the role of the Sun. Is it possible that everything we do is dwarfed by the moods of the star that gives life to the world? The Sun is incomparably vaster and more powerful than any work of man.” 

2007-2008

In the run up to Boris Johnson's May 2008 election as London Mayor, prominent Tory and billionaire hedge fund manager Sir Michael Hintze, a financial backer of the climate science denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation, donated the following to the politician: £2,000 in December 2007, £2,000 in February 2008, and £1,000 in March 2008. [17], [18], [19]

Affiliations

• Institute for Free Trade — Launched in September 2017. [20], [21]
• Vote Leave — Campaign committee member (website no longer appears in operation). Listed as a member of the “core group” which “ coordinate between campaign committee meetings and meet on a daily basis.” [3]
• The Atlantic Bridge (now defunct) — Former member, board of advisors. [7]
• The Telegraph — Columnist. [22] 

Social Media

• @BorisJohnson on Twitter.
• borisjohnsonmp on Instagram.

Publications

Some sample publications related to Brexit below (view more articles at The Telegraph and The Spectator):

• “The British people won't be scared into backing a woeful Brexit deal nobody voted for,” The Telegraph, Jan 6, 2019.
• “We need to hold our nerve over Brexit - we can do so much better than this deal,” The Telegraph, Dec 2, 2018.
• “The Government's can't-do attitude to Brexit has got us into this mess - but there is a way out,” The Telegraph, Nov 25, 2018.
• “Boris Johnson: My plan for a better Brexit,” The Telegraph, Sep 27, 2018.
• “We are heading for a car crash Brexit under Theresa May's Chequers plan,” The Telegraph, Sep 16, 2018.
• “We have neglected Latin America's realms of gold for too long. Brexit can change that,” The Telegraph, May 27, 2018.
• “My vision for a bold, thriving Britain enabled by Brexit,” The Telegraph, Sep 15, 2017.
• “Brexit frees us to build a truly global Britain,” The Telegraph, Jul 16, 2016.
• “Tory candidates need a plan for Brexit - here's mine in 5 points,” The Telegraph, Jul 3, 2016.

Resources

1. “Boris Johnson Launches the Legatum Institute's Prosperity for All Project,” Legatum Institute, March 30, 2015. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/d4dHb

2. “The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP,” Gov.uk. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/DdtEf

3. “About the campaign,” VoteLeaveTakeControl.org. Archived June 28, 2016. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/e0PJe

4. Kirsty Major. “Why are we so surprised that Boris Johnson lied when he’s been sacked for lying twice before?” Independent, June 27, 2016. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9wy4v

5. “Cameron as leader of the Slightly Silly Party,” The Telegraph, February 14, 2007. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KJxoa

6. Elizabeth Day. “George Osborne and the Bullingdon club: what the chancellor saw,” The Guardian, October 1, 2011. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ViDiJ

7. Amber Elliott. “Liam Fox interview,” Total Politics, October 20, 2011. Archived November 22, 2011. Archive.fo URL:  https://archive.fo/ViYQA

8. Elisabeth O'Leary, Reuters. “Boris Johnson 'continues to lobby'US on climate change, Trump's decision on Paris agreement looms,” Business Insider, June 1, 2017. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/BkxEm

9. Boris Johnson. “I can’t stand this December heat, but it has nothing to do with global warming,” The Telegraph, December 20, 2015. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eB5p3

10. “It’s snowing, and it really feels like the start of a mini ice age,” The Telegraph, January 20, 2013. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HdbkA

11. Mat Hope. “Introducing the Institute for Free Trade: A New Pro-Brexit Thinktank tied to the UK’s Climate Science Denier Network,” DeSmog UK, September 27, 2017.

12. “About,” Initiative for Free Trade. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hXT8H

13. Michael Savage. “Brexit thinktank in dispute over use of ‘institute’ in title,” The Guardian, December 16, 2017. Archived January 9, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mLLNh

14. Kyla Mandel. “Is A Climate Sceptic Behind The Latest Anti-Renewables Report?” DeSmog, March 18, 2015.

15. Kyla Mandel. “Mapped: The UK's Brexit Climate Denier Network,” DeSmog, July 15, 2016.

16. Boris Johnson. “The man who repeatedly beats the Met Office at its own game,” The Telegraph, December 19, 2010.

17. “Mr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002375),” The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/blF3Z

18. “Mr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002410),” The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/zDCoi

19. “Mr Boris Johnson MP (Great Britain), Cash (C0002430),” The Electoral Commission, accessed January 9, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/a2WZD

20. “Boris Johnson launches the Institute for Free Trade,” IFT, January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OnHTu

21. “The IFT Launch,” IFT. Archived January 10, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/W1I3o

22. “REGISTEROFMEMBERS’ FINANCIALINTERESTS” (PDF), Parliament.uk, July 11, 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Other Resources

• “Boris Johnson,” Wikipedia.

• “Boris Johnson,” LittleSis.

Photo: Number 10 via Flickr | CC2.0

Graham Stringer

Credentials

• BSc., Chemistry, University of Sheffield in 1971. [1]

Background

Graham Stringer is a Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton and trustee of the UK climate science denial think tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Stringer is also part of a close-knit network of Brexit climate science deniers– he was a board member of Vote Leave during last year’s referendum. [2]

Stringer has been a member of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee continuously since 2010, having previously held the role between 2006 and 2007. The committee is tasked with ensuring government decisions are based on sound scientific evidence. [3], [4]

Stance on Climate Change

2014

In 2014 Stringer was one of just two MPs (the other being fellow climate science denier Peter Lilley) to vote against the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s acceptance of the UNIPCC’s conclusion that humans are the dominant cause of global warming. [5]

“As scientists by training, we do not dispute the science of the greenhouse effect - nor did any of our witnesses,” Lilley and Stringer said in a statement. [5]

“However, there remain great uncertainties about how much warming a given increase in greenhouse gases will cause, how much damage any temperature increase will cause and the best balance between adaptation to versus prevention of global warming.” [5]

The two men also tried to edit out a paragraph which suggested the temporary slowdown, or hiatus, in the rate of global warming “does not undermine the core conclusions” of the report, and that “warming is expected to continue in the coming decades.” [6]

2011

Stringer has previously argued that independent investigations into the emails hacked from the University of East Anglia in 2009 had not been rigorous enough to clear scientists at the Climatic Research Unit of misconduct. [7]

“It does not say this is the end of the scientific case for global warming but it does say that people at the centre of this research did some very bad science,” Stringer claimed. [7]

Key Quotes

September 19, 2017

Writing in the Daily Mail in September 2017, Stringer said: [8]

“[E]nvironmentalism increasingly resembles a religious creed.”

September 2017

Responding to accusations of being a climate sceptic, Stringer said: [9]

“I am sceptical about everything – that is what scientists are. But there has been an enormous amount of shoddy work masquerading as science with regards to climate change.”

January 2011

On the UK government inquiry into Climategate, Stringer said: [7]

“It does not say this is the end of the scientific case for global warming but it does say that people at the centre of this research did some very bad science. It is not a whitewash, it is the establishment looking after their own. They are not looking hard enough at what went wrong.”

Key Deeds

August 2018

Stringer reportedly was set to face deselection proceedings in his Blackley and Broughton constituency. The action was brought after Stringer voted with the Conservatives on key pieces of Brexit legislation, including the Customs Bill vote, which had “undermined the party and bolstered the Tories’ position”, according to his ward's motion. [10]

July, 2018

Stringer was one of three Labour rebel MPs to vote with the government on its Customs Bill for Brexit on the 16 July, managing to secure a tiny majority for the Government. The vote concerned Amendments proposed by hardline Brexiteers led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, and was swung by only three votes. The three Labour MPs who voted against their party, Stringer, Frank Field, and Kate Hoey, have all been members of the organisation Labour Leave, a pro-Brexit group within the party. [11]

December, 2017

Stringer signed a letter organised by the group Leave Means Leave which set out red lines for Theresa May's negotiations with the EU. The main concern of the letter was to remove the European Court of Justice's juristiction over the UK during the post-Brexit tranistion period. Senior Conservative Brexiteers such as John Redwood, Owen Paterson and Nigel Lawson all coordinated the letter, which was then signed by 30 Brexiteers from both parties. [12]

March, 2017

Stringer was one of 70 hardline Brexiteers to sign a letter of complaint to the BBC, arguing the network’s Brexit coverage was biased to the Remain campaign. An analysis of the signatories of the complaint letter urging the BBC to “accept new facts” on Brexit shows 12 are part of the 55 Tufton Street climate denier network. A further six MPs have consistently voted against climate measures in Parliament. [13]

September, 2017

Stringer was one of seven Labour MPs to vote in favour of the EU Withdrawl Bill (previously referred to as the Great Repeal Bill), which converts all EU laws into UK law to prevent gaps in legislation in the aftermath of Brexit. Among Stringer in defying Jeremy Corbyn by supporting the Bill are Kate Hoey and Frank Field, who are members of the organisation Labour Leave, a pro-Brexit group within the party. [14]

September, 2017

Stringer was appointed to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, meant to ensure government decisions are based on sound scientific evidence. This comes nearly two years after Stringer joined climate science denialist Nigel Lawson's organisation the Global Warming Policy Foundation, Britain's leading climate sceptic group which lobbies to prevent pro-climate legislation. [9]

August, 2015

Stringer falsely claimed that there was “no scientific evidence” linking the UK 2013/14 floods to climate change, in a BBC Radio 4 interview. [15]

July, 2015

Stringer joined the GWPF’s board of trustees along with Peter Lilley. [16]

October, 2010

Graham Stringer attended and supported the climate denial event “Climate Fools Day”– the anniversary of the day MPs passed the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act – hosted by the DUP’s Sammy Wilson in the Houses of Parliament. One of the event invites read: “The danger is not Climate Change but Climate Change Policy – for which there is no evidence in justification.” [17]

March, 2010

Stringer, in his role on the Science and Technology Committee, was part of the investigation into the hacked emailed of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (also known as “climategate”). Highly sceptical of the climate scientists, Stringer pushed for a more critical final government report on the incident.  [7]

Affiliations

• Labour Party— MP for Blackley and Broughton. [2]
• Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)— Member, Board of Trustees. [18]
• Labour for Britain — Formerly listed as a director. The company now appears dormant. [19], [20]
• Democracy Movement— Co-chair.  [21]
• Balanced Migration— Member. [22]
•  Manchester Airport plc — Former analytical chemist and chair of the board. [23]

Social Media

• @gstringermp on Twitter.

Publications

• Graham Stringer. “Britons in favour of leaving the EU are far from 'isolationist John Bulls’,” The Telegraph, June 19,2 013. 

Resources

1. “Graham Stringer to take part in University Challenge Christmas special,” Manchester Evening News, November 24, 2011. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/99isi

2. “Graham Stringer,” UK Parliament. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/bWeXb

3. “Graham Stringer: Roles in Parliament,” UK Parliament.  Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/2GLEz

4. “Role - Science and Technology Committee,” UK Parliament, Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/lsFQ3

5. Matt McGrath. “MPs bicker over IPCC report on causes of climate change,” BBC News, July 29, 2014. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eiwzP

6. Bob Ward. “MPs who reject science are undermining the public interest,” New Statesman, July 30, 2014. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AcpOo

7. Louise Gray. “Official inquiries into the ‘Climategate’ scandal ‘unsatisfactory’,” The Telegraph, January 25, 2011. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/yQ1Jl

8. “Now that's an inconvenient truth: Report shows the world isn't as warm as the green doom-mongers warned. So will energy bills come down? Fat chance, says MP Graham Stringer,” Daily Mail, September 19, 2017. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Elin4

9. Tom Embury-Dennis. “MP appointed to Parliament's science committee is part of climate change denial think tank,” Independent, September 14, 2017.  Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/T7Hl6

10. Stephen Bush. “Graham Stringer becomes the third Labour Leaver MP to face deselection proceedings,” New Statesman, August 29, 2018. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OiV9V

11. “Brexit: Government scrapes through Customs Bill votes,” BBC News, July 17, 2018. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ViQaq

12. “Tory Brexiters set new red lines over ECJ and free movement,” The Guardian, December 3, 2017. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/yNuM9

13. Kyla Mandel. “MPs Who Complained About BBC's Brexit Coverage Linked to Network of Hardline Euro-Climate Sceptics,” DeSmog UK, March 23, 2017.

14. “Brexit: EU repeal bill wins first Commons vote,” BBC News, September 12, 2017. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/4vHHB

15. Richard Black. “What’s the point of BBC guidelines when it comes to climate change?” The Guardian, August 5, 2015. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/kLVi3

16. Kyla Mandel. “Labour and Tory MPs Join Lord Lawson's Climate Denial Global Warming Policy Foundation,” DeSmog UK, July 17, 2015.

17. “Cabal of climate sceptics to descend on UK parliament,” The Guardian, October 26, 2010. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/48nIs

18. “BOARDOFTRUSTEES,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/fG53d

19. “Board,” For Britian. Archived November 22, 2015. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/SU8Cx

20. “LABOURFORBRITAINLIMITED: Company number 08405117,” Companies House. Accessed December 12, 2018.

21. Graham Stringer. “Britons in favour of leaving the EU are far from 'isolationist John Bulls’,” The Telegraph, June 19,2 013. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/mZ4FV

22. “About Us,” Balanced Immigration. Archived December 12, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/uJUCL

23. “Graham Stringer MP,” APHG. Archived October 5, 2011. Archive.fo URL:https://archive.fo/hCaNS

Other Resources

• “Graham Stringer,” Sourcewatch.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons | CC4.0

The Irish Climate Science Forum (ICSF)

Background

The Irish Climate Science Forum (ICSF) was founded in 2016 and initially launched at an event on May 4, 2017 in Dublin. [1]

According to its website, ICSF is “committed to identifying and disseminating the latest climate science” and it stated goal is “to better inform national energy and climate-related policymaking in the best long-term national interest.” [2]

Guest speakers headlining the ICSF’s first two meetings were both well-known climate science deniers: Richard Lindzen, and William Happer. [1]

The ICSF described itself as “a voluntary group of Irish scientists, engineers and other professionals, currently in a formative stage.” The ICSF said it plans to carry out “neutral, independent analysis of the latest climate research with the purpose of better informing climate and energy policies in Ireland.” [1]

Stance on Climate Change

According to the group's website, in a statement by ICSF chair Jim O'Brien: [2]

“ICSF members are convinced that climate science is not yet settled and continues to evolve almost on a daily basis.

“Most agree that recent research and observations indicate significantly lower climate sensitivity, that is, significantly less global temperature rise due to increasing GHG (Green-House Gas) levels than was predicted by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in its Assessment Reports.

Many also agree that there are solar-related and other natural influences on earth’s climate, and suggest that the relative magnitudes of these influences may be comparable to or possibly even greater than those of GHG.”

Funding

The ICSFclaims to be only funded by “modest personal donations from its members and has no vested interests other than seeking the most sustainable future for Ireland and its citizens.”  [1]

At the “strictly private” launch meeting in May 2017, event organizer, Jim O’Brien, an energy consultant, said: “People think our organisation is funded by fossil fuel interests, but we have no donations from fossil fuel sources, only from private sources.” According to O’Brien, the group's inaugural guest speaker Richard Lindzen didn’t charge to give the talk and ICSF only paid for his expenses (however it wasn’t clarified who the “they” were). O’Brien reiterated that ICSF is all self-funded, stating its total funds are “only around €5,000.” [1]

On its website, the group claims it is “modestly self-funded through member contributions only.” [2]

Key People

Jim O’Brien — Chair and Co-Founder

Jim O'Brien was one of the founders of ICSF. O'Brien works as a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and Energy Consultant “ promoting industry sustainability through strategic, advisory and leadership support roles.” He formerly worked as President of CEPMC (the Council of European Producers of Materials for Construction) from 2003 to 2007. His background is in electrical engineering. [3], [4]

According to his LinkedIn profile, O'Brien is also the former President of UEPG (European Association of Aggregates Producers), a group that “actively lobbies the European institutions and other stakeholders on issues key to the industry.” [5]

Ray Bates

Retired University College Dublin meteorologist Dr. Ray Bates is understood to be a key mover behind the development of the ICSF. In recent years he has become an active lobbyist for climate inaction in defense of Ireland’s greenhouse gas–intensive beef and dairy sectors. [1]

Featured Speakers

As part of its “Lecture Series,” ICSF has featured a wide range of prominent climate change deniers. According to its website, speakers have included: [6]

• Richard Lindzen
• William Happer
• Adrian Simmons
• Henrik Svensmark
• Nicola Scafetta
• Nir Shaviv
• William van Wijngaarden
• Patrick J Michaels

Actions

June 2017

At theICSF’s second meeting, the guest speaker was noted climate science denier William Happer, a retired Princeton professor who was reportedly on a shortlist for the role of Science Advisor to the climate-denying Trump administration in the US. Happer is a director of the US-based CO2 Coalition, whose tagline is “Carbon dioxide, a nutrient vital for life.” [7], [8]

Happer delivered his behind-closed-doors presentation in an upmarket Dublin hotel to a hand-picked audience, numbering around 40 to 50, which included several senior staff from Met Éireann, Ireland’s national meteorological service. His presentation was titled: “Irish Agriculture – A New Look at the Influences of Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide.” [7]

May 2017

The inaugural guest speaker for ICSF’s launch meeting was noted US climate science denier and retired MIT professor Richard Lindzen. The lecture was entitled “The Science and Politics of Climate Change.” Lindzen is also an academic adviser to the UK climate denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation and works at the U.S. conservative think tank the Cato Institute, which has been funded by the billionaire petrochemical brothers Charles and David Koch. [1]

Lindzen opened his talk by condemning the “narrative of hysteria” that he claims surrounds the science of climate change. Carbon dioxide, he told the audience, is a plant fertilizer, and the Earth was lush 600 million years ago when atmospheric CO2 levels were far higher than today. He described any climate change that has occurred to date as “miniscule,” calling it all for the good, later adding “warming would actually benefit the Earth.” [1]

Related Organizations

The ICSF lists a number of climate change denial organizations and individuals on its “Useful Links” page. Some groups listed include: [9]

• CO2 Science(website of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change)
• Copenhagen Consensus Centre/Bjorn Lomborg 
• Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
• Roy Spencer
• Science and Environmental Policy Project
• Watts Up With That

Contact & Address

The ICSF does not list a physical contact address on its website.

Social Media

The ICSF does not appear active on social media.

Resources

1. John Gibbons. “New Climate Science Denial Group Launches in Ireland,” DeSmog, May 5, 2017.

2. “Welcome to the Irish Climate Science Forum,” Irish Climate Science Forum. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/tNla1

3. “ICSF,” Jim O'Brien CSR Consulting. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/0oN7M

4. “Jim O'Brien CSR Consulting,” Jim O'Brien CSR Consulting. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/MneDG

5. “Jim O'Brien,” LinkedIn. Accessed January 24, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

6. “Our Lecture Series,” Irish Climate Science Forum. Archived January 24, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/XXd5Q

7. John Gibbons. “New Irish Climate Science Denial Group Hosts CO2 Coalition Director William Happer,” DeSmog, June 13, 2017.

8. Hannah Devlin. “Trump's likely science adviser calls climate scientists 'glassy-eyed cult',” The Guardian, February 15, 2017. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/dADmb

9. “Some Useful Links,” Irish Climate Science Forum. Archived January 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/PwDA0

Other Resources

Photo: DeSmog UK

Matthew Elliott

Credentials

• BSc in Government, London School of Economics (2000) [1]
• Fellow, Royal Society of Arts [2]

Background

Matthew Elliott is the founder and former chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, a British think tank which campaigns for a low tax society. Elliot founded the group in 2004 with his wife Florence Heath, a former petroleum geologist. [3], [4], [5]

Matthew Elliot sits at the nexus of a group of “hard Brexit” campaigners closely linked to the UK’s climate science deniers and other anti-regulation think tanks. [6]

Elliott was the chief executive of Vote Leave, the official campaign group pushing for Brexit ahead of the 2016 EU Referendum. The group was responsible for the false and misleading campaign message: “Give our NHS the £350 million the EU takes every week”. [3], [7] He also founded the pro-Brexit organization, Business for Britain, from which Vote Leave emerged. [8]

Elliott was credited with trying to replicate the U.S. Libertarian Tea Party movement in Britain. His other affiliations include being on the advisory board of the right-wing think tank The New Culture Forum and the leading Eurosceptic think tank The European Foundation, where he began his career as a press officer in 2000. [9], [10], [11], [12]

Elliott also founded the civil liberties and privacy pressure group Big Brother Watch, as well as the Politics and Economics Research Trust (PERT), a charity focused on issues of public taxation. In 2017, he was forced to repay a £50,000 grant from PERT which he had used to produce an anti-EU report, following an investigation by the Charity Commission. [13], [14]

The majority of these organisations have, or have had, offices at 55 Tufton Street, Westminster. The address was also initially home to Vote Leave and currently houses the leading UK climate sceptic group the Global Warming Policy Foundation. [15]

Elliott was a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute for a year following the EU referendum, during which he says he aimed to “understand the wider international context to the Brexit vote.” [16]

Elliott was also a partner at technology firm Awareness Analytics Partners (A2P) who describe themselves as “experts in understanding and utilizing influence, enhancing online messaging and delivering groundbreaking social media advertising results.” A2P says: “We map the networks of your most engaged audience members and then micro-target your ads to the people most likely to take your desired action.” The firm says it has a database of 115 million social profiles which it uses to identify “networks and people” who share particular attitudes and attributes. [17]

Awareness Analytics Partners, through its founding partner Sean Noble, has ties to the Koch-funded network of think tanks and charitable foundations promoting extreme free-market economics and climate science denial. A 2014 investigation by ProPublica found that Noble had been employed as a consultant by the Koch brothers to distribute political donations to conservative causes in the 2010 and 2012 US elections. [17], [33]

Stance on Climate Change

Elliott has criticised government interventions to tackle climate change and protect the environment. Combined with his Eurosceptic views, he has accused the EU of using climate change as an opportunity for a “power-grab,” thereby overstepping its authority in setting environmental regulations. [18]

Elliott has spoken at events organised by the now defunct All Party Parliamentary Group on Unconventional Oil and Gas, which was used by fracking and fossil fuel companies to gain access to and filter money into parliament. [19], [20]

Key Quotes

2017

In a speech to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Elliott said: 

“I have been coming to the US now for over 14 years to learn how to do my campaign techniques, and how to set up a taxpayer group from Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform.” [21]

2010

Speaking to the Guardian:

“You could say our time has come […] We need to learn from our European colleagues and the Tea Party movement in the US […] It will be fascinating to see whether it will transfer to the UK. Will there be the same sort of uprising?” [22]

2009

In his 2009 bookThe Great European Rip-off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives, co-authored with David Craig, Elliott wrote: [18]

“The prominence given by politicians to the threat of global warming has allowed the [European] Commission to make a huge power-grab.

“There seemed to be no limit to the price our masters were willing for the rest of us to pay so they could save the planet from our shameful energy profligacy.” [18]

September 2007

In an interview with the BBC, he said:

“I am not convinced that higher taxes are the answer. For example, something like the climate change levy, I have a concern in the way that it has impacted companies in the north of England. It has driven manufacturing jobs overseas to other countries that aren’t as stringent as we are in terms of cutting back CO2 emissions. I think the stick approach isn’t the right approach. I think we should look more at the cash approach, look to giving tax incentives to encourage companies to act in more green ways.” [23]

Key Deeds

October 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May was reported to be lining up Elliott for a senior government position to lead the overhaul of the Conservative Party “in a move that would bolster the hard Brexit-backing Tory wing,” The Independent wrote. [24]

May 2017

Elliott gave a speech to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, in which he said he had learnt his campaigning techniques during visits to the United States, and has singled out time spent with Americans for Tax Reform and Grover Norquist as influential in helping him learn his campaigning techniques. [21], [25]

December 2015

Former energy and climate secretary Ed Davey wrote a letter to Elliott, then the head of the Vote Leave campaign. In the letter, Davey said the group will be guilty of attempting to take the UK“to the fringes of the international community” unless it distances itself from UKIP and the former chancellor Nigel Lawson. [26]

November 2010

The U.S. Tea Party and the TaxPayers’ Alliance, under Elliott’s leadership, held a joint event in London to “galvanise anti-government sentiment,” The Telegraph reported. At the time, Elliott praised the movement. [9]

2009

Elliott co-authored a book with David Haig entitled The Great European Rip-off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives in which he was critical of the EU's push for climate regulation. [18]

June 2007

In a blogpost atConservative Home, Matthew Elliott wrote that he was currently in the United States to learn more about a campaign by Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform “to commit candidates for federal and state office to oppose all tax increases.” [27]

Elliott added:

“Green taxes are not taxes on ‘bads’ as they are sold by political parties and the media. The amount of money raised by fuel duty alone is, even under very ‘green’ assumptions, enough to cover the externalities of Britain’s entire CO2 emissions. Green taxes are revenue raising measures designed to extract more money from ordinary families and British businesses which, as you rightly say, affect the poor more. In regional terms the North is hit incredibly hard by the Climate Change Levy. I’d love to give you some more details and statistics on this issue but they are going to be in a research paper we’ll be releasing soon.” [27]

Affiliations

• TaxPayers’ Alliance— Founder and former CEO. [3]
• Vote Leave— Former CEO. [3]
• Business for Britain— Founder. [8]
• New Culture Forum— Advisor. [28],
• European Foundation— Advisor. [11]
• Big Brother Watch— Founder. [29]
• Politics and Economics Research Trust— Founder. [30]
• Legatum Institute— Former Senior Fellow. [31]
• Awareness Analytics Partners— Former Partner. [17]
• Royal Society of Arts— Fellow. [32]

Social Media

• @matthew_elliott on Twitter

Publications

• David Craig, Matthew Elliott. “The Great European Rip-off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives,” Random House, 2009.

Resources

1. “LSE Economics Alumni Group - In Conversation with Matthew Elliott,” LSE Alumni. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

2. “Matthew Elliott,” Penguin Books. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/u5BQR

3. “Matthew Elliott,” Brexit Central. Archived December 7, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

4. “About the TaxPayers’ Alliance,” The TaxPayers’ Alliance. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

5. Robert Booth. “Who is behind the Taxpayers' Alliance?,” The Guardian, October 9 2009. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/kvryU

6. Chloe Farand, Mat Hope. “Matthew and Sarah Elliott: How a UK Power Couple Links US Libertarians and Fossil Fuel Lobbyists to Brexit,” DeSmog UK, November 18, 2018.

7. Nicole Morley. “Here’s how spectacularly wrong the Brexit bus £350million lie was,” Metro, April 27, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/II9Rj

8. Matthew Elliott. “How Business for Britain helped change the course of history in three short years,” Brexit Central, September 27, 2018. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

9. Andrew Hough. “TaxPayers' Alliance seeks advice from Tea Party movement leaders,” The Telegraph, September 10, 2010. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/oQ3HW

10. “Matthew Elliott,” ConservativeHome. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/LrcbH

11. “About,” European Foundation. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/reW2J

12. “Vote Leave 'architect' Matthew Elliott to speak at CIPRAGM,” CIPR, May 24, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/mVDpq

13. George Eaton. “Vote Leave head Matthew Elliott: “The Brexiteers won the battle but we could lose the war”,” New Statesman, September 5, 2018. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog

14. Robert Booth. “Vote Leave chief repays charitable grant used to fund anti-EU dossier,” The Guardian, February 9, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/WmmjU

15. Tom Bawden. “The address where Eurosceptics and climate change sceptics rub shoulders,” The Independent, February 10, 2016. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/PSL5U

16. Matthew Elliott. “Matthew Elliott says farewell to the Legatum Institute,” Legatum Institute, Friday 11 May, 2018. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/T3f5B

17. “Meet the team,” A2Partners. Archived January 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

18. David Craig, Matthew Elliott. “The Great European Rip-off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives,” Random House, 2009. Archived screenshot on file at DeSmog.

19. “OESG launch success,” Onshore Energy Services Group. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/p6PzF

20. Mat Hope. “Mapped: How Fracking Lobbyists From the UK and America Have Infiltrated Parliament,” DeSmog UK, January 26, 2017.

21. “The Brains Behind Brexit,” YouTube, June 2, 2017.

22. “A very British Tea Party: US anti-tax activists advise UK counterparts,” The Guardian, September 9, 2010. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1lb4K

23. Ben Tyson, D. Mercedes Hurd. “Social Marketing Environmental Issues,” iUniverse, 2009. Archived screenshot on file at DeSmog.

24. Rob Merrick. “Theresa May lines up head of Vote Leave campaign behind £350m NHS claim to lead overhaul of Conservative Party,” The Independent, October 26, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/mhm93

25. “Matthew Elliott: The Brains Behind Brexit,” May 5, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/3gCng

26. Nicholas Watt. “Anti-EU campaigners aligning with climate sceptics, says ex-minister,” The Guardian, December 7, 2015. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/fyqKO

27. “Matthew Elliott answers your questions,” ConservativeHome, June 2007. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

28. “Matthew Elliott,” ConservativeHome. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/LrcbH

29. George Eaton. “Vote Leave head Matthew Elliott: “The Brexiteers won the battle but we could lose the war”,” New Statesman, September 5, 2018. Archived December 10, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog

30. Robert Booth. “Vote Leave chief repays charitable grant used to fund anti-EU dossier,” The Guardian, February 9, 2017. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/WmmjU

31. Matthew Elliott. “Matthew Elliott says farewell to the Legatum Institute,” Legatum Institute, Friday 11 May, 2018. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/T3f5B

32. “Matthew Elliott,” Penguin Books. Archived December 10, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/u5BQR

33. Kim Barker, Theodoric Meyer. “The Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble Moved the Kochs’ Cash into Politics and Made Millions,” ProPublica, February 14, 2014. Archived December 19, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/S05Ns

Photo: The TaxPayers' Alliance via Flickr | CC.20

Neil Record

Credentials

• Record was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and University College London, from where he holds an MSc in Economics. [1]

Background

Neil Record is chairman and trustee of the UK neoliberal think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). Record, a City currency manager, is also a known donor to the UK climate science denying Global Warming Policy Foundation and board member of the think tank’s campaign arm the Global Warming Policy Forum. [2], [3], [4]

He is also a major Conservative Party donor. During the Brexit campaign in 2016 he was listed as a business supporter of Business for Britain, a pro-Brexit group linked to 55 Tufton Street. [5],[6]

Stance on Climate Change

October 4, 2015

He does not view the science on climate change as “settled.” In an email,told UnEarthed: [7]

“I believe that the important scientific enquiry required for us to understand man’s effect on the climate is being hampered by a monolithic ‘establishment’ view that the science is settled.”

[…]

“It is also clear that some of the current popular political choices for carbon reduction (wind; solar in high latitudes) are woefully inefficient and unsustainable,” Record said. “Advances in technology will undoubtedly continue to allow us to improve our carbon/GDP efficiency, but only if the current climate obsessions and fashions are subjected to proper scrutiny.”

September 2, 2014

Following the reveal of Record as a GWPF donor, he told The Guardian: [3]

“I personally regard the continuing contribution of the GWPF to the climate change debate as very positive in assisting balance and rationality in this contentious area”

Key Quotes

2015

Record told the Guardian: [3]

“I personally regard the continuing contribution of the GWPF to the climate change debate as very positive in assisting balance and rationality in this contentious area.”

Key Deeds

November 2017

The Herald revealed that Record had donated £2,000 to Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont’s local party in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk earlier in 2017. The news prompted SNP MSP Graeme Dey to call the Scottish Tories “shameless hypocrites” when it comes to the environment. [8]

November 2014

Matthew Hancock, received a donation of £4,000 from Neil Record a few months after Hancock was appointed as the Conservative Party’s energy and climate change minister. Since 2011, Hancock has accepted £18,000 from Record. [7]

September 2014

Neil Record was revealed to be one of the GWPF’s funders but the amount donated was not disclosed, with Record stating the amount was a “private matter.”[3], [9]

April 2012

Hancock authored a Conservative Free Enterprise Group report calling for the government to cut wind and solar subsidies and push ahead with shale gas exploration and extraction. [10]

2010

During his race to become MP for West Suffolk, Hancock helped to campaign against onshore wind developments in his region.  [7]

Affiliations

• Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) — Chairman and trustee. [2]
• Record Currency Management — Chairman and founder. [11]
• Remuneration Committee of Nuffield College — Chairman. [11]
• Business for Britain — “Business supporter” as of 2016. [6]

Social Media

Neil Record does not appear to be active on social media.

Publications

• Sir Humphrey’s Legacy: facing up to the cost of public sector pensions. Institute of Economic Affairs, September 26, 2006.

Resources

1. Neil Record. Sir Humphrey’s Legacy: facing up to the cost of public sector pensions. Institute of Economic Affairs, September 26, 2006.

2. “The Institute of Economics Affairs: Trustees' Report” (PDF), for year ended December 31, 2017. Retrieved from charitycommission.gov.uk. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

3. “Two secret funders of Nigel Lawson’s climate sceptic organisation revealed,” The Guardian, September 2, 2014. Archived December 21, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/0YRUz

4. “BOARDMEMBERS,” The Global Warming Policy Forum. Archived December 21, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/PmMYS

5. Donations search via The Electoral Commission. Search performed December 21, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

6. “Business Supporters,” Business for Britain. Archived May 12, 2016. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/VLeQF

7. Lucy Jordan. “Energy minister accepts £18,000 from board member of climate sceptic group,” Unearthed, October 4, 2015. Archived December 21, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/5F4vR

8. “Ruth Davidson in 'hypocrisy' row over donation from climate change sceptic,” The Herald, November 25, 2017. Archived January 3, 2019.

9. Brendan Montague. “Exposed: Lawson’s Climate Denial Donors’ Links to Tobacco and Oil Backed Think Tank,” DeSmog UK, September 2, 2014.

10. Edward Malnick and Robert Watts. “Renovation tax will harm our churches, warns Hurd,” The Telegraph, April 21, 2012. Archived January 3, 2019.

11. “Neil Record - Chairman,” Record Currency Management. Archived December 21, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/MQf5v

Other Resources

• “Neil Record,” Wikipedia. 

Photo: screengrab from YouTube

Nigel Farage

Credentials

• Dulwich College, 1975-1982. [1]

Background

Nigel Farage is a member of the European Parliament for the newly-formed Brexit Party, having been until recently led the UK Independence Party (UKIP), of which he was a founder member. Farage has cast doubt on the scientific consensus surrounding human-caused climate change on a number of occasions. [2], [3], [4]

UKIP’s party manifestos for the 2015 and 2017 elections both pledged to undo green initiatives, analysis by Carbon Brief showed. In 2015 it stated “the Climate Change Act is doing untold damage. UKIP will repeal it.” It also argued that “coal must be part of the solution” for cheap energy security and that it’s “times to get fracking.” These themes were repeated in 2017 when the party manifesto called again for the UK Climate Change Act to be repealed while pledging to “withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the EU Emissions Trading scheme.” [5]. [6]

UKIP’s primary goal was to seek the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, and Farage stepped down as party leader following the EU referendum in June 2016, saying his “political ambition [had] been achieved.” During the Brexit campaign, Farage was a leading member of the unofficial pro-Brexit groups Leave.EU and Grassroots Out. [7], [8]

Since then Farage has toured the US and Australia, visiting like-minded conservative groups and appearing as a commentator on Fox News. [9], [10], [11]

With the UK nearing its deadline for leaving the European Union, Farage has re-entered the political scene to advocate for a “hard” Brexit, leading a campaign group called Leave Means Leave with property investor, Richard Tice. Other members include Owen Paterson, Christopher Chope, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Peter Lilley. [12]

In February 2019, it was announced that Farage would run in the upcoming European Parliament elections for a newly-registered Brexit Party, if Britain had not left the EU by this point. [13]

Stance on Climate Change

November 2015

In an interview with Spiked online: [14]

“I haven’t got a clue whether climate change is being driven by carbon-dioxide emissions.” [14]

“I think wind energy is the biggest collective economic insanity I’ve seen in my entire life. I’ve never seen anything more stupid, more illogical, or more irrational.” [14]

June 2013

In an interview with Edie: [15]

“I am not saying that man is having no influence on the climate, although as the years go by it looks increasingly unlikely. To be told that the science is settled [on global warming] is hard to accept. Where I grew up, our back wall joined onto Down House where Charles Darwin wrote [On the Origin of Species] and 150 years on, the science isn't settled over Darwin and I can tell you science is never settled.” [15]

“It's odd to focus on carbon dioxide. I'm an environmentalist; I'm against carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide and toxins in our rivers. Yes, I'm all for pollution controls but to obsess with carbon dioxide, which as I understand it, is a perfectly natural occurring phenomenon, strikes me as strange.” [15]

September 2013

Speaking in the European Parliament: [16]

“We may have made one of the biggest and most stupid collective mistakes in history by getting so worried about global warming.” [16]

Key Quotes

February 2018

Farage said on Twitter: [17]

“Large parts of central London have no salt on the roads. Perhaps they are all so convinced by global warming they never thought any would be needed.” [17]

November 2015

In an interview with Spiked online: [14]

“I haven’t got a clue whether climate change is being driven by carbon-dioxide emissions.” [14]

“I think wind energy is the biggest collective economic insanity I’ve seen in my entire life. I’ve never seen anything more stupid, more illogical, or more irrational.” [14]

June 2013

In an interview with Edie: [15]

“I am not saying that man is having no influence on the climate, although as the years go by it looks increasingly unlikely. To be told that the science is settled [on global warming] is hard to accept. Where I grew up, our back wall joined onto Down House where Charles Darwin wrote [On the Origin of Species] and 150 years on, the science isn't settled over Darwin and I can tell you science is never settled.” [15]

“It's odd to focus on carbon dioxide. I'm an environmentalist; I'm against carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide and toxins in our rivers. Yes, I'm all for pollution controls but to obsess with carbon dioxide, which as I understand it, is a perfectly natural occurring phenomenon, strikes me as strange.” [15]

September 2013

Speaking in the European Parliament: [16]

“We may have made one of the biggest and most stupid collective mistakes in history by getting so worried about global warming.” [16]

Key Deeds

February 9, 2019

It was announced that Farage would run in the upcoming European Parliament elections for a newly-registered Brexit Party, if Britain had not left the EU by this point. [13]

November 2016

Nigel Farage claimed the distinction of being the first British politician to meet with Donald Trump after the US presidential election. A photo taken on November 12 shows the two men standing in front of Trump’s golden elevator in New York City alongside millionaire UKIP and Brexit-backer Arron Banks, Breitbart UK editor Raheem Kassam, unofficial Brexit campaign group Leave.EU pollster Gerry Gunster, and Andy Wigmore, communications director of Leave.EU. [18], [19], [20]

July 2016

Farage attended the Republican National Convention during the 2016 presidential race which led to the election of Donald Trump. His goal was to spread the “Brexit gospel,” as Politico reported at the time. “I think there are a lot of Republican strategists who are looking very closely at what we did and how we did it,” Farage told Politico, adding “All I can do is to come and tell my story.” [21]

July 2015

Farage delivered a speech to the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. where he made the case for the US to support Brexit. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative “free enterprise” group with a history of promoting climate science denial. [22]

Affiliations

• United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)— Founding member, former leader and MEP. [3], [7]
• The Brexit Party — MEP. [23]
• Leave.EU— Former member. [8]
• Grassroots Out — Former member. [8]
• Fox News— Commentator. [11]
• Leave Means Leave — Vice-chairman. [12]

Social Media

• @Nigel_Farage on Twitter.
• @nigelfarageofficial on Facebook.

Publications

• “My new Brexit party stands ready to defend democracy,” The Telegraph, February 8, 2019.
• “How can the BBC be fair about Brexit when it takes money from the EU? We need answers,” The Telegraph, February 6, 2019.
• “We must stop Gerard Batten turning Brexit into a plaything of the far Right,” The Telegraph, November 23, 2018.
• “If only we had a proper leader like Donald Trump taking on the EU, not Theresa the appeaser,” The Telegraph, July 26, 2018.
• “FARAGEFORBREITBART: A Letter to America, On How You May Lose Your Greatest Ally,” Breitbart, July 17, 2015.

Resources

1. Nigel Farage. “Nigel Farage: My public school had a real social mix, but now only the mega-rich can afford the fees,” The Telegraph, March 14, 2015. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rnPVG

2. “Nigel Farage profile,” European Parliament. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/LAEUW

3. Godfrey Bloom. “When we founded Ukip, Brexit was a lost cause. Nigel Farage changed all that,” The Telegraph, July 4, 2016. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/mzYg6

4. Karl Mathiesen. “How fast is Arctic sea ice melting?” The Guardian, September 18, 2013. Archived February 25, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/x3Sqx

5. Simon Evans. “Election 2015: What the manifestos say on climate and energy,” Carbon Brief, April 21, 2015. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/dqwdj

6. Simon Evans. “Election 2017: What the manifestos say on energy and climate change,” Carbon Brief, June 16, 2017. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/oTNkW

7. “UKIP leader Nigel Farage stands down,” BBC News, July 4, 2016. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/M5Iqq

8. Jim Pickard. “EU vote: Brexit camps set to merge but rifts remain,” Financial Times, February 10, 2016. Archived February 13, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

9. Ben Jacobs. “Nigel Farage gets warm welcome at gathering of US right wing,” The Guardian, February 23, 2018. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Rf0Vl

10. Naaman Zhou. “Nigel Farage tour: five arrested in protest outside Melbourne hotel,” The Guardian, September 7, 2018. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/NfB9i

11. Joe Concha. “Fox News signs Nigel Farage, backer of Trump and Brexit,” The Hill, 20 January, 2017. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/VQyuf

12. “Who we are,” Leave Means Leave. Archived February 4, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/36OM4

13. Shehab Khan. “Nigel Farage ‘will stand’ for new Brexit Party if Britain leaving the EU is delayed,” The Independent, February 9, 2019. Archived February 13, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/1zy9T

14. Ed King. “Nigel Farage on climate change: in his own words,” Climate Home News, March 11, 2015. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/EOSFd

15. Leigh Stringer. “UKIP's Nigel Farage on wind farms, global warming and Charles Darwin,” Edie, June 4, 2013. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/uPtqg

16. “What EC President Barroso really said in the European Parliament on 11 September,” European Commission, September 12, 2013. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/U0I18

17. “Large parts of central London have no salt on the roads. Perhaps they are all so convinced by global warming they never thought any would be needed.” Tweet by @Nigel_Farage, February 28, 2018. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

18. “Farage: 'Real opportunity' for UK business with Donald Trump,” BBC News, November 13, 2016. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/JMD2F

19. Jon Stone. “Nigel Farage branded 'poppy-less popinjay' for skipping Remembrance Sunday to visit Donald Trump,” The Independent, November 14, 2016. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Tz2xN

20. Andrew Pierce, James Tapsfield. “Your gold door's worth more than my house! The riotous inside story of Farage and his Ukip posse's astonishing coup as he became the first foreign politician to meet President-elect Trump,” Daily Mail, November 14, 2016. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/rfVYl

21. Benjamin Oreskes. “Nigel Farage preaches Brexit gospel in Cleveland,” Politico, July 19, 2016. Archived February 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/BdzKc

22. “FARAGEFORBREITBART: A Letter to America, On How You May Lose Your Greatest Ally,” Breitbart, July 17, 2015. Archived February 28, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/E3Jfw

Other Resources

• “Nigel Farage,” Wikipedia.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons | CC3.0

Peter Lilley

Credentials

• According to his biography, Lilley was educated at Hayes County Primary School, Dulwich College and Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied natural science and economics. [1]

Background

Peter Lilley is a former British Conservative Party MP who sits on the Board of Trustees of the UK climate science denying thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF). He represented the Hitchin and Harpenden constituency from 1997 to 2017, previously holding the seat for St Albans 1983. [1], [2]

Lilley has a record of consistently voting against policy measures to tackle climate change, including in 2008 when he was one of threeMPs to vote against the UK’s Climate Change Act. [3],[4]

He is a former member of the Government's Environmental Audit Committee and the UK Parliament’s Energy and Climate Change Committee, which examines the policies of the government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change. [5], [6]

Since 2006, Lilley has also been a non-executive board member of Tethys Petroleum, a Cayman Islands-based oil and gas company with drilling operations in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This was declared on the register of MPs’ financial interests. In 2012, for example, he earned £47,000. And according to a 2012 article at the Guardian, he received share options worth at least $400,000. [7], [8], [9]

A DeSmog investigation revealed in 2012 that Lilley was being paid $300 an hour to advise an Indian company building a coal fired power station. [10]

Stance on Climate Change

November 5, 2009

During a debate in the House of Commons, Lilly declared: [11]

“The Government and the alarmists have to concoct a lot of feedbacks that so far have not manifested themselves to predict that in future we will see far higher rises in temperature from a given increase in CO2 than we have in the past. I am neither a denier of the science nor an alarmist. I am a lukewarmist, if one likes […] I am a global lukewarmist, and I take seriously[…]”

Lilley continued, contending there is no scientific consensus on climate change: [11]

“A lot of fairy stories are attached to and latched on to a genuine scientific concern. The first fairy tale, which the Government foster, is the idea that there is total consensus in science at the alarmist end of the spectrum. […] The simple fact is that the science is not resolved. A lot of serious scientists think that although there is a measure of impact—I agree with that—the alarmist views are not upheld by the science. A majority may well disagree with the scientists to whom I have referred.”

Key Quotes

December 17, 2009

Lilley wrote a Wall Street Journal opinion article entitled “Global Warming as Groupthink,” in which he declared: [12]

“The tendency of those committed to the theory of catastrophic man-made global warming to unquestioningly adopt the assumptions, at every stage, that maximize the expectation of calamity should alert us that groupthink is driving the movement.”

November 23, 2009

Lilley appeared on RTto discuss the so-called “ClimateGate” affair, where he declared: [13]

“[Scientists] try to change the facts rather than trying to change their theory. […]”

“I feel certain from reading a lot of the emails and the documents that they were adjusting the data, manipulating the data, concealing the doubts they had internally and continuing to express certainty externally. There's even example of the computer codes that they've adjusted to cut off the evidence of the recent period of global cooling. For the last decade, the world hasn't heated up as their theories suggest it should have done. Indeed, it has cooled slightly.

[…] And likewise they've altered the data in the past, or they've selected data from the past which has wiped out the evidence of the so-called medieval warming period when the world was probably warmer than it is now, because after all if it was warmer then without us all burning lots of hydrocarbons, it's suggests that the hydrocarbons aren't the only things that cause the temperature and the climate to change.”

“I personally—I'm a physicist by training, long ago—accept that doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will produce a modest warming in the climate, but nothing like the alarmist fears which these scientists have been trying to generate or that lie behind the Copenhagen conference.”

November 19, 2008

Speaking about the Stern Report in a Commons debate, Lilley said: [14]

“My overall position on global warming is that, as a physicist — I studied physics at Cambridge — I am not one of those who deny that carbon dioxide emissions heat the planet. They do have that effect, although there is less certainty about how much the complex feedback effects that climate models seek to replicate may amplify the comparatively modest effect of increasing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, in my view it is wise to take measures to prevent and to adapt to global warming, and it is sensible to try to assess the costs and benefits of action and inaction to ensure that we adopt the most cost-effective approach.”

“The simple fact is that, since the beginning of this century, the average global temperature has flatlined; indeed, over the past 18 months it has fallen back, and according to the satellite measurements of temperature, it is now basically back at the level it was in 1979, when such measurements started to be taken.”

November 5, 2009

“I hope that we will listen to those scientists, many of whom are in Government employ, who have warned against alarmist views, and that we will take a more consensual view of the basic minimum science that is agreed and open that up to debate and discussion, without trying to silence those who disagree by calling them “deniers” and equating them with holocaust deniers. As I said, I am not a denier-I am a lukewarmer-but even those who deny the existence of anthropological global warning deserve to be heard, just as the alarmists do, and it is sad that we have heard only one or two such views expressed in the House today,” Lilley declared in a Commons debate. [15]

Key Deeds

November 22, 2018

Lilley attended an event organised by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) in the House of Commons to mark the 10 year anniversary of the UK's Climate Change Act. Both the GWPF and Lilley have repeatedly opposed the Act, claiming it “burdened consumers with extraordinary costs.” [16]

For the occasion, the GWPF launched a report which blames the Climate Change Act “and other anti-fossil-fuel policies” for “worsening” fuel poverty in the UK. [17]

It claims that “rather than solving climate change, the only detectable effect of the Climate Change Act has been to sustain levels of energy poverty that politicians from all parties had promised to abolish.” The report was written by climate science denier Rupert Darwall. [17]

Speaking at the event, Lilley said: “I decided to vote against the Climate Change Act when I read the impact assessment which showed that the potential cost was twice the prospective benefit. Ten years later the costs are coming home to roost and the benefits remain illusory.” [16]

January 2018

Lilley was involved in a Channel 4 sting over politicians being offered cash to advise on Brexit. Lilley denied the allegations and reported Channel 4 to Ofcom over the programme. [18], [19]

April 2017

Ahead of the UK 2017 General Election Lilley stepped down as an MP for Hitchin and Harpenden after 34 years with the Conservative Party. [20]

December 2016

Lilley wrote a report entitled “The Cost of the Climate Change Act” for the GWPF. In it he claims that climate policy will cost the nation £319 billion. [21]

July 2015

Lilley joined the GWPF along with Labour MPGraham Stringer as members of the Board of Trustees. [4], [2]

July 2014

Lilley was one of two MPs to vote against the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s acceptance of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) conclusion that humans are the dominant cause of global warming. [22]

During this same month, Lilley attended a meeting in the House of Commons organised by climate science denier and Northern Ireland politician Sammy Wilson. The meeting was organised on behalf of “Repeal the Act,” a group that argues the “climate is always changing” and seeks to repeal the UK’s Climate Change Act. [23]

October 30, 2012

Lilley wrote a letter to the BBC’s director of editorial policy and standards complaining about the broadcaster’s “systemic bias” in its climate change reporting. [24]

September 2012

Peter Lilley wrote a report for the GWPF entitled “What is Wrong with Stern: The Failings of the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change.” Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science, described Lilley’s GWPF report as being based on “misrepresentations and bad economics.” [25], [26]

October 2008

Lilley was one of only three MPs who voted against the Climate Change Act. He claimed one reason for doing so was because it was snowing in October which he argued showed winters weren’t warming. [27], [28]

Affiliations

• Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) — Member, Board of Trustees. [2]
• YiMei Capital — Member of the Advisory Board. [7]
• Tethys Petroleum — Deputy Chairman (2006 – 2012). [29]
• IDOX plc — Non-executive Director [7]
• UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee — Former Member. [5]
• UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee — Former Member. [6]
• JP Morgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC— Former Director (resigned April 2008). [30]
• Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs— Member of the Advisory Council. [7]
• E-Loft AG— Non-Executive Chairman (1999–2001). [29]
• Facor Energy Limited — Unpaid director. Describes it as a “shell company which is not yet trading, established by Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited.” [7]

Social Media

• @LilleyPeter on Twitter
• Peter Lilley on LinkedIn: Profile 1, Profile 2

Publications

According to his bio, Lilley is the author of several publications including: [1]

• Do You Sincerely Want to Win? -Defeating Terrorism in Ulster, 1972
• Lessons for Power, 1974
• Delusions of Income Policy (co-written with Samuel Brittan), 1977
• End of the Keynesian Era (contributor), 1980
• Thatcherism, the Next Generation, 1989
• The Mais Lecture Benefits and Costs: Securing the Future of the Social Security, 1993
• Patient Power (published by Demos) 2000
• Commonsense on Cannabis (Social Market Foundation) 2001
• Taking Liberties (Adam Smith Institute) 2002
• Save Our Pensions (Social Market Foundation) 2003
• Identity Crisis - the case against ID Cards (Bow Group) 2005
• Immigration - too much of a good thing? (Centre for Policy Studies) 2005

Resources

1. “About Peter,” RT Hon Peter Lilley. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/YUfyc

2. “Board of Trustees,” Global Warming Policy Foundation. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/phvTT

3. “Lord Lilley,” TheyWorkForYou. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/r6LRC

4. Kyla Mandel. “Labour and Tory MPs Join Lord Lawson's Climate Denial Global Warming Policy Foundation,” DeSmog, July 17, 2015.

5. “Membership - Environmental Audit Committee,” www.parliament.uk. Archived March 9, 2017. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/tyShc

6. “Energy and Climate Change Committee - membership,” www.parliament.uk. Archived March 17, 2015. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/6Cj1W

7. “Register of Members' Financial Interests - as at 2 May 2017 (last update of the 2015 Parliament)” (PDF), www.parliament.uk. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

8. “Register of Members' Financial Interests - as at 19th November 2012” (PDF), www.parliament.uk. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

9. Leo Hickman. “MP Peter Lilley has received more than $400,000 in oil company share options,” The Guardian, November 20, 2012. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/tPPSs

10. Graham Readfearn. “Exclusive: British MP On Climate Committee Advising On Coal Power For $300 An Hour,” DeSmog, November 27, 2012.

11. “Climate Change,” House of Commons Hansard Vol. 498 (November 5, 2009). Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/2Sxji

12. Peter Lilley. “Global Warming as Groupthink,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2009. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/aiCuj

13. “Climategate: 'Scientists would rather change facts than their theories',” YouTube video uploaded by user “RT,” November 23, 2009. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

14. “Stern Report,” www.parliament.uk, November 19, 2008. Archived November 30, 2012. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ykhmY

15. “Daily Hansard Debate: 5 Nov 2009 : Column 1053,” www.parliament.uk, November 5, 2009. Archived December 30, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rVPvb

16. (Press Release). “TENYEARSON, UKCLIMATECHANGEACTISHARMINGTHEPOOR,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation, November 22, 2018. Archived December 30, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/wYThV

17. Rupert Darwall. “THECLIMATECHANGEACTATTEN History’s most expensive virtue signal” (PDF), Global Warming Policy Foundation, November 20, 2018.

18. Simon Walters and Glen Owen. “Ex Trade Secretary Peter Lilley 'boasted' he was in line for a peerage in 'Chinese cash for Brexit sting',” Daily Mail, January 27, 2018. Archived December 30, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/blXEC

19. (Press Release). “Peter Lilley refers Channel 4 to Ofcom,” Rt Hon Peter Lilley, January 27, 2018. Archived December 30, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hBVIM

20. “Hitchin and Harpenden MP Peter Lilley is stepping down 'because of Theresa May',” Hertfordshire Mercury, April 26, 2017. Archived April 27, 2017. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/YYvjV

21. Peter Lilley. “£300 BILLION: The cost of the Climate Change Act” (PDF), The Global Warming Policy Foundation, December 2016. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

22. Matt McGrath. “MPs bicker over IPCC report on causes of climate change,” BBC News, July 29, 2014. Archived December 30, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/eiwzP

23. “Richard Tol Dons Cloak of Climate Denial,” DeSmog, July 14, 2014.

24. (Press Release). “PETERLILLEYACCUSESBBCOFSYSTEMATICBIASINITSHANDLINGOFCLIMATECHANGEEVIDENCE,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation, October 30, 2012. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/pZH6X

25. “What is Wrong with Stern: The Failings of the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change” (PDF), The Global Warming Policy Foundation, September 2012.

26. Bob Ward. “Critics of the Stern Review present both a case of bad economics and fundamentally flawed science,” The London School of Economics and Political Science (blog), October 3, 2012. Archived October 29, 2012. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/STvl1

27. Adam Vaughan. “Green campaigners condemn Peter Lilley's energy committee post,” The Guardian, October 25, 2012. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/LMvJj

28. Brendan Montague. “Here's Why MP Peter Lilley Voted Against the Climate Change Act,” DeSmog, September 3, 2015.

29. “Peter Lilley,” LinkedIn (profile 691141158). Accessed December 29, 2018. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

30. “Peter Bruce LILLEY,” Companies House. Archived December 29, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9GL7P

Other Resources

• “Peter Lilley,” Wikipedia

• “Peter Lilley,” SourceWatch

• Lauren Niland. “Peter Lilley: 'I am a global lukewarmist' and other quotes,” The Guardian, October 25, 2012.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons | CC2.0

University of Buckingham

Background

The University of Buckingham is the UK’s first private university. Founded in 1973, the university was closely linked to the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the UK education secretary at the time. After retiring from politics, Thatcher was the university's chancellor from 1992 until 1998. [1], [2]

The university’s development was highly influenced by the libertarian London-based think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). IEA and the university have co-published Economic Affairs magazine. In November 2018, IEAopened an “education center” in collaboration with the university. [3], [4], [5]

Several of the IEA’s current members hold positions at the university, including IEA trustee and academic advisory council chair Martin Ricketts and IEA life vice president Lord Nigel Vinson. Ricketts is the university's Professor of Economic Organisation and Dean of the School of Humanities and Vinson helped create the university's Vinson Centre for the Study of Liberal Economics. IEA editorial and research fellow Len Shackleton is also a professor of economics at the university. [6], [7]

Stance on Climate Change

The university has a history of associating with climate science deniers, notably those linked to the UK’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) founded by Lord Nigel Lawson. [8]

GWPF director Benny Peiser occasionally lectures at the university. The university has also awarded honorary degrees to Lawson as well as Conservative member of the House of Lords Matt Ridley who is also a Times columnist, coal mine owner and member of the GWPF. Former university vice-chancellor Terence Kealey also sits on the GWPF’s academic advisory council. [8]

Lord Vinson, tied to both the IEA and the University of Buckingham, was named as one the GWPF’s core funders in 2014. [9]

Funding

According to its website, “The University of Buckingham is independent of state funding, and the DJO project looks to private individuals, institutions, charities and the corporate world for support. [10]

Key People

Members of the Council

According to the University of Buckingham's Financial Statements dated December 31, 2017, council members included: [11]

• Bethany Carter
• Brandon Lewis
• Brian Kingham
• C Jackson
• Chris Payne
• Claire Stocker
• J McIntosh
• J Stafford
• James Baker
• Joe Harrison
• John Drew
• K Elliott
• Kenny Langlands
• L Long
• M Appleyard
• M Rushton
• Patrick Covarrubia
• Pearl Lewis
• S Tomassi
• Susan Edwards

Ex Officio Council Members

• A Alcock
• A Seldon
• Jill Schofield
• Lady T Keswick
• Rory Tapner

Actions

September 2017

Students from the University of Buckingham spoke at event in the Houses of Parliament organised by former environment secretary Owen Paterson'sUK2020 think tank. Paterson has long been a purveyor of climate disinformation, and UK2020 is a resident of a climate disinformation hub run out of 55 Tufton Street. [12],[13]

April 2017

Lord Nigel Lawson, founder of the climate science denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation, spoke at an event celebrating the University’s 40th anniversary. [14]

“But now we have a new problem in the university sector, which is not the problem of government control – though that always needs to be watched – but the problem of the suppression of free speech,” he told the audience. “The problem comes from political correctness to some extent, which is the great blight of this age. A view is either politically correct or not, and if it is not, then it should not be heard.” [14]

April 2015

Former University of Buckingham vice-chancellor Terence Kealey joined the GWPF as chair of a so-called international temperature data review project. The project aimed to investigate the reliability of current temperature data. [15]

When launching the inquiry, Kealy said: “Many people have found the extent of adjustments to the data surprising. While we believe that the 20th century warming is real, we are concerned by claims that the actual trend is different from – or less certain than – has been suggested.” [15]

March 2015

The University of Buckingham appointed Dr John Constable, a known anti-windfarm campaigner, to set up a new energy institute at the university. However, the status of the institute is currently unknown and it’s unclear whether it is actually in operation. [8]

Constable is well-known for a 2013 report in which he argued that adopting renewable energy would see the population “begin to step back towards the condition of ‘laborious poverty’ [that is] characteristic of the pre-coal era”. The report was dismissed by government as “a manifesto for locking the British economy into excessive reliance on imported gas.” [8]

In February 2016, Constable joined the GWPF as an energy editor and policy advisor. [16]

March 2014

Professor Tim Congdon stepped down as a candidate for the climate science denying UK Independence Party (UKIP) after being accused of “hypocrisy” for benefiting financially from having wind turbines on his land. [17]

Related Organizations

• Mont Pelerin Society (MPS)

A number of University of Buckingham professors are or have been members of the shadowy Mont Pelerin Society. Many of the members of the free-market campaign group  have received money from infamous climate science denial supporters, the Koch brothers.  Professors Roger Fox, Tim Congdon and former vice-chancellor of the university Terence Kealey were listed as members on a documentuncovered by DeSmogBlog.  Kealey has also authored numerous essays for US think tank the Cato Institute, which has a long history of spreading climate disinformation. [18], [19], [20]

Contact & Address

According to its website, as of December 2018: [21]

The University of Buckingham
Yeomanry House, Hunter St,
Buckingham MK181EG
 

Social Media

• University of Buckingham on Facebook
• @UniOfBuckingham on Twitter
• The University of Buckingham's YouTube channel
• University of Buckingham on Instagram

Resources

1. “History of the University,” The University of Buckingham. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ppwfd

2. Matthew Reisz. “Margaret Thatcher Centre to be housed at Buckingham,” Times Higher Education, November 2, 2015. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9iCJJ

3. Chris Parr. “Anthony Seldon to be next Buckingham v-c,” Times Higher Education, April 16, 2015. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/gbP9w

4. Alejandro Chafuen. “U.K. Think Tanks And Economic Freedom: Challenges And Opportunities,” Forbes, May 29, 2014. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/SAg5x

5. (Press Release). “IEA opens the Vinson Centre in collaboration with the University of Buckingham,” IEA, November 28, 2018. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/rfiAA

6. “Trustees,” IEA. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/7HGYF

7. “Len Shackleton,” IEA. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/BcWmr

8. Tom Bawden. “Britain's leading private university ‘becoming a mouthpiece for fossil-fuel industry’,” Independent, March 30, 2015. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/DJtfO

9. Cahal Milmo. “Multi-millionaire backers of climate change denial think-tank revealed,” Independent, September 2, 2014. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/ppaHm

10. “Funding,” University of Buckingham. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/l4PnB

11. “University of Buckingham Report & Financial Statements” (PDF),University of Buckingham, 2017.

12. “Two year degrees are much more affordable and allow students to use time more constructively, say students of @UniOfBuckingham,” Twitter post by user “@_UK2020,” September 5, 2017. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.is/n2hCa

13. Brendan Montague. “Sacked Environment Secretary Attacks Climate Change Act,” DesmogUK, October 13, 2014.

14. Camilla Turner. “Lack of free speech at universities is a 'great blight of our age', Lord Lawson says,” The Telegraph, April 29, 2017. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/CnJCU

15. Ben Tufft. “Leading group of climate change deniers accused of creating 'fake controversy' over claims global temperature data may be inaccurate,” Independent, April 26, 2015. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/p0hid

16. Kyla Mandel. “Anti-Wind Campaigner John Constable Joins Lord Lawson’s Climate Sceptic GWPF Think Tank,” DeSmog UK, February 16, 2016.

17. Kate Devlin. “Leading Ukip member stands down over wind farm deals,” The Herald, March 4, 2014. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.is/WyPjA

18. “Mont Pelerin Society Direcotry - 2013” (PDF). Archived at DeSmog.

19. Graham Readfearn. “How the Mont Pelerin Society 'Neoliberal Thought Collective' Is Influencing Donald Trump's Presidency,” DeSmog, November 29, 2017.

20. “Terence Kealey,” Cato Unbound. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/iVGTe

21. “How to Get to Buckingham,” The University of Buckingham. Archived December 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Jj6Hd

Other Resources

• “University of Buckingham,” SourceWatch.

• “University of Buckingham,” Wikipedia.

• “University of Buckingham,” LittleSis.

Photo: Public Domain

Bernie Lewin

Credentials

• B.A., Social Science, La Trobe University (1990). [1]
• Graduate Diploma, Information Management, RMIT (1997). [1]

Background

Bernie Lewin describes himself as a “historian of science” from Melbourne, Australia, and the author of climate disinformation blog, Enthusiasm, Scepticism, Science. The blog starts from the premise that “there is insufficient evidence to make the claim that CO2 emissions are causing catastrophic global warming.”[1]

Lewin has a bachelor’s degree in social science, and a graduate diploma in information management, according to his LinkedIn profile. On his blog’s “About” page, he notes that he is “not an academic.” [1], [2]

Lewin occasionally contributes content and reports to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a group that opposes climate change regulations and claims carbon dioxide has been “demonized.” He is the author of the book“Searching for the Catastrophe Signal: The Origins of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”, published by the GWPF at the end of 2017. The book argues that the IPCC was created to deliver a “catastrophe signal” that “policy elites” needed to implement a climate change treaty. [3],[4]

Lewin has also authored a paper on the work of climatologist Hubert Lamb for the GWPF, arguing that he was “an early climate skeptic.” He has also contributed to climate science denial blog Watts Up With That.  [4], [5]

Stance on Climate Change

February 2010

From the “About” page of Lewin’s blog: [2]

“ I have always been sceptical of the science behind anthropogenic global warming (AGW). But I have mostly been quietly sceptical. […]

“I was shocked at the appalling condition of [climate] science. And I was saddened that this scare had become so completely identified with the environmental movement…and finally, I came to realise the danger to environmentalism of the back-lash when the bubble inevitably burst and the deception was exposed.”

Key Quotes

June 27, 2018

“That this [global warming] scare continues to evolve is all too evident when we consider that there has never been a greater impact on energy policy for major economic players like Germany, Britain and Australia. And this impact is in direct opposition to what would be our agreed economic, political and security interests if there were no scare. Make no mistake, this is a major social phenomenon, the full power of which we are only coming to appreciate as it arises stronger from every successive blow to its credibility,” Lewin wrote at his blog. [6]

Key Deeds

November 2017

The GWPF self-published Lewin’s book, Searching for the Catastrophe Signal: The Origins of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Lewin conducted an interview with GWPF Deputy Director Andrew Montford to promote the book, entitled “The Climate Policy Cart Led Climate Science Horse.” [7]

October 2015

Lewin published a GWPF paper on the work of climatologist Hubert Lamb. The paper has a foreword by US climate science denier and GWPF member Richard Lindzen.  [4]

December 2010

Lewin authored a post for US climate science denial blog, Watts Up With That, in which he described climate change as a “scare” and “public panic” driven by climate scientists, and supported by political institutions. [5]

Affiliations

• Parliament of Victoria— Librarian. [1]

Social Media

• Bernie Lewin on LinkedIn
• @BernieLewin on Twitter

Publications

• Searching for the Catastrophe Signal: The Origins of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global Warming Policy Foundation (November 20, 2017).

Resources

1. “Bernie Lewin,” LinkedIn. Accessed January 4, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

2. “About,” Enthusiasm, Scepticism and Science, February 2010. Archived January 4, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/vwUBl

3. Andrew Montford. “Unintended Consequences of Climate Change Policy” (PDF), Global Warming Policy Foundation, January 2015. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

4. Bennie Lewin. “Hubert Lamb,” Global Warming Policy Foundation, February 2015. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

5. “Climate Change and the Corruption of Science: Where did it all go wrong?” Watts Up With That? December 27, 2010. Archived January 4, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/58qMi

6. “Canadian Enthusiasm: Remembering Toronto ‘88,” Enthusiasm, Scepticism and Science, June 27, 2018. Archived January 4, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/KMsKf

7. “The Climate Policy Cart Led Climate Science Horse,” YouTube video uploaded by user ”GWPF,” November 23, 2017. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

Other Resources

Main image credit: Screengrab from GWPFTV interview, YouTube

Philip Foster

Credentials

• Biochemistry, University of Cambridge. [1]
• Theology, University of Cambridge. [1]

Background

Philip Foster is a retired Church of England vicar, writer and long-time supporter of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP). [2], [3]

After completing his degree, Philip Foster taught secondary school and sixth-form students in Nigeria. He trained as a Christian minister and served for 30 years before retiring. [4]

Foster is vice chairman of the cross-party Eurosceptic group Campaign for an Independent Britain. [5]

He is also one of the founding members of Principia Scientific International (PSI), a fringe UK-based organisation. The group, founded in 2010, has claimed that carbon dioxide is not a greenhouse gas and “could actually cool the planet,” as well as calling childhood vaccines “one of the largest most evil lies in history.” Piers Corbyn is a “Consultant/Friend” of PSI. [6], [7], [8]

Foster sits on the steering committee of the Independent Committee on Geoethics, an international group launched in 2015 as a “Climatic Reformation” to counter the “religion” of “CO2-driven Global Warming,” according to Nils-Axel Mörner, a Swedish climate science denier also on the steering committee. Other committee members include Christopher Monckton, Patrick Moore and Roger Tattersall. The group co-sponsored the “Paris Climate Challenge” event hosted by the Heartland Institute in December 2015, designed as a “counter-conference” to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21). UKIPMEPs Stuart Agnew and Roger Helmer spoke at the event. [9], [10], [11]

Foster is the author of While the Earth Endures: Creation Cosmology and Climate Change, in which he argues that there is no scientific evidence for “anthropogenic climate change.” He is also the owner of St. Matthew Publishing, a group that has published a number of creationism and climate change denial books in the UK. The publishing group’s website is no longer online, and it is unclear if the business is still in operation. [12], [13]

Foster has claimed that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher began a conspiracy to promote global warming in order to support her confrontation with the National Union of Mineworkers during the strike of 1984 and set the move to nuclear power in motion. [14]

In 2010, Foster led a campaign to repeal the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act called “Climate Sense.” The campaign launched with a “Climate Fools Day” event in Parliament, attended by fellow climate science deniers Sammy Wilson, Piers Corbyn, Graham Stringer, David Davies, John Redwood, Christopher Booker. He said at the time that the legislation would cost UK taxpayers £480bn over the next 40 years because of the cost of new technologies. [15], [16]

In 2013, Foster co-organised a presentation by Australian climate sceptic professor Dr Murry Salby in the House of Commons entitled “Climate Change: What we know and what we don’t.” The event was hosted by Labour MPGraham Stringer. [17]

Christian Soldiers

Foster is a patron of the “Christian Soldiers” grouping within UKIP. The group produced a controversial leaflet for the party’s 2015 conference which claimed that a campaign to challenge homophobia in schools was a recruitment drive for “fresh blood” and amounted to “sexual grooming.” For the 2017 party conference, their leaflet accused Christians who voted to remain in the EU of committing “spiritual treason against almighty God and his kingdom.” [18], [19]

“Christian Soldiers” claim to be “Fighting through Christ for deliverance from EU tyranny.” Foster explained their reasoning to Vice UK: [20]

“What lies behind capitalism and Adam Smith are basic Christian principles of personal liberty, the right to property and respect for honesty in dealings… The European Union is not a free market. It’s a customs union, which is quite a different thing. It’s a level playing field that’s held like that by regulation. They destroy free trade. Adam Smith would be tearing his hair out.” [20]

At the 2016 UKIP party conference, Foster gave a talk entitled “Why rising Carbon Dioxide is GOOD for us and the planet and why it has NO influence on climate change,” according to a tweet by campaign group Scientists for EU. [21]

Stance on Climate Change

In 2013, Foster told local newspaper The Hunts Post that he started to form his opinions on climate change after reading The Sceptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg, which downplays the threat of global warming. [22]

August 11, 2014

In a foreword to a summary of a lecture given by disgraced Australian climate sceptic Dr Murry Salby entitled “Climate Change: What we know and what we don’t,” Foster wrote: [17]

“How could EU regulation, which was now failing to prevent goods from outside the EU from flooding in, be in some way extended and strengthened? It is this answer to this problem that is the key to understanding why the EU has embraced the idea of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change (CACC). [17]

“Through the ‘moral’ imperative of ‘saving the planet’ from the dire consequences of burning of fossil fuels, the EU hoped it could hobble the burgeoning industries of Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRICs). Making the world’s energy extremely expensive by requiring the use of renewables and by insisting on heavy carbon taxes, you are a long way towards crushing the competition of the BRICs. [17]

“Faced as we are with just about every supranational body, the EU and the UN with its IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], a host of Green NGOs, such as WWF, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace and other hugely wealthy lobby groups, along with a supposed global consensus of scientific opinion that the burning of fossil fuels is catastrophically changing the climate, we might indeed feel intimidated and fearful to challenge this awesome multi-headed giant. [17]

“Here Prof Murry Salby comes to our rescue. With one deadly piece of precision science he has slain the giant phantom of CACC [Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change].” [17]

Key Quotes

December 28, 2013

Foster told local newspaper The Hunts Post: “Our climate is quite beyond human influence. The main influences are the sun’s variability and activity, the lunar orbit, planetary orbits and our varying position in the solar system and in the galaxy. On the earth, the clouds and ocean currents control the overall temperature (not the other way round) and they respond primarily to these extra-terrestrial influences.” [22]

April 2012

In a YouTube video called “Global warming con is a tool of control,” Foster said: “I am, in one sense, no important person but, equally, I have taken time to study quite carefully the whole issue of global warming, climate change, and its connection to so-called sustainable development.” [23]

Key Deeds

September 7-8, 2018

Foster spoke at a climate science denial conference in Porto, Portugal entitled “Basic science of a changing climate: How processes in the sun, atmosphere and ocean affect weather and climate.” Other speakers included Piers Corbyn, Christopher Essex, Nils-Axel Mörner and Christopher Monckton. [24]

July 2018

Foster appeared on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to debate whether the heatwave which gripped the UK over the previous few weeks meant climate change was real. [25]

Foster’s appearance on the Chris Mann show sparked outrage after University of East Anglia academic and former Green party candidate for Cambridge Rupert Read tweeted that he had been asked to go on the show but refused the invitation after finding out about the programme’s format. [26]

November 2015

Foster teamed up with climate science denier and former adviser to Margaret Thatcher Christopher Monckton to organise anti-climate actions on the sidelines of the landmark UN climate talks in Paris. [14]

December 2013

The local paper The Hunts Post reported that Foster, who lives in Huntingdonshire, wrote and published a “climate carol” in which he argues that climate change occurs naturally and is part of a pattern. [22]

In the carol, an environment reporter called Scrooge is visited by a charitable trust called Fuel for Africa which tells him Africa’s oil and coal should be used for electricity generation. [22]

Scrooge accuses Fuel for Africa of being “climate deniers” and “humbug” before being visited by the spirits of climate change past, present and future which all push messages of climate science denial. [22]

November 6, 2013

Foster co-organised a presentation by an Australian climate sceptic professor in the House of Commons entitled “Climate Change: What we know and what we don’t.” The event was hosted by Labour MPGraham Stringer. [17]

A summary of the lecture was written by Mike Haseler, Chairman of the Scottish Climate and Energy Forum, a climate sceptic membership group supportive of anti-wind energy campaign groups and the climate sceptic blog, Bishop Hill, run by Andrew Montford. The report was edited by Foster and published by the Bruges Group, a Eurosceptic thinktank with a history of promoting disinformation about climate change. [17], [27], [28]

Dr Murry Salby, who gave the lecture, had recently been sacked by his university for “alleged policy breaches.” He was previously banned from accessing public science research funding in the US after an investigation concluded he was guilty of “deceptive conduct” and had likely fabricated time sheets in relation to research paid for through NSF money. [29]

April 2013

Foster submitted written evidence to Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee, in which he stated: [30]

“The ‘science,’ as you people are so keen on assuring us, is ‘settled.’ Indeed it is settled—in favour of the null hypothesis. There is no dangerous ‘climate change’ caused by human activity, increasing C02 does not present a threat, rather a benefit—more crops and therefore more food to feed a growing population. [30]

“The economics of ‘green’ energy are the economics of the madhouse.” [30]

April 13, 2012

Foster was featured in a video entitled “Global Warming Con is a Tool of Control - Rev Philip Foster,” uploaded by the channel “Videos From The Underground” which posts numerous conspiracy theory videos about the “Illuminati’s Occult Philosophy,” “9/11 Truth,” and UFO sightings. [23], [31]

August 30, 2010

In a blog post addressed to the BBC’s environment and energy analyst Roger Harrabin, Foster criticised Harrabin’s use of climate models as evidence during a BBC programme about climate change. [32]

He criticised Harrabin for saying that global warming is “a science based risk” and added: “Sorry but this is not true. It is a model based risk.” [32]

Foster argued that “climate models are currently a waste of time and money” and that it would take “100,000,000,000,000,000,000 years to really model our climate with current computing power” and that “anyways no ones [sic] knows all the physics in the first place.” [32]

November 2010

Foster, as owner of St. Matthew Publishing Ltd, is responsible for the British publishing of the book Slaying the Sky Dragon - Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory. According to Climate Change Dispatch, a website that claims the debate is not over on man-made climate change: [6], [33]

“Authors of a new book ‘Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory’ claim they have debunked the widely established greenhouse gas theory climate change. [33]

[…] “If true, the disclosure may possibly derail last-ditch attempts at a binding international treaty to ‘halt man-made global warming.’ At minimum the story will be sure to trigger a fresh scandal for the beleaguered United Nations body,” John O’Sullivan—one of the book’s authors and also a fellow member at Principia Scientific International—wrote at the blog. [33]

October 2010

Foster attended “Climate Fool’s Day” in Westminster, an event organised by prominent UK climate science deniers Sammy Wilson, Piers Corbyn, Graham Stringer, David Davies, John Redwood, Christopher Booker against the UK’s Climate Change Act. [16]

2009

Foster published a book entitled While the Earth Endures: Creation, Cosmology and Climate Change, with a foreword by notorious climate science denier, David Bellamy. [34]

Affiliations

• Principia Scientific International (PSI) — Member. [6]
• Campaign for an Independent Britain— Vice chairman. [5]
• United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)— Supporter. [3]
• Church of England— Former Reverend. [2]
• Christian Soldiers (UKIP)— Patron. [19]
• Independent Committee on Geoethics (ICG) — Steering committee member. [9]
• St. Matthew Publishing Ltd. —  Owner. Website no longer appears to be in operation. [6]

Social Media

• Revd Philip Foster does not appear to be active on social media.

Publications

• “We have less than five months to prevent the annihilation of our fishing fleet,” Campaign for an Independent Britain, October 10, 2018.
• “A present from CIB to our MPs,” Campaign for an Independent Britain, July 10, 2017.
• “Get them young: Merkel plans EU education,” Campaign for an Independent Britain, March 24, 2014.
• “Engine Room Five Is Flooding,” Campaign for an Independent Britain, July 10, 2012.
• “A Climate Carol: A Fable for Christmas,” St Matthew Publishing, December 2010.
•  “An open letter by the Reverend Philip Foster to Roger Harrabin.” British Gazette, August 30, 2010.
• “While the Earth Endures: Creation, Cosmology and Climate Change,” St Matthew Publishing, 2009.

Books

• Slaying the Sky Dragon - Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory, ebookpartnership.com, November 22, 2010.

Resources

1. Greg Garrard, Axel Goodbody, George B. Handley, Stephanie Posthumus. “Climate Change Scepticism: A Transnational Ecocritical Analysis,” Bloomsbury, 2019.

2. Louise Gray. “Climate sceptics launch campaign to overturn green targets,” The Telegraph, October 27, 2010. Archived February 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/XirQJ

3. “Vicar thanks God for EU results,” BBC News, June 20, 2004. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/iHOTz

4. Brendan Montague. “Monckton Teams up with Climate Denier Philip Foster for Paris COP21 Disruption,” DeSmog, November 6, 2015.

5. “About,” Campaign for an Independent Britain. Archived March 7, 2019. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

6. “A Selection of Member Biographies,” Principia Scientific International. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/B1g0T

7. “Science Confirmed: Carbon Dioxide & Water Vapor Cool Earth's Atmosphere,” Principia Scientific International, November 20, 2013. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/IftBX

8. “The Vaccine Hoax is Over?” Principia Scientific International, December 6, 2013. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/aH3Y2

9. “Membership,” Independent Committee on Geoethics. Archived March 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/YRMQO

10. “When Science becomes disgraced, it's time for a new Independent Committee on Geoethics,” Research Gate, December 2015. Archived March 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/WlfXr

11. “About PCC15,” Paris Climate Challenge. Archived March 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/XLATV

12. Philip Foster. “While the Earth Endures: Creation Cosmology and Climate Change,” St Matthew Publishing, January 15, 2009.

13. “Category - Books,” St. Matthew Publishing. Archived April 14, 2015.

14. Brendan Montague. “Monckton Teams up with Climate Denier Philip Foster for Paris COP21 Disruption,” DeSmog, November 6, 2015.

15. Louise Gray. “Climate sceptics launch campaign to overturn green targets,” The Telegraph, October 27, 2010. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/WWK0u

16. Leo Hickman. “Cabal of climate sceptics to descend on UK parliament,” The Guardian, October 26, 2010. Archived January 18, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/bKE3s

17. Mike Haseler. “Climate Change: What we know and what we don’t,” Bruges Group, August 11, 2014. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/3lcSh

18. Mikey Smith. “Ukip conference: Homophobic leaflet claims primary school LGBT education is 'sexual grooming',” The Mirror, February 27, 2015. Archived February 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/hhgkD

19. Chloe Farand. “Bizarre leaflet accusing Remainer Christians of 'spiritual treason' appears at Ukip party conference,” The Independent, February 18, 2017. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/JtsgL

20. Kevin EG Perry. “We Made Tons of Weird Friends at the UKIP Party Conference,” Vice UK, March 4, 2014. Archived February 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/PIRaC

21. “Why rising Carbon Dioxide is GOOD for us and the planet and why it has NO influence on climate change,” Tweet by @Scientists4EU, September 17, 2016. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

22. Andy Veale. “Huntingdonshire man pens climate change version of A Christmas Carol,” The Hunts Post, December 28, 2013. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/damQv

23. “Global Warming Con is a Tool of Control - Rev Philip Foster,” YouTube video uploaded by user Videos From The Underground on April 13, 2012. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

24. Chloe Farand. “Santander Forced To Distance Itself From Climate Science Denial Conference,” DeSmog, September 4, 2018.

25. Mat Hope. “Scientists Urged to Take a Stand Against BBC’s False Balance on Climate Change,” DeSmog, August 1, 2018.

26. Rupert Read. “I won’t go on the BBC if it supplies climate change deniers as ‘balance’,” The Guardian, August 2, 2018. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/SwzhH

27. “Homepage,” Scottish Climate and Energy Forum. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/FeVJW

28. Chloe Farand. “'We Are the Mainstream': Inside the Conservatives' Alternative Brexit Conference Playing Host to Climate Science Deniers,” DeSmog, October 2, 2018.

29. Graham Readfearn. “Climate Sceptic Professor Sacked From Australian University Was Banned By National Science Foundation For “Deceptive Conduct”,” DeSmog, July 12, 2013.

30. “Science and Technology Committee: Written evidence submitted by Philip Foster (CLC005),” Parliament, April 2013. Archived February 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/oV9p2

31. “Videos From The Underground,” YouTube. Archived February 27, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/ixl0o

32. “An open letter by the Reverend Philip Foster to Roger Harrabin.” British Gazette, August 30, 2010. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/CZmrP

33. John O’Sullivan. “Book Launch Exposes UN Climate Science in Another Scandal,” Climate Change Dispatch, November 29, 2019. Archived December 1, 2010. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/u3IGG

34. Philip Foster. “While the Earth Endures: Creation, Cosmology and Climate Change,” St Matthew’s Publishing, 2009. Archived March 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/ntU43

Photo: DeSmog UK