Monthly Archives: October 2013

…five million the week after? The left have an interesting but simplistic angle on the Lampedusa tragedy, in which several hundred would-be immigrants to Europe died in sight of land when their ship sank. We have a humanitarian duty, they … Continue reading →

Mr. President, The EU’s climate and energy policies are probably unnecessary, certainly ineffectual, and prohibitively expensive. Unnecessary, because the theory of man-made climate change is increasingly disputed, and there has been no global warming for nearly two decades. The earth’s … Continue reading →

Like a zombie in some cheap horror movie, John Major has elbowed his way out of retirement and obscurity to deliver his aperçu on the state of the energy market.  And he’s calling for a windfall tax on energy companies. … Continue reading →

Is it worth devoting a whole blog post to the Lib-Dems? Well maybe once in a while. On Friday (Oct 11th) I was on Andrew Neil’s Europe Politics Show  alongside Edward McMillan-Scott. Edward was, of course, the Leader of the … Continue reading →

if this is the scientific advice it gets The government’s Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Mark Walport has been invited to give the government his thoughts on the latest IPCC report.  My adviser on energy policy, Ben Pile, has given me the … Continue reading →

If you go to the States looking for memorabilia of Ronald Reagan, you will find practically a Heritage Trail.  In particular, there’s the Reagan Archive and Library, although ironically as I write it’s closed for the US government shut-down.  But … Continue reading →

In the course of my work in the East Midlands, I meet quite a lot of farmers, and I find that generally speaking they tend to support UKIP’s broad objectives.  They, like the rest of us, think we’d be better … Continue reading →

Bjørn Lomborg is a Danish academic and environmental economist who has been prominent in the climate change debate.  I bumped into him at the BBC’s Millbank studios on Friday Oct 11th. We were both appearing (separately) on the Andrew Neil … Continue reading →

When I launched UKIP’s energy policy statement at our Party Conference in October 2012, the front cover said “Rolling Blackouts by 2020?  UKIP has the solution”.  I must admit that I worried at the time that I was being slightly … Continue reading →

I recently had a constituent write to me pointing out the dire state of the British deficit, the British National Debt and the British Balance of Trade.  What would UKIP do about it, he asked?  And he was also worried … Continue reading →

And a vast misallocation of resources I recently attended a breakfast briefing by Audi, E-On and NGVA (Natural & Bio-gas Vehicle Assn) on power-to-gas technology.  Audi showed a short film that sought to illustrate the technology using a child’s plastic windmill, … Continue reading →

Before our last Party Conference, UKIP carefully considered all the ways in which Britain might want to use the (potentially large) proceeds and revenues from shale gas.  Eventually we decided that the creation of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (along the … Continue reading →

Yesterday I was at the BBC in Nottingham to pre-record the East Midlands section of the Politics Show (going out Sunday morning Oct 6th — should be available on i-player).  I was alongside Tory MP Heather Wheeler (remarkably sound for … Continue reading →

On Friday 27th September 2013, I had an opportunity to speak to BBC Radio Derby, in an interview on Climate Change. Before the show, the station phoned and asked if I’d be OK to go up against “an expert”. Naturally … Continue reading →

  So the Party Conference season is over. The politicians and the lobbyists (and the few die-hard party members) have gone home. A great number of promises have been made. Call me a cynic if you will, but I expect … Continue reading →