The Monckton Files: Now it’s Al Gore Going to JAIL!!!

In my last few posts, I reported on how The Gibraltar Chronicle had printed several articles about Lord Christopher Monckton’s trip to Gibraltar meant to counter Al Gore’s appearance there.  Frankly, the articles sounded like they were simply press releases written by His Lordship himself, but when Monckton’s PR guy started bullying the Chronicle staff because they wouldn’t print an unredacted version of his letter that the editors said was probably libelous, they printed an article about how they wouldn’t be bullied.  I wrote to the editor a few times, and they printed part of my challenge to debate Monckton in an online, written format that allows for source checking (“US Geologist Challenges Monckton,” 24 October 2012).  (In fairness, I should point out that Gibraltar is home to less than 30,000 people, so the Chronicle isn’t a big operation.  We can criticize their coverage as trying too hard to be “balanced,” but it would be very difficult for such a small operation to go big on fact checking.)

I also sent the challenge to Bob Ferguson, Monckton’s handler at the Science and Public Policy Institute.  (You have to love their URL, sppinstitute.org.  Bob, you’re a genius.)  Of course, I haven’t gotten a reply.  It’s not impossible, but it seems unlikely.  I mean, I truly believe Monckton has fallen off his box, but even he isn’t so cray-cray that he enjoys that foggy, confused feeling one gets when shown video evidence that one really did say what one just claimed he didn’t.  (This is what veteran science journalist Peter Hadfield did to His Lordship, after which Monckton was far, far too busy to debate further.)

His Lordship just can’t shut up, however.  Apparently, in a speech he gave Monday in Gibraltar, he claimed that a government agency in Gibraltar had twice lost his application for a press pass that would allow him to attend a talk by Al Gore.  The No. 6 Press Office countered to the Chronicle that this was flatly untrue.

“Despite being the only individual to apply for accreditation after the deadline, Lord Monckton was given full journalistic access to the THINKING GREEN seminar. The Press Office can categorically confirm that Lord Monckton made just one single application and that his application was cleared without any delay. There were no ‘lost applications’,” said No. 6.

What’s more, apparently Monckton tried to set the agenda for the Opposition party in Gibraltar, which was not appreciated.

Meanwhile GBC reported yesterday that the Leader of the Opposition has denied that the Opposition is considering going to court over the cost of the Thinking Green Conference. The assertion, it said, was made by Climate Change sceptic, Lord Monckton, at a packed public meeting Monday night.

The story gets better, though.  Monckton also appears to have threatened to have Al Gore arrested for making false claims on British soil.  He seems very sure of himself.

“If you come to any British territory and you talk the rubbish you’ve been talking elsewhere, then you will be arrested and prosecuted.”

Remember how he made the same threats against IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri?  Hmmm.  I wonder how the investigation is going.  I should ring Scotland Yard, but why bother?  I’m sure they’re working on it, and His Lordship will emerge triumphant, just like he eventually will in all the other lawsuits and investigations he has threatened to carry out, but hasn’t gotten around to.

Now, I’ve been saying all along that His Lordship is God’s gift to people concerned about climate change.  Why?  Because he seems to be on a downward mental spiral, in which he keeps saying crazier and crazier things.  Eventually, those who have taken him Oh, So Seriously will be looking at their watches and pretending they were never very tight.  At that point, I’m sure we’ll just politely look the other way.  😉  I think Gibraltar is a microcosm that we can learn from in this respect, because now the word “Monckton” has taken on added meaning, according to the Chronicle.

The Government has hit out at ‘nit-picking’ Opposition member Jaime Netto, call him the “Lord Monckton of this Government’s Health and Safety policy.”

In their statement they say that it is clear to them that Mr Netto has set himself up as the ‘Lord Monckton’ because during the Tuesday Health and Safety meeting he was seen busily scribbling down notes only during the addresses given by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Minister for Health and Safety, Paul Balban, but that Mr Netto stopped taking notes “as soon as the visiting experts began their talks.”

This according to the Government makes it clear to them that “Mr Netto was there purely to nit-pick the Government’s ministers rather than to offer any genuine contributions to the debate.”