I have had little time for George Monbiot ever since I read his vituperative correspondence in an exchange with Dr David Bellamy in The Guardian some years ago, concerning the issue of alleged man-made climate change.  Mr Monbiot’s recent spat with The Spectator regarding his participation in a debate about the same subject has reinforced my opinion. A writer’s equivalent of the stiletto blade not doing justice to this case, I endorse Rod Liddle’s baseball bat retort in response to the spat,

“You pompous, monomaniacal, jackass. The unchallengeable certitude with which Monbiot treats his second favourite subject, and the viciousness with which he denounces anyone who disagrees, reminds me a little of the hard-line creationists you find jabbering in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains: there is no argument, we are not qualified to argue, man-made climate change simply IS, and let there be an end to the debate. It is this very certitude, and the response to critics, which makes me doubtful.”