The report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Climategate is due in a few hours time, and I've just seen what looks like the first news report of the press conference today. The general theme seems to be:
In particular,
The balance of evidence "patently" failed to support the view that the phrases "trick" and "hide the decline" used by Jones in one email were part of a conspiracy to hide evidence that did not support his view. The report reads, "[Trick] appears to be a colloquialism for a "neat" method of handling data," while "[hide the decline] was a shorthand for the practice of discarding data known to be erroneous".
On peer review, "the evidence we have seen does not suggest that Jones was trying to subvert the peer review process" and academics should not be criticised for "informal comments" on papers, MPs said. However, Willis acknowledged that because of "lack of time" they were only able to scratch the surface of these allegations. The report recommends that this should be examined in detail by a separate review of CRU's science being headed by Lord Oxburgh.
The report did not address the controversy over Jones's 1990 Nature article, which used weather station data from China that has subsequently turned out to be deficient - and the allegations that Jones did not acknowledge these deficiencies in the paper.
Bishop Hill
Guardian coverage here.
Climate researchers 'secrecy' criticised – but MPs say science remains intact
Leaked emails from UK's Climate Research Unit show scientists withheld information - but inquiry blames university