Bishop Hill UKIP Scotland's climate spokesman
May 5, 2013 Climate: Sceptics UKIP Congratulations to BH regular Mike Haseler, who has been appointed UKIP's climate change spokesman for Scotland. The press release is as follows:
Mike Haseler known to many through his pseudo-name "Scottish Sceptic" and through his work on the Scottish Climate & Energy Forum has been selected by the UK Independence Party in Scotland to be their spokesman on Energy and Climate.
With UKIP's success in the English local elections, and growing party support in Scotland, this appointment is a huge boost for all those sceptical of catastrophic climate change and In UKIP he is joining perhaps the worlds most prominent climate sceptics Lord Christopher Monckton who already sits on UKIP's National Executive Committee.
Speaking on his appointment Mike Haseler said: "I want to thank everyone in the Sceptic community who has helped me particularly the members of the Scottish Climate and Energy Forum, Andrew Montford who through his blog has inspired everyone in Scotland, Anthony Watts and his team whose quality and quantity of coverage on Climate, Energy and Science in general is a jewel of the internet and everyone else in the Sceptic community. But one person stands out: I often felt that Lord Christopher Monckton really deserved to be called 'the Scottish Sceptic' and I look forward to working closer with him in UKIP"
UKIP is a party that wants the UK to leave the EU and is rapidly growing both within the UK and Scotland. As Mike put it, he joined UKIP because, "European Union diktats are the route cause of this ridiculous energy policy. The only way to end this policy is to end these EU diktats. UKIP is not only the only party to have consistently opposed the senseless global warming inspired energy policy destroying the British and Scottish landscape with these bird mincers, but they are also the only party working to end this tyranny of the Euro Diktats for good."
Reader Comments (65)
Best of luck, Mike. I've enjoyed your comments here.
Despite my Rhondda Valley coal mining background, I've been a life long Tory voter i.e. I can count.
The present lot have lost me. I would never vote for Labour or for the chameleon like LibDims so UKIP with its strong position on EU and energy will get my vote in the Euro and General elections, assuming we have candidates in my constituency. Economic policy must focus on spending no more than is raised by taxation. Ignore the Keynsians and cut all government employees salaries by 10% and more for those over a £100k. Reduce tax, NI and Vat and simplify employment law. Of course, repeal the Climate Change Act and remove all subsidies for renewable energy, including retrospective legislation, legitimised by Australia's chancellor, Honest John Howard in 1983.
Alun Cairns is an excellent MP but sadly he will be lost as individual MPs are sacrificed in our oligarchic so called democracy.
Once again, best of luck.
All the best Mike. Congratulations on your appointment, from about as far away as you can get on our globe. And by the way. I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Lord Monckton when he visited here a week or so ago. What a fine gentleman he is.
Cheers,
nzrobin
Kudos mike and I'll pass on a helpful hint my dad told. He said son don't let the bastards get you down. Best to you in your new role. ;-)
The Greens propose that you withdraw your attack. In return they grants you title, estates, and this chest of gold which I am to pay to you personally.
Monckton, the "Scottish Sceptic"? I just saw a video of him speaking for the first time and he sounds about as Scottish as Idi Amin. He also seems to spout a continuous stream of half truths and outright falsehoods. If he's the best you've got, you are in trouble. I bet he does a good Marty Feldman impersonation though...
Typical BitBucket just typical. If you had Graves disease which is what I believe Monckton has, we could all make fun of you too couldn't we.
More congrats from NZ, Mike, and 'lang may your lum reek'.
My country has strong familial links with Scotland - the biggest section of every phone book here is the 'Mcs, Macs' and I share that heritage through my mother's line..
Most of our politicians have succumbed to the AGW nonsense, but there are notable exceptions and very slowly there is hope breaking out everywhere.
BitBucket, I know it is counterproductive to feed trolls, but Christopher Monkton has a long history of debating all comers on the topic and is always careful to be accurate and to stick to the known facts. Your disgusting comments reveal your ignorance and your essential nastiness.
I ask BitBucket to state exactly what Monckton has said that is false.....
"... the route cause..."?
Shurely they meant: "... the ROOT cause ..."
Who does these press releases?
A point I have tried to make with my own MP is that no-one on the public pay-roll contributes in any way to the wealth of the country; even their taxes are, in effect, paid for by the privately-employed tax-payer. The reason that public jobs historically tended to be less well-paid than equivalent private positions is because of security of the position and the comfortable pension; bizarrely, the remuneration has been reversed. What sense is that? It’s as daft as getting the less well-off to pay an already-rich land-owner shed-loads of money so that he can make even more money by doing nothing but allow someone to use their land for over-expensive production of a simple commodity – I mean, who would think of such a stupid scheme?.... Oh. Yes. That’s right. They are already doing that.
BitBucket, you really are showing your mental age, using arguments that many a thirteen-year-old would cringe at; judging a book by its cover its generally a very poor form of judgement. Prove your worth: enlighten us as to what these half-truths and outright falsehoods are.
Congratulations Mike. I Often read your items on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/ClimateEnergyUK/
I've said it before, and unfortunately I'll no doubt say it again. Ignore the troll BitBucket and his nasty, snide remarks. He's getting as bad as zebedee. It is a sign of desperation when the trolls have to behave this way. I guess they wish they had someone who could speak as convincingly and as eloquently as the Viscount. Instead, all they have is troughers to speak for them.
It may seem rather off-topic, but I had a rather epiphanic moment preparing a comment on WUWT (am I allowed to name other sites?). This video does explain what could actually be behind the whole charade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4yOAadmUcU
Please be patient with it; the dull start hides a powerful truth.
Oddnojob
Microsoft WORD spellchecker?
BitBucket - I went to a debate in Brisbane a few years ago. Monckton, Prof Barry Book, Prof Ian Plimer and Mr Graham Readfearn. Unusual in Oz, an even split of views. About two hours consisting of a presentation from each then challenges from each followed by questions from the audience. Book is a climate "consensus" scientist who is also an advocate of nuclear was very good and as far as debating went pipped Monckton by a nose. Plimer was half a length behind and Readfearn, an environme ntal correspondent from a MSN was an idiot and embarrasment and didn't get out of the barrier let alone come last. He seemed to think the strength of his argument depended on how many times he could fit "denier" in a sentence. You could see Prof Book wincing as Readfearn rambled on.
So you have seen a video. Well done. However maybe you should attend in person a genuine and lengthy debate before gobbing off about something you have seen in a video.
I know DNFTT, but he hasn't read the article, in the same way he doesn't read references because he knows, with the arrogance of youth, that he is correct and everyone else is wrong.
Mike Haseler = Scottish Sceptic = UKIP's climate change spokesman for Scotland.
Lord Monckton = Lord Christopher Monckton who already sits on UKIP's National Executive Committee
Therefore Scottish Sceptic and Lord Monckton are not the same person.
I don't know whether Mike Haseler has a Scottish accent but of course an accent doesn't prove nationality.
Oddnojob, SandyS - shurely shome mishtake.
h/t William Deedesh
Will the Scottish media pay much attention to Mike Haseler and UKIP's climate change policies or will they deliberately ignore them?
Radical Rodent,
It's the other way around. The reason you pay your public servants well is to, partly, reduce the risk of corruption etc.
Sadly when you have over 6 million public servants in the UK this probably well and truly destroys any benefit to paying well because suddenly it's become a "right" and not a privilege to work for Her Majesty.
Regards
Mailman
@GrantB ....
thanks for the info, but it is Barry Brook ...
the professor started bravenewclimate.com, always worth a visit ...
Radical;
While the video explains the clamour to be aboard the bandwagon we must not forget that it is being hauled by the gravy train.Decoupling via policy change is the answer and I wish Mike Haseler every success.
Well done Mike. We in europe wish you success.
More power to his elbow.
I am not sure "bird mincers" should continue to form part of his rhetoric vocabulary now he is in politics, though!
This is where it gets serious.
Richard Carney ............ Governor of the Bank of England.
He is not English although he speaks it and French.
So what's your point? [snip].
Nastiness = humour so far as Bitbucket is concerned. Several times previously, when challenged on his nastiness, he's said it was humour.
BB: What makes you so bitter and twisted?
When you make a joke about the symptoms of someone's ailment it says lots about your attitude to people.
Stephen Richards
Not sure to whom you are referring but as far as I'm concerned the accent nor the place of birth really important or relevant.
@jack savage
'I am not sure "bird mincers" should continue to form part of his rhetoric vocabulary now he is in politics, though!'
I profoundly disagree.
Too much of politics is conducted in identical anodyne techno/bureaucratic language by identical anodyne techno/bureaucrats. That is partly why we have arrived - step by boring step - in the mess we are in.
Part of UKIP's appeal is that it eschews such emollient pap and tells it like it is.
More power to Mike's elbow!
Do keep up, SandyS
Congratulations, Mike, from this Scottish sceptic and UKIP supporter.
Latimer:
I agree. There's no point beating about the bush and speaking in a politically correct language. Let's call a spade a spade and a wind turbine a useless bird mincer. The general public is fed up of being told how to think and how to speak.
It is noticeable that the two 'hot properties' in British politics ' - Dear Leader Nige and Mayor BoJo - are both slightly larger than life characters, both with the gift of the gab and both ploughing their own furrow pretty much unconcerned about gaining the approval (or disapproval) of the chattering classes.
They both have shown great popular appeal where it matters - at the ballot box.
We want and need robust and combative politics..not the sterilised, Health and Safety approved, warning notice applied, don't upset the children stuff that we have become so used to.
Well done Mike!
Scotland may have the world’s most idiotic climate-related legislation, but it also has some doughty fighters against such idiocy. The valiant viscount being foremost amongst them, and now Mike is there to deploy his deep grasp not only of climate and energy issues but also of Scottish politics and administration. Good news indeed.
As far as I'm concerned.Mike Haseler speaks not just for Scotland but for all of Britain.
UKIP, however: must be more clear on their support for pragmatic and sensible energy policies.
UKIP - ie it must make it clear and make more effort to promote - that, a vote for UKIP means the end of bird-mincers, feed in subsidy, solar arrays, an end to the double-dealing dishonesty of the climate change act and all that, that stupid piece of legislation entails.
Make hay Mike Haseler! The country
needscries out for - your common sense honesty, critical mind and eye.Nice one Mike - and it was good to see that Nigel Farage was on BBC this am confronted by Vine and in a frank exchange on Nigel's part wiped the floor with him (in an urbane and gentlemanly manner of course!).
I'll add my congratulations as well.
I'm not a big UKIP fan but it's refreshing to see at least one UK political party prepared to buck this particular trend and I can't off-hand think of a better person to carry the banner.
I hope you've got the stamina for it; you'll need it.
ducdorleans - correct. Prof Barry Brook rather than Book. Should learn to over rule my spell suggester. Nevertheless I was most impressed by his presentation even if I didn't agree with his predictions of climate sensitivity. However times have changed in that respect. Unfortunately it is idiots such as the Lew who get the attention of the press in Oz rather than Prof Brook.
Thanks everyone and sorry I have not been able to post earlier.
The day started with a phone call at 8am and the statement "you better go read the paper". It's been a bit hectic since. The good thing is that the UKIP message on renewables (driven by EU policy) and climate have had their first real airing in the Scottish press, but unfortunately some of my blog entries were taken out of context to create a headline.
Just picking a few comments:
G.Watkins ... yes agree, It was Labour's profligate over-spending got us into this mess.
BitBucket ... I am not sure if you are familiar with Scotland but we are quite a diverse place. The Glaswegian accent is different from Aberdeen or from Edinburgh or from the highlands and we are very used to the England accent on TV. Accent isn't that big an issue here.
Roy: "Will the Scottish media pay much attention to Mike Haseler and UKIP's climate change policies or will they deliberately ignore them?" + Latimer: ... my (out of context) comments were referred to on the front page. My daughter laughed at the picture they used.
John Shade. It is really great seeing so many people lending their support. We are already hearing talk of addressing people's concern on wind from the Tories and the SNP have likewise started talking with wind groups. The talk is of change. But then again they talked about a referendum on the EU and look what happened on that.
Athelstan. ... thanks, but I am the Scottish Spokesman.
Well done, Mike.
UKIP certainly has my support over the three almost identical parties with their three almost identical leaders (all of whom had meteoric rises in their respective parties with precious few abilities to warrant it!!!)
And in Scotland too with SNP Salmond touting for 'independence' when such is impossible when being part of the EU of which he is an adamant supporter!! Politics is so full of hypocrisy.
Marion. yes, independence "in Europe" is a nonsense, because being in Europe means handing over sovereignty to Eurocrats as the EU diktat on renewables show.
May 5, 2013 at 3:41 AM | BitBucket
What an erudite and well constructed argument. Well done and thank you for your contribution.
Hi Mike,
Perhaps you'd like to remember that wonderful quote of Alex Salmond's
"At the end of the day, you know, no man can tether time nor tide, and certainly you can’t control the elements. I am very sad that a decent man, a competent minister has been forced to resignation because of the extremities of the climate"
when you ask him if that is the case then why on earth is he sacrificing the Scottish economy on the premise that they can!!!
http://omnologos.com/tag/alex-salmond/
(And thanks to omnologos for that excellent post!)
To those who question my suggestion that Monckton is less than scrupulously honest, there is a link to a video of him on the latest post at Rabett Run. In this, in the first eight minutes he has already claimed that environmentalists and ex-Marxists bent on shutting down the West and has implied that they are Soviet plants. He's ridiculed the idea of sustainability using a comparison with sunlight (ok, this might be a joke), suggested environmentalists want no change and are conservative (does that fit with wanting to shut down the west...) and in almost the same breath suggested they want a return to an agrarian society. By the time I stopped watching he was accusing them of mass murder with regard to malaria and Silent Spring.
If this is your idea of someone who values the truth, then you are as deluded as he is. UKIP deserves him and you.
SandyS, why does it say, "I often felt that Lord Christopher Monckton really deserved to be called 'the Scottish Sceptic' and I look forward to working closer with him in UKIP"?
Phillip Bratby, " as convincingly and as eloquently as the Viscount"? Are you serious? The only people this guy convinces are people like you lot who have already lost their sense of the ridiculous. You people might flock to see him but its only because he confirms the ranting of those inner voices that normal people don't hear.
Mike Jackson, you'll be sad to hear this, but you've gone up in my estimation (for not being UKIP).
@bitbucket
You claimed - and were challenged on - Monckton's use of 'outright falsehoods'
You are of course perfectly at liberty to dislike/disagree with his rhetoric.
But you haven't pointed to any 'outright falsehoods' in his presentation.
Can you do so? Or is your claim of 'outright falsehoods' itself an outright falsehood?
BB
Since my estimation of your estimation of anything is that it is bordering on worthless I don't give a FF for your opinion of me one way or the other.
So far your general behaviour on this thread only serves to make my opinion of you even lower — assuming that it possible.
Monckton is the 'valiant viscount' as far as I am concerned. He has done heroic work to explain and expose the feeble case for alarm over carbon dioxide, and he has done so often with impressive verve as well as with meticulous attention to the details.
I hope the appointment of Mike will increase the chances of a speaking tour by Monckton (and Mike) in Scotland. Australia, America, and New Zealand have all enjoyed such tours, so why not God's own country?
I believe that they sell BB guns in the USA and in these days of being able to buy anything online surely here is an opportunity for us to save the planet?
At last BH has political representation ^.^
Many congratulations Mike.
Latimer Adler, oh you want to play the "prove it" game. Well, how about the children in Africa are continuing to die from Malaria, "because the left wants them to". If that is no an outright falsehood in your book then your book is a strange one.
Mike Jackson, I love you too.
Congratulations for Mike Haseler. The statement at the end of the press release is worth it's weight in gold. That's what a statesman sounds like. There is reason for optimism.
one minor criticism: "route cause" should read "root cause."
Congratulations Mike. Your posts have always made interesting reading. UKIP have a very knowledgeable and thoughtful spokesperson on climate and this can only be a good thing in getting the message of climate sceptics out. Best of luck with the role.
Well done Mike - and all the more those who have appointed you.
It's going to be fascinating to see what role energy and climate now play in the national debate. What is certain is that UKIP has taken a great leap forward - the biggest for a small party since the Second World War - and they are the only ones talking sense on something crucial for our future. And I would have voted to leave the EU since 1976. All the very best.
...it's weight in gold. That's what a statesman sounds like. There is reason for optimism.
one minor criticism: "route cause" should read "root cause."
May 5, 2013 at 4:55 PM theduke
And another minor criticism: "its" is the possessive of "it", not "it's".
Just as "hers" is the possessive of "her".