Monday 28 March 2011

Former chancellor in climate change row

Former chancellor Nigel Lawson, now Lord Lawson, is said to have infuriated the government's chief scientific adviser over climate change claims in a book.

Lord Lawson, who is chair of climate change-sceptic group Global Warming Policy Foundation, wrote An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming.

In it he argues that there has been no "further global warming since the turn of the century", that urbanisation raises near-surface temperatures and might be responsible for climate change, and that data from the developing world on temperature was not reliable.

But Sir John Beddington is said to have written to Lord Lawson, stating that a number of his points are "incorrect or misleading" and accusing him of making "meaningless" comparisons to prove his arguments.

Lord Lawson told yesterday's Observer newspaper that he "wasn't upset in the slightest" by Prof Beddington's claims, adding that the chief scientist had "missed the point".

"Moreover, so far as my book is concerned, he was … unable to find a single thing in it that was factually inaccurate," he added.