View source for Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley

{{Short description|British peer (born 1952)}}
{{Redirect|Christopher Monckton|the musician and travel agent|Christopher J. Monckton}}
{{Redirect|Lord Monckton|other people titled Lord Monckton}}
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{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley
| image            = Monckton-washington-09.jpg
| image_size       = 220px
| caption          = Monckton in 2009
|office            = Deputy Leader of the [[UK Independence Party]]
|leader            = [[The Lord Pearson of Rannoch]]<br />[[Nigel Farage]]
|term_start        = 3 June 2010
|term_end          = 8 November 2010
|predecessor       = [[David Campbell Bannerman]]
|successor         = [[Paul Nuttall]]
| office2           = Leader of the [[UK Independence Party|Scottish <br /> UK Independence Party]]
| leader2           = [[Nigel Farage]]
| term_start2       = 10 January 2013
| term_end2         = 1 December 2013
| predecessor2      = [[The Lord Pearson of Rannoch]]
| successor2        = [[David Coburn (politician)|David Coburn]]
| birth_name       =
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1952|2|14|df=y}}
| birth_place      =
| education        = MA in classics, 1974; diploma in journalism studies
| alma_mater       = [[Churchill College, Cambridge]]<br />[[University College, Cardiff]]
| occupation       = Politician, journalist
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (before 2009)<br />[[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] (2009–present)
| spouse           = Juliet Mary Anne Malherbe Jensen
| parents          = [[Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley|Gilbert Monckton]]<br />Marianna Letitia Bower
| relatives        = [[Rosa Monckton]] (sister)
}}
'''Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley''' (born 14 February 1952) is a British public speaker and [[hereditary peer]]. He is known for his work as a journalist, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] political advisor, [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] political candidate, and for his invention of the mathematical puzzle ''[[Eternity puzzle|Eternity]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Eternity puzzle solved|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/953316.stm|work=BBC News|date=2 October 2000|access-date=20 July 2010}}</ref>
Early on in his public speaking career topics centred on his mathematical puzzle and conservative politics. In recent years, his public speaking has garnered attention due to his [[denial of climate change]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Climate deniers to send film to British schools|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climate-deniers-to-send-film-to-british-schools-396895.html|work=The Independent|date=2 October 2007|access-date=20 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Climate chaos? Don't believe it|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1533290/Climate-chaos-Dont-believe-it.html|work=Telegraph|author=Christopher Monckton|date=4 November 2006|access-date=20 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Wrong problem, wrong solution|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1533912/Wrong-problem-wrong-solution.html|author=Christopher Monckton|work=Telegraph|date=12 November 2006|access-date=20 July 2010}}</ref><ref name=guardian11aug2010>{{cite news|title=Lords distance themselves from climate sceptic Christopher Monckton|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/11/lords-climate-christopher-monckton|author=Leo Hickman|work=The Guardian|date=11 August 2010|access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref> and his views on the [[European Union]]<ref name=euro>"'I'm bad at doing what I'm told. I'm a born free-thinker' – The 5-Minute Interview", ''The Independent'', 24 August 2007</ref> and [[social policy]].
==Personal life==
Monckton is the eldest son of Major-General [[Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley]] (1915–2006), and Marianna Letitia, Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley ({{nee}} Bower; 1929–2022), one-time [[High Sheriff of Kent]] and [[Dame of Malta]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Heart of Kent Hospice patron Marianna, Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley, has died |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/viscountess-and-hospice-patron-dies-270094/ |website=Kent Online |date=11 July 2022 |access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref> He has three brothers, Timothy, Jonathan and Anthony, and a sister, [[Rosa Monckton, Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest|Rosa, Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest]], wife of journalist [[Dominic Lawson]].{{cn|date=July 2022}}
Monckton was educated at [[Harrow School]] and [[Churchill College, Cambridge]], where he received a B.A. (Classics, 1974, now M.A.), and at [[Cardiff University|University College, Cardiff]], where he obtained a diploma in journalism studies. In 1990, he married Juliet Mary Anne Malherbe Jensen.
Monckton is a liveryman of the [[Worshipful Company of Broderers]], an [[Venerable Order of Saint John|Officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem]], a [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta]], and a member of the Roman Catholic Mass Media Commission. He is also a qualified Day Skipper with the [[Royal Yachting Association]], and has been a trustee of the Hales Trophy for the [[Blue Riband]] of the Atlantic since 1986.<ref name="whoswho">''Who's Who 2007'', p. 1599</ref>
On the death of his father in 2006 Monckton inherited the title [[Viscount Monckton of Brenchley]], but owing to the [[House of Lords Act 1999]] he did not gain a seat in the [[House of Lords]].
==Career==
===Journalism===
Monckton joined the ''[[Yorkshire Post]]'' in 1974 at the age of 22, where he worked as a reporter and leader-writer. From 1977 to 1978, he worked at [[Conservative Central Office]] as a press officer, becoming the editor of the Roman Catholic newspaper ''[[The Universe (Catholic newspaper)|The Universe]]'' in 1979, then managing editor of ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' magazine in 1981. He joined the London ''[[Evening Standard]]'' newspaper as a leader-writer in 1982.<ref name="whoswho"/> After a hiatus in his career as a journalist Monckton became assistant editor of the newly established, and now defunct, tabloid newspaper ''[[Today (UK newspaper)|Today]]'' in 1986. He was a consulting editor for the ''[[Evening Standard]]'' from 1987 to 1992 and was its chief leader-writer from 1990 to 1992.<ref name="whoswho"/>
Since 2002 Monckton has had several newspaper articles published critical of the [[IPCC]] and [[scientific consensus on climate change]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8210739/The-climate-bugaboo-is-the-strangest-intellectual-aberration-of-our-age.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220120728/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8210739/The-climate-bugaboo-is-the-strangest-intellectual-aberration-of-our-age.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 December 2010|title=The climate bugaboo is the strangest intellectual aberration of our age|author=Christopher Monckton|work=The Telegraph|date=17 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1533290/Climate-chaos-Dont-believe-it.html|title=Climate chaos? Don't believe it|author=Christopher Monckton|work=The Telegraph|date=5 November 2006}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2014}}
===Entrepreneurship===
In 1995, Monckton and his wife opened Monckton's, a shirt shop in [[King's Road]], Chelsea.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Undie-Serving Rich|work=Evening Standard|date=10 November 1995}}</ref>
In 1999, Monckton created and published the [[Eternity puzzle]], a geometric puzzle that involved tiling a [[dodecagon]] with 209 irregularly shaped [[polygon]]s called "[[polydrafter]]s". A £1 million prize was won after 18 months by two Cambridge mathematicians.<ref name="bbcwin">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/992393.stm|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News Online|title=£1m Eternity jackpot scooped|date=26 October 2000}}</ref> By that time, 500,000 puzzles had been sold. Monckton launched the [[Eternity II puzzle]] in 2007, but, after the four-year prize period, no winner came forward to claim the $2 million prize.
Monckton is a director of Resurrexi Pharmaceutical. It asserts it is "responsible for invention and development of a broad-spectrum cure for infectious diseases." In the BBC documentary, "Meet the Sceptics" (2011), he claimed to have cured himself of [[Graves' disease]].<ref>Rupert Murray [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y5j3v "Meet the Climate Sceptics"], ''[[Storyville (TV series)|Storyville]]'', 3 February 2011.</ref> UKIP's CV for Monckton claims that his methods have produced cures for [[multiple sclerosis]], [[influenza]], and [[herpes]], as well as reducing the viral load of an [[HIV]] patient.<ref name=UKIPbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1675-christopher-a-man-of-many-talents |title=Christopher: A man of many talents |publisher=UKIP.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608023401/http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1675-christopher-a-man-of-many-talents |archive-date=8 June 2010 |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref> In an interview with Australia's [[Radio National]], Monckton said that his methods had had some initial successes but "we cannot claim that we can cure anything".<ref>{{Citation|last=Carlisle|first=Wendy|publication-date=17 July 2011|title=The Lord Monckton Roadshow|series=Background Briefing|date=13 July 2011|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|publication-place=Australia|at=46min 48sec|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/the-lord-monckton-roadshow/2923400|access-date=2 September 2012<!--|format=Radio broadcast-->|format=Transcription and podcast}}</ref>
===Political career===
====Political advisor to the Conservative Party====
In 1979, Monckton met [[Alfred Sherman]], who co-founded the pro-Conservative [[think tank]] the [[Centre for Policy Studies]] (CPS) with [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Keith Joseph]] in 1974. Sherman asked Monckton to take the minutes at the CPS's study group meetings.<ref name="Cockett">{{cite book|last=Cockett|first=Richard|title=Thinking the unthinkable: think tanks and the economic counter-revolution 1931–1983 |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-00-637586-9}}</ref> Monckton subsequently became the secretary for the centre's economic, forward strategy, health and employment study groups.<ref name="Seldon">{{cite book|title=Ideas and think tanks in contemporary Britain, Volume 2 |pages=59, 62 |author1=Kandiah, Michael|author2=Seldon, Anthony |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7146-4771-5}}</ref> He wrote a paper on the privatisation of [[council housing]] by means of a rent-to-mortgages scheme that brought him to the attention of Downing Street.<ref name="Cockett" /> [[Ferdinand Mount]], the head of the [[Number 10 Policy Unit]] and a former CPS director, brought Monckton into the Policy Unit in 1982.<ref name="Seldon" /> He was recruited as a domestic specialist with responsibilities for housing and parliamentary affairs,<ref name="Tory project">{{cite news |title=Tory project to phase out council houses|work=The Times|date=6 December 1982 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Policy unit at full strength|work=The Times|date=6 November 1984}}</ref> working alongside Mount and Peter Shipley<ref>{{cite news|title=Two more advisers at No 10|work=The Times|date=25 November 1982}}</ref> on projects such as the phasing out of council housing.<ref name="Tory project" /> He left the unit in 1986 to join the ''Today'' newspaper.<ref name="Seldon" /><ref name="Womersley">{{cite news|last=Womersley|first=Tara|title=Puzzle inventor sells £1m home to Chanel model|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1312292/Puzzle-inventor-sells-1m-home-to-Chanel-model.html|date=22 June 2001|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>
Monckton has said that he served as science adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during his years with the Number 10 Policy Unit, and that "it was I who—on the prime minister's behalf—kept a weather eye on the official science advisers to the government, from the chief scientific adviser downward."<ref name="Ward">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/22/thatcher-climate-sceptic-monckton|title=Thatcher becomes latest recruit in Monckton's climate sceptic campaign|last=Ward|first=Bob|date=22 June 2010|access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> [[John Gummer]], who was Environment Minister under Thatcher said Monckton was "a bag carrier in Mrs Thatcher's office. And the idea that he advised her on climate change is laughable."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/british-mp-calls-for-a-carbon-tax/3014168|title=British MP calls for a carbon tax|publisher=ABC|location=Australia|date=21 March 2011|access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> Writing in ''The Guardian'', Bob Ward of the [[Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment]] notes that Thatcher's memoirs, ''The Downing Street Years'', do not mention Monckton and refer to George Guise as her science advisor.<ref name="Ward"/>
====Standing in by-elections for the House of Lords====
Monckton inherited a peerage after the passing of the [[House of Lords Act 1999]],<ref name="Original_act">{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/ukpga_19990034_en_1|title=House of Lords Act 1999 (original text)|date=11 November 1999 |access-date=21 May 2008}}</ref> which provided that "[n]o-one shall be a member of the [[House of Lords]] by virtue of a hereditary peerage".<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jul/18/climate-monckton-member-house-lords|title=Climate sceptic Lord Monckton told he's not member of House of Lords|last=Hickman|first=Leo|date=18 July 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=18 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="houseoflords">{{cite press release |title=Letter to Viscount Monckton of Brenchley from the Clerk of the Parliaments |publisher=[[House of Lords]] |date=15 July 2011 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2011/july/letter-to-viscount-monckton/ |access-date=9 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101000000/http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2011/july/letter-to-viscount-monckton/ |archive-date=1 January 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Monckton stood unsuccessfully in four by-elections for vacant seats created by deaths among the 92 hereditary peers remaining in the Lords after the 1999 reforms. He first stood for a Conservative seat in a March 2007 by-election, and was among 31 of 43 candidates who received no votes.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/holnotice070307.pdf | title=Conservative Hereditary Peers' By-election, March 2007: Result | publisher=British Parliament | date=7 March 2007 | access-date=13 April 2013 }}</ref> He subsequently stood in the [[crossbencher|crossbench]] by-elections of May 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/byelectionresults080522.pdf |title=Crossbench Hereditary Peers' By-election, May 2008: Result |date=22 May 2008}}</ref> July 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/byelectionresults090715.pdf |title=Results: Crossbench hereditary Peers' by-election following the death of Viscount Bledisloe |date=15 July 2009 |access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> and June 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-information-office/crossbench-byelection-results.pdf |title=Results: Crossbench Hereditary Peers' by-election|date=23 June 2010 |access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> again receiving no votes. He was highly critical of the way the Lords was reformed, describing the procedure in the March 2007 by-election, with 43 candidates and 47 electors, as "a bizarre constitutional abortion."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/feb/24/conservatives.lords | title=Born to run: There are 47 voters, 43 candidates, and the race to be elected a hereditary Tory peer is on. Is this democracy at last in the House of Lords? | last=Beckett | first=Andy | work=The Guardian| date=24 February 2007 | access-date=30 April 2008}}</ref>
====Spokesperson and candidate for UK Independence Party====
Monckton joined the [[United Kingdom Independence Party|UK Independence Party]] (UKIP) in 2009 and became its chief spokesperson on climate change.<ref name="Vaughan 11 Dec">{{cite news|last=Vaughan|first=Adam|title=In denial: Lord Monckton's climate change rant at activists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/dec/11/climate-change-denial-lord-monckton|date=11 December 2009|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=26 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="BBC News 25-06-2012">{{cite news|title=Viscount Monckton warned off Lords membership claim|date=18 July 2011|access-date=25 June 2012|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14190400}}</ref> At the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] he was nominated as the UKIP candidate for the Scottish constituency of [[Perth and North Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Perth and North Perthshire]]; although a hereditary peer, he was entitled to stand for election for the House of Commons as he is not a member of the House of Lords. He subsequently withdrew in accordance with UKIP's policy of not opposing other Eurosceptic parliamentary candidates.<ref name="Hickman" /> In June 2010, UKIP announced he had been appointed its deputy leader, to serve alongside [[David Campbell Bannerman]]<ref name="UKIP-Lord Monckton">{{cite web|title=Lord Monckton is new deputy leader|url=http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1666-lord-monckton-is-new-deputy-leader|date=3 June 2010|publisher=UK Independence Party|access-date=7 July 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530193059/http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1666-lord-monckton-is-new-deputy-leader|archive-date=30 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> under party leader [[The Lord Pearson of Rannoch]], who owns an estate in Scotland adjoining Monckton's.<ref name="Guardian-22-06-2012">{{cite news|title=Rio+20 summit: the final day as it happened|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/jun/22/rio-20-summit-final-day-live-blog|work=The Guardian|date=22 June 2012|access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> He was succeeded in the role of deputy leader by [[Paul Nuttall]] in November 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1972-nec-unanimous-on-new-ukip-team|title=NEC unanimous on new UKIP team|date=8 November 2010|access-date=25 June 2012|publisher=UK Independence Party|archive-date=16 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416004523/http://www.ukip.org/content/latest-news/1972-nec-unanimous-on-new-ukip-team|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2011 he stood as lead party-list candidate for UKIP in the Scottish Parliament constituency of [[Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Mid Scotland and Fife]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukip.org/scotland/articles/903-invitation-to-stirling-on-sun-3-april-2011|title=Invitation to Stirling on Sun 3 April 2011|publisher=[[UKIP]]|date=31 March 2011|access-date=15 April 2011|archive-date=13 September 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913163629/http://www.ukip.org/scotland/articles/903-invitation-to-stirling-on-sun-3-april-2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> but did not gain election, with the UKIP list coming seventh after scoring 1.1% of the region's vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&p2sid=C589BDD5-E102-906C-796DBA48E80CF9FD&themeid=2B892409-722D-4F61-B1CC-7DE81CC06A90|title=Scottish parliamentary results 2011|publisher=Fife Council|access-date=25 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216020229/http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&p2sid=C589BDD5-E102-906C-796DBA48E80CF9FD&themeid=2B892409-722D-4F61-B1CC-7DE81CC06A90|archive-date=16 December 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Monckton also headed UKIP's policy unit for a while but according to the party's spokesman he had relinquished any formal role by June 2012, moving into a "semi-detached" relationship with UKIP.<ref name="Guardian-22-06-2012" /> By January 2013 he had become UKIP's president in Scotland<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jan/10/hugh-muir-diary-nigel-farage|title=Hugh Muir's Diary|last=Muir|first=Hugh|work=The Guardian|date=10 January 2013|access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> but was sacked by UKIP leader [[Nigel Farage]] in November 2013 following factional infighting.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/ukip-wiped-out-north-of-the-border-after-its-scots-leader-is-sacked.22833054|title=Ukip 'wiped out' north of the Border after its Scots leader is sacked|last=Hutcheon|first=Paul|work=The Herald|date=1 December 2013|access-date=11 December 2013}}</ref>
===Public speaking===
Since 2008 he has toured Britain, Ireland, the US, China, Canada, India, Colombia, South Africa, and Australia delivering talks to groups related to the subject of Climate Change.<ref name=publicspeaking>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliamentspeakers.com/Speaker/Christopher+Monckton++Viscount+Monckton+of+Brenchley|title=Christopher Monckton profile: Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (£8,000–£25,000)|publisher=Parliament Speakers}}</ref> As the Chief Policy Adviser for the US lobby group Science and Public Policy Institute he appeared at the [[Heartland Institute]]'s 2008 "International Conference on Climate Change".
In 2009–10 he was invited on four occasions before Congress to testify by Republican representatives. On 25 March 2009 he appeared before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, and in 2010 before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming invited by [[Jim Sensenbrenner]].<ref name=Congresstestimony>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/sep/21/climate-scientists-christopher-monckton|title='Chemical nonsense': Leading scientists refute Lord Monckton's attack on climate science|author=Leo Hickman|work=The Guardian|date=21 September 2010}}</ref> He followed this up with his January 2010 and July 2011 tours of Australia and New Zealand, as well as tours of China and India in December 2011. He was invited again to the US in 2012 by Republican [[Shannon Grove]] to speak before the California State Assembly<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/03/19/447678/california-gop-invite-hate-speech-promoter-lord-monckton-to-address-legislature|last=Romm|first=Joe|title=California GOP Invite Discredited Hate-Speech Promoter Lord Monckton To Address Legislature!|date=19 March 2012|newspaper=ThinkProgress.com}}</ref> and later in the year travelling to Australia at the invitation of Democratic Labor Party Senator [[John Madigan (Australian politician)|John Madigan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/571816/dlp-invites-climate-change-sceptic-lord-monckton-to-ballarat/|last=McIlroy|first=Tim|title=DLP invites climate change sceptic Lord Monckton to Ballarat|date=4 November 2012|newspaper=TheCourier.com.au}}</ref>
On 6 December 2012 Monckton took [[Burma]]'s seat at the [[2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference|COP18 Climate Change Conference]] in Doha without permission and made a short speech [[climate sceptic|attacking the idea of]] [[man-made climate change]]. He was escorted from the building and given a lifetime ban from attending UN climate talks. Monckton said that there had been no global warming over the last sixteen years, and thus the science should be reviewed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harvey |first=Fiona |author-link=Fiona Harvey |date=7 December 2012 |title=Ukip's Lord Monckton thrown out of Doha climate talks |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/dec/07/doha-climate-talks-ukip-lord-monckton |access-date=7 January 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
Between 2009 and 2010 the film maker [[Rupert Murray]] followed Monckton on his climate change tour. The film was later broadcast on 31 January 2011 on [[BBC Four]] titled ''Meet the Sceptics''. Prior to its broadcast its depiction of Monckton was described by fellow denialist [[James Delingpole]] as "another hatchet job"<ref name=bbc4>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100074116/meet-the-sceptics-another-bbc-stitch-up|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203003423/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100074116/meet-the-sceptics-another-bbc-stitch-up/|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 February 2011|title=Meet The Sceptics: another BBC stitch-up|author=James Delingpole|date=31 January 2011}}</ref> and Monckton's attempt to gain an injunction failed.<ref name=scepticinjunction>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/bbc-wins-battle-over-climate-show-2199930.html|title=BBC wins battle over climate show|agency=Associated Press|work=The Independent|date=31 January 2011}}</ref>
==Dispute over his non-membership of the House of Lords==
Monckton asserts that the [[House of Lords Act 1999]], that deprived him of a hereditary seat, is flawed and unconstitutional. In 2006 he referred to himself as "a member of the Upper House of the United Kingdom legislature" in a letter to US Senators,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf|title=Uphold Free Speech about Climate Change or Resign|publisher=Frontiers of Freedom|date=11 December 2006|access-date=17 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904190755/http://www.ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf|archive-date=4 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has said he was "a member of the Upper House but without the right to sit or vote."<ref>{{cite web|title=Questions from the Select Committee Concerning My Recent Testimony|last=Monckton|first=Christopher|date=14 July 2010|url=http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/answers_to_committee.html|publisher=Science & Public Policy Institute|access-date=13 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406055927/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/answers_to_committee.html|archive-date=6 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The House of Lords authorities have said Monckton is not and never has been a member and that there is no such thing as a non-voting or honorary member of the House.<ref name=guardian11aug2010/><ref name="Hickman">{{cite news|last=Hickman|first=Leo|title=Lord Monckton throws his safari helmet in the ring as Ukip candidate|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2010/apr/20/monckton-mp-general-election|date=20 April 2010|work=The Guardian}}</ref>
In July 2011 the House of Lords took the unprecedented step of publishing online a [[cease and desist]] letter to Monckton from the [[Clerk of the Parliaments]], which said: "I must repeat my predecessor's statement that you are not and have never been a Member of the House of Lords." It concluded, "I am publishing this letter on the parliamentary website so that anybody who wishes to check whether you are a Member of the House of Lords can view this official confirmation that you are not."<ref name="guardian"/><ref name="houseoflords"/>
==Views==
===Climate change===
Monckton advocates for [[climate change denial]],<ref name=monbiot>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/jun/08/monckton-gift-climate-denial|title=Monckton's climate denial is a gift to those who take the science seriously|author=George Monbiot|work=The Guardian|date=9 June 2010}}</ref><ref name=motherjones20091204>{{cite news |first=Josh |last=Harkinson |url=https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/12/dirty-dozen-climate-change-denial-10-lord-christopher-monckton |title=The Dirty Dozen of Climate Change Denial |magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |date=4 December 2009 |access-date=22 August 2015 |quote=Here's a guide to the dozen loudest components of the climate disinformation machine...Meet the 12 loudest members of the chorus claiming that global warming is a joke and that CO2 emissions are actually good for you.}}</ref> is a policy advisor to [[The Heartland Institute]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://heartland.org/about-us/who-we-are/lord-christopher-monckton|title=Policy advisor to the Heartland Institute|publisher=The Heartland Institute|date=28 September 2019}}</ref> and has stated that those who warn of the dangers of climate change should be jailed, calling them "bogus".<ref name=Bogus>[http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/the-lord-monckton-roadshow/2923400 Monckton's push for an Australia Fox News], by Graham Readfearn, at the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]; published 2 February 2012; retrieved 18 September 2017; ""So to the bogus scientists who have produced the bogus science that invented this bogus scare I say, we are coming after you. We are going to prosecute you, and we are going to lock you up."</ref> He does say a [[greenhouse effect]] exists,<ref>''Sunday Telegraph'', 5 November 2005</ref> and that [[carbon dioxide]] contributes to it, but claims there is no "causative link" from CO<sub>2</sub>-concentration to global average temperature.<ref name=monckton_sppi>{{cite web|url=http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/temperature_and_co2_change_briefing.html|title=Temperature Change and CO<sub>2</sub> Change – A Scientific Briefing|author=Christopher Monckton|publisher=scienceandpublicpolicy.org|date=7 January 2009|access-date=3 October 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415205646/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/temperature_and_co2_change_briefing.html|archive-date=15 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> He said the [[Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change]] underestimated the costs of [[climate change mitigation]] and overstated its benefits.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1533912/Wrong-problem-wrong-solution.html|title=Wrong problem, wrong solution|author=Christopher Monckton|work=The Telegraph|date=12 November 2006}}</ref> Monckton's opinions contradict the [[scientific opinion on climate change]],<ref name="The MIT Press">{{cite book|title= Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren|editor1-last= DiMento|editor1-first= Joseph F. C.|editor2-last= Doughman|editor2-first= Pamela M.|year= 2007|publisher= The MIT Press|isbn= 978-0-262-54193-0|pages= [https://archive.org/details/climatechangewha00dime/page/65 65–66]|contribution= The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: How Do We Know We're Not Wrong?|last= Oreskes|first= Naomi|author-link= Naomi Oreskes|url= https://archive.org/details/climatechangewha00dime/page/65}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|quote=The evidence for human influence on the climate system has grown since the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). It is extremely likely that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings together |publisher=IPCC |url=http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_SPMcorr2.pdf |title=CLIMATE CHANGE 2014: Synthesis Report. Summary for Policymakers |access-date=7 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227220848/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_SPMcorr2.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2015 }}</ref> where there is consensus for [[anthropogenic global warming]], and show a decisive link between carbon dioxide concentration and global average temperatures.
On 18 October 2008 Monckton posted online "More in Sorrow than in Anger, Open letter from The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley to Senator John McCain about Climate Science and Policy" after U.S. presidential candidate [[John McCain]] made a campaign speech at a wind farm in which he stated his belief in [[anthropogenic climate change]]. Monckton stated in interviews and on the web site of the Science and Public Policy institute that he was a [[List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates|Nobel Peace Prize laureate]]; he later stated that this had been a joke.<ref>{{cite web|last=Monckton|first=Christopher|title=More in Sorrow than in Anger, Open letter from The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley to Senator John McCain about Climate Science and Policy|url=http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/reprint/Letter_to_McCain.pdf|access-date=15 April 2016|publisher=[[Science and Public Policy Institute]]|archive-date=29 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229064858/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/reprint/Letter_to_McCain.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Michael E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HK0CN6FVtfgC|title=The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines|date=March 2012|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0-231-15254-9}}</ref><ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-diary/nobleman-is-no-nobel-man-20100125-muky.html] [[Sydney Morning Herald]]  16 January 2010 "Christopher Walter, the third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, has conceded that his claim to have won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 was a joke."</ref>
In 2009, [[John Abraham (professor)|John P. Abraham]] criticized Monckton's claims in a lecture at [[Bethel University (Minnesota)|Bethel University]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/jpabraham/global_warming/Monckton/Monckton%20Presentation%20June%2022/index.htm|title=Abraham presentation|publisher=University of St Thomas, Minnesota}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/jpabraham|title=John P. Abraham Published texts and Rebuttals to Monckton|author=John P. Abraham}}</ref> and Monckton filed disciplinary charges alleging academic dishonesty against Abraham.<ref name="monckton_cfact">{{cite web|last=Monckton|first=Christopher|title=Climate: The Extremists Join the Debate at Last!|url=http://cfact.eu/2010/06/04/climate-the-extremists-join-the-debate-at-last|access-date=3 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/monckton-warm-abra-qq2.pdf|title=Response to John Abraham|author=Christopher Monckton|publisher=WattsUpWithThat Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/jul/14/monckton-john-abraham|title=Monckton's response to John Abraham is magnificently bonkers|author=George Monbiot|work=The Guardian|date=14 July 2010}}</ref> The [[University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)|University of St Thomas]]'s lawyers wrote to Monckton that "The University of St Thomas respects your right to disagree with Professor Abraham, just as the University respects Professor Abraham's right to disagree with you. What we object to are your personal attacks against [[Dennis Dease|Father Dease]], and Professor Abraham, your inflammatory language, and your decision to disparage Professor Abraham, Father Dease, and The University of St Thomas."<ref>{{cite web|title=Correspondence between Lord Monckton and Prof. John Abraham, and the University of St Thomas|url=http://jonova.s3.amazonaws.com/monckton/warm-abraham-correspondence.doc|access-date=3 October 2011}}</ref> The latter was in response to an interview in which Monckton characterized Abraham as "a wretched little man," the university's president Dease as "a creep," and the University of St. Thomas as "a half-assed Catholic bible college".<ref>[http://m.startribune.com/local/99072699.html "Climate discussion heats up on the Web", ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', 22 July 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531034732/http://m.startribune.com/local/99072699.html |date=31 May 2015 }}</ref>
Monckton has also been criticised by [[science journalist]] and [[YouTuber]] [[Peter Hadfield (journalist)|Peter Hadfield]]. On his [[YouTube]] channel potholer54 in a series titled "Monckton Bunkum", Hadfield debunked Monckton's claim that the Earth had not been warming based on [[cherry picking]] of start and end points of the global temperature record,<ref>{{cite web |title=Monckton Bunkum Part 1 - Global cooling and melting ice |author=potholer54 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbW-aHvjOgM |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> his claim that [[climate sensitivity]] to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide is a third of what it actually is and his confusion of sensitivity with forcing,<ref>{{cite web |title=Monckton Bunkum Part 2 - Sensitivity |author=potholer54 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTY3FnsFZ7Q |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> and his claim that Himalayan glaciers had been stable for the past two centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monckton Bunkum Part 3 - Correlations and Himalayan glaciers |author=potholer54 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpF48b6Lsbo |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> Hadfield also showed how Monckton had misquoted the words of [[Kevin E. Trenberth]], Murari Lau, [[John Houghton (physicist)|Sir John Houghton]], and Justice [[Michael Burton (judge)|Michael Burton]] of the [[High Court of Justice]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Monckton Bunkum Part 4 -- Quotes and misquotes |author=potholer54 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3giRaGNTMA |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref> in addition to falsely claiming that the [[International Astronomical Union]] had concluded at a 2004 symposium that the Sun was responsible for the majority of recent global warming.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monckton bunkum Part 5 -- What, MORE errors, my lord? |author=potholer54 |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCyctTvuCo |access-date=4 July 2023}}</ref>
===Social and economic policy===
{{wikiquote|Christopher Monckton}}
One of Margaret Thatcher's policy advisors, Monckton was credited with being "the brains behind the Thatcherite policy of giving council tenants ([[public housing]]) the [[Right to buy scheme|right to buy their homes]]."<ref name="times031004">Leppard, David. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article489715.ece "Top Tory in a kilt hit by visa 'racket' case"]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''The Times'', 3 October 2004</ref> Monckton was a sponsor of the Conservative Family Campaign in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Persuaded to act otherwise|work=The Independent|date=3 April 1992}}</ref> Monckton has been associated with the [[Referendum Party]], advising its founder, Sir [[James Goldsmith]]. In 2003 he helped a Scottish Tory breakaway group, the [[The New Party (UK, 2003)|Scottish Peoples Alliance]].<ref name="times031004"/>
In 1988, ''Eddy Shah: Today and the Newspaper Revolution'' described Monckton as "a fervent, forthright and opinionated Roman Catholic Tory"<ref>MacArthur, Brian. ''Eddy Shah: Today and the Newspaper Revolution'', p. 154. David & Charles Publishers, 1988; {{ISBN|0-7153-9145-3}}</ref> who has been closely associated with the "[[New Right#United Kingdom|New Right]]" faction of the Conservative Party.<ref name="berridge">Virginia Berridge. ''AIDS in the UK: The Making of a Policy, 1981–1994'', p. 132. Oxford University Press, 1996; {{ISBN|0-19-820473-6}}</ref> In 1997, Monckton criticised works at the [[Fotofeis]] (the Scottish International Festival of Photography) and [[Sensation (exhibition)|Sensation]] as "feeble-minded, cheap, pitiable, exploitative [[sensationalism]] perpetrated by the talent-free and perpetuated by over-funded, useless, muddle-headed, middle-aged, pot-bellied, brewer's-droopy quangoes which a courageous Government would forthwith cease to subsidise with your money and mine."<ref>{{cite news|title=It is feeble-minded, exploitative sensationalism perpetrated by the talent-free|publisher=The Scotsman|date=23 September 1997|author=Christopher Monckton}}</ref>
===European integration===
Monckton has been a [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]], an opponent of [[European integration]]. In 1994, he sued the Conservative government of [[John Major]] for agreeing to contribute to the costs of the Protocol on Social Policy agreed in the 1993 [[Maastricht Treaty]], although the UK had an opt-out from the protocol. The case was heard in the Scottish [[Court of Session]] in May 1994. His petition for [[judicial review]] was dismissed by the court for want of relevancy.<ref>"Lawful for UK to contribute to European social policy costs – Scots Law report", ''The Times'', 12 May 1994</ref> In a 2007 interview he said he would "leave the [[European Union]], close down 90 per cent of government services and shift power away from the atheistic, humanistic government and into the hands of families and individuals."<ref name=euro/>
==Published works==
* ''The Laker Story'' (with Ivan Fallon). Christensen, 1982. {{ISBN|0-9508007-0-8}}
* ''Anglican Orders: null and void?''. Family History Books, 1986.
* ''The AIDS Report''. 1987
* ''European Monetary Union: opportunities and dangers.'' University of St. Andrews, Department of Economics. 1997
* ''Sudoku X''. Headline Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7553-1501-4}}
* ''Sudoku X-mas''. Headline Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7553-1502-2}}
* ''Sudoku Xpert''. Headline Publishing Group, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7553-1529-4}}
* ''Junior Sudoku X''. Headline Publishing Group, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7553-1528-6}}
* ''Sudoku Xtreme''. Headline Publishing Group, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7553-1530-8}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/200807/monckton.cfm |title=Climate Sensitivity Reconsidered |publisher= Forum on Physics and Society, American Physical Society |date=July 2008}}
[[Science and Public Policy Institute|The Science and Public Policy Institute]], of which Monckton is policy director, has published nine non-peer-reviewed articles by Monckton on climate-change science.<ref>[http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton_papers/ Science and Public Policy Institute – Monckton Papers<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928081117/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton_papers/ |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref>
==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg|centre|150px]] [[File:Monckton of Brenchley Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = 1st & 4th Sable on a chevron between three martlets Or three mullets Sable (Monckton) 2nd & 3rd Or a chevron Gules a chief Vair (St Quintin).
|crest = A martlet Or.
|supporters = On either side a horse Argent crined and unguled Or gorged with a chain Gold pendant therefrom an escutcheon Sable charged with a roses also Argent barbed and seeded Proper quartering St Quintin (Gules a chevron Or a chief Vair).
|badge = Within an annulet a martlet Or.
|motto = Famam Extendere Factis <ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1959}}</ref>}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Christopher Monckton}}
* [http://meteo.lcd.lu/globalwarming/Monckton/apocalypse_cancelled.pdf Apocalypse Cancelled] (PDF)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111104033417/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/greenhouse_warming_what_greenhouse_warming_.html Greenhouse warming? What greenhouse warming?] by Christopher Monckton
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070811104539/http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061121_gore.pdf Gore Gored] (PDF) Monckton's response to Gore
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2073267,00.html Monckton saves the day!], ''The Observer'', 6 May 2007
{{S-start}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{S-bef| before=[[Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley|Gilbert Monckton]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Viscount Monckton of Brenchley]] | years=2006–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{Succession box
| before = [[David Campbell Bannerman]]
| title  = Deputy Leader of the [[UK Independence Party]]
| years  = 2010
| after  = [[Paul Nuttall]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Current British viscounts}}
{{UKIP}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monckton of Brenchley, Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount}}
[[Category:Alumni of Cardiff University]]
[[Category:Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:British newspaper editors]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Knights of Malta]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) officials]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of St John]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:UK Independence Party politicians]]
[[Category:Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Greater London]]
[[Category:British Eurosceptics]]