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Richard Littlejohn

Credentials

Attended Deacon’s Grammar School.¹

Background

Richard Littlejohn is an English journalist, broadcaster, and author, who writes for the Daily Mail and has previously written for The Sun, The Spectator and the Evening Standard.² ³

Littlejohn is the author of several books, including ‘You Couldn’t Make it Up’ and ‘To Hell in a Handcart’, which was described by journalist David Aaronovitch as a “400 page recruiting pamphlet for the BNP.”⁴

In 2005, Littlejohn was featured in the Press Gazette’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 40 most influential journalists of the past four decades.⁵

He has regularly rejected mainstream climate science, referring to climate change as “the great global warming scam” and “pure fiction,” and to environmental activists as “alarmists,” in a Daily Mail article which was subsequently taken down, Carbon Brief reported.⁶

The UK’s most prominent climate science-denying organisation, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, has reposted opinion pieces by Littlejohn.⁷

Littlejohn has referred to Extinction Rebellion activists as “headbangers,” a “soap-dodging mob” and “misanthropic anarchists hellbent on destroying Western Capitalism.”⁸

He is also known for his controversial views on other subjects, having compared Jody MacIntyre, a 20 year old protester with cerebral palsy, to Andy Pipkin, a disabled character from comedy sketch series Little Britain. The incident prompted 500 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission. Littlejohn has also erroneously claimed that Haringey Council spent taxpayers’ money on hopscotch lessons for Asian women.⁹ ¹⁰

Stance on Climate Change

September 12, 2017

In an article for The Daily Mail satirising environmentalists, Littlejohn wrote:

“As Hurricane Irma leaves behind her trail of devastation in the Caribbean and Florida, the usual suspects are predictably blaming so-called ‘climate change’. But there’s nothing new about extreme weather events. Never mind the tropics, I wonder if the global warming alarmists bothered to read the story in Saturday’s Daily Mail about the great tsunami which hit Britain more than 1,000 years ago.”¹¹

June 15, 2012

Writing for the Daily Mail, Littlejohn disputed the existence of anthropogenic climate change, writing that, “the usual gullible loons have been bouncing up and down following my column on Tuesday about the Great Global Warming Lie,” continuing: “I’m accused of not knowing the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate’. It’s the line they always trot out when you point out the inconvenient truth about alleged ‘man-made climate change.’”¹²

Littlejohn disputed the accuracy of climate change predictions, stating: “But why should we believe long-term ‘climate’ predictions from global warming scaremongers like the Met Office when they can’t even get the weather forecast right from one week to the next?”

Littlejohn concluded that, “incidentally, 1998 is the last year in which the world was allegedly ‘warming.’”

November 4, 2009

In an article for The Daily Mail, Littlejohn stated that “the trouble with ‘man-made climate change’ is that it isn’t based on settled science, despite what the alarmists and their allies at The BBC would have us believe”, adding: “there is a welter of countervailing evidence that, far from warming up to boiling point, the Earth is actually getting cooler and the ice caps thicker.”¹³

Littlejohn also denigrated environmental activists, writing “what does seem patently apparent is that when you look at the assorted vested interests lined up on the ‘man-made’ side of the argument, you can’t help concluding that if all these opportunist politicians, madwomen, social engineers, sexual inadequates and quasi-communists agree then they are almost certainly wrong.”

Littlejohn characterised environmentalist policies as a pretext for authoritarian governance, stating: “Politicians, in particular, love the great ‘climate change’ scare because it takes them a step nearer to their fantasy of global government and allows them to impose an exciting array of new taxes, punishments and controls upon the peasants who pay their wages”, and “it has spawned a vast, self-perpetuating industry worth a fortune, of which the great ‘carbon offset’ scam is the most exploitative and ridiculous incarnation.”

Key Quotes

September 8, 2020

Writing for The Daily Mail, Littlejohn commented on Extinction Rebellion’s protests in London, stating that, “next time a gang of blaggers, armed with sawn-off Purdeys, robs a bank in Hertford — if they can find one still open — no doubt the Old Bill will give them six hours to make their getaway before opening ‘negotiations’ to retrieve the money. Or share it out on a fair and equitable basis.”¹⁴

Littlejohn also criticised the aims of both Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter, stating: “meanwhile, the rest of us can only look on in bemusement, with mounting frustration and anger as our history is torn down and energy policy is rewritten to appease the ‘climate emergency’ alarmists. We all want racial harmony and a cleaner, greener planet. But we don’t recognise the deliberately distorted portrait of our tolerant country as a racist hell-hole. Nor do we believe further shutting down our already Covid-crippled economy and taking us back to a romanticised agrarian age is the best way to save the polar bears.”

Littlejohn criticised the prospect of BLM and XR putting forward Parliamentary candidates, stating that, “despite the publicity their antics attract, they are about as representative of public opinion as the Monster Raving Loony Party. Yes, plenty of well-meaning, decent people, concerned about genuine racism and the environment, have rallied to their banners. But XR and BLM haven’t been hijacked by the Far Left. They are the Far Left — controlled by the same anarchists, communists and Toytown Trots behind every single agitprop gang of wreckers since the Seventies.”

August 31, 2020

In an article for The Daily Mail entitled, “Who needs Extinction Rebellion when we’ve got Grant Shapps?” Littlejohn criticised Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ imposition of a fine for motorists parking on pavements. Littlejohn criticised Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s “anti-car agenda,” which he claimed had “turned the centre of London into a ghost town by extending the already extortionate congestion charge, closing roads and widening pavements for non-existent shoppers.”¹⁵

The article concluded: “You wonder why XR are bothering. Thanks to the virus, they’ve won. Central London is deserted, and half the roads in the country are at a standstill already. Who needs Extinction Rebellion when we’ve got Grant Shapps?”

August 25, 2020

Writing for The Daily Mail, Littlejohn criticised environmentalist initiatives within the armed forces, stating, “having tried and failed to recruit millennials, the Army has decided to go green in a last vain attempt to attract the Greta Thunberg fan club. They are commissioning a new fleet of enviro-friendly vehicles designed to appeal to potential squaddies concerned about ‘climate change,’” adding:¹⁶

“What’s going to happen when their tanks run out of juice half-way up the Tora Bora mountains and there’s not a recharging point outside of Kabul? They’ll no doubt have green ammo to defend themselves, although plastic bullets are a non-starter, obviously.”

May 4, 2020

In an article for The Daily Mail, Littlejohn criticised an Extinction Rebellion protest against HS2, referring to Extinction Rebellion protestors as “the soap-dodging XR mob,” and asking: “Where are Boris’s water-cannons when we need them?”¹⁷

Littlejohn questioned the sincerity of Extinction Rebellion, writing: “They may affect to care about the ice caps and the ozone layer, but in reality they are just another bunch of misanthropic anarchists hellbent on destroying Western capitalism,” adding: “This isn’t so much Extinction Rebellion as Naked Exhibitionism.”

February 12, 2019

In an article for the Daily Mail, Littlejohn commented on a series of school walkouts that had occurred as a protest against inaction on climate change, writing that the participants, “are being egged on by the usual Rag, Tag and Bobtail army of self-styled, middle-class ‘green’ militants.”¹⁸

Littlejohn added: “You can’t blame the kids for teachers filling their heads with politically motivated drivel. I’m sure most of them would welcome any excuse to skip lessons for a few hours, especially if it can be dressed up as saving the polar bears,” and: “You’d expect these headbangers to be all in favour of brainwashing schoolkids and encouraging them to strike. What you might not expect is to find the National Association of Head Teachers supporting the action.”

Key Actions

October 3, 2020

Littlejohn wrote an article for the Daily Mail entitled, “As eco-warriors plan to bring London to a standstill yet again, it’s time to bring back the water cannon,” in which he described Extinction Rebellion protestors as “a bunch of ecomaniacs,” and their actions as a “daft stunt…aimed at bringing London to a standstill.”¹⁹

Littlejohn continued: “Make no mistake, eco-fascism is the new religion. Not for the first time, I find myself quoting Chesterton: When people stop believing in God they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.”

Littlejohn disputed the premise of climate change protests and policies intended to decarbonise the economy, writing: “The Government has already gone beyond the call of duty, pledging unrealistic targets for decarbonising the economy. What do they expect ministers to do in response to another two weeks of disruption — close all fossil-fuel power stations and ban all cars tomorrow? No, although I’m sure the deluded hardline tree-huggers who turned out at the Treasury really do believe they can change the world. Then again, so did the Baader-Meinhof gang.”

Littlejohn also condoned punitive punishments for Extinction Rebellion protestors, writing: “Of course, in light of yesterday’s stunt at the Treasury, the great irony is that ever since Boris, as London mayor, was forced by Mother Theresa to get rid of his water cannon, we can’t even turn the fire hoses on them. Makes you proud to be British.”

February 21, 2020

Littlejohn wrote an article for The Daily Mail commenting on a series of floods which had hit the UK during Storm Ciara. He blamed the floods on “homegrown eco-mentalists who refuse to dredge rivers — in order to provide a congenial breeding ground for the Depressed River Mussel and other assorted wildlife — and the lunacy of building on flood plains to provide homes for a population swelled by unlimited immigration.”²⁰

June 12, 2012

Littlejohn wrote an opinion article for the Daily Mail, reposted by the GWPF, entitled, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, that’ll be global warming”. In it, he stated that, “G.K. Chesterton wrote memorably that when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything. Never has that been more true than in the case of those who worship at the altar of global warming.”²¹

Littlejohn disputed the existence of anthropogenic climate change, writing: “If the great global warming lie was confined to the usual weird beards and dope-addled hippies left over from the Woodstock Generation, none of this would matter much. But ‘climate change’ has been appropriated by big business and big government for their own ends.”

He added: “Politicians quickly seized on it as a way to expand their own empires, pass new laws and levy an exciting new range of fines and taxes. Here in Britain, Westminster remains in thrall to the green lobby, setting insane targets for carbon reduction, which will destroy what’s left of our manufacturing industry and lead to a serious energy shortage within a few years.”

Littlejohn also criticised initiatives to subsidies renewable energy, writing: “In the private sector, businesses have spotted a lucrative opportunity to cash in on everything from useless War Of The Worlds wind turbines to state-subsidised solar panels. They are cheered on by the BBC and the Met Office, which continues to get the weather forecast spectacularly wrong while concentrating on its new role combating ‘climate change’. Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, it’s Flaming June in Britain and it’s still raining.”

Comparing the severity of the accusation of climate change denial with that of Holocaust denial, Littlejohn stated: “When it became apparent that temperatures were [not rising], they simply changed the name of their religion from ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’. The cooler weather was merely a ‘blip’, they declared. Keep planting the olive trees. Those of us who had the audacity to pour scorn on their new orthodoxy were smeared as ‘deniers’ — no better than Nazi apologists who maintain the Holocaust never happened.”

Littlejohn also described environmentalists as ‘warmists’, stating: “They’re not interested in history, they’re only interested in the here-and-now, which is why the warmists have no sense of perspective and will brook no argument”, continuing: “There is, of course, no accounting for any kind of religious fanatic. They are immune to reason and consider any heretic who challenges their sacred tenets to be fundamentally evil.”

June 10, 2011

The GWPF reposted an article in The Daily Mail written by Littlejohn, which disputed the effectiveness of wind energy as an alternative energy source, stating that “a secret stealth tax” was being implemented to finance “so-called renewable energy sources”, and that wind turbines were “worse than useless.”²²

Littlejohn also questioned the cost implications of wind energy, writing: “Any sane individual would conclude that wind generation is hopelessly inefficient and horribly expensive and stop throwing good money after bad. But when did sanity ever have anything to do with government policy?” adding: “Although there is little the companies can do about rising world commodity prices, our bills are being artificially inflated as a direct result of the Government’s insane ‘climate change’ policies.”

Littlejohn disputed the efficiency of wind power in comparison to nuclear energy, writing: “Politicians are putting our economic recovery at risk by posturing over ‘global warming’ and dragging their feet over the obvious and urgent solution of building more clean, safe nuclear power stations. Because of this madness, Britain faces the very real prospect of rolling power cuts in the not-too-distant, as our older generation of power stations come to the end of their lives. Stuff the polar bears. Unless the politicians get a grip, sky-high gas and electricity bills will be the least of our worries.”

May 2, 2008

Littlejohn appeared on an episode of Question Time, during which he disputed the efficiency of biofuels, stating that: “vast areas of agricultural production are now being given over to a very inefficient form of fuel. As a result… people who are taking part in food riots are starving so that liberals in the rich Western societies can pat themselves on the back about what they’re doing over so-called ‘climate change.’”²³