Delingpole on soapbox

James Delingpole’s blog is right about everything and today’s, following Ed Davey’s stupid speech about climate, is no exception. I can do no better than quote. “Here,” Delingpole says, “We have a minister of the crown reproducing a string of complete untruths at a deeply discredited, eye-wateringly expensive, taxpayer-funded rip-off institution long past its sell-by date (that'll be you, Met Office) as a desperate and cynical measure to try to push through an Energy Bill guaranteed to make every household in Britain considerably poorer, to make energy more ruinously expensive, to make British business less competitive, and to ruin our landscape with even more bat-chomping, bird-slicing eco-crucifixes.

“Ed Davey is a disgrace and an embarrassment – by some way (and it's not like there's any shortage of competition) the most damaging and dangerous minister in Cameron's Coalition of the useless. Why is he not being called to account for this farrago of nonsense? Why aren't the true Conservatives in the Coalition demanding that he be sacked? How can any government which genuinely cares about the state of our economy, our countryside and people's falling standards of living allow this anti-scientific, green ideological nonsense to hijack the political agenda?”

What will it take, I wonder, to convince the powers-that-were to cease this ruinous charade, pretending we can manipulate the weather? Politicians used to set up small wars to take our mind off taxes and their self-serving projects. Now they create a department of climate change. Canute knew better. He sat on the beach only to convince his nobles that the tide waited for no man.

Ah. Soapboxes. This Beatles-inspired yellow submarine, a police car and a black cab are making ready for the Red Bull Soapbox race at Alexandra Palace on 14 July. Apparently each took three weeks to make from BMX bicycle wheels, plywood, polystyrene and cardboard tubing. The covering is plastazote foam, the number plates vinyl.

It is nine years since the last soapbox race and 70 of the human-powered machines will compete. Winners will be assessed on speed, creativity and how much they please the crowds. Red Bull Soapbox Race 2013 is at Alexandra Palace on Sunday 14 July to book your £5 ticket visit www.redbullsoapboxrace.co.uk. It will be £5 better spent than the billions wasted in Ed Davey’s grotesque and wasteful vanity projects.