Editing Christopher Booker (section)

==Views==
Booker's weekly columns in ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' covered a wide range of topics of public interest. He has been described by British columnist [[James Delingpole]] in ''The Spectator'' as doing "the kind of proper, old-school things that journalists hardly ever bother with in this new age of aggregation and flip bloggery: he digs, he makes the calls, he reads the small print, he takes up the cause of the little man and campaigns, he speaks truth to power without fear or favour".<ref name=" Delingpole  The Spectator">{{cite news |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/5482258/you-know-it-makes-sense.thtml |date=28 October 2009 |title=You Know It Makes Sense |author=James Delingpole |author-link=James Delingpole |work=The Spectator |access-date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111154714/http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/5482258/you-know-it-makes-sense.thtml |archive-date=11 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On a range of health issues, Booker put forward a view that the public is being unnecessarily "scared", as detailed in his book ''Scared to Death''. Thus, he argues that [[asbestos]], [[passive smoking]]<ref name=passivesmoking>"scientific evidence to support [the] belief that [[passive smoking|inhaling other people's smoke]] causes cancer simply does not exist" – Christopher Booker, 1 July 2007, ''Sunday Telegraph'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20080501032318/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1556118/Christopher-Booker%27s-notebook.html Christopher Booker's notebook: All done with passive smoke and mirrors]</ref> and [[Bovine spongiform encephalopathy|BSE]]<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1387271/Christopher-Bookers-Notebook.html Ministers hushed up report on the dangers of sheep dip] Published by Daily Telegraph on 10 March 2002, written by Christopher Booker, retrieved on 11 July 2019</ref> have not been shown to be dangerous. His articles on global warming have been challenged by [[George Monbiot]] of ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2009/feb/03/climate-change-daily-telegraph-christopher-booker |title=Booker's work of clanger-dropping fiction |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=George |last=Monbiot |date=3 February 2009 |access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

Booker said that [[white asbestos]] is "chemically identical to talcum powder" and poses a "non-existent" risk to human health,<ref name=Booker130102>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1381270/Christopher-Bookers-Notebook.html |title=Christopher Booker's Notebook Billions to be spent on nonexistent risk |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=13 January 2002 |access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref> relying primarily on a 2000 paper for the [[Health and Safety Executive]] (HSE).<ref name=Hodgson00>{{cite journal |author=Hodgson JT, Darnton A |title=The quantitative risks of mesothelioma and lung cancer in relation to asbestos exposure |journal=Ann Occup Hyg |volume=44 |issue=8 |pages=565–601 |date=December 2000 |pmid=11108782 |doi=10.1093/annhyg/44.8.565 |quote=At exposure levels seen in occupational cohorts it is concluded that the exposure specific risk of mesothelioma from the three principal commercial asbestos types is broadly in the ratio 1:100:500 for [[chrysotile]], [[amosite]] and [[crocidolite]] respectively. For lung cancer the conclusions are less clear cut. ...  The risk differential between chrysotile and the two amphibole fibres for lung cancer is thus between 1:10 and 1:50.|doi-access=free }}</ref> He wrote in January 2002 that "HSE studies, including a paper by John Hodgson and Andrew Darnton in 2000, concluded that the risk from the substance is "virtually zero". In response, the HSE's Director General, [[Timothy Walker (civil servant)|Timothy Walker]], wrote that Booker's articles on asbestos had been "misinformed and do little to increase public understanding of a very important occupational health issue."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2002/02/17/dt1704.xml | title=Booker's claims are irresponsible | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first=Timothy | last=Walker | date=17 February 2002 | access-date=1 April 2010}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The HSE issued further rebuttals to articles written by Booker in both 2005<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/record/st151205.htm | title =HSE Press Office: Putting the record straight | date =15 December 2005 | publisher =Health and Safety Executive | access-date =18 November 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081105174441/http://hse.gov.uk/press/record/st151205.htm | archive-date =5 November 2008 | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505199/Christopher-Booker%27s-notebook.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510203138/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505199/Christopher-Booker%27s-notebook.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 May 2008 | title =Christopher Booker's notebook Fatal cracks appear in asbestos scam as HSE shifts its ground | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | date=11 December 2005 | access-date=1 April 2010 | first=Christopher | last=Booker}}</ref> and in 2006.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1525683/Christopher-Booker%27s-notebook.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912174028/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1525683/Christopher-Booker%27s-notebook.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=12 September 2012 | title = Christopher Booker's notebook |first1=C|last1=Booker | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | date=6 August 2006 | access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

In an article in May 2008, Booker again cited the Hodgson and Darnton paper, claiming that "they concluded that the risk of contracting mesothelioma from white asbestos cement was "insignificant", while that of lung cancer was "zero"".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/3558729/Farmers-face-6bn-bill-for-asbestos-clean-up.html |url-access=registration |title=Farmers face £6bn bill for asbestos clean-up|author=Christopher Booker|date=25 May 2008|work=The Telegraph US }}</ref> This article was also criticised by the HSE as "substantially misleading", as well as by George Monbiot, who argued that Booker misrepresented the authors' findings.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/sep/23/controversiesinscience.health |title=The patron saint of charlatans is again spreading dangerous misinformation |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=George |last=Monbiot |date=23 September 2008 |access-date=1 April 2010}}</ref> Booker's claims were also critically analysed by Richard Wilson in his book ''Don't Get Fooled Again'' (2008). Wilson highlighted Booker's repeated endorsement of the alleged scientific expertise of John Bridle, who in 2004 was convicted under the UK's [[Trade Descriptions Act 1968|Trade Descriptions Act]] of making false claims about his qualifications.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/asbestos_expert_lied_about_his_qualification_1_2129412 |title=Asbestos expert lied about his qualifications |work=[[Yorkshire Evening Post]] |location=York |first=Geoff |last=Fox |date=30 August 2005 |access-date=4 April 2010}}</ref>

===Global warming===
Booker said that the [[Climate Change Act 2008]] was "the most expensive piece of legislation ever put through Parliament", and likely to cost hundreds of billions over the next 40 years.<ref name="Booker  Telegraph ">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/7550164/Climate-Change-Act-has-the-biggest-ever-bill.html |date=4 April 2010 |title=Climate Change Act has the biggest ever bill |author=Christopher Booker |work=[[The Sunday Telegraph]] |access-date=4 April 2010 |location=London}}</ref> In May 2009, Booker spoke at an [[International Conference on Climate Change]] organised by [[The Heartland Institute]].<ref>{{cite news |author-link=George Monbiot |last=Monbiot |first=George |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2012/feb/24/christopher-booker-heartland-climate |title=Environment: George Monbiot's Blog: Anything to declare, Mr Booker? We need transparency about Heartland |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=24 February 2012}}</ref> In the autumn of 2009, he published ''[[The Real Global Warming Disaster]]''. The book, which became his best-selling work, claims that there is not actually a consensus on climate change, and postulates that the measures taken by governments to [[climate change mitigation|combat climate change]] "will turn out to be one of the most expensive, destructive, and foolish mistakes the human race has ever made".<ref name="Booker-342">{{harvnb |Booker|2009| p=342}}</ref> The book was characterised by [[Philip Ball]] in ''[[The Observer]]'' as being as "the definitive climate sceptics' manual", in which "he has rounded up just about every criticism ever made of the majority scientific view that global warming, most probably caused by human activity, is under way, and presented them unchallenged".<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/15/real-global-warming-christopher-booker |date=15 November 2009 |title=The Real Global Warming Disaster by Christopher Booker |author=Philip Ball |author-link=Philip Ball |work=The Observer |access-date=9 January 2014 |location=London}}</ref>

Ball said that Booker's position required the reader to believe that "1) Most of the world's climate scientists, for reasons unspecified, decided to create a myth about human-induced global warming and have managed to twist endless measurements and computer models to fit their case, without the rest of the scientific community noticing. George W Bush and certain oil companies have, however, seen through the deception. 2) Most of the world's climate scientists are incompetent and have grossly misinterpreted their data and models, yet their faulty conclusions are not, as you might imagine, a random chaos of assertions, but all point in the same direction."<ref name="guardian.co.uk"/>

In December 2009, Christopher Booker and [[Richard North (blogger)|Richard North]] had published an article in ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' in which they questioned whether [[Rajendra Pachauri]], chair of the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] (IPCC), was using his position for personal gain,<ref>Christopher Booker and Richard North [https://web.archive.org/web/20091222011621/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6847227/Questions-over-business-deals-of-UN-climate-change-guru-Dr-Rajendra-Pachauri.html "Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri"], ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', 20 December 2009 </ref><ref name=apol/><ref name=GM260810>George Monbiot [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/aug/26/rajendra-pachauri-financial-relationships "Rajendra Pachauri innocent of financial misdealings but smears will continue"], ''The Guardian'', 26 August 2010</ref> with a follow-up ''Telegraph'' article in January 2010.<ref name=followup>Christopher Booker and Richard North [https://web.archive.org/web/20100121012506/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7007891/The-curious-case-of-the-expanding-environmental-group-with-falling-income.html "The curious case of the expanding environmental group with falling income"], ''Sunday Telegraph'', 17 January 2010</ref> On 21 August 2010, ''The Daily Telegraph'' issued an apology,<ref name=apol>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7957631/Dr-Pachauri-Apology.html Dr Pachauri – Apology], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 21 August 2010</ref> and withdrew the December article from their website<ref name=GM260810/> having reportedly paid legal fees running into six figures.<ref name=GM260810/> Pachauri described the statements against him as "another attempt by the climate sceptics to discredit the IPCC."<ref>[https://archive.today/20130103020626/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Daily-Telegraph-apologises-to-Pachauri-over-an-article-alleging-corruption/Article1-589993.aspx "Daily Telegraph apologises to Pachauri"], ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', 21 August 2010</ref>

===Family courts===
Booker wrote a number of articles raising concerns about the Family Court system in England and Wales. Booker championed the cause of Victoria Haigh, bringing him into further conflict with the judiciary.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8727312/Judge-Wall-the-secrecy-rules-and-another-stinging-attack.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Christopher | last=Booker | title=Judge Wall, the secrecy rules, and another stinging attack | date=27 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10037048/A-mother-sent-to-prison-on-evidence-she-cannot-see.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Christopher | last=Booker | title=A mother sent to prison on evidence she cannot see | date=4 May 2013}}</ref> Booker also championed the cause of Marie Black, who fled the UK with her partner and daughter in order to evade social services.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/10436941/Another-couple-flee-to-France-only-to-have-their-baby-taken-away.html Another couple flee to France only to have their baby taken away] Written by Christopher Booker, published by The Daily Telegraph on 9 November 2013, retrieved on 11 July 2019</ref>