WELCOME TO MATT RIDLEY'S BLOG

The jabs undoubtedly saved lives, but overblown claims sadly damaged the reputation of vaccination. Vaccination is one mankind’s most miraculous innovations. The eradication of smallpox, the retreat of measles and other cruel afflictions mean that vaccines rival sanitation for first prize in the saving of human lives. New vaccines against malaria and melanoma promise great […]

The more I think about it the more enraged it makes me. Back in late November, senior Tory minister Michael Gove was slapped down by the UK Covid inquiry’s head counsel, Hugo Keith, for raising the issue of where the virus originated. ‘There is a significant body of judgement that believes that the virus itself was […]

Rishi Sunak will be the latest politician to appear at this show trial run by the Blob to exculpate the Blob On Monday, Rishi Sunak will appear at the Covid Inquiry. It barely matters what he says because it is as predictable as sunrise that he will be pilloried for the mistakes of others, that being […]

Beijing’s lies denied the world a chance to stop the spread, costing millions of lives. We deserve to know the truth. Michael Gove has told the covid inquiry that “a significant body of judgement… believes that the virus itself was man-made”. He was immediately slapped down by the lead counsel to the Inquiry, Hugo Keith KC, who […]

Sam Altman, the recently fired (and rehired) chief executive of Open AI, was asked earlier this year by his fellow tech billionaire Patrick Collison what he thought of the risks of synthetic biology. ‘I would like to not have another synthetic pathogen cause a global pandemic. I think we can all agree that wasn’t a […]

Every year I lay a wreath a week early, because Blyth, my nearest town, was a submarine port. Submariners were banned from the first Armistice Day parade in Whitehall by a bossy admiral on the grounds that they were pirates who targeted civilians. In response they adopted skull-and-crossbones badges and arranged their own celebrations on […]

The truth is out. An official report has admitted for the first time the scale of the cost of reaching net zero by 2050. A study by the National Infrastructure Commission, released on Tuesday, concluded that hitting the 2050 target will roughly double the amount of money we would have spent anyway on infrastructure over […]

Who cares about whales? Whales might be dying because of sonar surveying, but Greenpeace simply ignores the science that doesn’t suit it. So far last year, 71 whales have washed up dead on the shores of New England and neighbouring states. The rate seems to have risen in recent years along with a growth in […]

Politicians should stop endorsing an energy source that isn’t particularly clean or secure, and won’t bring down prices. The MPs who have forced Rishi Sunak into a U-turn on onshore wind power love to repeat the favourite slogan of the wind industry: “wind is cheap”. “Cheap, clean, secure,” says Sir Alok Sharma. “Cheap,” cheeps Ed Miliband. […]

If I waved a magic wand and gave the world unlimited clean and cheap energy tomorrow, I expect many climate scientists would be horrified Patrick Brown, the co-director of climate and energy at the Breakthrough Institute in California, has blown the whistle on an open secret about climate science: it’s biased in favour of alarmism. He published […]