Godfrey Bloom

Articles and resources
Godfrey Bloom MEP (born 1949) is the UKIP Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. He was a fund manager for Mercury Asset Management from 1987-93. He is a member of the Institute of Economic Affairs,the Campaign against Political Correctness and the British Charolais Society. He has written a book called Beyond the Fridge.

As an MEP he earns approximately £86 000 per year,  with an additional £184,000 staffing allowances on top of that. He has been criticized for employing his niece on his European Staff whilst she also is employed at his investment firm.

He currently serves on two committees in the European Parliament, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. He is a substitute on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

On 24th November 2010 Bloom was expelled temporarily from the European parliament for shouting "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!” at a German MEP

Environmental Views
Bloom is nothing if not forthright in his environmental views. For a start he is vociferously anti windfarm, collecting links to local windfarm opposition groups on his webpage , and a before and after gallery, "so that we can show just how much damage has been done to Britain's natural beauty in the name of 'saving the planet'."

He is deeply critical of Greenpeace. A rambling discourse concludes "Greenpeace pretends to be defending “democracy” and society” but this claim is paper thin. Nobody ever voted for them. They serve only their own interests. As I pointed out previously, Greenpeace have themselves declared war on the legal, democratic, and positive activity of individuals and businesses. It has such little respect for democracy, for law, and for human lives that when its propaganda, lies and doom-saying fail to change laws, politics and minds, it turns to force instead. Stop green violence. Stop green terrorism." Another rambling piece is entitled J'Accuse Greenpeace, in which Bloom makes a wide variety of unsubstantiated claims such as Greenpeace 'use their funds to subvert democracy'.

Climate Denialism
Needless to say Bloom disputes the scientific consensus on climate change. He seems to press the meme that the world is cooling. His scientific illiteracy does not really merit analysis. He dismisses, for example, well founded claims of Exxon's funding of skeptics, by pointing out that the ExxonMobil Foundation has funded a Save the Tiger campaign, completely missing the point that the oil company's slush fund skews the debate. It is an example of misdirection rather than addressing the facts. Bloom's environmetal advisor is the blogger climate resistance a.k.a. Ben Pile, who refuses to reveal his academic qualifications on the issue.

           

Drunk in Parliament
It was reported by Daniel Hannan MEP that Bloom appeared before the European parliament drunk, having consumed a couple of bottles of Pinot Noir and that he had to be carried out of the chamber by an intern.

Quotes

 * "It is simply and totally not true -- not even a little bit true -- that "the IPCC represent the consensus of thousands of scientists."
 * "The worn-out term “scientific consensus” is used as a stick to beat down any opposition to climate nonsense."
 * "I love motoring. And I think that it is an intrinsically good thing."
 * (On Greenpeace's campaign to protect the rainforest) "It is a protection racket, nothing more."
 * (On women's rights)"I am going to promote men's rights,"
 * "there has been no warming of the Earth in recent years"
 * "It would be impossible to calculate how many people have been killed as a consequence of Greenpeace’s actions."
 * (On the sinking of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior) "well done the French for sinking one of these things"
 * The UK and EU are already committed to putting climate change before all else, including democracy.
 * (On the increasing frequency of extreme weather events) "But there exists virtually no evidence that this is either happening, or will happen."
 * "The planet does not need saving."
 * (On environmental activists at COP15) "At the bottom are the grubby activists who populate things like Climate Camp, who’ve never seen a shower, barber, or tucked into a nice roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. These things, they will whine, are ‘unsustainable’."
 * (On scientific predictions of a rise in temperature above 2C) "There is no scientific ‘evidence’ on which such predictions are based, and there are no predictions"
 * (On a public opinion poll on climate change)"Let’s be clear about what this bullshit is. It is pure propaganda."
 * (On being fined £28 000 by the FSA) "I am pretty well known as the cleanest MEP in town."
 * "The sea was 140,000mm lower than today, 20,000 years ago."
 * (On prostitution) "In short, most girls do it because they want to"
 * "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer,"

Mysoginist
Bloom managed to court controversy on his very first day in the European Parliament, telling the media "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age." He was given a seat on the European Parliament's women's rights committee." I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home. I am going to promote men's rights," he added. Bloom has admitted having visited brothels as a Hong Kong-based businessman, although the amount of beer he consumed meant that no encounters were consummated.

Homeopathy
Bloom also invokes the ire of Homeopathy activists when he claims Homeopathy works

Tobacco Campaigning
Bloom was a speaker at the first World Conference of The International Coalition Against Prohibition. He "promised to continue to resist against prohibitionist tendencies in the EU".

Other Business Interests
Bloom owns TBO Investments which was fined by the Financial Services Authority for inadequate supervision and monitoring of staff providing advice to clients and for inadequate record keeping between December 2001 and October 2007. The FSA fined TBO £28 000 for failing to clearly document the explanation of the risks of transactions to clients. Several members of TBO staff also do work for his political initiatives. As an MEP Bloom is obliged to declare his financial interests, and he declares no membership of any board in the three years prior to entering Parliament

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Institute of Economic Affairs

External resources

 * European Parliament profile http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/yourMep/view.do?name=bloom&partNumber=1&language=EN&id=28513
 * Memorandum to UK Parliamentary 'climategate' Enquiry http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/387b/387we19.htm
 * European parliament Declaration of interests 2012

External articles
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