Sherelle Jacobs

Image credit: BBC Question Time

Sherelle Jacobs

Credentials

Background

Sherelle Jacobs is a British journalist, currently Head of Online Comment at The Daily Telegraph and a former contributor to The Guardian.2@Sherelle_E_J,” Twitter bio. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/J0KLx 3Sherelle Jacobs”, Telegraph. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4zfU3 4Sherelle Jacobs,” Guardian. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/iRM0p

Jacobs is a Brexit supporter and a self-described climate sceptic, having called the consensus on climate change “invalid”.5 Karl McDonald. “Who’s on the Question Time panel tonight? What to expect from Richard Burgon, Robert Jenrick and Chuka Umunna,” iNews, November 21, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Pu1qg 6 Sherelle Jacobs. “I used to be a ‘middle-grounder’ rather than a sceptic on climate change…until I realised the scale on which science is being manipulated into alarmist fake news. Me for @Telegraph,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, December 3, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. 7 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

A critic of the BBC, Jacobs described the broadcaster as “diversity-obsessed” and having an “unconscious bias against the world beyond the metropolitan bubble”. She has argued that the BBC is “out of touch” and is heading for “self-destruction”.8 Sherelle Jacobs. “The diversity-obsessed BBC is now mortifyingly out of touch with modern Britain,” Telegraph, December 20, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/LiBUo 9 Sherelle Jacobs. “The stubborn and remote BBC is heading for self-destruction,” Telegraph, January 30, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/h55AY

Jacobs has, however, appeared on a number of BBC political talk shows, including Politics Live, Any Questions, and Question Time, where she accused the government of a “cover-up on an industrial scale” in regards to the Grenfell Tower fire.10Politics Live 20 Sept 2019,” YouTube video uploaded by user Only Zoom on September 20, 2019. Archived.mp4 on file at DeSmog. 11Sherelle Jacobs, Paul Mason, Gina Miller, Sir Anthony Seldon,” BBC Radio 4 Any Questions?, May 24, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/NwpJp 12Question Time Live From Bolton 21/11/2019,” YouTube video uploaded by user Brexit-Box TV on November 22, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

In November 2019, Jacobs was a speaker at the Battle of Ideas Festival. The annual event is produced by the libertarian Academy of Ideas – its director is Claire Fox, a former Brexit MEP and formerly a prominent figure in the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). Fox, along with other members of the RCP, now contributes to libertarian magazine Spiked – funded largely by the largest privately-owned energy company in the US, Koch Industries.13Sherelle Jacobs,” Battle of Ideas Festival. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/meYaE 14Partners 2019,” Battle of Ideas Festival. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/LzzvE 15 Mike Small. “Claire Fox: This Climate Science Denying Former Revolutionary Communist Might Win in the European Election,” DeSmog, May 20, 2019.

In February 2020, Jacobs spoke at the Change Politics for Good conference, another event organised by the former Brexit MEP, which aimed to “kickstart public conversations on how Brexit can be a catalyst” for new and better politics. Other speakers of the event included Global Warming Policy Foundation trustee and member of parliament Graham Stringer, Spiked writer Frank Furedi, and Global Britain’s director of communications Brian Monteith.16 Claire Fox. “Great opening session: How to view last Dec’s election; is realignment permanent or temporary allegiance-switching?,” Tweet by @Fox_Claire, February 27, 2020. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archive .png on file at DeSmog. 17Introduction,” Change Politics For Good. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/s4CUq 18Speakers,” Change Politics For Good. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/lUtDc 19 Richard Collett-White, Chloe Farand, Mat Hope. “Meet The Brexit Party’s Climate Science Deniers,” DeSmog, May 1, 2019.

Stance on Climate Change

January 2, 2020

Jacobs wrote in the Telegraph:20 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

“The “consensus” on climate change – based on the statistic that 97 per cent of scientists agree – is not only groupthinkishly unscientific in spirit, but also invalid. It is traceable back to a paper by an Australian researcher, which a later paper showed was not only unsubstantiated but outright contradicted by its own data.”21 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

The 97% consensus statistic comes from a 2013 study which has been frequently attacked by climate science deniers – the authors continue to stand by their results.22 Dana Nuccitelli, “Millions of times later, 97 percent climate consensus still faces denial,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, August 15, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/2mR1h

December 3, 2019

Jacobs wrote in the Telegraph:23 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

“The climate change “emergency” is fake news. Many will roll their eyes in exasperation at the conspiratorial bombastry of yet another “denier”. But for years I have been a plastic recycling, polar bear cooing middle-grounder. In fact, Aristotle would probably turn in his grave at the logical fallaciousness of my long-held presumption that the truth must lie somewhere between those two mutually loathing opposites – Scepticism and Armageddon.24 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

“But as the doom-mongering acquires the rubber-stamped smell of instutionalised illness, it is impossible to ignore that the “woke” are the new “slept” – too deep in their sugar coma of confected hysteria to realise they are being duped by disinformation.”25 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

Later in the article, Jacobs wrote:26 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

“The climate “emergency” is the most electrifyingly effective propaganda exercise of the 21st century.”27 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

Key Quotes

March 5, 2020

Jacobs suggested that the “green agenda” taken by the government will be another “People vs Establishment conflict” in a Telegraph column.28 Sherelle Jacobs. “The political storm over green targets will be even bigger than Brexit,” Telegraph, March 5, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Ldju6

She went on to compare environmental policymakers, with bureaucrats at the European Union:29 Sherelle Jacobs. “The political storm over green targets will be even bigger than Brexit,” Telegraph, March 5, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Ldju6

“Just as the EU establishment derives its legitimacy from the teleological assumption that the future is borderless universalism, the green establishment poised to take its place sees the planet rather than the people as the highest authority. As a result, the country is heading in a direction at odds with the ambitions of ordinary people.”30 Sherelle Jacobs. “The political storm over green targets will be even bigger than Brexit,” Telegraph, March 5, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Ldju6

The Global Warming Policy Foundation, the UK’s principal climate science denial group, subsequently reshared Jacobs’ article on their website.31Boris Beware: The Political Storm Over Green Targets Will Be Even Bigger Than Brexit,” GWPF, March 5, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/G7CjL

December 3, 2019

Jacobs shared a Telegraph article she had written on Twitter, and said:32 Sherelle Jacobs. “I used to be a ‘middle-grounder’ rather than a sceptic on climate change…until I realised the scale on which science is being manipulated into alarmist fake news. Me for @Telegraph,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, December 3, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

“I used to be a ‘middle-grounder’ rather than a sceptic on climate change…until I realised the scale on which science is being manipulated into alarmist fake news. Me for @Telegraph.”33 Sherelle Jacobs. “I used to be a ‘middle-grounder’ rather than a sceptic on climate change…until I realised the scale on which science is being manipulated into alarmist fake news. Me for @Telegraph,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, December 3, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

August 1, 2019

On Greta Thunberg’s activism, Jacobs wrote in the Telegraph:34 Sherelle Jacobs. “From Meghan to Greta, our ‘woke’ liberal elite is trapped in a backwards parallel universe,” Telegraph, August 1, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/ZTwwf

“Ms Thunberg’s green solutions are regressive. She desires total elimination of carbon emissions by 2025, even though such an endeavour would cause world economic carnage. This latest venture, which vulgarly combines super-rich lifestyle advertising with the impotent modern activist’s weakness for pointless stunts, only highlights further that Leftie campaigners can offer us no practical solutions.”35 Sherelle Jacobs. “From Meghan to Greta, our ‘woke’ liberal elite is trapped in a backwards parallel universe,” Telegraph, August 1, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/ZTwwf

DeSmog have not found evidence to suggest that Thunberg has called for carbon emissions to be eliminated by 2025 – although protest group Extinction Rebellion have called for this as part of their three demands.36Our Demands,” Extinction Rebellion. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/91pyP

June 11, 2019

On veganism, Jacobs wrote in the Telegraph:37 Sherelle Jacobs. “Hotel Hit Squad: A new vegan cookery course in Oxfordshire is giving stubborn carnivores food for thought,” Telegraph, June 11, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Ndk7c

“I have always been suspicious of veganism. To provincial carnivores like me, it seems something of an anti-food phenomenon: a drift towards a herbivorous dystopia of malnourished metropolitan sanctimoniousness and virtue signallers with tofu breath. And, my, what a minefield of culinary ironies. Fat-riddled, pine forest-destroying avocados are to the “ethical” vegan what pasta is to the Italians.”38 Sherelle Jacobs. “Hotel Hit Squad: A new vegan cookery course in Oxfordshire is giving stubborn carnivores food for thought,” Telegraph, June 11, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/Ndk7c

Key Deeds

June 11, 2020

In an article for The Telegraph, Jacobs argued that dubious scientific modelling relating to the COVID-19 crisis could also apply to climate change predictions, writing: “Years from now historians will write books about how a mickey mouse discipline crept across Western universities like a cancer, spawning new fields (like climate modelling), and corrupting old ones (like epidemiology).”

March 26, 2020

Jacobs donwplayed the threat of climate change when criticizing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “panicked” strategy on the Covid-19 pandemic in a Telegraph column:39 Sherelle Jacobs. “The PM was panicked into abandoning a sensible Covid-19 strategy, and has plunged society into crisis,” Telegraph, March 26, 2020. Archived March 26, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/8vMc3

“In puffing about climate change while ignoring threats like bio-engineered pandemics and nuclear war, UN junketeers, EU sycophants and Westminster charlatans and all the other globalist risk managers have shown themselves to be incapable of prioritising risks.”40 Sherelle Jacobs. “The PM was panicked into abandoning a sensible Covid-19 strategy, and has plunged society into crisis,” Telegraph, March 26, 2020. Archived March 26, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/8vMc3

March 12, 2020

In a Telegraph column about the Covid-19 pandemic, Jacobs argued that we should “redirect university financing away from climate change predictive modelling, into the scientifically uncontested problem of pandemics”.41 Sherelle Jacobs. “The West’s neglect of science has left us chillingly exposed to deadly pandemics,” Telegraph, March 12, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/gylef

She also appeared to refer to Extinction Rebellion who recently dug up the lawns at a Cambridge college as “anarchists” – in the article she referred to those who “dig up Oxford lawns”.42 Sherelle Jacobs. “The West’s neglect of science has left us chillingly exposed to deadly pandemics,” Telegraph, March 12, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/gylef

February 6, 2020

Writing in a Telegraph column, Jacobs described Boris Johnson’s announcement of a 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol cars as “bureau-catastrophism”.43 Sherelle Jacobs. “Mushy One Nation Toryism is already getting a sour reception beyond the Red Wall,” Telegraph, February 6, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/btvYp

January 23, 2020

Jacobs wrote an article for The Telegraph where she argued that “Western civilization has ditched evidence-based rigour for adolescent hysteria”.44 Sherelle Jacobs. “Davos Doom-mongers herald a new dark age for climate science,” Telegraph, January 23, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/delsl

Describing attendees of the World Economic Forum as “Davos Doom-mongers”, Jacobs acknowledged that global warming is happening, but suggested that the science of climate change is “messy, mystifying and ambivalent”.45 Sherelle Jacobs. “Davos Doom-mongers herald a new dark age for climate science,” Telegraph, January 23, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/delsl

Jacobs argued that the year’s Australian bushfires were not uniquely linked to a changing climate, and that instead climate change was one factor among many.46 Sherelle Jacobs. “Davos Doom-mongers herald a new dark age for climate science,” Telegraph, January 23, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/delsl

The columnist also cited findings that suggested the sun may have a large effect on climate change, referencing a study conducted by Nir Shaviv – an associate professor of Physics and an advisor to the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Shaviv’s analyses have been described as “ill-founded”.47 Sherelle Jacobs. “Davos Doom-mongers herald a new dark age for climate science,” Telegraph, January 23, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/delsl 48Cosmic Rays Are Not The Cause Of Climate Change, Scientists Say,” Science Daily, January 23, 2004. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/CgdIZ

Jacobs went on to describe the green movement as “eco-catastrophism” and “managerialism” and asked the question, “when did Western civilization enter this new Dark Age?”49 Sherelle Jacobs. “Davos Doom-mongers herald a new dark age for climate science,” Telegraph, January 23, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/delsl

Later, Jacobs took to Twitter to argue against being described as a climate change denier by Bob Ward, a policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. She accused Ward of smearing those who “question whether it’s healthy to talk about the issue with such unwavering certainty”, calling the “denier label” chilling.50 Sherelle Jacobs. “I state “global warming is happening.” I also state “You dont need to dispute that man is contributing to global warming…,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, January 23, 2020. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

January 2, 2020

Jacobs claimed that Greta Thunberg was “rewriting truth” in a Telegraph column.51 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

Describing the 17-year-old climate activist as “both the fake news messenger and the fake news”, Jacobs argued that elites like “Stormzy and Thunberg are the eerie pin-ups of an anti-rational age.”52 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

Jacobs also went on to write:53 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

“The child oracle is yanking us by the hand, not out of the eco-apocalypse’s jaws but into the jowls of vegetable-brained oblivion.”54 Sherelle Jacobs. “Kowtowing to Stormzy and Greta Thunberg exposes our elite’s lazy groupthink,” Telegraph, January 2, 2020. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/GLHQ4

December 3, 2019

Jacobs argued that the consensus on climate change science is “fake news” and, referencing the UN and the IPCC, said “the experts don’t seem quite sure”.55 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

In the Telegraph column, Jacobs went on to describe her frustration over the debate between the consensus and researchers who offer alternative findings:56 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

“This post-truth scam is having a chilling effect on science. Experts are locked in a race to the bottom to make detailed and disastrous premonitions. And despite the fact that disciplined debate is the motor of scientific discovery, eco-extremists are shutting down discussions that dissent from the Apocalypse narrative. CO2 emissions may not be the only reason for warming. So sidelining studies that have, for example, found the natural climate system can suddenly shift, and ridiculing researchers who explore other possible variables – from solar changes to volcanoes – could be driving us further from the truth.”57 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

“Laymen like me sense that something is amiss, because we grew up assuming science is more about possibility than limitations. But so it goes that, in this messed-up world, the optimists have become sceptics; and those unradicalised by global warming delirium, the extremists.”58 Sherelle Jacobs. “The UN’s ‘woke’ climate change propaganda is an insult to science,” Telegraph, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/4ToUE

Jacobs replied on Twitter to an account who expressed their disagreement to the article:59 Sherelle Jacobs. “No doubt the planet is warming, nor that CO2 is contributor. The rub for me is that projections are now routinely presented to the public as firm predictions. There are children on psychiatric drugs because they genuinely believe the world is about to end,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, December 3, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

“No doubt the planet is warming, nor that CO2 is contributor. The rub for me is that projections are now routinely presented to the public as firm predictions. There are children on psychiatric drugs because they genuinely believe the world is about to end…”60 Sherelle Jacobs. “No doubt the planet is warming, nor that CO2 is contributor. The rub for me is that projections are now routinely presented to the public as firm predictions. There are children on psychiatric drugs because they genuinely believe the world is about to end,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, December 3, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

The Global Warming Policy Foundation shared her article on its website.61Sherelle Jacobs: The UN’s ‘Woke’ Climate Propaganda Is An Insult To Science,” GWPF, December 3, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/SAclG

July 10, 2019

In a tweet, Jacobs seemed to defend a speech by Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe’s in the European Parliament where she likened Brexit to the emancipation of slaves, by comparing it to the words of David Attenborough:62 Sherelle Jacobs. “Ann Widdecombe compares Brexit to ‘slaves’ rising up ‘against their owners’ and she is condemned as a ‘bigot’. David Attenborough compares the plastics revolution to the abolition of slavery and he is lionised as ‘a legend’,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, July 10, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. 63 Daniel Boffey. “Ann Widdecombe likens Brexit to emancipation of slaves,” Guardian, July 4, 2019. Archived March 27, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/XuMkN

“Ann Widdecombe compares Brexit to ‘slaves’ rising up ‘against their owners’ and she is condemned as a ‘bigot’. David Attenborough compares the plastics revolution to the abolition of slavery and he is lionised as ‘a legend’.”64 Sherelle Jacobs. “Ann Widdecombe compares Brexit to ‘slaves’ rising up ‘against their owners’ and she is condemned as a ‘bigot’. David Attenborough compares the plastics revolution to the abolition of slavery and he is lionised as ‘a legend’,” Tweet by @Sherelle_E_J, July 10, 2019. Retrieved from Twitter.com. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

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