WELCOME TO MATT RIDLEY'S BLOG

Unilateral policies export jobs and emissions My Times column on the role of UK emissions policies in driving aluminium, steel and other industries abroad:   Before Redcar and Port Talbot, remember Lynemouth, where Britain’s last large aluminium smelter closed in 2012. In aluminium, as in steel, China is now by far the largest producer, smelting […]

Current protected species policy is expensive and counterproductive My Times column on the sensible proposal to reform the way protected species are helped during development:   Natural England, the government body charged with protecting Britain’s wildlife, is currently consulting on reforming the way protected species are rescued from bulldozers. The rethink is focused on the […]

Sustainable exploitation or no-take zones in marine protected areas? My Times column on the growing movement for marine protected areas in British overseas territories:   Britain may no longer have an empire, but it still rules a heck of a lot of waves. One of the manifesto commitments of the Conservative party in the last […]

Trade treaties are not essential for trade; the EU distorts the UK’s trade My Times column on free trade the European Union:   The late Sir George Martin created substantial British exports. Had the import of his music to America been banned to save the jobs of US musicians, Britain would have missed out on […]

EDF cannot afford to build Hinkley Point and we cannot afford its electricity My Times column on Britain’s delayed and every more expensive EPR nuclear power station Last week the British and French governments announced that they remained confident that the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset will be built. But EDF, the […]

Americans would never dream of joining a project like the EU is today My Spectator article on what it would be like for the United States to join the American Union: o the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, thinks his country has a ‘profound interest… in a very strong United Kingdom staying in a […]

Harmonisation, EU style, is bad for innovation My Times column on why the EU is bad for innovation: For me, in the end, it’s all about innovation. The European Union is bad at doing it, good at discouraging it, repeatedly sides with those who have vested interests in resisting it, and holds Britain back from […]

Giving people the lesser of two evils — for drugs, HIV and smoking My Times column on harm reduction The UN General Assembly is holding a special meeting on drug policy in April, its first since 1998. The mood of member states, as well as many international agencies, is now much less focused on law […]

The shale revolution has changed the world My Times column on the causes and consequences of low oil prices: The continuing plunge in the price of oil from $115 a barrel in mid-2014 to $30 today is really, really good news. I know just about every economic commentator says otherwise, predicting bankruptcies, stock market crashes, […]

Desecrated a century ago a subantarctic island is now restored My recent essay in the Wall Street Journal on South Georgia: When you tell people that you’re going to South Georgia, some will ask if you’re changing planes in Atlanta. In fact, the name belongs to an island near Antarctica. It’s about the size of […]