Piers Corbyn

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Poers Corbyn in 2020.
Not just a river in Egypt
Denialism
Icon denialism.svg
Alternative facts
♫ We're not listening ♫
Not to be confused with Piers Morgan

Piers Richard Corbyn (10 March 1947–) is the British owner/operator of WeatherAction, a website that claims to accurately predict the weather in Great Britain and Ireland for much longer than the standard accuracy time frame of 5 days that most meteorologists agree on. Currently, he makes predictions 30, 45, and 60 days in advance. In the past, Corbyn claimed to be able to make predictions between 9 months and a year ahead. Corbyn has an honours degree in physics at Imperial College London and studied astrophysics in 1979 at Queen Mary College (no degree recorded).

Before 2020, his prime claim to fame was his rampant climate change denialism. He is now most prominently known, however, as a COVID-19 denialist, becoming a relatively prominent face in the UK's anti-mask and anti-vaccine movement and hosting/attending numerous demonstrations and protests, as well as producing an array of stultifyingly awful denialist content on social media.

He is the older brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.[1]

Weather and climate[edit]

He also frequently bets on the accuracy of the results, and he founded a company to profit off his predictions in 1997. It was later taken private in 1999 due to staggering losses of £70,000 in the first year, and £480,000 in the second.[2] Corbyn claimed that the failure was because of his company's small size compared to high overhead, which is bizarre after public statements that the business was doing great, "turning over" £250,000 compared to overhead costs of ~£70,000.

Most scientists, on the other hand, completely ignored him, as his estimates are so vague that the weather needs to be well off to be wrong. Taking into account how vague he can be, like giving "high winds" and "heavy rain" as a prediction, he is still largely wrong when compared to the observed weather.[3] In 2007, some people who had tired of his whining took a look at his forecast for killer storms to lash Britain on the 17th of October, and the last week of November…[4] which never happened. Undeterred by his abject failure, he predicted January 2008 to be a period of intense cold (-17°C)[5] — it turned out to be one of the warmest Januarys on record. Corbyn has made it a bit difficult after those highly-mocked failures to criticize his inaccuracies due to him banning the use of extracts of his works and suing most anyone who tries.

Corbyn claims an 85% accuracy rate[6] due to predicting landfall of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal between May 24th/26th 2009 (a pretty common event that time of year), and a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics.[7] The journal has a history of publishing a number of badly-written global warming denialism papers from seemingly anyone who can fit a piece of paper in the mail slot with proper postage that is not covered in feces. This includes Peter Laut's paper "Solar activity and terrestrial climate: an analysis of some purported correlations"[8] and Henrik Svensmark's theories on cosmic rays destroying clouds.[9] Corbyn is also a very big proponent of global cooling[10] and states quite firmly that CO2 doesn't cause warming while being interviewed by tin foil hatter Alex Jones.[11]

Conspiracy theories and denialism[edit]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Corbyn organized an apparently mostly-maskless rally at Trafalgar Square, after which, he was arrested and fined "£10,000 for the offence of holding a gathering of more than 30 people in an outdoor place."[12] The rally included a coalition of denialists and conspiracy theorists: anti-vaxxers, 5G conspiracy theorists, and QAnon.[12] These groups appear to have been invited, as they align with Corbyn's beliefs:

Following the rally, Corbyn did a TV interview with his namesake journalist Piers Morgan (who also has a brother called Jeremy) in which he:[18]

  • Denied the existence of COVID-19 and called it "a psychological operation to close down the economy in the interests of megacorporations".
  • Tried to trick Morgan into promoting his next rally.
  • Claimed that modern vaccines are poisonous and that the original vaccines "might have worked".
  • Peddled debunked myths that hydroxychloroquine is a cure for COVID-19 and that 5G WiFI masts damage people's immune systems.

Other conspiracies that Corbyn has promoted:

Inciting violence[edit]

Corbyn was arrested in the early hours of Sunday 19th December 2021 after video emerged of him urging supporters to burn down the offices of MPs and to 'hammer to death those scum' responsible for lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccines.[25][26][27]

Miscellaneous[edit]

Corbyn also has a history of being an activist in the International Marxist GroupWikipedia (IMG) for squatters rights in the North Paddington area of Westminster throughout the 1970s.[28] [29]

His brother Jeremy was the leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 and has been MP for Islington North since 1983. Unlike Piers, Jeremy holds the scientifically-accepted position on anthropogenic global warming, i.e. that it exists and is a serious problem. He also, again unlike Piers and again in line with the scientifically accepted position, accepts that COVID-19 exists, that COVID-19 is a real problem, and that the vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are safe and effective; although he is (coincidentally, and for entirely different, less stupid reasons than Piers) against government vaccine mandates.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. See the Wikipedia article on Piers Corbyn.
  2. Weather goes private again by Dan Atkinson (23 Nov 1999 19.58 EST) The Guardian.
  3. How Good Is He, Anyway? How accurate are Piers Corbyn's long-range forecasts? There's really no way to tell. You can of course compare them with the observed weather, but, straightforward as that sounds, it's an imperfect method since Corbyn's forecasts speak in general terms. Some investigators have tried indirect analysis of the reliability of Corbyn's predictions. Dennis Wheeler, a geography by Dan Brekke (02.01.1999 12:00 PM) Wired.
  4. Killer storms to lash Britain by Jo Macfarlane (00:00, Wed, Oct 17, 2007) The Express.
  5. Prediction of -17C freeze cuts no ice with Met Office by Helen Pidd (2 Jan 2008 11.28 EST) The Guardian.
  6. WeatherAction (archived from April 29, 2011).
  7. "A verification of UK gale forecasts by the 'solar weather technique': October 1995–September 1997" by Dennis Wheeler (2001) Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 63(1):29-34.
  8. See the Wikipedia article on Peter Laut.
  9. See the Wikipedia article on Henrik Svensmark.
  10. Initial response to BBC2 'Climate Wars' 14th Sep 2008 by Piers Corbyn, astrophysicist of WeatherAction long-range forecasters. (18 Jul 2011) WeatherAction (archived from July 18, 2011).
  11. Youtube Interview of Alex Jone's Show
  12. 12.0 12.1 Piers Corbyn fined £10,000 for organising anti-lockdown rally: Brother of Jeremy Corbyn targeted under law restricting gatherings of more than 30 people by Damien Gayle (30 Aug 2020 17.05 EDT) The Guardian.
  13. THE CV PANDEMIC WAS SIMULATED OCT 2019 BY MEGA-RICH CONTROL FREAKS BILL GATES, GEORGE SOROS +CRONIES. NOW IT'S FOR REAL. THE AIM IS A WORLD POPULATION CULL ("PEOPLE cause #CO2 problem") by THEIR mass VACCINATION PLAN CONTAINING POISON. *REFUSE*CV*VACCINE* by Piers Corbyn (1:48 AM · Mar 16, 2020) Twitter (archived from 8 Jul 2020 10:32:18 UTC).
  14. Bill Gates Vaccine Killed 10x More Children than unvaccinated for the Target Diseases (DTP) … by Piers Corbyn (12:46 PM · Apr 24, 2020) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 08:01:57 UTC).
  15. "Labelling Black people as CONTAGION carriers is to Divide+Rule and impose Deadly VAX on AFRICA" warns #PiersCorbyn 10DowningSt 22June. "Just like for Climate Lies THEY CONTROL THE DATA to trick us into a new Lockdown & Vax+Trax; AND they'll turn up 5G to make us ill. … by Piers Corbyn (Jun 23, 2020) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 08:05:38 UTC).
  16. #HumanTrafficking and #Child #abuse and disappearance is also rife in #UK #EU-#UN-#NGOs ALL #politicians should follow #Trump's lead in #ChildAbusePrevention. #Telford #JimmySavile #WestMinster #MPs #EdwardHeath #BBCCoverUp #Pedogate #Obama-#Clinton-#Soros (proven #Nazi). #QAnon by Piers Corbyn (7:57 PM - 1 Apr 2018) Twitter (archived from 22 Apr 2018 07:14:09 UTC).
  17. Replying to @ClimateRealists and @MailOnline I was in fact a bit more circumspect than @MailOnline 16Mar claim when I RTed scary info on #Gates+#Soros pro-vaccine +depopulation Event201 by Piers Corbyn (Marcy 27, 2020) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 20:12:27 UTC).
  18. Piers Corbyn Denies the Coronavirus Pandemic & Says It's a 'Psychological Operation' | GMB
  19. HORRIFIC but then #Clinton Bill is a known #Rapist and #Hilary covers for him. #PizzaGate looks more credible. #Qatar backs #Clinton+#Isis by Piers Corbyn (11:15 PM · Jan 1, 2017) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 18:40:25 UTC).
  20. search: pizzagate (from:Piers_Corbyn) by Piers Corbyn, Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 18:41:36 UTC).
  21. They're escaping the #4thReich #Ready4BREXIT #WTOBREXIT #Oct31 #THINKagainstFalseNarratives Break-Up the #globalists raft of false narratives: =>#ProjectFear =>#UN-#EU-#4thReich-#FakeScience DeepState sponsored #ClimateEmergency-#DataFraud #CarbonTax+#BanMeat! #CO2isGOOD4You by Piers Corbyn (3:32 AM · Aug 14, 2019·Twitter Web App) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 18:45:22 UTC).
  22. search: deepstate (from:Piers_Corbyn) by Piers Corbyn, Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 18:47:36 UTC).
  23. #StopTheCoup thugs are tools of the #EU-#4thReich & use actual Nazi type tactics of calling your enemy what you are. Their #FakeAnger chants #CoverUp their evil #antidemocratic lack of ANY Argument against #Brexit/#NoDealBrexit. - Standard #antifa #Soros-backed type thuggery? by Piers Corbyn (1:49 AM · Aug 30, 2019) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 20:20:50 UTC).
  24. [https://archive.is/wip/u3IQg President Trump's anti-insurrection /martial law move INCLUDES "defence of your Second Amendment Rights" THIS surely spells the end of #antifa & their evil boss #Soros. They're mercenary cowards. Most will run. The rest will likely be shot by the people.] by Piers Corbyn (1:12 AM · Jun 2, 2020) Twitter (archived from 15 Nov 2020 20:28:12 UTC).
  25. Independent
  26. Evening Standard
  27. BBC
  28. 'Organise to resist’: the radical posters of the Paddington Printshop: Operating from an old factory in north-west London, John Phillips and the Paddington Printshop revolutionised the promotion of squatters’ rights and housing campaigns throughout the 1970s and 80s by Peter Watts (23 Sep 2019 02.00 EDT) The Guardian.
  29. Piers Corbyn: the other rebel in the family by Tim Adams (24 Jan 2016 04.30 EST) The Guardian.