A letter to yesterday's "Manchester Guardian": The only accurate point in [Guardian reporter] George Monbiot's attack on my reputation is that, yes, I am a father. But of a 26 month old son rather than some political conspiracy (Marxist found alive in C4 December 18). Monbiot is quite entitled to take exception to any of my views on the environment or on any public issue. What I resent is his style of low-life journalism which seeks to discredit his intellectual opponents through attemption to slander their motives. My interest in party politics of any sort during the past seven years has been nil. Anyone who has read my last four books would find them difficult to situate within the Marxist or, for that matter, any political tradition. I prefer to describe myself as a libertarian humanist, whose main concern is with the general Culture of Fear that prevails in society. On my involvement with the so-called conspiratorial programme, Against Nature: during this summer, I was contacted by the producer's researcher to discuss the views that I outlined in my book, Population and Development. After a 45 minute chat in the coffee room of the National Gallery, I agreed to be interviewed for the programme, later in the year. In early October, I did a 50 minute interview on the subject of development. I had a cup of coffee afterwards with the producer and we had an argument about existential philosophy. I had no idea that I was involved in a political conspiracy. If the intelorance shown by Monbiot towards his opponents is anything to go by, then clearly the criticism of environmentalism made by the programme Against Nature has been vindicated Dr Frank Furedi Darwin College University of Kent
