Peter Rhodes on catastrophes, crises and a climate-change denier on the telly

Listen I will say this only once. Just because you watch or read a certain outlet doesn't mean you share its views. I spend much time poring through the lefty Guardian news website and, until it was banned, kept a close eye on that most egregious channel, Russia Today (RT). If you only consume news you agree with, you'll never see the bigger picture. You might even come to confuse democracy (T-shirts) with fascism (black shirts).

Having said all that, I thoroughly enjoyed the appearance by climate-change denier Christopher Monckton on Neil Oliver's show on GB News - with one reservation. Monckton is a slick, articulate operator, plucking figures and anecdotes from thin air. He should have been challenged by an equally articulate climate scientist and not given such free rein as Oliver allowed. But at least we were hearing the other side in this usually one-sided global debate The BBC no longer permits climate-denial coverage on the grounds of “false balance,” which has a charmingly Orwellian ring.

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Two men are arrested in connection with the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. They are then released on bail. Am I missing something here?

It is clear from the investigation in Liverpool that police not only know who the “Mr Bigs” of the city's organised crime are but are monitoring them as they clear off to Spain or Turkey until the heat dies down. Whatever happened to Whitehall's brave promise that civil-recovery orders by the National Crime Agency would strip criminals of their homes, cars, cash and assets without even the need for a criminal trial?

The Times confidently informed us six years ago: “Asset seizures hit crime bosses where it hurts,” So why are the Mr Bigs still so big?

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Definitions for our time. Whatever some shrill and “catastrophising” pundits may tell you, the shocking rise in our electricity and gas bills is simply a crisis. The floods in Pakistan, with 1,100 dead and 33 million people affected – now, that's a catastrophe.