Speaking of uninformed commentators and trial by Twitter, George Monbiot has been in full grovelling mode today.

Though I didn't make direct allegations, I think I was wrong to hve mentiond McAlpine on Twittr, as contribtd to febrile atmos. I apologise.

— GeorgeMonbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) November 9, 2012

Possibly something to do with the heavy threat of legal action at the end of McAlpine’s statement. Monbiot’s now-deleted tweets included:

I looked up Lord #McAlpine on t’internet. It says the strangest things.

I can confirm that Lord #McAlpine was Conservative Party Treasurer when Mrs Thatcher was prime minister.

Historical fact of the week: Lord #McAlpine was a well-known treasurer of the Conservative Party during the Thatcher era.

What was that about evidence-based science…