Man loses bid to ban An Inconvenient Truth from U.K. schools
But judge demands changes to guidance notes to counteract 'political partisanship'
Last Updated: Thursday, October 11, 2007 | 10:59 AM ET
CBC News
A British father of two has failed in his attempt to prevent Al Gore's climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth being shown in secondary schools in the U.K.
But Stewart Dimmock, a school governor from Dover, claimed victory in the case after a London High Court judge demanded changes to the guidance notes for teachers that accompany the Oscar-winning film.
Dimmock had sought to block an initiative made by then-education minister Alan Johnson earlier this year to show the film to every British secondary student in an effort to raise awareness of climate change issues.
Dimmock said the film promotes "partisan political views," its science is weak and it contains "sentimental mush."
A judge issued a decision Wednesday saying the film could be distributed to 3,500 secondary schools.
However, he accepted the argument that An Inconvenient Truth promotes a political point of view and ordered additions to the guidance notes distributed with the film to put it in context for students.
"I conclude that the claimant substantially won this case by virtue of my finding that, but for the new guidance note, the film would have been distributed in breach of sections 406 and 407 of the 1996 Education Act," the judge said, referring to sections of the act that prevent political indoctrination in the schools.
Dimmock also was awarded two thirds of his legal costs in the case, estimated at £200,000 ($401,000 Cdn.).
Dimmock, a truck driver, is a member of the New Party, a fringe political party that believes in economic liberalism and says that climate change has not been proven to be a man-made phenomenon.
Current Education Minister Kevin Brennan said the ministry has updated the guidance notes accompanying the film in accordance with the judge's instructions.
"However, it is important to be clear that the central arguments put forward in An Inconvenient Truth — that climate change is mainly caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and will have serious adverse consequences — are supported by the vast weight of scientific opinion," he said.
"Nothing in the judge's ruling today detracts from that."
DVDs of the film are to be sent to British schools and shown to students aged 11 to 14.
