A win for greenies is a win for sceptics.

As I said about this back in March,

There have been plenty of people who have said that believing in man made global warming is no different from a religion. Usually they point to the fact that people are expected to believe in it unconditionally and without question, and do quasi-religious little rituals that achieve somewhere between "hard to work out" and "fuck all".

The Cat Counters have just said much the same, adding a sweet little dig that Big Eco and its mouthpieces have been telling the world that it's not a belief, it's settled science dammit.

The other thing I said back in March was

I'm no lawyer but the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations, 2003 sound an awful lot like something designed to protect freedom of religious expression and to stop people being discriminated against for religious beliefs. And it also sounds pretty much like that's the argument.

At a pre-hearing review at an employment tribunal in London, tribunal head David Sneath ruled on a point of law that: "In my judgment, his belief goes beyond a mere opinion."

Followed by a lot of laughter and a sincere hope that the low food miles nut job won his case. Since he has now won that means we can treat the belief in man made global warming for what it is: a fucking belief. As a bonus I wonder if other philosophical beliefs will be given similar treatment in courts now the precedent has been set. Would someone with strong libertarian philosophical beliefs get the support of a British court if they objected to CCTV cameras, ID cards, databases and all the mechanisms of the modern British surveillance state? Perhaps it's time to start using this shit they come up with against them, though lets remember that the UK has disposed of jury trials when it's not convenient for the government, so let's not get too optimistic.