Toby Young | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Young in 2011 | |
| Non-Executive Member of the Board of the Office for Students | |
| In office 2 January 2018 – 9 January 2018 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Toby Daniel Moorsom Young 17 October 1963 Buckinghamshire, England |
| Spouse |
Caroline Bondy (m. 2001) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent |
|
| Education | Brasenose College, Oxford Harvard University Trinity College, Cambridge (did not graduate) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union,[1][2] an associate editor of The Spectator,[3] creator of The Daily Sceptic blog and a former associate editor at Quillette.[4]
A graduate of the University of Oxford, Young briefly worked for The Times, before co-founding the London magazine Modern Review in 1991. He edited it until financial difficulties led to its demise in 1995. His 2001 memoir, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, details his subsequent employment at Vanity Fair. He then went on to write for The Sun on Sunday, the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator. He also served as a judge in seasons five and six of the television show Top Chef.[5] A proponent of free schools, Young co-founded the West London Free School and served as director of the New Schools Network.
Young has been at the centre of several controversies. In 2015, he wrote an article in advocacy of genetically engineered intelligence, which he described as "progressive eugenics".[6] In early January 2018, he was briefly a non-executive director on the board of the Office for Students,[7] an appointment from which he resigned within a few days after Twitter posts described as "misogynistic and homophobic" were uncovered.[8] In 2020, press regulator Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) found Young to have promoted misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic in a Daily Telegraph column.[9][10]
- ^ "Who We Are". The Free Speech Union. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Bland, Archie (9 January 2021). "Students quit free speech campaign over role of Toby Young-founded group". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 January 2021 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Specwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lederer, Katy (25 January 2022). "Can They Read?". n+1. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "What's Cooking with Season 5 of Top Chef?" TV Guide. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Adams, Richard (1 January 2018). "Toby Young to help lead government's new universities regulator". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^
- Ashley Cowburn (3 January 2018). "Toby Young deletes thousands of tweets amid row over his universities regulator appointment". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
'Labour has since demanded that Theresa May reverse his appointment because of what the party said was a history of "homophobia and misogyny"
- Adam Payne (3 January 2018). "All the sexist tweets deleted by Toby Young, the guy chosen by the government to advise on universities". Business Insider.
However, Labour has urged May to reverse the appointment, citing a series of tweets Young has now deleted which have been described as sexist, homophobic and insulting to a number of groups.
- Rosemary Bennett (4 January 2018). "Toby Young says new free schools 'must show they are needed'". The Times.
His appointment has been heavily criticised, first on the ground that Mr Young is poorly qualified for the job and then on ground that he has poor judgment after a slew of sexually derogatory tweets emerged. Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint leaders of the new National Education Union, have become the latest to criticise the appointment. In a letter to Ms Greening, they say Mr Young has made "unacceptable comments on disability, students from state schools getting into Oxbridge and children with special education needs. As equalities minister the sexist and homophobic comments Mr Young has made publicly must be as unacceptable to you as they are to the National Education Union.
- Kentish, Ben (7 January 2018). "Theresa May refuses to sack Toby Young over misogynistic and homophobic tweets". The Independent. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- Rawlinson, Kevin; Phipps, Claire (9 January 2018). "Toby Young resigns from the Office for Students after backlash". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- Benjamin Kentish (9 January 2018). "Theresa May refuses to sack Toby Young over misogynistic and homophobic tweets". The Independent.
Theresa May has backed Toby Young to continue in his new role with the higher education watchdog, despite mounting pressure to sack him over a series of misogynistic and homophobic tweets.
- Martin Coulter (9 January 2018). "Toby Young resigns from Office for Students after backlash over his Twitter posts". London Evening Standard.
Mr Young had come under increasing scrutiny since his appointment in early January, when posts from his Twitter account were unearthed in which he was alleged to have made sexist and homophobic remarks.
- "Education: Monumental errors of judgement on education by the Prime Minister". Sheffield Telegraph. 11 January 2018.
May said she was "not impressed" with his language on Twitter when sexist, homophobic and other offences posts were revealed.
- Ashley Cowburn (3 January 2018). "Toby Young deletes thousands of tweets amid row over his universities regulator appointment". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
guardian-daily-telegraph-rebuked-over-toby-youngs-herd-immunity-covid-columnwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).