Many of us are ultra careful when posting our views online these days. Not only because we don't want to offend people, but because we know our current or future employers could hold our tweets, posts or captions against us. Rightly, many companies want to ensure that their staff don't harbour sexist, racist, homophobic or otherwise offensive and outdated views.
But the UK government seems not so concerned. On Monday, it announced the appointment of the ex-journalist, author and free-school advocate Toby Young to its new higher education watchdog, the Office for Students. A swift backlash followed, largely due to the emergence of thousands of flagrant tweets he had posted in the past.
The tweets, which have since been deleted – Young took down more than 50,000 of them on Wednesday alone – were described by Labour as "vile, sexist and homophobic" and raise serious questions over whether he is fit to represent students, particularly women and those who identify as LGBTQ.
Naturally, Young claimed the backlash against his appointment was politically motivated by the left, but anyone in their right mind would agree that his comments are suggestive of someone who is unfit for public office – with even some Conservatives reacting in horror to some of his past statements. Judge for yourself.
Hi @toadmeister, that wasn’t Danny Boyle’s wife. It was his student DAUGHTER who was a MINOR at the time.
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 2, 2018
I’ve known this family since childhood. We’ve grown up together & I know her date of birth.
In case it wasn’t obvious, Toby Young is disgusting. pic.twitter.com/XbndQImDb7
One of the many tweets which have been screengrabbed was posted during the 2009 Academy Awards. Young said a woman he believed to be Danny Boyle's wife had "huge knockers". Even worse than the crass, sexist language, though, was that the "woman" turned out to be Boyle's 17-year-old daughter.
He also tweeted about Claudia Winkleman's breasts, telling her to "put on some weight, girlie", as well as those of Padma Lakshmi, with whom he worked on a US reality TV cooking programme, and various other women. In reply to a tweet about Lakshmi, Young also made the horrendous, vomit-inducing claim that he had his "dick up her arse".
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 2 (Claudia Winkleman): pic.twitter.com/54tdd3oDGP
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 3 (Padma Lakshmi): pic.twitter.com/J9YKydpyTA
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 4 (unnamed woman MP sitting behind @Ed_Miliband in 2011 & 2012): pic.twitter.com/97SOmkEh79
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 5 (women at the 2009 Emmy Awards): pic.twitter.com/SVwF4Jb5Dg
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 6 (Gail Simmons): pic.twitter.com/Mv7BMAPd1U
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
Toby Young being a sexist creep, example no. 7 (Helen Mirren): pic.twitter.com/yzsN4IhCzx
— Ana ফরজানা (@wordsbyana) January 3, 2018
There are many more similar examples, which you can skim over in horror via this thread.
Young has also shared his troubling views on eugenics and working class people in various right-wing publications over the years. In an Australian publication in 2015, he said poorer people should be allowed to choose which embryos to implant based on intelligence. While in The Spectator in 2012, he decried the need for schools to be inclusive of people of colour, people in wheelchairs and people with special educational needs.
On Wednesday, foreign secretary Boris Johnson called the outcry over Young "ridiculous", claiming he was the "ideal man for the job". Boris is the brother of universities minister Jo Johnson, who appointed Young to the role and he was Young's former editor at The Spectator.
(Ironically, it was Young's father, Michael Young, who coined the term 'meritocracy' to describe a society in which those in power get there based on merit rather than wealth or class privilege. You couldn't make it up.)
Ridiculous outcry over Toby Young. He will bring independence, rigour and caustic wit. Ideal man for job
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 3, 2018
Young defended his appointment in a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday, claiming that while he regretted some of his "sophomoric and silly" comments (understatement of the century?), others had been "deliberately misinterpreted to try and paint [him] as a caricature of a heartless Tory toff".
He also appeared to deride people's concerns by describing his comments as "politically incorrect", rather than acknowledging and apologising for the offence he had caused. Tory MP Margot James tweeted that while she believed Young was "worthy of his appointment," the term "politically incorrect" was "frequently used to dismiss unacceptable comments about, and behaviour towards, women and minorities".
Toby Young @toadmeister is worthy of his appointment to the OFS but it is a mistake for him to belittle sexist comments by labelling them “politically incorrect” a term frequently used to dismiss unacceptable comments about, and behaviour towards, women and minorities
— Margot James (@margot_james_mp) January 3, 2018
The Labour Party is now demanding that Theresa May reverse the appointment of Young, but the PM is yet to make any comment.
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