Resignation comes less than 24 hours after minister issued robust defence of Young’s position in House of Commons
Toby Young has stepped down from the Office for Students less than 24 hours after the universities minister robustly countered criticism of his appointment.
Toby Young: social media self-obsessive still battling with father's shadow Read more
In a statement posted on the Spectator website on Tuesday morning, Young, a champion of free schools, said: “My appointment has become a distraction from its vital work of broadening access to higher education and defending academic freedom.”
The Office for Students (OfS) chair, Sir Michael Barber, welcomed the news, which came after a backlash against the appointment, with questions about Young’s suitability for the role. Barber said Young had “reached the right conclusion”.
Barber added: “Many of his previous tweets and articles were offensive, and not in line with the values of the Office for Students. Mr Young was right to offer an unreserved apology for these comments and he was correct to say that his continuation in the role would have distracted from our important work.”
Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, had strongly criticised Young’s OfS appointment in a letter to the prime minister on Friday.
Rayner said on Twitter on Tuesday: “The Toby Young saga has cast great doubt on the judgment of the PM who failed to sack him in the first place. Then yesterday we had the spectacle of government universities minister defending his appointment in parliament, he had to go. Tory cronyism could not save his job.”
The University and College Union said Young should never have been appointed in the first place. The joint general secretary of the National Education Union, Mary Bousted, said he had “at last recognised what was so obvious to so many: he is not fit to hold a position in government”.
Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) The Government are always 10 minutes late for the right decision. It's as if they love to be dragged kicking and screaming to the right decision and that they want to damage their reputation.
Young’s appointment to the OfS board, which is meant to help uphold standards at universities, caused a storm after critics highlighted a string of offensive tweets directed at women as well as controversial writing about working-class students.
Young, whose professional life has increasingly turned from his work as a journalist to the field of education, has cast his previous comments as remnants of a former life, for which he should not be judged too harshly now.
Toby Young jumped ship. But the toxic Tories’ culture war goes on | Owen Jones Read more
Writing on Tuesday, Young said: “The caricature drawn of me in the last seven days, particularly on social media, has been unrecognisable to anyone who knows me.” But he conceded: “Some of the things I said before I got involved in education, when I was a journalistic provocateur, were either ill-judged or just plain wrong – and I unreservedly apologise.”
Besides the judgment of the prime minister, Young’s decision to resign also called into question that of some of the most senior members of the cabinet – including the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the environment secretary, Michael Gove – who had defended him.
In an interview with Andrew Marr on the BBC on Sunday, May appeared to back Young. But she warned that any future offensive language would result in him being “no longer … in public office”.
Play Video 1:03 Theresa May on Toby Young: 'I'm not impressed by those comments' – video
Last Wednesday Boris Johnson criticised the “ridiculous outcry”, saying Young would “bring independence, rigour and caustic wit” to the OfS. He was, the foreign secretary insisted, the “ideal man for [the] job”. Gove agreed, saying Boris Johnson’s comments were “quite right too”.
On Tuesday, Young thanked the prime minister “for standing by me, and drawing a distinction between my earlier life and my subsequent record in education”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on the same day, the new Conservative chairman, Brandon Lewis, highlighted the caveats in May’s backing, but he defended Young’s “passion for education”.
Asked why May did not sack him earlier, Lewis said: “He has taken a decision about his position becoming a distraction … I respect that decision. But it shouldn’t distract either, to be fair, from the great work Toby Young has done improving school standards.” Lewis claimed May had shown “clear leadership” in wanting to have a team who were passionate about education.
Timeline Toby Young: from appointment to resignation in eight days Show Hide Toby Young appointed to watchdog's board Announcing the appointment of Young as one of 15 board members, the Department for Education (DfE) said he had "diverse experience" that would help the new higher education watchdog, the Office for Students (OfS). Concerns are raised Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north-west England, says he was not granted an interview for the post, despite claiming to have more relevant experience than Young. Concerns over some of Young's previous comments also surface. Young acknowledges DfE embellished his qualifications The journalist acknowledges he did not hold academic posts at Cambridge and Harvard, which many had understood from DfE statements. Young issues lengthy defence The journalist releases a statement on his Facebook page saying he is amply qualified for the role, but acknowledging his regret over some the comments for which he is being criticised. Cabinet members defend Young's appointment The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the environment secretary, Michael Gove, are among those to defend Young's position. DfE dismisses claims Young failed to meet standards Specific concerns over whether Young has abided by the principles set out in the job specification are brushed aside by the DfE. Young posted tweets that some said breached the standards expected in a public office. He then deleted many of them, prompting claims he had failed to show the necessary transparency. Teachers and lecturers oppose Young's appointment Pressure begins to mount on the DfE as a union representing nearly half a million teachers and lecturers condemns Young's appointment. Labour demands Young's removal Senior Labour figures write to the prime minister, Theresa May, calling on her to intervene and remove Young from his position. Theresa May defends Young After days of criticism, May appears on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday to back Young, though she says she is unhappy with some of his comments and will sack him if he repeats them. Victim of Young's harassment speaks out Within hours of the prime minister's defence of him, Pamela Nash - a Labour politician about whom Young made lewd comments - calls for his dismissal. Row reaches the Commons With parliament back in session, Labour secures permission to publicly question the government over Young's appointment. The universities minister, Jo Johnson, issues a robust defence. Young resigns Less than 24 hours after Johnson's statement to the Commons insisting the free schools champion is the right man for the job, Young resigns.
The news of Young’s departure came hours after the education secretary, Justine Greening, left the government. She was replaced by Damian Hinds.
It also briefly exposed a rift between the OfS and the universities minister who has championed it, Jo Johnson. He appeared before MPs to offer a robust defence of Young on Monday afternoon and, having learned of his resignation on Tuesday morning, declined to backtrack.
“Toby Young’s track record setting up and supporting free schools speaks for itself,” he tweeted. In stark contrast to Barber’s tone, he said Young’s decision to resign stand down “reflects his character better than the one-sided caricature from his armchair critics”.
Within hours, however, Johnson had been moved to transport minister in the prime minister’s reshuffle.
There was crossbench criticism of Young’s appointment. Speaking in Monday’s debate, the Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said Young’s comments “do cross a line and are indicative of an underlying character”.
Robert Halfon said of Young’s appointment: “Things have gone badly wrong here.” He told MPs he was “concerned about some quite dark articles in which [Young] talks about the disabled and the working classes”, as well as “progressive eugenics”.
A DfE spokesman said: “We can confirm that Toby Young has decided to resign from the board of the Office for Students. Everyone appointed to the board brings valuable experience which will be vital to the role of the new higher education regulator, and we remain confident it will deliver for students.”
Toby Young wasn’t pushed: he jumped. This is a critical point, because his disgraced departure from the Office for Students should in no way let this increasingly shambolic government off the hook.
Toby Young resigns from the Office for Students after backlash Read more
He was appointed to a post for which he is supremely unqualified because he is a Tory pundit who is friends with his former Spectator editor, Boris Johnson, and the foreign secretary’s brother, the new transport minister Jo Johnson. This was gratuitous nepotism.
That his vile tweets are somehow a surprise is barely worth indulging: he has spent his entire adult life cultivating a toxic persona, and he was taken to task on national television by Labour’s Stella Creasy for leering over an MP’s breasts as far back as 2013.
His support for “progressive eugenics”, his denouncing of wheelchair ramps and his reference to a “functionally illiterate troglodyte with a mental age of six”, his homophobic use of “penis breath” and suggesting a gay man wanted to “bum” a straight man, his “joking” about masturbating over starving African children and having his “dick” up a woman’s “arse”, his almost obsessive ogling over breasts – these were not comments made in his teens, or 20s, or even 30s, but in his 40s. And even when they were exposed, the prime minister defended his appointment, while Boris Johnson defended his mate’s “caustic wit”.
I am no champion of the now departed education secretary, Justine Greening, a Tory who voted for every unjust Tory policy going, from the bedroom tax to slash-and-burn cuts. But what does it say about a party that finds a place for a knuckle-dragging, unqualified egotist because he’s friends with the Tory old boys’ network, while sidelining a gay, northern, comprehensively educated woman?
Why did this episode happen in the first place? Because the British right wants a culture war. They invited it. They relish little else than riling leftwing “snowflakes”. The more – as they see it – the left howls, and froths, and whines in self-righteous indignation, the better. And so they seek, in a calculated manner, to provoke offence. There is one slight hiccup in seeking this culture war. It is one of the factors that is rendering the Tories toxic for younger Britons who increasingly reject racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. They see obnoxious rightwingers revelling in and competing over being as crude, nasty and vicious as possible about women, ethnic minorities, immigrants and gay, lesbian and trans people, and they feel repulsed. More sensible Tories see this, but my word are they drowned out.
Which brings me finally to Boris Johnson. Here is a man with a back catalogue of homophobia, sexism and racism just as extensive as Toby Young’s. Why is he still foreign secretary? If Toby Young is unsuitable for the Office of Students, why is Johnson – who joked about “tank-topped bumboys”, “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles” and clearing away Libya’s dead bodies – appropriate as Britain’s face to the world?
Free speech works both ways – as Toby Young is finding out | Dawn Foster Read more
Oh, and spare me this whining about Twitter mobs: Young was too much even for Tory backbenchers and the Mail on Sunday. The real bully, in any case, is a tabloid press that whips up bile and hatred to a readership of millions. The simple fact is the right wants a culture war. It has spent years whipping it up. And the only reason it is howling now is it fears, quite justifiably, that it is going to lose it.
• Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
Toby Young has resigned from his position on the board of the universities regulator saying his appointment has "become a distraction".
The journalist-turned-educationalist apologised "unreservedly" for a string of controversial comments he had made on social media in recent years.
His announcement comes after ministers were forced to defend his appointment to the Office for Students (OfS) in the House of Commons on Monday following a fierce backlash from MPs - including prominent Tories.
Writing in The Spectator, Mr Young said: "The caricature drawn of me in the last seven days, particularly on social media, has been unrecognisable to anyone who knows me.
"I am a passionate supporter of inclusion and helping the most disadvantaged, as I hope my track record of setting up and supporting new schools demonstrates.
Toby Young has quit his post with the higher education watchdog with an apology for his misogynistic and homophobic comments – just two days after Theresa May backed him to stay.
The controversial journalist threw in the towel amid a hail of criticism over his offensive comments about women’s breasts, gay people, the disabled and starving children in Africa.
The decision is a huge embarrassment for the Prime Minister who cleared Mr Young to remain in his job at the Office for Students board, provided he did not repeat the offensive tweets and articles.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Environment Secretary Michael Gove were among other ministers who praised Mr Young, and argued he was ideal for the role.
In the Commons yesterday, universities minister Jo Johnson refused to rethink the appointment, telling MPs: “We want to encourage Mr Young to develop the best sides of his personality.”
But in an early morning statement, the free schools champion announced he was standing down from the universities regulator – after just 8 days – because his appointment had “become a distraction”.
Writing in The Spectator, Mr Young said: “The caricature drawn of me in the last seven days, particularly on social media, has been unrecognisable to anyone who knows me.
“I am a passionate supporter of inclusion and helping the most disadvantaged, as I hope my track record of setting up and supporting new schools demonstrates.
“But some of the things I said before I got involved in education, when I was a journalistic provocateur, were either ill-judged or just plain wrong – and I unreservedly apologise.”
The resignation was welcomed by Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, but she said it “cast great doubt on the judgment” of the Prime Minister who had failed to sack him.
She tweeted: “Yesterday we had the spectacle of government universities minister defending his appointment in Parliament, he had to go. Tory cronyism could not save his job...”
A petition calling for Mr Young to be sacked had gathered more than 219,000 signatures, and some senior Conservative MPs had echoed the call.
Speaking in Monday’s debate, Robert Halfon, the education select committee chairman who has cerebral palsy, attacked the “dark” and “dangerous” articles written by Mr Young in the past.
“What I’m more concerned about is some quite dark articles where he talks about the disabled, where he talks about the working classes, and much more significantly in 2015 – and I have the article here – on what he calls progressive eugenics,” He said.
And fellow Tory Sarah Wollaston said: “I’m afraid I feel Mr Young’s comments do cross a line and are therein indicative of an underlying character, and the kind of person that would tweet comments to a woman that talk about masturbating over images of refugees”
However, in an interview on Sunday, Mrs May chose to stand by Mr Young, saying she had been unaware of his history of crude and sexist comments.
The Prime Minister said: “Toby Young has done exceedingly good work in relation to free schools and that’s what led to him being appointed to the Office for Students.
She added: “He’s now in public office, and as far as I’m concerned if he was to continue to use that sort of language and talk in that sort of way, he would no longer be in public office.”
Last week, Mr Johnson tweeted: “Ridiculous outcry over Toby Young. He will bring independence, rigour and caustic wit. Ideal man for job.”
