Toby Young

Toby Young is the co-author of What Every Parent Needs to Know and the co-founder of several free schools. In addition to being an associate editor of The Spectator, he is an associate editor of Quillette. Follow him on Twitter @toadmeister

Has Trump been taking inspiration from the royals?

21 June 2025 9:00 am

One of the objections to the military parade in Washington, DC last Saturday – supposedly to mark the 250th birthday…

Pride continues to crumble

14 June 2025 9:00 am

In the canteen of the House of Lords last week, a friendly server asked me if I’d like some ‘Pride…

It’s no surprise that Prevent has gone to the dogs

12 June 2025 3:30 am

Conquest’s Second Law states that the behaviour of an organisation can best be predicted by assuming it’s controlled by a…

Should we be above cancelling the cancellers?

7 June 2025 9:00 am

I’ve been mulling over Marco Rubio’s latest salvo in the Trump administration’s assault on the Censorship-Industrial Complex. The US Secretary…

My sitcom-worthy walking holiday

31 May 2025 9:00 am

I’ve just returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland with Caroline and my mother-in-law. I say ‘walking’ but that makes…

How do I feed my children now my wife has gone on strike?

24 May 2025 9:00 am

Caroline has gone on strike. At least, as far as cooking is concerned. Her case for downing spatulas is that…

My son took drugs – and they were mine

17 May 2025 9:00 am

The weekend before last, I came home from walking the dog at about noon to find Caroline asleep in bed.…

Are you a ‘tidsoptimist’?

10 May 2025 9:00 am

Last week Caroline sent me an Instagram reel that featured a Norwegian word and its English translation. A ‘tidsoptimist’, I…

Bridget Phillipson’s perfect storm for schools

3 May 2025 9:00 am

In its manifesto, Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers and the Education Secretary reiterated this a few days after…

Is the end of ‘non-crime hate incidents’ in sight?

26 April 2025 9:00 am

Could the end of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) be in sight? As the head of the Free Speech Union, I’ve…

Can Trump keep me on side?

19 April 2025 9:00 am

I’m in danger of falling out of love with Donald Trump. I was ecstatic when he beat Kamala Harris, delighted…

Leave our Lords alone

12 April 2025 9:00 am

Within a few months, the constitution that has served this country so well for hundreds of years will yet again…

Is it time to clean up my act?

5 April 2025 9:00 am

I was having a drink in the Bishops’ Bar in the House of Lords last month when I was introduced…

How to be a Lord

29 March 2025 9:00 am

At the end of my first day at the House of Lords, I staggered out with so many books and…

Why, at 75, does Graydon Carter still feel the need to impress?

29 March 2025 9:00 am

The humblebrag and name-dropping read more like a Craig Brown pastiche than the reminiscences of one of America’s most celebrated magazine editors

Adolescence demonises white working-class boys

25 March 2025 6:04 am

This is an extract from today’s episode of Spectator TV, with Toby Young and James Walton, which you can find…

The curse of Disney’s Snow White

22 March 2025 9:00 am

One of the early decisions David Zaslav made after becoming the CEO of Warner Bros Discovery in 2022 was to…

I was right – and Gove was wrong – on lockdown

15 March 2025 9:00 am

In an otherwise excellent article for the Sunday Telegraph last week about our government’s hopeless pandemic response, Dan Hannan made…

Are you offended by ‘hard-working families’?

8 March 2025 9:00 am

Scarcely a day passes without a newspaper story about some absurd ‘language guide’ issued by a public body. This week…

Cracks are appearing in the Cathedral walls

1 March 2025 9:00 am

Is the ‘Cathedral’ about to fall down? That’s the name given by the right-wing blogger Curtis Yarvin to denote the…

Colombia is a better place to watch football than Loftus Road

22 February 2025 9:00 am

I’ve just returned from Colombia, where I’ve been visiting my daughter. She’s doing a modern languages degree and has to…

Should free speech campaigners hope Andrew Gwynne is prosecuted?

15 February 2025 9:00 am

David McKelvey, a former detective chief inspector in the Met Police, has called for the prosecution of Andrew Gwynne, the…

The trouble with criminalising ‘Islamophobia’

8 February 2025 9:00 am

When I first heard that Angela Rayner had been tasked with creating an advisory council that will draw up an…

Beware this terrible new AI email feature

1 February 2025 9:00 am

A friend of mine got a nasty shock last week after a Google Meet call, thanks to a new AI…

James Tooley’s ordeal is over – but why was he ever suspended?

30 January 2025 1:52 am

It’s wonderful to hear that Professor James Tooley, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, has been reinstated after a…