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

My prescription for surviving the winter

26 November 2022 9:00 am

Winter is finally upon us and I’m relying on my usual array of tablets and powders to ward off seasonal…

Gary Neville’s fairweather morality

19 November 2022 9:00 am

Should England be participating in the Qatar World Cup? On the face of it, the case for a boycott is…

The case against climate change reparations

12 November 2022 9:00 am

I was a little disappointed by Boris Johnson’s argument against Britain paying reparations for the damage done to developing countries…

What to do about the Equality Act

5 November 2022 9:00 am

Among people of a conservative disposition, it’s long been accepted that the Equality Act needs to be repealed. This legislation,…

At last, a PM I can look down to

29 October 2022 9:00 am

Rishi Sunak’s victory is a testament to how much progress we have made on the equalities front. As recently as…

The embarrassing truth about how I got injured

22 October 2022 9:00 am

I had a bicycle accident last week. Not terrible, but not great either. Of the five I’ve had since I…

Will I be PayPal’s downfall?

15 October 2022 9:00 am

Dan Schulman, the president and CEO of PayPal, gave an interview earlier this year entitled: ‘The thing that separates good…

Is Russell Brand really so dangerous?

8 October 2022 9:00 am

Once the dust has settled over the government’s mini-Budget, another big political battle looms: the Online Safety Bill. This is…

I’m on Andrew Doyle’s side – for now

1 October 2022 9:00 am

I’ve agreed to interview the author and journalist Andrew Doyle about his new book at the Conservative party conference –…

PayPal backs down

28 September 2022 3:09 am

At 5.30 p.m. this evening, PayPal notified me that it has restored all three of the accounts it cancelled a…

Why has PayPal cancelled the Free Speech Union?

24 September 2022 9:00 am

I thought one of the benefits of being cancelled – I lost five positions in quick succession at the beginning…

What Charles shouldn’t do

17 September 2022 9:00 am

One of the most regrettable trends of the past few decades is the creep of politics into every aspect of…

I’ve finally been offended by a joke

10 September 2022 9:00 am

I went to the O2 on Sunday night to see the comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock. Chappelle, who survived…

How science became politicised

3 September 2022 9:00 am

Here’s a paradox. Over the past two-and-a-half years, a cadre of senior politicians and their ‘expert’ advisers across the world…

Confessions of a lawn obsessive

27 August 2022 9:00 am

For the past few days I’ve been frantically watering my lawn in anticipation of the London hosepipe ban. True, there…

Why I’m defending a pro-Putin apologist

20 August 2022 9:00 am

As a defender of free speech, I’m used to taking up the cudgels on behalf of unsavoury people. To quote…

The (occasional) joy of being a QPR fan

13 August 2022 9:00 am

I made my way to Loftus Road on Saturday for QPR’s first home fixture of the season. We’ve got a…

Iceland’s scenery takes your breath away – but so do the prices

6 August 2022 9:00 am

I’m writing this on the plane back from Iceland, a fact that fills me with relief. Not because I didn’t…

My Icelandic holiday with Kevin and Perry

30 July 2022 9:00 am

I’m currently on holiday in Iceland. I say ‘holiday’, but I’m with my three teenage sons so it’s more like…

My brief career as a marijuana farmer

23 July 2022 9:00 am

The latest heatwave reminded me of my brief career as a marijuana farmer. This wasn’t in the summer of 1976,…

Has identity politics had its day?

16 July 2022 9:00 am

Have we reached peak woke? In Hollywood, that seems to be the emerging consensus. Thanks to the box office success…

My admiration for the other Toby Young

9 July 2022 9:00 am

It’s started again. Sixteen years ago, another ‘Toby Young’ kept appearing in my email inbox. I’d created a Google Alert…

The day I got heckled at Speakers’ Corner

2 July 2022 9:00 am

Monday was the 150th anniversary of Speakers’ Corner and, in the hope of drumming up some publicity for the Free…

Will my kitchen be designated a ‘safe space’?

25 June 2022 9:00 am

As the father of four children who will be entering higher education in the next few years, I’m worried that…

Why country house opera is just the ticket

18 June 2022 9:00 am

Last Saturday I went to the opera for only the second time in my life. This was at the invitation…