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

Jamie Oliver’s jerk rice comes with a side serving of insanity

25 August 2018 9:00 am

Earlier this week, the Labour MP Dawn Butler ‘called out’ Jamie Oliver for ‘appropriation’. His sin, according to the shadow…

Vocational schools are not to be sneered at

18 August 2018 9:00 am

When I was 16 I failed all my O-levels, bar a grade C in English Literature, and concluded I wasn’t…

Thanks, Ryanair, for wrecking our holiday

11 August 2018 9:00 am

The Young family’s annual summer holiday could not have got off to a poorer start, thanks to Ryanair. As veteran…

Joining the Twitchfork mob is not the answer

4 August 2018 9:00 am

This summer has seen yet another group of thought criminals being mobbed on social media. Some of them are the…

War and monsters: my new favourite author

28 July 2018 9:00 am

If you’re looking for a good beach read this summer, look no further. A few weeks ago I was reading…

Teen Vogue and the rebirth of Radical Chic

21 July 2018 9:00 am

Are we witnessing the rebirth of Radical Chic? That was the term coined by Tom Wolfe in his 1970 essay…

Video games like Fortnite are fun — so they must be bad

14 July 2018 9:00 am

It was only a matter of time. The headteacher of a primary school in Ilfracombe in Devon has banned ‘Flossing’,…

In the crazy world of identity politics, facts don’t matter

7 July 2018 9:00 am

According to a poll of 538 experts on women’s issues, the United States is one of the ten most dangerous…

The problem with deciding that popular culture is ‘problematic’

30 June 2018 9:00 am

A controversy has erupted in Folkestone over a forthcoming screening of Zulu, the classic British war film. A charity has…

This junk study proves nothing about helicopter parenting

23 June 2018 9:00 am

An academic paper by a group of child psychologists caused a stir earlier this week. ‘Helicopter parenting is bad for…

Paying women for housework? Here’s a feminist proposal I actually like

16 June 2018 9:00 am

According to a new study published by some feminist academics at the Australian National University, women risk damaging their health…

How to cope with unsold tickets and empty halls: my advice to Owen Jones

9 June 2018 9:00 am

My heart goes out to Owen Jones. The left-wing journalist is one of the headliners at a Labour party fund-raiser…

Why have I bought a car I don’t actually like?

2 June 2018 9:00 am

I am currently in Brittany with the family, having made the 11-hour drive from London on Monday. It sounds like…

The BBC makes Jeremy Thorpe’s downfall a very enjoyable scandal

26 May 2018 9:00 am

As a conservative, I wasn’t sure what to make of the news that the BBC was adapting A Very English…

The left’s ‘gammon’ slur just shows conservatives are winning

19 May 2018 9:00 am

I was disappointed by the reaction of my fellow conservatives to gammon-gate. For those who haven’t been following this mini-scandal,…

What the education system needs is more marketisation, not less

12 May 2018 9:00 am

Towards the end of 2009, shortly after I announced my intention to set up England’s first free school, I debated…

Here’s what every incel needs: a sex robot

5 May 2018 9:00 am

In a recent blogpost, an American economics professor called Robin Hanson asked why it is that income inequality is regarded…

Uganda is saving its gorillas – but there’s a human cost

28 April 2018 9:00 am

I’m currently in Africa, about to go gorilla trekking in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a large primeval forest located in…

How to get your child into the best state school: an insider’s tips

21 April 2018 9:00 am

Monday was ‘national offer day’, which means that more than half a million parents across England were notified about which…

I used to think I was smarter than my wife. Not anymore

14 April 2018 9:00 am

According to new research published in Advances in Physiology Education, men tend to significantly overestimate their own intelligence whereas women…

A very British response to a death at a funeral

7 April 2018 9:00 am

Something very odd occurred at a funeral I attended last week — somebody died. I don’t mean the person who…

Genetics and the truth about private schools

31 March 2018 9:00 am

A paper published last week in an academic journal called npj Science of Learning attracted an unusual amount of press…

If Corbyn wins, emigrating to Israel is my clear escape route

24 March 2018 9:00 am

I’m currently in Israel on a press trip organised by Bicom — the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre. Bicom…

QPR beat Sunderland 1-0… but my own score has not been settled

17 March 2018 9:00 am

Last Saturday was shaping up to be one of the best days of my life. Freddie, my ten-year-old son, had…

We are being destroyed by tribalism. Let’s get rid of it

10 March 2018 9:00 am

Amy Chua’s latest book, Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations, is a difficult read for anyone who…