A government adviser has resigned after a row about his views on women, race and eugenics
A government adviser whose appointment had caused an outcry inside and outside of Westminster has resigned to end the distraction caused by the furore.
Andrew Sabisky had gone on record as being in favour of eugenics, the science of “improving” a species through breeding, with a compulsory element, as well as reportedly holding objectionable views on women and race.
The BBC published some comments made on forums or blogs by a user sharing his unusual name, including:
“One way to get around the problems of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty,”
“There are excellent reasons to think the very real racial differences in intelligence are significantly – even mostly – genetic in origin.”
If they'd just hired him sooner superforecaster Andrew Sabisky could have seen this backlash against Andrew Sabisky coming and warned them.
— Dmitry Grozoubinski (@DmitryOpines) February 16, 2020
When asked to condemn the comments and to state the PM didn’t approve of eugenics, 10 Downing Street refused to comment.
Hi I'm Boris Johnson. I will literally say any shit you want to hear, true or not, in order to get elected. Have done for years. Always have, always will.
Will you condemn eugenics?
No.
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) February 17, 2020
Late on Monday, Sabisky tweeted that he’d stepped down, complaining of a focus on things he’d said in the past, before deleting his Twitter account.
Sabisky has resigned. Quelle surprise. Why, exactly, was he ever appointed? Is nobody vetted anymore for Downing Street?
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) February 17, 2020
SABISKY QUITS DOWNING ST
“Andrew Sabisky, the Downing Street aide who advocated forcing women to take contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies, has quit”
That went well then. So much for Cummings and his “misfits and weirdos”
What next I wonder …?!? https://t.co/XQGPeoZv9M
— Mark Horsley (@MarkHorsleyUK) February 17, 2020
These reactions to the news say it all.
1.
Andrew Sabisky has reportedly chosen to resign. In the same way that a falling apple chooses to hit the orchard floor.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) February 17, 2020
2.
Twitter has broken a beautiful butterfly by accurately quoting the things he said about eugenics and everyone should be very ashamed of themselves
— Alan White (@aljwhite) February 17, 2020
3.
Andrew Sabisky may have resigned but we can now be sure that our Prime Minister was totally unable to condemn a racist eugenecist who was in favour of forced sterilisation and believed black people have inferior IQs. https://t.co/wwpcn7VyU8
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) February 17, 2020
4.
Genuinely surprised that being a eugenicist would be grounds for resignation from this government. Am I mad to think they deffo would have styled this out for another few days and every single media outlet would have moved on shortly afterwards?
— Séamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) February 17, 2020
5.
Dom just confirmed that it's only Andrew Sabisky that has to go. All the other eugenics-supporting racists like me can stay. Phew! #AndrewSabisky https://t.co/rIpryDzvVJ
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) February 17, 2020
