First of the 'Weirdos’ and ‘misfits’ with odd skills departs No 10
PM's special adviser quits after over contraception, the benefits of genetic selection and IQ comments
Just days after helping to rid PM Johnson of his Chancellor neighbour, his right hand man Cominic Cummings has seen one of his recently recruited special advisers out of the door at No 10 after he had discussed the benefits of genetic selection, forced contraception on his old online posts.
Andrew Sabisky, a 27 year old academic who calls himself a "super forecaster" was hired as a contractor, following an appeal earlier this year from Johnson's senior adviser Dominic Cummings for 'weirdos' and 'misfitts with odd skills" to help bring new ideas to Britain's government.
In addition to posts on contraception, Sabisky also apparently said data showed the U.S. black population had lower IQ than white people, and, in a 2016 interview with digital publication Schools Week, discussed the benefits of genetic selection. An account in Sabisky's name made the comments about black IQ in a reply to a 2014 blog post written by an American professor discussing education disabilities in the United States. In a now-deleted Twitter post from 2009, it was reported that he wrote: "I am always straight up in saying that women's sport is more comparable to the paralympics than it is to men's."
In 2016, replying to a blog post written by Cummings, an account in Sabisky's name said: "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. Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue."
Sabisky said on Twitter. The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help (the government) not be a distraction, Accordingly I've decided to resign as a contractor ... I signed up to do real work, not be in the middle of a giant character assassination: if I can't do the work properly there's no point."
Responding, acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called the government "a national embarrassment",
Johnson's spokesman has repeatedly refused to comment on whether Johnson shared Sabisky's views, saying only that the prime minister's own views were well known. He would not confirm the nature of Sabisky's role.
Johnson has himself faced criticism in the past for referring to African people as "piccaninnies" with "watermelon smiles".
It almost beggars belief what the vetting process looks like for entry and access into the main offices of government in the UK.
Sources:
LONDON (Reuters) /Henry Nicholls
Evening Standard 17/2/2020 Who is Andrew Sabisky
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