Govt adviser quits after ‘media hysteria’

An adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned yesterday amid fierce criticism of his past comments linking intelligence to race and suggesting contraception should be made compulsory to avoid ‘‘a permanent underclass.’’

Andrew Sabisky said he was quitting because he had become ‘‘a distraction.’’

Lawmakers from both the opposition and the governing Conservatives had called on Johnson to fire Sabisky, who was hired to work in the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street office after Johnson’s chief aide, Dominic Cummings, appealed for ‘‘weirdos and misfits with odd skills’’ to apply for government jobs.

Sabisky – who has a master’s degree in the psychology of education, according to an online biography – wrote in 2014 that ‘‘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.’’

He has also suggested that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.

The comments were condemned by Johnson’s opponents, as well as some allies.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Johnson’s government needed ‘‘to get a grip fast’’.

On Twitter, Sabisky accused critics of ‘‘selective quoting’’. ‘‘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,’’ he wrote.

Spokesman Jamie Davies refused to say whether the prime minister agreed with Sabisky’s views, which critics say amount to support for eugenics, the now discredited movement to improve the human race through selective reproduction.– AP