The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
No 10 adviser quits over controversial comments
RESIGNATION: Andrew Sabisky said he did not want to be a ‘distraction’
A Downing Street adviser who once suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies “creating a permanent underclass” has quit his post.
In the midst of growing controversy over his views Andrew Sabisky said he was standing down because he did not want to be a distraction to the government.
He tweeted: “The media hysteria about my old stuff online is mad but I wanted to help HMG not be a distraction.
“Accordingly I’ve decided to resign as a contractor. I hope no.10 hires more ppl w/ good geopolitical forecasting track records & that media learn to stop selective quoting.”
In another tweet he said: “I know this will disappoint a lot of ppl but 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, & I have a lot of other things to do w/ my life.”
It came after Boris Johnson was put under mounting pressure to sack Mr Sabisky, who was drafted in to Number 10 after the prime minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, called for “misfits and weirdos” to apply to advise the government.
Labour said Number 10’s refusal to condemn the remarks was “disgusting”, while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government must “demonstrate some basic but fundamental values”.
Mr Sabisky also reportedly suggested that the benefits of a purported cognitive enhancer, which can prove fatal, are “probably worth a dead kid once a year”.
Writing on Mr Cummings’ website in 2014, he 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.”
He also suggested that black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.
Earlier yesterday, before Sabisky resigned, a Number 10 spokesman had said: “I’m not going to be commenting on individual appointments.”
Number 10 insiders insisted that Mr Johnson did not support eugenics, but the prime minister has courted controversy with his views on IQ in the past.
In a speech in 2013 he said any discussion about equality had to take account of the fact that 16% of “our species” had an IQ below 85 while around 2% had an IQ above 130, adding: “The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.”