COMMENTATOR Toby Young says he has become an English nationalist because the devolved nations are behaving like “irresponsible students” during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Spectator columnist, who caused outrage at the start of lockdown when he complained about the UK Government’s willingness to spend a lot of money to limit the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, complained about the cost of localised lockdowns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Previously Young wrote that spending to “prolong the lives of a few hundred thousand mostly elderly people is an irresponsible use of taxpayer’s money”.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Fury over Toby Young's claims about elderly people
Young maintains his take on lockdowns in a new article, claiming that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are “running up massive debts on their credit cards because they can count on the bank of mum and dad to bail them out”.
The commentator takes particular issue with Scotland, saying the situation here is “even worse”. He claims the First Minister has placed large chunks of the country “under virtual house arrest” to “whip up nationalist sentiment”, rather than protect people from a highly infectious illness which has already killed at least 44,000 people across the UK this year.
Young also claims that Welsh FM Mark Drakeford simply wants to enhance the standing of Keir Starmer’s position on a circuit breaker lockdown with the latest restrictions announced.
“All of which has left me feeling like an angry, red-faced gammon,” he adds. “Up until now, I haven’t minded subsidising our lower-income neighbours, even though they’ve never exhibited the slightest flicker of gratitude.”
Focusing on Young’s claim that he “hadn’t anticipated” that the pandemic would turn him into an English nationalist, journalist Dawn Foster wrote: “Well, everyone else anticipated it.”
Well, everyone else anticipated it pic.twitter.com/XxYy23TdDo
— Dawn Foster (@DawnHFoster) October 22, 2020
Meanwhile Alex Massie joked: “The logical assumption is that Toby Young must secretly be on the SNP payroll but I fear he is actually happy to work for them for free.”
YesCymru, the campaign for an independent Wales, shared the article and encouraged people to join.
“Congratulations to Toby Young on becoming a recruiter for #Independence,” one Twitter user added.
The big question is this: If we're apparently such a drain on your resources, why don't you support us in doing what 58% of the nation wants by becoming independent?
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel