Andrew Sabisky, the Downing Street aide who advocated forcing women to take contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies, has quit.
The 27-year-old was hired after Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings called for “misfits and weirdos” to apply to work with him, but faced a backlash over a series of controversial posts.
On Monday, he said he was standing down because he did not want to be a distraction to the government.
In a tweet, he wrote: “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.”
Sabisky once suggested that the benefits of a purported cognitive enhancer, which can prove fatal, are “probably worth a dead kid once a year”.
Writing on Cummings’ website in 2014, he said vaccination laws provided a “precedent” for enforced contraception.
“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 said.
In one
Twitter post he said: “I am always straight up in saying that women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”
He also suggested black Americans have a lower average IQ than white Americans.
Earlier on Monday, a Number 10 spokesman said: “I’m not going to be commenting on individual appointments.”
The spokesman added: “The prime minister’s views on a range of subjects are well publicised and documented.”
An ex-cabinet minister told HuffPost UK: “So much for ‘high output management’.
“Narcissistic Cummings can’t even get basic personnel decisions right. Outside of his intellectual ivory towers he seems to have little real common sense or decency. What a liability.
“Bet Boris is already thinking ‘will someone rid me of this troublesome priest’ - or if he isn’t he should.”
Labour said Number 10’s refusal to condemn the remarks was “disgusting”, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government must “demonstrate some basic but fundamental values”.
Speaking after Mr Sabisky’s resignation,
Labour Party chairman Ian Lavery said: “It’s right that Andrew Sabisky is no longer working in government. He should never have been appointed in the first place.
“After Number 10 publicly stood by him today,
Boris Johnson has serious questions to answer about how this appointment was made and whether he agrees with his vile views.”Related... No.10 Refuses To Say Whether PM Shares Aide's View That Black People Are Mentally Inferior Boris Johnson Told To Sack 'Sinister' Aide Who Backs 'Forced Sterilisation'