Lockdown sceptic Toby Young admits he ‘got it wrong’ over second Covid wave

‘Hands up, I got that wrong,’ concedes right-wing columnist on Newsnight

Leading lockdown sceptic Toby Young has admitted he was “wrong” to dismiss the emergence of a second Covid-19 wave, after he claimed the virus had “all but disappeared”.

The right-wing columnist and free speech advocate was challenged over his views on the pandemic and government restrictions on BBC Newsnight.  

Presenter Emily Maitlis reminded Mr Young that in June he claimed a second wave had “refused to materialise” and “the virus has all but disappeared” when arguing curbs were unnecessary.

“It’s not denying Covid per se, but it seems to be ignoring it’s actually amongst us,” said Ms Maitlis, before asking the pundit: “Is there not a moment of contrition from you?”

Mr Young replied: “Hands up I got that wrong, Emily – but let’s not forget that was during the summer when social distancing measures, curfews were doing enormous damage to the hospitality industry.”

He added: “The lockdown sceptics’ case is that the lockdowns, not just here but across the world, have caused more harm than they have prevented.”

In his 25 June column for The Telegraph, Mr Young claimed public health officials were “furious about the fact that daily deaths from Covid-19 are continuing to decline” – and accused the government’s scientific advisers of having “overestimated” and “overplayed” the risk posed by the virus.

The commentator also condemned the decision by YouTube to temporarily suspend TalkRadio. The tech giant is thought to have suspected the broadcaster breached Covid coverage guidelines, but reinstated its page on Tuesday following “further review” over its coverage.  

“It’s a completely unacceptable assault on the freedom of the press,” said Mr Young.

Ian Dunt, the editor of politics.co.uk, said it agreed it was right for YouTube to reinstate TalkRadio – but challenged Mr Young and other lockdown sceptics over their conduct during the public health crisis.

“The question isn’t, ‘Should you be able to put out this information?’ It is, ‘Should you write it or publish it in the first place?’ The answer is no.”

He added: “You shouldn’t be writing it. You shouldn’t be publishing it. You have no basis on which to do it and I honestly don’t know how you’d sleep at night.”