Is It Time To Sack Toby Young?

He got binned by Rupert Murdoch. He promoted the “Rally Against Debt” as a must-attend event, but then failed to turn up. He devotes rather a lot of e-column inches to being an honorary member of Michael “Oiky” Gove’s polecat entourage. Yet the bear pit that is Telegraph blogs continues to give the loathsome Toby Young a berth, for reasons best known only to those running the show.

File copy before vino, Tobes

And today, that show, presided over by Damian Thompson, clueless pundit of no fixed hair appointment, has given Tobes the opportunity to take his ability to synchronise the opening of north and south with insertion of reassuringly expensive footwear to a new level, as he has attempted to kick the hated BBC while demonstrating his expert knowledge of women’s tennis.

“Is it time to sack Maria Miller?” demands Tobes, showing that he is only a matter of weeks behind the odious Quentin Letts (let’s not) in smearing the Culture Secretary, although whether for the same reason – that Ms Miller may let the Royal Charter on press regulation agreed by all three parties through to be approved by the Privy Council – is not clear.

Who won the Wimbledon women's singles?

But Tobes is certainly on a “free press” kick today: “You would have thought that a Conservative Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would grasp the principle that politicians should not interfere in the operation of the free press. Not Maria Miller”. So none of those serving Tory peers should have anything to do with the PCC, then?

Anyhow, what has she done that has so offended Tobes? “She has written to Tony Hall, the Director General of the BBC, more or less demanding that the BBC sports commentator John Inverdale be sacked for saying Sabine Lisicki was ‘never going to be a looker’”. Except that Inverdale’s tactless gaffe was directed not at Ms Lisicki, the Wimbledon runner-up, but the winner, Marion Bartoli.

Yes, Tobes had two tennis players to choose from, and he got the wrong one. His pal Dames has ensured that the copy has now been correctly amended, but as can be seen, Zelo Street has the screen shot of the original. So when Tobes says of Ms Miller “What a chump. This is yet one more reason why David Cameron should throw her under a bus at the first opportunity”, just one thought occurs.

And that is that the real “chump” here is Tobes himself, and if anyone should be throwing someone under a bus, it should be Damian Thompson chucking the foot-in-mouth Young. Moreover, their pal Boris can provide the appropriately ridiculous bus for Tobes to be chucked under.

There goes Toby Young ... on his way ... out.