Toby Young NHS Idiocy Exposed

After the industrial action by many “Junior Doctors” - many of whom are not particularly junior, and take on significant responsibilities within the NHS - has come the counter spin from the right. Those taking industrial action may have a very good case for doing so, but for right-wingers, that is not the point: all they care about is smearing those striking - plus a side order of undermining the NHS, just for fun.

More of that grown-up debate. Or maybe not

And there is no-one more keen to smear those doctors than the loathsome Toby Young, who is still in a position of responsibility at the West London Free School. Tobes knows his duties as a paid-up Tory loyalist, and took the opportunity given him by Thursday’s BBC Question Time to play judge, jury and executioner. He would make Jeremy Hunt (the former Culture Secretary) proud of him. Perhaps.

At the top of the programme, Tobes decreed that proceedings should be in accordance with his wishes: “Okay, #bbcqt bingo: EU/immigration, Drs strike, Labour’s woes, email snooping, Bowie”. Note that, for many on the right, there cannot be any talk of immigration without conveniently blaming it on the EU. So was his guess right?

Sadly, there was rather too much on the doctors’ action for Tobes’ liking, and, even though the Beeb had managed a panel consisting of Tory MP Nick Boles, UKIP’s Patrick “Lunchtime” O’Flynn, Murdoch hack Camilla Long, and the obnoxious Kelvin McFilth, with only Labour MP Cat Smith to speak for those not right-leaning, he was unhappy: “Of course it’s a strike about money. Doh! @CatSmithMP #bbcqt” he whined.

And the idea that a mere doctor could be worth more than Himself Personally Now had clearly got to Tobes: “If that bloke thinks doctors are ‘undervalued’ he should try being a journalist! British doctors are among the best paid in the world” he ranted, somehow unaware that there is a chronic over-supply of purveyors of the kind of crap that he churns out. Basic economics then takes over.

But back he came for another go, and here we see why Tobes’ writings are not well regarded. “British doctors ‘undervalued’? Er, no. Best paid in the world, more like” he asserted. Sadly, the data he uses in support is lacking in several areas. One, the information is over a decade out of date. Two, it does not support his proposition (still, minor point, eh, Tobes?). And three, the information provided is for GPs and Specialists, and those taking industrial action fall into neither of those categories.

All that was left, then, was for Tobes to try and pull something out of the fire in support of his claims. And here came the pièce de résistance: “Christ on a bike. The Trotskyist wing of the BMA is occupying the #bbcqt studio”. Yes, three doctors out of the entire Question Time audience constitutes a Trotskyist occupation. As on so many other occasions, Tobes ends up talking well, but lying badly.

One can just picture all those West London Free School parents reading Tobes’ rants and wondering if they made the right decision sending their children there.