31 May 2024. By Andrew Ellison for The Times.
Publisher insists the views of younger staff had no bearing on decision about the book on the gender identity services clinic, which went on to be a bestseller
This article by The Times is the subject of a legal complaint from Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
One of Britain’s biggest publishers dropped a book about malpractice at the Tavistock gender identity clinic — and later sacked the editor who brought it in, The Times can reveal.
Senior figures at Bloomsbury, which publishes JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, were initially enthusiastic about Time to Think — an exhaustive investigation into the NHS clinic — but the publisher is now facing claims that it decided not to proceed amid political advocacy from younger members of staff.
Details of what happened to the book have emerged following Bloomsbury’s decision to dismiss Robin Baird-Smith, the experienced editor who championed the title.
Last year, the Times reported how Baird-Smith also tried to get the company to publish Colonialism — A Moral Reckoning, a book that argued the British Empire was not all bad, but Bloomsbury cancelled the title, choosing to pay off the author instead of going ahead.
When Bloomsbury cancelled Colonialism — A Moral Reckoning, it told the author, Professor Nigel Biggar, that “conditions are not currently favourable to publication”. The book argued that despite grave mistakes, the British Empire was increasingly propelled by humanitarian and liberal ideals, most notably the abolition and suppression of slavery.
The title was eventually picked up by William Collins, which is owned by the same parent company as The Times, and became a bestseller. To date it has sold 60,000 copies.
Biggar said: “If every publisher behaved as Bloomsbury has, Hannah Barnes’ exposé of the scandalous, child-harming suppression of evidence and dissent at the Tavistock clinic would never have seen the light of day.”
Despite Colonialism — A Moral Reckoning and Time to Think both becoming bestsellers elsewhere, Bloomsbury sacked Baird-Smith in March, with a source saying the company offered the eminent editor no explanation for why he was no longer wanted, something the company denies. Over the years, Baird-Smith’s list of authors has included Lord Williams of Oystermouth, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur C Clarke, Douglas Murray and Beryl Bainbridge, all of whom have been bestsellers.
The Times understands that during Baird-Smith’s time at Bloomsbury, Newton became tired of complaints from junior employees about the books the editor wanted to publish ….
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