The editor of controversial new magazine Spinoff has defended its editorial policy after it was called into question in The Times last week.
The title, aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds and partly funded by the Prince’s Trust, came under fire for being “littered” with four-letter words, giving space to the far-right British National Party and for its editorial, which described politics as being “about as much use as a monk’s cock”.
The Times said the judgement of the Prince of Wales was being questioned “again” for deciding to back the launch.
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Spinoff editor Jay Elwes claimed the launch was inspired by widespread political apathy among young people.
He described Spinoff as a politics magazine “disguised as a lifestyle magazine” and rather than produce a magazine with lager, models and fast cars, he said the aim was to “engage with people’s minds”.
“We don’t want to tell people what to think, we want to tell people what to think about,” he said.
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“The Times made us look like we were some Nazi right wing bastards, which is what we are absolutely not.
“This is a magazine for people who are not politically settled and who have got to know that the British National Party exists. We figured that if people know what is going on in certain places, it will persuade them to vote – almost certainly against the BNP.”
Elwes said the Prince’s Trust was happy with the first issue of the magazine and he had received no complaints.
He even claimed one school had added the magazine to its A-level politics syllabus.
The 52-page full-colour title has a print run of 30,000 and is distributed to universities in the capital. Elwes hopes to increase distribution to the rest of the UK.
By Ruth Addicott
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