After Leighton Park School, Binyon went up to read his degree at Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1963, where he was a direct contemporary of British Broadcasting Corporation foreign correspondent John Simpson, both reading English. Binyon later switched to Arabic, graduating in 1967.
He is currently a leader writer for The Times and occasional arts and books critic. After teaching English in Minsk for a year, he began his career at the British Broadcasting Corporation Arabic Service and the Times al Supplement. He reported from Moscow in the 70s, and went on to cover the fall of the Berlin Wall and numerous Middle East conflicts.
Other positions he has held at The Times include: diplomatic editor, Washington bureau chief and Brussels correspondent, where his opposite number at The Telegraph was one Boris Johnson.
