The Indy called Andrew Neil an ‘outsider’ and Twitter can’t stop laughing

With the launch of GB News imminent, newspaper columnists are spilling an ever-increasing amount of ink on what we can expect from the upstart TV channel.

Andrew Neil’s 24-hour news channel launches on 13 June. So, what’s on the schedule? “PC culture” is in the firing line, obviously. “Celebrating Great Britain” seems to be a priority, too.

And who better to represent the interests of Britain’s left behind than Andrew Neil, currently festooned in a villa in the south of France? In one video, Neil – host of an 8pm show entitled Andrew Neil – tells us that GB News will be “reporting some of the good news about Britain”. Presumably he’ll need someone to courier that over to him on the Riviera.

Yet, despite Neil’s current offshore status – and his long history at the top of Britain’s foremost news institutions – the Independent has seen it fit to brand him an “outsider” who stands ready to “take on the TV establishment”.

The chair of the Spectator, an outsider? The former editor of the Sunday Times, an insurgent? It’s certainly a hot take. Admittedly, in the article’s stand first, the author does acknowledge that Neil has “spent decades at the centre of some of the media industry’s biggest institutions” – but that hasn’t stopped Twitter tongues from wagging.

Here are some the best reactions.

Henry Goodwin

Henry is a reporter with a keen interest in politics and current affairs. He read History at the University of Cambridge and has a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from City, University of London. Follow him on Twitter: @HenGoodwin.