A thread on Andrew Neil and why I won't be celebrating his new broadcasting venture.

In 2014, Andrew Neil saw a news story on winter coming early to Tennessee and retweeted it with a sarcastic, “Damn you, global warming!!!!”

Scientists might say climate change creates the extreme temperature swings he was railing against but it would be a waste of time.

Andrew Neil has poured scorn on the idea of climate change for at least a decade.

The Spectator, a magazine he publishes, has toed that line too.

He used his platform at the BBC to push this nonsense too. He is a part of the reason BBC needed to have ‘balance’ on this debate.

I say all this because I think Andrew Neil is one of Britain’s foremost culture warriors.

Most of our media don’t recognise it because culture-wars have never been a key part of our politics. Or perhaps they’ve known him a bit too closely. But that's about to change.

I think Andrew Neil wants to be Britain’s Roger Ailes. He wants to bring a version of Fox News to Britain.

A polarising, divisive TV channel that has long peddled in conspiracy theories and victimhood in the name of 'balance' isn't something I welcome.

You say Ofcom rules won't allow him. But Johnson is looking at Paul Dacre @ Ofcom.

Scenario:
1) Neil's channel attracts complaints & publicity
2) Dacre says Ofcom 'balance' requirement hinders broadcasting.
3) Kills rule
3) Neil / Dacre / BJ celebrate https://twitter.com/Femi_Sorry/status/1310180164916129793

I want to say this plainly: Pushing people into angry, polarised tribes is poison. It leads to endless arguments over nonsensical things.

Political and cultural polarisation destroys a country from within. This is the reason why the United States is such a mess.

There’s a lot of people - on left and right - who want to fight culture wars. Twitter is an e.g.

Every day we get bombarded with new:
- reasons to be angry
- opportunities to see opponents humiliated
- debates to argue about

In culture wars, the only winners are the grifters.

If you think we won’t fall for it you’re headed for disappointment.

In 2015 the EU was barely an issue outside Westminster. By 2019, tribal loyalty to Remain / Leave was stronger than to political parties. This new divide could be fanned for decades. https://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit-identities-how-leave-versus-remain-replaced-conservative-versus-labour-affiliations-of-british-voters/

Britain has the potential to be far more polarised than it is now.

It would make this country far angrier and far uglier. That’s not a country I want to see.

And that is why I won’t be praising Andrew Neil’s new venture.

Few responses:

I suspect actual TV viewers won't be high. But Fox News is watched by minuscule number of older Americans too.

But they have outsized impact on debates by polarising small, vital demographics on GOP side. Same will happen here. https://twitter.com/GavinderPawar/status/1310595009469710338?s=20

Let's not forget that time in 2018 when he was praising the work of Viktor Orban's political allies https://twitter.com/sunny_hundal/status/987271235687145472?lang=en