Andrew Neil has implied that he quit GB News because he ‘never set out’ to create a British Fox News.
The 72-year-old broadcaster stepped down from his roles as the chairman and host of a prime-time show earlier this week and tonight opened up about his departure as he joined Fiona Bruce on Question Time.
‘Well I had always made it clear it wouldn’t be a British Fox News, and I think you could do something different without going anywhere near Fox,’ Neil began.
‘Fox deals in untruths, it deals with conspiracy theories, and it deals in fake news. And that’s not my kind of journalism, and I would never have set out to do that.’
‘Is that why you’ve left?’ Bruce probed, to which Neil responded: ‘I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to why I’m here tonight and not with GB News.’
Not backing down, Bruce continued: ‘Why have you quit?’
‘In the run-up to the launch, through the launch and in the aftermath of the launch… more and more differences emerged between myself and the other senior managers on the board of GB News and rather than these differences narrowing, they got wider and wider,’ Neil explained.
‘I felt it was best that if that was the route they wanted to take, then that’s up to them.’
He added: ‘I thought it wasn’t for me. I wanted a different route, doesn’t mean I’m right and they’re wrong, but it was a difference.
‘It’s doing what it’s doing and it’s up to them. Good luck to them if that’s what they want to do, but it wasn’t going to be with me.’
Neil confirmed his resignation on Twitter on Monday (September 13).
In a statement, he added: ‘I am sorry to go but I have concluded it’s time to reduce my commitments on a number of fronts.
‘Over the summer I’ve had time to reflect on my extensive portfolio of interests and decided it was time to cut back.’
He continued: ‘I wish GB News well in continuing to fulfil its founding promise and mission to reach audiences currently underserved by existing news broadcasters.’
GB News began broadcasting in June, promising to offer an alternative to news providers such as the BBC and Sky News and take on so-called cancel culture.
Neil, formerly one of the BBC’s veteran political interviewers, was hired to lead the channel’s evening line-up with a prime-time news and interview programme.
He announced a break two weeks into the launch but later said on Twitter that the channel was ‘finding its feet’ and had a ‘great future’ ahead of it.
Question Time is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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