Andrew Neil tears into GB News and vows he will never appear on channel again over ‘smears and lies’

Presenter said he ‘couldn’t be happier’ about no longer having anything to do with the network

Andrew Neil has torn into GB News, accusing the network of leaking “smears” to a newspaper.

The veteran journalist resigned as the chairman and lead presenter of GB News last week, saying he did not want to be a part of a “British Fox News”.

Yesterday evening (22 September), Neil lashed out at the broadcaster over his exit and insisted he would never appear on the network again.

He tweeted: “After weeks of talks with @GBNEWS, resulting in exit settlement, the channel then broke it by briefing Mail on Sunday with load of smears/lies then unilaterally cancelling exit deal. Leaving me free to do, say whatever I want + never again be on GBNews. Couldn’t be happier.”

The Independent has contacted GB News for comment.

The resignation of Neil, who was the public face of GB News, has been widely seen as a major blow for the channel, which launched just three months ago.

The 72-year-old presenter had been on air for less than two weeks before he announced that he would be taking a break from his show.

During an appearance on the BBC’s Question Time last week, Neil said the direction the channel had taken was not the same one envisaged before its launch.

“I had always made it clear that it wouldn’t be a British Fox News and I think you could do something different without going anywhere near Fox,” he said.

“Fox deals in untruths, it deals in conspiracy theories and it deals in fake news. That’s not my kind of journalism and I would never have set out to do that.”