Brillo Boosts The Far Right

Still allowed to sit atop the tree at the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine, which routinely publishes all manner of racism, including an obsessive amount of Islamophobia and even the outpourings of a self-confessed Nazi-admiring anti-Semite, while remaining a presenter and interviewer for the BBC, Andrew Neil has been giving those permitted to follow him the benefits of his worldly wisdom on matters Stateside.

He has two reasons for pontificating thus: a longstanding interest in the politics of the USA, and the presence there of a Spectator offshoot, Spectator USA. Along with these is the recent focus on Police brutality there, after George Floyd, an unarmed African American, was brutally murdered by a white (now ex) Police officer by asphyxiation for the not particularly heinous crime of being suspected of passing a fake $20 bill.

Brillo knew all about the USA. He knew all about its history, its politics, its racial divide. His knowledge was so great, in fact, that on seeing video of a protest against George Floyd’s killing outside Colorado’s Capitol, that he was able to swagger “That’s how to protest. But Colorado has always been my favourite state in the Union. Respect”.

But then it all went downhill. First, after Nadine Batchelor-Hunt responded to his Colorado riff with “as a white guy you shouldn’t be telling black people what is the right or wrong way to protest their oppression” (seconded), he came over all snippy.

“Looks like most of the folks protesting are white. I’m not telling anybody what they should do; just approving of a particular form of protest. Why make an issue of my colour. I don’t take kindly to what people tell me I should or should not do”. There’s privilege for you.

Then he lost it completely by RTing the Spectator USA, which had told potential readers “‘We are witnessing glimmers of the full insurrection the far-left has been working toward for decades. The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was merely a pre-text for radicals to push their ambitious insurgency,’ writes [Andy Ngo]”. Oh dear.

The Speccy USA will no doubt protest in its defence that platforming Andy Ngo is nothing more than FREEZE PEACH. It is nothing of the sort. Ngo is a provocateur, a holder of a particular worldview which he then seeks to confirm by whatever means necessary, so long as that does not include such trivialities as fact checking.

Ngo wrote the now infamous “A Visit to Islamic England” for the Murdoch Wall Street Journal. The article was so loaded with misinformation that it was laughed out of court. His podcast has included interviews with the likes of Carl Benjamin. He has made a series of claims about anti-fascist groups while under the protection of the far right.

Andy Ngo

For the Spectator USA to publish Ngo is shameful enough, but for Andrew Neil to then effectively award their editorial choice his imprimatur is by degrees worse. One might wonder if BBC News and Current Affairs would take a dim view of being linked with the likes of Andy Ngo, even at a distance, yet they seem impervious to criticism.

But all the time he does this, Andrew Neil’s reputation is diminished. And so, sadly, is the Beeb’s. Most people have retired by the time they pass their 70th birthday. Just a thought.

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