The annoying thing is the UK in general has hopeless political journalism and when Andrew Neil was actually doing the job he was paid to do on the BBC (i.e. early years with The Daily Politics) he was about as good as we’ve had. He’d take no bullshit from the typically slimy Tory or Labour politicians wheeled out to lie, spin or burp-up a party line every day, he wouldn’t let them deflect away to other topics, and generally knew their briefs better than they did. It is only later on that he totally jumped the shark and waved his right-wing oafishness around as a badge of honour. It is actually very easy to pinpoint that precise moment; it was when he realised he was only getting a tiny fraction of the pay of the 6 o’clock autocue-readers such as Fiona Bruce etc. Actually quite funny, but it is clear he didn’t give a toss beyond that point and basically pissed any credibility he’d built up to that point up the wall.