Tweet

More from @afneil

Andrew Neil

@afneil

25 Sep

Important thread (for me!): With heavy heart I announce I will be leaving the BBC. Despite sterling efforts by new DG to come up with other programming opportunities, it could not quite repair damage done when Andrew Neil Show cancelled early summer + Politics Live taken off air

But I leave with no animosity or desire to settle scores. I look back on my 25 years doing live political programmes for the BBC with affection. And gratitude for brilliant colleagues at Millbank, who always made sure I went into the studio fully briefed and equipped for the fray

They were/are the best of the best. If they can make me look good, they can make anybody look good. There could have been a different outcome but for reasons too dull to adumbrate, we’ll leave it there. I wish the BBC and the new DG well. The BBC will always be special to me.

Read 4 tweets

Andrew Neil

@afneil

21 Sep

The Government's chief medical and scientific officers made it clear that the prospect of 49,000 Covid cases /day by mid-October was not a prediction but an extrapolation. Even so, it's the scary figure they want us to take away from their presentation.

Much of the media has duly obliged. But Whitty/Vallance did not dwell on the presumptions behind that 49,000 stat: that cases are doubling every 7 days; and that they will continue to double every 7 days til mid-October. However ...

On the latest stats, cases are not doubling every 7 days. On Sept 13 there were 3,330 new cases; on Sept 20 there were 3,889. As for doubling every 7 days in the future, that remains to be seen. But government seems to think we're about 2/3 weeks behind France.

Read 5 tweets

Andrew Neil

@afneil

13 Sep

Now that Bahrain has joined the UAE in recognising Israel, Saudi Arabia cannot be far behind. A sea-change in the geopolitics of the Middle East is underway, leaving the Palestinian leadership isolated.

Consider this from the state-backed Saudi Gazette: "Palestinian politicians have sabotaged negotiations and rejected all peace initiatives for six decades in order to keep the aid funds flowing to their private bank accounts."

Or this: Bahraini activist: “Growing awareness among many in Arab world that Jewish people not foreign colonialists in Land of Israel, but part of this land, and part of our region… it’s a fact, and we can do many things together for prosperity, security and peace for region.”

Read 6 tweets

Andrew Neil

@afneil

25 Aug

California now generates a third of its electricity from renewables, largely solar and wind. It is also experiencing its first electricity blackouts for two decades. The problem: it is prematurely closing gas and nuke plants that plugged the gap for intermittent wind and solar.

Battery storage is a possible solution. But not yet. California’s biggest facility, a lithium ion battery plant at Escondido, has the capacity to power 24,000 homes for 4 hours. The state has 13m households; a year has 8,760 hours. And a single Escondido costs circa €50m.

California also faces higher electricity prices: since 2011, they have increased 6 times faster than the rest of the US. Ave cost of residential electricity in California last year was 19.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, 47% higher than national ave of about 13 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Read 4 tweets

Andrew Neil

@afneil

18 Jul

As Guardian, BBC, Mirror + many others announce rafts of redundancies, almost alone in UK media, The Spectator is hiring. Here's why: several years ago we decided future lay in subscriptions -- print, digital or both. We didn't mind which. But to read us you had to subscribe.

The results have been Spectator Spectacular. Subs have soared and so have revenues. A year ago we reached circa 65,000 subs. This month we're over 85,000 and rising faster than ever. We're on target to hit 100,000 by Christmas, perhaps well before.

Subs revenue is steady, strong and surging. It now accounts for over 75% of total revenues, soon to be over 80%. The lockdown crippled events, newsstand + ad revenues. But it was rocket fuel for subs growth. It's why we're handing back furlough money to the taxpayer.

Read 6 tweets

Andrew Neil

@afneil

18 Jun

The most explosive charges in the Bolton book on Trump:

Trump urged China's President Xi to buy US farm products to help him win re-election: “He stressed the importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome”.

Trump indicated to Xi it was OK to build concentration camps for 1m Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. He also told Xi that Americans wanted to change the US Constitution to have him serve more than two terms.

Trump was unsure if Finland was part of Russia and UK was a nuclear power [no and yes].

Trump obsessed with getting a copy of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” to North Korea's Kim Jon Un, whom Trump had described as Little Rocket Man.

Read 8 tweets

Share this page!

Andrew Neil

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @afneil

Andrew Neil

Andrew Neil

Andrew Neil

Andrew Neil

Andrew Neil

Andrew Neil

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Like this author's thread?