Andrew Neil delivered what some declared to be his finest opening monologue to date on the BBC1 show The Week on Thursday in response to the Paris terror attacks.
Neil followed the example set by British satirist John Oliver by highlighting Paris’ unparalleled culture and warning Isis it stands no chance of destroying such an impressive civilisation.
While Oliver opened his monologue on Last Week Tonight by describing the militant terror group as “gigantic f**king assholes”, Neil dismissed the terrorists as “a bunch of loser jihadists [who] slaughtered a bunch of innocents in Paris to prove the future belongs to them, rather than a civilisation like France”.
In his rousing message, he listed the artists and theorists who shaped French culture and who continue to overshadow the terror group's savage and regressive beliefs and acts.
“I can’t say I fancy their chances Monet to Descartes, Rousseau to Camus, Berlioz to Satie, Daft Punk to Zizou Zidane,” he said. “Liberté, égalité, fraternité and crème Brulee.
“Versus what? Beheadings, crucifixions, amputations, slavery, mass murder, medieval squalor and a death cult barbarity that would shame the Middle Ages.”
Neil then addressed militants directly. “I think the outcome is pretty clear to everyone but you,” he said. “You will lose. In a thousand year’s time, Paris, that glorious city of lights, will still be shining bright as will every other city like it. And you will be as dust, along with the ragbag of fascist Nazis and Stalinists that previously dared to challenge democracy and failed.”
LBC presenter Iain Dale praised Neil’s "superb" monologue as proof BBC presenters can be opinionated when they need to be. Journalist Dan Hodges declared Neil’s defiant speech as “one of greatest openings to a British current affairs program of all time”.
