’Smears and lies!’ How Andrew Neil humiliated Owen Jones during BBC interview
OWEN JONES, the left-wing commentator, was put on the spot by Andrew Neil and accused of spreading "smears and lies" during a heated row on the BBC's This Week politics show.
Andrew Neil accuses Owen Jones of 'smears and LIES'
Owen Jones in the left-wing commentator who rose to significant prominence in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. His online presence propelled him into the public’s psyche, with followers and unfollowers alike subject to a daily barrage of tweets about politics. Mr Jones has been publishing his opinions for nearly a decade.
The first in a string of books, his 2011 ‘Chavs: The demonisation of the working class’ became an instant bestseller.
It was, however, met with a hefty amount of criticism, with many working class academics citing it as an example of another middle class, Oxbridge educated man attempting to give a voice to “the masses”.
He now mainly contributes opinion pieces to several publications including The Guardian, New Statesman and the socialist Tribune.
Mr Jones is known for getting tangled in altercations and debates with his opposition numbers.
Several times have videos surfaced on social media of the Oxford graduate being hounded by right-wing mobs.
Equally as often has he appeared on politics shows and engaged in debate there.
In 2019, during an appearance on the BBC’s ‘This Week’ show, he found himself the focus of Andrew Neil’s ire.
It came after Mr Jones had accused the right-wing magazine The Spectator - of Which Mr Neil is chairman - of stoking prejudice.
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The two had previously clashed on Twitter.
While Mr Jones claimed the magazine had “defended Greek neo-Nazis” and published Islamophobic content, Mr Neil outright refused to allow such comment.
Mr Neil replied: “I knew you were going to bring that up and I won’t let you hijack.
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“Your smears about me are not going to be dealt with tonight so just move off.”
The two were discussing extremism in UK politics after Mr Jones and Tory MP Anna Soubry were verbally abused outside Parliament at the time by a group of far-right activists.
Jones was separately accused of trying to blame the wider UK conservative movement for far-right extremism.
Former Tory Minister Michael Portillo who was a regular on the show said: “Owen himself is guilty of the thing about which he makes an accusation.
“He's taken an incident outside the House of Commons, he takes the rise of some very nasty people, and then he tries to smear the entire Conservative Party.
“This is the breakdown of decent discourse.
“It is absolutely outrageous what you say and I think many people will be shocked.”