Andrew Neil vs Rory Stewart: Tory destruction, Boris Johnson and disowning the party 

I don't share Rory Stewart's politics, but I love the way he simply ignored the irritating and aggressive tone of the questions and gave calm and thoughtful answers as if he was just having a chat with a reasonable and open-minded person. I'd love to see current politicians handle Neil and his ilk like that.

I forgot how annoying Andrew Neil is.

Struggling to see what Andrew Neil is doing to stop the Marine Le Pens of this world...

Hats off Rory! I thought you dealt with a set of very provocative and unfair questions with grace and humour. I have no idea why Andrew Neil has a reputation as a good political interviewer. His questions were all about point scoring for me. Very poor.

I've always liked Rory Stewart, seems a really honest man

This smacks of one person turned up for a conversation and the other turned up for a debate.

Rory would fit better into the Lib Dems. Not a Conservative in anyway.

He is a classic example of why the Conservatives haven't conserved anything from 1945.

As a Labour supporter I have a great deal of respect for Rory Stewart. I disagreed with some of his comments but he is one of the better tories that Johnson got rid of. It was one of Johnson's biggest mistakes (for which I'm grateful for) was to kick out of the party the likes of Rory, Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve. They were the bedrock of the tory party and by getting rid of them was a bad call by Johnson. So hopefully in the early hours of Friday morning we'll see the tory party reaping what they sowed.,

Andrew Neil to say that Scottish devolution is a failure just because he doesn't like the SNP is peak Neil.

Tried so hard to watch this. Just cannot bear Andrew Neil. He doesn’t know how to listen, nor, therefore, how to converse.

Rory Stewart is the best politician in the UK today. If he had won the Tory leadership election instead of Boris Johnson, the country would be much better off today than it is, in every way. I think it is inspiring that he is still so positive about Britain despite everything.

Rory Stewart speaking thoughtfully & respectfully & Andrew Neil sounding like a gobby pub bore who's had too much to drink! I know who I identify with...

Wow! Totally agree re Andrew Neil. A master class on how to be unbelievably annoying. He is arguing against every single point Rory Stewart is commenting on. I can't recall a more argumentative and annoying interviewer. Maybe he should have stayed with GB News.

I came to look at the comments to see if others were as annoyed as I was with this interview. I’m a Yank but I have been an admirer of Rory Stewart for many years and he has always seemed to me to be a kind, clear headed guy with a passion for public service. I was looking forward to hearing his opinion on the present situation. Instead, I had to sit through a bloviating bully constantly interrupting him. Why ask a man his opinion if you aren’t going to listen and then turn around and tell him he can’t hold the opinion he just expressed. It was a waste of my time . I’m glad I’m not the only one who found it unacceptable and irritating. It was good to see Rory but the interviewer is a terrible old man. I could see him telling Oliver Twist that he couldn’t possibly be hungry since he wasn’t. 😤

The top 1% own 95% of the wealth but only pay 26% of the tax. That's the problem with the economy. People in the middle pay a much larger percentage of their wealth in tax.

Neil stating his is not voting without explaining a reason sums him up. Provokes and criticises but rarely has solutions. He also doesn’t have a clue about what AI has to offer.

To remember what JFK said...Ask not what my country can do for me but what can I do for my country.

Rory Stewart is completely wrong to think that Labour's issue with the Tories is that the Tories are nasty, it's matter of competence. Under Johnson many of the more talented Tory MP's left the party so you ended up the likes of Braverman in government who shouldn't be anywhere near public office. It's competence that counts!

Andrew Neil bought into the brexit delusion and now is looking hard to find out who shat in his pants.

I'd love to know how Andrew Neil voted in the Brexit referendum. Did he ever come out?

The last thing Im interested in is 'one nation Toryism', or 'Old school Tories' like Stewart, its simply an excuse to give ground to the woke brigade. I would like a more working class Tory party, one where old public school boys like Rory Stewart no longer tell the 'unwashed' what to do and what to think, whilst protecting big business and the wealth of their class, at the traditional expense of ordinary people. Im by no means against big business, but I want the water companies to pay for clearing up our rivers, the most environmental concern we can do something about. I want energy prices reduced by drilling our own oil, rather than importing it, and giving the public guarantees of a price cap on it, should there be more energy inflation, with industry likewise benefiting, like Steel. Net Zero can only be achieved when technology catches up with it. Im dead against taking the economy back into the Stone Age, when India and China (and Germany) are creating more coal fired power stations. Stewart is so far away from this philosophy, I fear that he is against everything, but for, nothing except the sentimentality of British history. I might have voted for him as Mayor of London, as a compromise candidate, but he chickened out of that. Yesterday's man.......

Don't know why people are complaining about Andrew Neil. He doesn't let people get away with BS

Please! No more extremely well networked, self regarding, not very gifted and totally unrepresentative Old Etonian posh boys like Cameron & Johnson - and Rory Stewart is one of them.

Rory Stewart: He believes in Democracy but only if you agree with him.

He has had more parties than Boris Johnson and Lee Anderson. 😂😂😂........

Rory deepest feelings are Socialist inclined. It will never be the socialist working class that attack the monarchy its the right wing Conservative who incite lesser minds to revolt. Socialism is based on serving your community and foregoing mindless superiority. The experts in our country are those who actually service the community.

Really enjoyed that. Wish Andrew interviewed Rory more often.

He's not a Conservative, just wanted to be in Politics and this was the easiest route.

What the Tories cannot be pardoned for is bringing about the Brexit referendum after years of Euroscepticism and making a total botch of the resulting "will of the people".

Andrew Neil remains the best political interviewer in our country 👏

By his own admission, he is a One Nation Tory or basically a Lib Dem. That's why the Party will lose this GE.

why is Andrew trying to do a gotcha interview with a guy whos here for a conversation

I can't think of a politician I'd rather have as PM than Rory Stewart

For all the wets complaining about Neil’s questions. This is what interviews should look like. Politicians/political figures deserve no deference, only scrutiny from journalists. Hard hitting questions, which need proper answers.

22:28 I'm probably to the left of Corbyn, save on the Palestinian issue, but I like this man. He's a genuine old-school conservative with integrity. I may not agree with many of the policies he'd advance, but I'd trust him to make decisions, as he believed them to be in the be genuinely in the interests of the country as a whole. That's a lot more than can be said about Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, or, for that matter, Tony Blair.

Rory Stewart is the embodiment of why, frankly, there should be no political parties. We need just the one political spectrum. One that we're all spread along; left, right or (clustered) centre. Because, how does this guy and Boris end up in the same political party, FFS! They couldn't be more apart on a unitary political spectrum.

It's a shame Rory Stewart isn't in politics anymore, he's a breath of fresh air compared to with the current bunch.

Rory is simply too intelligent to be a current day Tory

The first 30 seconds of this are a) very creditable to Rory, but b) shows his blanket misunderstanding of what it is to be British Vs Tory. Being pro Monarchy - is British, not specifically Tory. Appreciating Britain's historical achievements - is British, not specifically Tory. Recognising and Celebrating the sacrifice and efforts of our armed forces - is British, not specifically Tory. Conservatives are politically conservative - but that doesn't make them the only people who value Britain and our heritage.

Rory Stewart being his normal two faced self dependent on who his working with. That’s why he was hopeless in govt. Just likes the sound of his own voice.

This guy is intelligent, articulate, compassionate and qualified. So my only question for him is "why do you insist on being a tory? It defies all sanity and logic.

You know, I think Rory Stewart is fundamentally wrong in his assessment of what "one nation" Conservatism is today but I love his honesty and thoughtfulness. I know Andrew Neil's style, but I don't think it's conducive to interesting discussion in anything approaching long form. On another note, bring back 'This week' 😢

I like Rory Stewart. But his world view is a Tony Blair world.

I've got a lot of time for Rory Stewart. I'll be honest, I've never voted Tory and can't see any alignment of circumstances that would compel me to do so in the future. But he strikes me as someone who has a very clear vision of his political position, one which is at the same time emotive, principled, and yet pragmatic. I do feel like, had he won the leadership contest, the country and the Tory party would be in a much healthier position than it is in now. Someone who sees through the populist nonsense, and would do the things he believes are right, rather than do the things he thinks will simply win votes. We've had such a sad lack of people trying to construct a compelling political argument and Rory really does highlight this. However, this conversation got so close to touching on something really important - western countries across the world, whether their governments are right, left, or anywhere inbetween, are all experiencing the same thing - stagnant growth, huge increases of cost of living, and a collapse of living standards. Ordinary people are unhappy, unsatisfied, and looking for answers. It's a situation ripe for the rise of populism and extreme political ideologies. Something seen repeated through history. But sadly while we can see it happening, so little is really being said about the true cause of so much of it. Specifically, that our legislature and our economies are geared toward an upward redistribution of wealth. While living standards for the average person are falling, the extremely wealthy are seeing their wealth grow exponentially. People who are gaining hundreds of millions every year in passive income. Nobody ever considers the impact this has on the economy - enormous sums of money effectively taken out of circulation and becoming economically stagnant. Nobody joins the dots and points out where all of this money and wealth comes from - it doesn't spontaneously generate in their bank accounts. It comes from regular people spending, or selling assets like houses. It doesn't matter your political alignment. Doesn't matter if you care about monarchy and green fields, or want to toss statues into the harbour. None of that matters. None of that really makes any difference to the enormous issue affecting Western economies which are now in the stranglehold of the ultra-rich. The only way to genuinely improve things, driving up standards of living and lowering costs, is to change the rules so that money stays active in the economy. So that the pounds spent by the ordinary person don't end up forever in the bank accounts of the rich. Nobody is having that conversation. Nobody is making that argument. And that's what's so depressing about everything happening in politics at the moment.

Love those two. Power to them.

Yup he's right people vote on personal economics not morals or political convictions.

Stewart is no traditional tory...

I think Andrew Neil has forgotten people are already getting sick of "the heather being on fire" boring peaceful politics is going to have to come back. People are sick of populism not delivering. Big, bold,. exciting... Failed. Make politics boring again. More Rory Stewarts less "firebrands". Water the heather for heaven's sake.

Isn't hindsight wonderful. THE FAR RIGHT LOST IN FRANCE, ANDREW.

I haven't watched an Andrew Neil interview in years. I quite liked his style when he was on the mainstream media. Now he's all about point scoring and condescension. It's possible to be a fair interviewer who asks difficult questions without being a pr.... Just look at his old stuff for proof of that. Loved Rory's thoughtful, reasoned and calm responses.

Nice to know that Rory is a Tory, another reason not to vote for them.

Mr Neil ought to let his guests have a chance to put in a complete sentence once in a while.

Rory is the conservative version of what conservatives call "bleeding heart liberals". Being sentimental of the Military in a post-Afghanistan and post-Iraq is just silly.

Rory: Tories are too right wing Andrew: Lists numerous examples of them being left wing Rory: Yes, I agree Changing his convictions at the drop of a hat - the perfect politician.

This conservative government wasn't right wing in the slightest

I wasn't a massive of New Labour, but they didn't bring the country to its knees like Johnson and Truss

This guy stood to become a Tory leader & he can't decide. He's all over the place. Learned some lessons from Afghanistan & the value of decentralisation.

Great interview. People are too soft and only like softball questions. I liked the slightly adversarial questioning and i think Rory's answers were perfectly reasonable and well thought out

He's a terrible TINO. Wetter than wet. From the class that thinks it was born to rule. Over the top, lads. I'm right behind you. A total windbag. If he's the answer we're asking the wrong question.

Stewart does not impress. Yes, I know some people find Andrew Neil a bit annoying, but he asks the tough questions. That is his job.

Good interview. Bear in mind that Andrew's style has historically been to lean-in to the challenging and confrontational (but still aim for a good humoured) tone. He has acknowledged this publicly on several occasions

There are not many interviews as revealing as that one, astonishingly illuminating. Like all the comments in the comment section, I too am immensely impressed by Rory's apparent clear thinking, his ability to express his thought, his patriotism and the calmness of his voice. I, too, love my country, it's landscape it's history and, most of all, the generosity in spirit of it's people but, Rory! You have just told us that, apart from your fondness of the European single market and, no doubt your fear of being branded far-right, your natural political home, at least at this point in history, in in The Reform Party. In this piece, I am not attempting to 'tarnish' youour allege

Andrew ran rings around Rory

Patriotism isn’t being Tory. Plenty of Labour Party members (old school Labour) are monarchist, deeply respectful of the services and past servicemen and extremely proud of this nations history. This guy is a limp lettuce metro who shouldn’t be let anywhere near power.

Life long Labour Party member, but if you want the truth I’d listen to Rory Stewart over Campbell, Blair and Starmer every day of the week. He s one of the few honest politicians. I nearly didn’t vote because none of the leaders are worthy of my vote, I went with Green Party.

I don't mind Rory as a person what he believes comes from a well intentioned place but he is like the local vicar from some sitcom and I don't mean Father Ted and the "I hear you're a racist now father" episode and for those commenting about Andrew Neil its his job if you need a safe space then mute when he speaks

Rory just comes across very bitter. Get over it lad. Boris whilst awful Won fair and square. You were never going to be anything more than MP Rory.

I really can't understand how anyone can supports monarchy... Unless they are juiced into the system or they like doffing the cap to their 'betters'

Poor Rory -- where does he live? He must have had an awful choice of candidates to be that undecided just three days before the election.

I find the comments really disappointing on this video. Hating on Stewart or Neil or both. Steerpike's Spectator column on this interview brought me here and that, too, was very uncharitable. This was a good-natured and very interesting discussion between two people who know a lot and care a lot about Britain and British politics. Frankly I'd like to see more of it.

He is part of the reason I am voting reform

Rory is a red Tory.

Rory Stewart is a decent man if the tories are to return to power they need him back

Andrew Neil is depressingly confrontational. I wish we could move away from this type of discourse. Well done Rory, for not taking the bait.

If you are going to take on Andrew Neil you should do your homework first.

Well no he isn't, in fact he isn't a Conservative at all. He does like a lot of attention though.

THAT is the whole point. Andrew Neil doesn't have to vote. He doesn't have to worry about politics, he lives above it. Both he, the self appointed arbitor, and the self appointed Shakir of politics, Rory Stewart. You'll never live like common people You'll never do what ever common people do Never fail like common people You'll never watch your life slide out of view Don't give them air 👿

Rory needs to be the next Tory leader and then onto Prime minister 🎉

No great surprise that an upper-class Etonian cares passionately about 'the past'. The past is what keeps his beloved Monarchy and British war efforts so front and centre for what he thinks Britain is and what makes it 'great'. His love of Churchill is so ignorant and does not at all reflect modern Britain. Churchill was demonstrably racist and a colonialist. What about everyday Britains? New Britains who contribute to the country? Native Britains who don't have Rory's privalege? Poorer people, people with less opportunity, those not from privaleged educations. Boring opinions from another Eton boy who thinks we all should listen to his version of commonsense.

Very very tory....hilarious..... he's a liberal at best...

Rory Stewart is more left wing than the current Labour party leadership and has his finger on the pulse of many of the current problems. That said knowing what the problems are and having solutions are two quite different things.

Andrew is a tough interview but Rory handles this well .

Not sure Rory knows what he is these days

You don't think that Labour are going to do this or do that, without any evidence. Just because the Tories didn't want to do any of it doesn't mean Labour don't want to. Rory is a Tory right or wrong and disguises himself as a caring person but does nothing about anything.

It is easy for ANDREW Neil to attack and criticise and it is hard for Rory Stewart to defend. The latter is trying to find answers. The Demolition Wrecking Ball is the easy option

I like Rory, always worth a listen, but this was a bit pompous as if the Tories only care. My view about the Tories is quite the opposite

Strongly disagree with using AI - even ignoring the fact that it hallucinates and we could get another royal mail debacle. I want humans with a moral compass to decide on things I don't want the country to turn in a china-style technocracy

You can see now what Rory really stands for he comes across as this lovable Tory but he’s like the rest of them.

How did the Tory pick Boris over this guy?

It is rather about economics in Germany. The AfD is much more popular in the east, which is behind the west due to being part of the soviet block till 1989.

Rory is without realising it is a form of English National. He is loyal to a past and a monarchy which has delivered him , personally great privilege. Unfortunately, that same past has delivered great injustice and inequality for the majority of people . He has a real chip on his shoulder about his privilege, He sounds reasonable, but he is negative about any view that's not his own. He hasn't got a clue , no matter well spoken he is.

rory stewart's 'profound' conservatism basically comes down to victorian sentimentality and vibes. when challenged on all the odious policies he has voted in approval during his time in parliament, he complains about party-political machinations and the whips office. he eschews all responsibility for the actual policies implemented in the name of conservatism, and talks in a vague and misty-eyed way about the royal family and marching with veterans. like most of the mandarin class to which he was born into, it's all a schoolyard game. the saddest thing is that he is undoubtedly intelligent, an excellent public speaker/thinker, and basically sincere; but he's been born into a sclerotic, superannuated system.

The problem with Tories (and all conservatives for that matter) is that the holding onto of the past acts like a bulwark to change in the future... "Why would I use guns when we have the silent and perfected crossbow?" "Why would I wash my hands in chemicals before doing surgery? We have not washed our hands for the past 1000 years!" "Why would I..." and so on... so to me, being nostalgic for the past is like a kid holding onto their memories of Disney Land and refusing to understand that as they grew up, the odds those memories stay intact grow slimmer and slimmer and what ends up happening is you start to imagine things or change little things in your mind so the memory appears nicer or you block out the bad aspects and change little details to make the overall experience of remembering better... and I feel that is fine but not something you should be basing your politics on.

I am interested to see I share quite a lot of Rory's values but I am not a Tory so have I just come to a different conclusion than he has or is he more left wing than he claims? He does say he is to the left of the Tory party as it stands at the moment.

I really like what I hear in Rory's description of his one-nation Toryism at 12:32-12:56 and 19:30-19:43. Unfortunately, I don't really see much of that in the present Conservative Party, which is probably why I've never voted for them. I'm also not a Unionist, which is one point of difference between Rory and me.

Tory my backside! RORY please look around the centre left policies of this current lot have been our downfall 🤬

He is more a Liberal than a tory

Rory Stewart a thoroughly decent man should've be leader of the Tory part I may have voted for him. Please don't become a MP/leader I don't want to stop voting Labour #rorysteward

Rory is not conservative in anyway, shape or form. He's on the far left .