Dan Wootton: I believed Andrew Neil wanted to shake up broadcasting but he is an establishment man

A note about the former Chairman of GB News Andrew Neil.

After quitting his own start-up in a huff following just, I think, ten shows on air, Mr Establishment is so desperate to remain at a TV channel that will support his penchant for quaffing champagne on private jets while funding his apartment in New York that he’s in talks to join Channel 4.

You couldn’t make it up could you?

The Channel 4 that he described himself as the broadcasting arm of The Guardian.

We got his first effort last night – a low budget establishment hit piece on Boris Johnson that the Channel 4 lefties would have lapped up.

What a disappointment Mr Neil has proven to be.

In the last few months I’ve heard he’s been smoking cigars at mansions late at night with Tony Blair and dining with BBC boss Tim Davie – probably begging for his old gig back.

I believed Mr Neil genuinely wanted to shake up biased news broadcasting in this country to deliver for those ignored by the BBC, ITV News, Sky News and, yes, Channel 4.

But I was wrong. He’s an establishment man through and through. And he belongs at Channel 4.