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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Rory is just too reasonable to be a Tory in 2024.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!

Rory is a red Tory.

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

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

Its a bit like these two are in different conversations. Stewart is thoughtful and human, Neil is immured in parroting his favourite lines.

Andrew Neil's angry, dismissive attitude was genuinely embarrassing. Is he always like this?

Well, you carry on Rory. Join every other major party and almost all independents in fighting over the same half of the voting population Good luck with that.

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

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

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

I was not aware that Willem Dafoe worked on the radio.

Stewart is no traditional tory...

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.

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.

DROP THE VOCAL FRY RORY!!!

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

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".

This lady has a very deep voice

Andrew Neil....saying he not going to vote !!!!!!! Wimped out on that

Because hes Blair 😂

Really enjoyed that. Wish Andrew interviewed Rory more often.

This man is very likely to be PM some day.

Nice one, Andrew on AC!

every question answered with detail and intellect, refreshing

Why is it no Tory is concerned about freedom of speech?

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

Rory is simply too intelligent to be a current day Tory

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.

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.......

Once a tory - always a tory. Don't be fooled.

correct Andrew. Rory is deluded about Labour ambitions. He lives in a parallel reality 😂

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.

Oh dear, Rory has drank the AI coolaid, get him some hydroxycobalamin stat!

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

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.

Andrew Neil remains the best political interviewer in our country 👏

Too late sunshine patriot

Hello Rory hows the LibDem campaign going ?

I'd bet Neil is voting Tory.

Neil's comments about Franch really haven't aged well.

He votes just like tories, so he absolutely is a Tory through and through.

Andrew ran rings around Rory

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

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

Lovely Man, just 6th form politics do not run countries!

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'

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

I'd need to see Rory Stewart's voting record.

It's a bit ludicrous hearing Neil laugh are Stewart's positions when his ideals are the exact ones that got us in this mess in the first place.

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.

And you went against what the majority of the people voted for, we won't forget

I will never forgive Rory's voting record

Keir Starmer centre-left! 😂Thanks Andy, needed that laugh this morning. Absolute clown.

A LibDem, surely?

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.

Would make conservatives strong if Rory would rejoin. Sadly, sweep the bullies away and introduce real policies including empowering most people

Won't vote now because he's 'a broadcaster', not because the Tories are a shambles...

How did the Tory pick Boris over this guy?

Wet as water.

This is the Neurological equivalent of a migraine having a migraine.

Neil loves Britain so much that he lives abroad

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.

This conservative government wasn't right wing in the slightest

Why can't Neil ask anything without an arrogant snark?

Rory says he's for decentralising Gouverment , we started that with Brexit ;)

Rory's usual avoiding the elephant in the room is comical. The rise of the right populist movements mentioned is pretty much down to one issue, you could be centrist on all the rest of your policies, but be on the right on this one issue and you will be popular with the voters. I don't even need to say what the issue is, we all know.

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

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

What does he mean, the centrist policies of the 90's failed? Western economies blossomed in the 90's, did well until "W" and Blair took them down. People need to be called out when misstating history.

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.

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

He is not a Tory , he is voting Labour FFS

he is a tory and this is why they are finished LOL

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.

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

Andrew Neil seems determined to situate everyone in a bi-polar left-right framework, he can’t seem to accept that, thankfully, people are actually much more complex than his dualistic framework allows.

Isn’t this the guy who tutored William and Harry?