Andrew Neil
BBC presenter Andrew Neil tore into the Islamic State at the start of This Week BBC

BBC presenter and veteran newspaper man Andrew Neil won plaudits on social media after he tore into the Islamic State (Isis) in the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris. The Scottish host launched a passionate tirade against the "loser jihadists" as part of his opening monologue on BBC 2's This Week programme.

The 66-year-old, a regular TV inquisitor of Britain's political class, said the militants would fail to defeat Western civilisation and listed some of France's cultural highlights, including philosopher René Descartes, writer Voltaire, composer Francis Poulenc, pop group Daft Punk and jokingly Crème brûlée.

"Welcome to This Week, a week in which a bunch of loser jihadists slaughtered 132 innocents in Paris to 'prove' the future belongs to them, rather than a civilisation like France. Well, I can't say I fancy their chances," Neil began.

He later explained that he would call the jihadists "IS, as in Islamist Scumbags" and warned the terrorists would be "as dust along with a ragbag of fascists, Nazis and Stalinists that have previously dared to challenge democracy and failed" in thousands of years to come.

The fiery address received a good reception on Twitter, where the likes of journalist Piers Morgan, Labour MP Liz Kendall, and David Cameron biographer Lord Ashcroft praised Neil.

More about the Paris attacks and Isis
Isis Islamic State