Fury erupted after the outspoken presenter revealed why The Andrew Neil Show would not be returning to TV screens. Mr Neil told a follower on Twitter: "The BBC said it could come back if I accepted a new, late afternoon time in the BBC2 schedule. But BBC2 bosses did not want it back at 7pm.

"I declined the new time so the show was cancelled.”

But Express.co.uk readers reacted angrily to the news, saying the BBC didn’t want to air a “fair” programme that “sought the truth” on their TV screens.

One said: “The BBC doesn't want a fair programme, they only want people who agree with their pro-EU, leftie views. I never watch the BBC now.

“They have become a political party and push their angle all the time - no matter what the discussion is about. Their presenters try to manoeuvre their guests into saying something that they can then use to make a political point.”

Another said: “I hope the BBC loses all its viewers and folds up. It no longer has the love and respect it once had.”

Others said the move was due to the fact Mr Neil did not “fit the BBC’s agenda”.

One said: “The end of freedom of speech. Sack the BBC leadership. Replace all the bias ill-liberals.”

A Facebook user posted: “Andrew Neil Great journalist. No wonder the biased BBC wanted him out. He does not suit their agenda”

Another added: “Of course they don't want people like Andrew Neil, he doesn't fit their biased rhetoric.”

While some called for the BBC to be privatised and the licence fee to be abolished, saying: “It's time the BBC was privatised it is such an out of date system now. With its biased reporting and sky-high salaries, it is time the TV tax was abolished and the BBC was in the real world.”

It comes just weeks after Mr Neil revealed the BBC had made a huge blunder when reporting on the departure of his show from TV screens.

The political correspondent said the end of The Andrew Neil Show had “nothing to do with cuts” to the corporation - despite reports on the BBC’s own news site claiming the programme was one of the casualties of its cuts.

Mr Neil hit back after the BBC News site reported his show would disappear from TV screens as part of cuts made to the taxpayer-funded organisation, including the axing of 520 jobs.

He said the BBC News report was “wrong to lump the demise of my show under ‘cuts’”.

Mr Neil added: “My show not coming back has nothing to do with cuts.

“The BBC website was wrong.”

A BBC statement said: “We remain committed to Andrew Neil’s in-depth interviews (as well as the Budget, US Election and other Specials).

“The Andrew Neil Show will not be returning but we’re in discussions about a new interview series on BBC One.”

The former Sunday Times editor has been one of the BBC's top political broadcasters for many years and has presented This Week and Daily Politics.

Politics Live, which is currently only airing on Wednesdays because of the pandemic, will return four days a week from Monday to Thursday.

However, Mr Neil is not expected to present the show on a regular basis.

It comes after the BBC announced a further 70 job cuts in BBC News on top of the 450 announced earlier this year, taking the total number of job losses up to 520.

The BBC announced in 2016 that it needed to save £800million, with around £80million of that figure coming from news.

The corporation has since announced plans to reduce its "pool of presenters", while more correspondents will increasingly be asked to work across a range of content.

Victoria Derbyshire's BBC Two programme has been axed and it was previously announced that Newsnight, 5Live and Today would be affected as part of cost-cutting plans and an effort to reach the young.