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[Antony Cotton MBE @antonycotton]

Hey Alfie @MilitaryBanter

https://t.co/SCThKtKZI1

[Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer]

My support for Ukraine is unwavering.

The UK stands with you, @ZelenskyyUa.

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

OLLIE WATKINS.

IT’S WHAT HE DOES.

[Andrew Fox @Mr_Andrew_Fox]

I’m more shocked by what I saw in London yesterday than anything I’ve seen coming out of Gaza.

It was a direct attack on our democracy. Genocidal slogans projected onto the symbol of our Parliament and the Speaker breaking parliamentary procedures for fear of violent reprisals against MPs (on top of at least one MP quitting previously after Islamist threats).

These people didn’t protest for Syria (higher civilian casualties by a factor of 10), for the Uyghurs (ongoing genocide), or for Afghans (nationwide repression of women). There must be some other factor motivating them… And yes, part of it will be ✡️, but I think I goes deeper than that.

I would suggest it’s deliberate. If I were an authoritarian enemy of the West, I’d know I can’t beat the West’s military power. So instead I would focus on beating the West through subversion of institutions and subversion of the people. As an authoritarian I would use the West’s own liberal order against them.

Yesterday was the most egregious example of a direct attack on our institutions. In authoritarian states, such demonstrations against government policy would be met with violence. But we’re better than them, our laws are liberal.

And so our police must tolerate yesterday, as well as weekly intimidation of British Jews, and slogans supporting our enemies (Houthis make us proud!) chanted on our capital’s streets. The secondary effect is that wider public confidence in the police is damaged, further subverting a vital democratic institution - how many times have you seen claims of two-tier policing? These fifth columnists use our tolerance against us.

And we’ve seen the international rules based order attacked as well. South Africa’s laughable and politically-motivated genocide case in the ICJ subverts the very rules that govern our interactions with other countries.

The subversion of the people has taken place on the back of an aggressive and incredibly effective disinformation campaign. Such campaigns are designed to provoke strong emotions. The hardcore protesters will be antisemitic fifth columnists, acting knowingly, but most people there will have been well-intentioned.

A disinformation campaign has duped them into believing there are 30,000 civilian casualties (numbers that don’t stand up to the merest critical scrutiny); there’s a genocide happening (patently nonsense, even using Hamas’ inflated numbers); or that the destruction in Gaza is somehow different to any other urban war (it’s not).

All that persuasion has been achieved by a disinformation campaign leveraging social media. War is appalling: showing repeatedly and up close the effects of war on buildings, and people (women, children) is going to evoke a powerful reaction.

It’s childish and reductive to break this down to good guys/bad guys. We’re simply in the middle of a geopolitical power struggle. Our enemies know they can’t beat us militarily so they’re attacking us in other ways. They’re using fifth columnists and disinformation to attack liberal democracy and the rules based order: our political will, and the will of the people. We need to find a way to counteract this kind of disinformation campaign or the future looks very bleak.

Either way, a liberal democracy cannot survive if it continues to allow attacks on its processes and threats to politicians, like yesterday.

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

WELCOME TO VILLA PARK.

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

FOURTEEN HOME PREMIER LEAGUE WINS IN A ROW

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

Three Point Lane.

[Boris Johnson @BorisJohnson]

It is sad to think that this campaign is even necessary in Britain today - but it is. We must not forget 7 October.

[Andrew Fox @Mr_Andrew_Fox]

First they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for my constituency office
And I was like
“Fucking hell, that’s bang out of order”

[Royal Navy @RoyalNavy]

Our Armed Forces risked everything to protect us, despite never meeting us.

They passed on the baton: it's now our duty to serve and remember their sacrifices.

#Remembrance

[Moz Perkins⚓️🇨🇶🇬🇧 Author 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 @MozPerkins]

On November 7th, 1920, in strictest secrecy, four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme.

None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why.

The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-Sur-Ter Noise. Once there, the bodies were draped with the union flag.

Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at random. The other three were reburied.

A French Honour Guard was selected and stood by the coffin overnight of the chosen soldier overnight.

On the morning of the 8th November, a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court arrived and the Unknown Warrior was placed inside.

On top was placed a crusaders sword and a shield on which was inscribed:

"A British Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR 1914-1918 for King and Country".

On the 9th of November, the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse-drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the quayside.

There, he was saluted by Marechal Foche and loaded onto HMS Vernon bound for Dover. The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths, surrounded by the French Honour Guard.

Upon arrival at Dover, the Unknown Warrior was met with a nineteen gun salute - something that was normally only reserved for Field Marshals.

A special train had been arranged and he was then conveyed to Victoria Station, London.

He remained there overnight, and, on the morning of the 11th of November, he was finally taken to Westminster Abbey.

The idea of the unknown warrior was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served on the front line during the Great War the union flag he had used as an altar cloth whilst at the front, was the one that had been draped over the coffin.

It was his intention that all of the relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost husband, father, brother or son...

THIS is the reason we wear poppies.

We do not glorify war.

We remember - with humility - the great and the ultimate sacrifices that were made, not just in this war, but in every war and conflict where our service personnel have fought - to ensure the liberty and freedoms that we now take for granted.

Every year, on the 11th of November, we remember the Unknown Warrior.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

[England Cricket @englandcricket]

A fairytale ending for a legend of the game.

Broady, thank you ❤️

#EnglandCricket | #Ashes

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

VICTORY AT STAMFORD BRIDGE! 😍 #CHEAVL

[The Stoic Sailor @TheStoicSailor]

One thing I really hate about racists is their use of military tokens to evoke emotive responses from other racists.

A war memorial is for everyone to remember the fallen. Stop trying to get other racists riled up by using the memory of dead service-persons as a dog whistle.

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

Aston Villa is delighted to announce the appointment of Unai Emery as the club's new Head Coach. 🟣

[Boris Johnson @BorisJohnson]

Statement on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1/3)

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

Aston Villa is delighted to announce the permanent signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona for an undisclosed fee! 🙌

[Aston Villa @AVFCOfficial]

He's here and he's perfect...

🇧🇷

[Gary Lineker @GaryLineker]

Rather strange intervention from VAR. Seemed determined to find some reason to rule out the goal. Not sure that was anywhere near enough.