Samuel Hoffman 🇬🇧 ✝️

'the face of an angel, a personality like the sound of an ironing board being unfolded'

[ShadowsOfConstantinople @RomeInTheEast]

Yesterday the Palace of the Despots at Mystras in Greece was reopened after restoration.

The palace was the residence of the rulers of the Despotate of the Morea, the last province of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Peloponnese. Constantine XI ruled here before becoming emperor.

[Ameer Kotecha @Ameer_Kotecha]

In 2016 the Indian government said it should not try to reclaim Koh-i-Noor from Britain.

The Indian solicitor-general, representing the Indian government, told the Supreme Court it was "neither stolen nor forcibly taken".

Ranjit Kumar correctly pointed out the diamond had been "gifted" to the East India company by the former rulers of Punjab in 1849.

That’s that then. Move on

[Jack Elsom @JackElsom]

NEW: The government's terrorism tsar has called for a "moratorium" on pro-Palestine marches.

Jonathan Hall KC tells @TimesRadio: "It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening. 

"It's clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of anti-Semitic or demonising language."

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

Follow for the very latest political news!

Paul Ovenden: "We are only seeing a tiny part of it. Like an iceberg, the vast mass remains hidden from view, buttressed in silence"

Full article: https://t.co/HDdvQmoB2d

[Patrick Porter @PatPorter76]

My piece in @TheCriticMag, War with Russia is not inevitable:
https://t.co/Xt8rzbIsk7

[BritishArmySingh @BritArmySingh]

An historic day at Wellington Barracks 🇬🇧 — the launch of the @1914_Sikhs Ceremonial Marching Troop, honouring the courage, service, and sacrifice of Sikh soldiers so they are never forgotten.

Humbled to serve as the first Troop Captain ⚔️🫡 #Sikh #1914Sikhs #BritishArmy

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

🇨🇳 Mega-embassy latest ⚠️

If you want to visit Eastminster, ruined church under Royal Mint Court, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE SEARCHED BY CHINESE POLICE.

Fundamentally unsafe for dissidents, sanctioned MPs etc.

The CCP shouldn't be able to decide who gets to visit UK heritage.

[Lord Ashcroft @LordAshcroft]

For every retweet of this post, I will donate £1 to the @VC_and_GC_Assoc up to £50,000.
Time is running out following @I_W_M’s decision to close the Lord Ashcroft Gallery.
Visit while you still can, to honour the bravery of those who risked so much to protect our great nation.

[Nick Tyrone @NicholasTyrone]

The idea that a Palestinian flag is perfectly fine to fly in any situation in England, even where it could cause offence, but that the English flag has terms and conditions attached to it just will not make sense to the majority of people in England.

[Tom Holland @holland_tom]

Vexillum of Constantine the Great and his mother, Top Essex Girl St Helena, in the Church of St Constantine and Helena, Plovdiv’s oldest church.

Although the existing structure dates to 1832, the original church was built in 337 - a shiversome thought…

[SikhMilitaryFoundation @SikhMilitaryFdn]

#VJDay80 — 6 & 19 Jan 1943, Donbaik, Burma: Havildar Parkash Singh VC braved fierce fire to rescue stranded carriers, driving with one hand & firing with the other, then towed his CO’s blazing vehicle to safety. Fearless courage earned the Victoria Cross. #Sikh #WW2

[Marcus Walker @WalkerMarcus]

A day of shame. 314 MPs have the blood of some of the most vulnerable human beings in Britain on their hands. Some will look back on their vote today with great shame.

[Robert Lyman 🇺🇦 @robert_lyman]

As a member of RUSI I was unable to attend Lord Hemer’s talk this week. However, I have had the opportunity to read it in full this morning, and to catch up on the controversy it has provoked. The speech has left me bemused, but not for the reasons the Attorney General has found himself in the press. I don’t know Lord Hemer personally and assume that he is a man of intelligence and integrity. However, the presumptions upon which he based a significant part of his argument strike me as being remarkably naïve. They are certainly ahistorical. His underlying assumption seems to be that international law must be regarded by us as a perfect good. It should therefore trump national interest, which by extension must be regarded as an imperfect good.
I am a historian, not a lawyer, but even I can see that some laws are intrinsically bad. What is more, international law is the fusion of multiple sources of national interest creating a set of obligations to which the many are then constrained. International law requires national agency, to protect and sustain the purposes to which it was constructed. It is therefore a partnership between multiple national interests which coalesce together in treaties and agreements that serve multiple national interests. The idea that international law is a medicine to alleviate the crimes of national interest is therefore illogical, as international law is the product of multiple national interests coming together to serve a common interest. But this public good will never be perfect, and, to repeat, requires positive agency by those same despised national interests to make it work.
A couple of obvious examples of international law not being good, nor working effectively, jumped out at me as I read Lord Hemer’s speech. In 1936 Hitler brazenly abrogated international law by remilitarizing the Rhineland. International law did not protect itself or stand up for its prerogatives and injunctions. It couldn’t, of course. This required national agency, which as history sadly attests, wasn’t forthcoming. If it had, we may have avoided the Second World War. More recently, the United Kingdom and others committed to protect Ukraine in exchange for the relinquishing of its atomic weapons. A fat lot of good that did Ukraine when it was invaded in February 2022! What is more, the country that invaded Ukraine was permanent member of the United Nations, the body which I can only presume Lord Hemer regards as the world’s ultimate law-making body. What good international law if the national interest of one of its members abrogates it so egregiously. International law is, therefore, an artificial construct of national realism, the opposite of what Lord Hemer suggests. To imbue it with moral efficacy seem to me to be the politics of stupidity.

[Elpidophoros @Elpidophoros]

I call upon religious leaders, international organizations, and all people of faith, to join in advocating for the preservation of the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai. Let's ensure that this sacred place continues to unite people of all faiths https://t.co/6wu4S8ftST

[Robert Jenrick @RobertJenrick]

Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground.

Lawbreaking is out of control.

He's not acting. So, I did.👇

[Prime Minister of Canada @CanadianPM]

Today, we are honoured to welcome Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Canada.

This #RoyalVisit is a reminder of the bond between Canada and the Crown, one forged over generations. https://t.co/FG9sFXka5p

Photo: Millie Pilkington

[Tony Diver @Tony_Diver]

🚨NEW: Chagos deal will cost £30bn

RENT:
- £165m a year for the first 3 years
- £120m a year for years 4-13
- Then £120m+inflation for years 14-99

PLUS:
- £45m a year for 25 years for development
- £40m one-off for Chagossian fund

Assuming 2% inflation, total cost is £30.3bn

[Engelsberg Ideas @EngelsbergIdeas]

Reform and the long shadow of the Fourth Party | @HaroldCluff

https://t.co/OqIEfcSLmA

[Jonathan Hinder MP @Jonathan_Hinder]

WTAF?

Lots to digest today, but I keep coming back to this.

Next door constituency to me.

We need to put our “cultural sensitivities” in the bin and sort this out.

Intolerable.

[James Johnson @jamesjohnson252]

New polling of Canada: As a Canadian, which of the following would you prefer?

Rejoin the 🇬🇧 British Empire: 82%
Become the 51st state of the 🇺🇸 USA: 18%

Source: @J_L_Partners @DailyMail, 1,000 Canadian adults