Jacob Morton

[Jacob Morton @JacobMortonUK]

I’m honoured to have been elected by Swaffham residents to represent them as their Breckland District Councillor. Looking forward to getting started and serving the town and Breckland with dedication, enthusiasm and integrity (1/2)

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

“Zelenskyy could’ve stopped this war many times, and he chose not to … he better damn well stop” — Trump is no longer trying to conceal that he’s fully on Putin’s side

[Jacob Morton @JacobMortonUK]

@beverleyturner @POTUS @VladimierPutin Of course when you say “let Trump negotiate”, this means throw Ukraine under the bus. One man has the ability to end this war in an instant - Putin.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

When I said I was going to renew the Conservative Party, I meant it.

[Jordan Tyldesley @PippyBing]

Alzheimer’s is no joke. I watch people battle this disease daily and it is one of the cruellest and most painful things a family can go through. Turning someone’s inability to recognise their own son, and a son no longer being recognised, into a cheap punchline is repulsive.

[Rishi Sunak @RishiSunak]

I was a very fortunate kid. My dad's GP surgery sat between the Dell and Hampshire's County Ground, so at weekends I could go to a game and get a lift home afterwards. It left me with a passion for both sports and a belief that sport opens a window onto who we are.

When I was growing up, the Tebbit test was a matter of intense debate. Which side did you cheer for at the cricket? For all the criticism it received, it was a test anyone could pass. If you supported England because you saw it as home, you were part of the team regardless of the colour of your skin. Born in Southampton, 10 year old me passed it without even knowing about it.

Giving the @MCCOfficial's Cowdrey Lecture on Thursday made me think about cricket's place in our national life and the current arguments about identity.

In Britain we've built the world's most successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy. I was a beneficiary of it. Whatever issues people had with me as PM (and there was no shortage) my race and religion weren't among them. I could read a lesson at the King's coronation or light Diwali diyas on Downing Street with my daughters without controversy. Foreign leaders assumed these must be huge symbolic moments. For most Brits, they just weren't that big a deal.

But Britain's democratic achievement is now under strain. Some of the challenges are ones I've written about before, like Islamism, and the failure of governments, including the one I led, to adequately control immigration. But something else is going on - a risk that we start equating skin colour with nationality.

After I left office, a debate kicked off here on @X about whether I was English at all, because I was a "brown Hindu". During the election campaign I'd been shocked when footage was broadcast of someone calling me a "Paki." It was shocking precisely because it was so unusual. That kind of abuse had simply not been a feature of my political life. But the Englishness argument was stranger still. Call it the reverse Tebbit test. If you're not white, it no longer matters who you support at the cricket, because you can never be English. It's a test no non-white person can ever pass.

I have no truck with people who offend our sense of fairness and come here illegally; I spent half my premiership trying to deport them to Rwanda. I think the bar for legal migration should be high. It is entirely possible to want a radical reduction in immigration and a far more robust approach to integration, and still totally reject the attempt to turn Britishness into a DNA test.

If you're born and brought up in England and view it as home, what are you other than English? Denying people their Englishness or their Britishness because of the colour of their skin is a recipe for alienation and a two-tier society. How are children who hear this meant to feel?

Sport can play a small but significant role here. Cricket is played by nearly every major ethnic group in this country. Ask what my largely white rural constituents in the Dales and the British-Asian kids in Bradford have in common, and the answer is cricket. If cricket can produce England teams in which every kid can see themselves, the impact reaches far beyond the boundary.

As I write in @thetimes today, we must all be on the same side, cheering for the same team.

We cannot allow race to be reintroduced into our politics. We cannot allow Briton to be set against Briton.

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

“You know what Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne want? Nothing. Just a government that will fix Britain”. Nigel Farage is now just treating the British people as if they’re idiots.

[James Wild MP @jamesowild]

The East of England is a net contributor to growth in England.

Burnham’s and Labour’s blind spot doesn’t go unnoticed in Norfolk and other counties.

Starmer cancelled key projects including Ely Junction and road schemes.

Does Andy get it?

[Luke Robert Black @lukerobertblack]

.@ThatAlexWoman has accused the UK government of “state sanctioned terrorism” in the case of Anne Widdecomb’a murder.

A frankly appalling and mental thing to say.

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

On the issue of what stirs up hate:

* Reform hosted Lucy Conolly on their main stage at conference

* Senior members of Reform, such as Zia Yusuf, regularly describe their political opponents as "traitors"

* When Keir Starmer's house was firebombed, prominent Reform supporters circulated Russian propaganda minimising, and joking about, the attack

So when it comes to political discourse what are the rules. If jeering at Nigel Farage in the House of Commons chamber crosses a line, what is the line now.

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

EXCLUSIVE

Nigel Farage failed to declare that a criminal and crypto gambler paid for his staff, security, drivers, social media output in year before election

Reform leader has also received free accommodation in Westminster from George Cottrell as MP
https://t.co/fSKszEDnV1

[Jacob Morton @JacobMortonUK]

@clotimms We were on the tour with you today !

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

And there was me covering politics for 25 years operating under the delusion that each government department was supposed to be a delivery unit

[Sky News @SkyNews]

BREAKING: The Prime Minister was advised by the Cabinet Secretary to get security clearance for Peter Mandelson before he was appointed, but ignored the suggestion.

Sky's @SamCoatesSky uncovered the key documents and has the story.

https://t.co/AMvJrKmSgg

📺 Sky 501

[Jacob Morton @JacobMortonUK]

@AmazonHelp Hello Amazon, I am having trouble with your online customer service centre as it keeps looping me round to the same home page. Can you help me with a refund request for a damaged item ?

[Jacob Morton @JacobMortonUK]

@VirginAtlantic How do I request a refund for WiFi that didn’t work on a flight ? Thank you

[Senator Thom Tillis @SenThomTillis]

America is grateful for every nation that answered the call after we were attacked on 9/11 and served with our forces on the frontlines in Afghanistan. Their sacrifices should never be forgotten.

UK 457
Canada 159
France 90
Germany 62
Italy 53
Poland 44
Denmark 43
Australia 41
Spain 35
Georgia 32
Romania 27
Netherlands 25
Turkey 15
Czech Republic 14
New Zealand 10
Norway 10
Estonia 9
Hungary 7
Sweden 5
Latvia 4
Slovakia 3
Finland 2
Jordan 2
Portugal 2
South Korea 2
Albania 2
Belgium 1
Bulgaria 1
Croatia 1
Lithuania 1
Montenegro 1

[Tom Harwood @tomhfh]

In last year’s election Rishi Sunak said Labour’s plans would mean far higher taxes.

So called experts shot down his claims, saying there weren’t more tax rises in the manifesto.

But lo and behold as soon as Labour got in, they announced tax rises that weren’t in the manifesto.

[Laura Vater, MD, MPH @doclauravater]

In med school, I learned that Huntington's disease was one of the most devastating inherited conditions. It caused progressive neurological decline, starting around age 30. There was no treatment. Now, Huntington's has been treated for first time.

This is why we fund science.

[Iain Dale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 ⚒️ @IainDale]

So today ReformUK platformed an antivaccine conspiracy theorist, a lady who pled guilty to inciting people to burn down a migrant hotel, had an elected mayor butcher the national anthem, and whose leader wants sanctions imposed on his own country. Indeed, the party of patriotism.

[Ruth Davidson @RuthDavidsonPC]

So if Rachel Reeves thought a 0.1% contraction of the economy was grounds for an emergency budget for a Tory Chancellor, presumably we can expect her to bring one to the House on Monday?