ParsonFalcon

Her husband, his father, his and her walker. Geordie rugby.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Typical Starmer, No respect for anyone else but himself.

[Dr Luke Evans MP @drlukeevans]

'Every meeting I have [with Labour MPs] is "who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others".'

This damning comment is buried within the #Mandelson files released today.

Next time Labour says it will "tread more lightly on your lives", remember this...

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

@UKLabour Why only in English and Irish Gaelic? Why not in Ulster Scots? Didn't you respect all communities in Northern Ireland?

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Lovely to see so many players not singing the Soldiers Song and then joining in lustily for #IrelandsCall

[Mark Wallace @wallaceme]

Tehran currently phoning (*not* paging) the Hezbollah HR department for advice on sustainable succession planning.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Please do not judge all of the UK by our spineless appeasing government.

[Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC]

To say I’m disappointed in the joint statement by leaders from France, Germany and the UK regarding Operation Epic Fury is an understatement.

It is so sad to see western democracies lose their passion for justice and a sense of right and wrong the further away from their shores the event occurs. Everyone in Europe is rightly impassioned about Russia invading Ukraine. But when it comes to the long suffering people of Iran, Europe has been pathetic.

To the leaders of France, Germany and the UK: the Iranian people are not wrong to demand the end to their oppression from the bloodthirsty ayatollah’s regime that has American and European blood on their hands. You collectively are the ones that are wrong by refusing to come to the Iranian people’s aid and adding insult to injury, you’re suggesting we should continue to negotiate with religious Nazis. It is pathetic. How far Western Europe has fallen.

To the Iranian people: President Trump heard your cries. Help has arrived in large measure.

To our European allies: you have gone pathetically soft and lost your zeal for confronting evil apparently unless it’s on your front porch.

So sad.

https://t.co/xgXMaNmhT7

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

@alexburghart Looks really strange and confusing people in Middle East.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

@British_Airways are you showing the 6 nations matches on your flights on Saturday?

[Daniel Hannan @DanielJHannan]

Some basics about Chagos for BBC reporters, Sky anchors and others coming new to the debate.
1. The Chagos Islands lie half-way between Africa and Indonesia, and host a key Anglo-American military base on the main island, Diego Garcia
2. France ceded the archipelago to Britain in 1814 separately from Mauritius; the islands were always a distinct territory, though, lacking suitable facilities, their administration was sited in Mauritius
3. To put the issue beyond doubt, Mauritius permanently renounced any claim to the islands in 1965 in return for a cash payment from Britain
4. It eagerly trousered the money, its first post-independence PM, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, explaining that he had been glad to sell any theoretical right to “territory of which very few people knew, which is very far from here, and which we had never visited”
5. Mauritius is indeed 1337 miles from the islands, and began to press its claim again only when it grew closer to China in the early 2000s
6. The barrister it hired was Philippe Sands, a co-founder of Matrix Chambers and a close friend of Keir Starmer’s, who has always been cagey about what conversations they have had about Chagos
7. Far from providing a mandate for the deal, the Labour manifesto explicitly promised the opposite (see graphic)
8. Starmer justifies the surrender by pointing to a non-binding resolution by a UN court, which included a Russian and a Chinese judge, and whose jurisdiction had been expressly denied in disputes between Commonwealth or former Commonwealth states
9. In November, a different UN body issued another non-binding resolution, this one ordering the transfer to be halted, but Labour did not change direction
10. The party may have a guilty conscience, for it was Harold Wilson’s government that removed the 1800-odd inhabitants from the islands after 1968 to make room for the base
11. Chagossians, who now number around 10,000, do not see themselves as Mauritians and overwhelmingly oppose the transfer
12. British and American generals have expressed reservations about the deal, warning that a future Mauritian government might lease adjoining islands to unfriendly powers
13. The base has proved its strategic value many times, lying as it does lies within reach of four of the seven global choke points that funnel maritime traffic: the Bab-el-Mandeb, the Straits of Hormuz, the Malacca Straits and the Cape of Good Hope
14. Mauritius has no navy and admits it cannot protect the territory
15. At the same time, it wants commercial fishing in the matchless marine conservation zone around the islands
16. A Freedom of Information Request shows that the payments to Mauritius will total £34 billion
17. Mauritius says that this money will wipe out its national debt and still allow tax cuts
18. Opponents of the Bill want Chagossians themselves to decide the issue in a referendum
19. If the deal falls, Britain will be under a moral obligation to allow Chagossians to settle the outer atolls (see video in next post)
20. Providing for a permanent settlement will cost (on the government’s figures) one sixth or (on the actual figures) around one fiftieth as much as Labour wants to hand to Mauritius
21. The transfer cannot go ahead without both parliamentary ratification and the formal approval of the US, neither of which has been secured

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Remember

[OnThisDayTheIRA @OnThisDayPIRA]

#Christmas
Christmas without parents by the PIRA.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

The annual reposting of the best Twitter reply ever.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

@CNviolations @grok what is the name of this game?

[Jim Gamble @JimGamble_INEQE]

Of all the great people I’ve worked with across the globe, none are finer than those I had the honour to serve with in the #RoyalUlsterConstabulary and the @PoliceServiceNI. While some may attempt to rewrite history, those of us who served know the truth and the sacrifice made by far too many of our colleagues. RIP #LestWeForget

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Letter of the Day - F https://t.co/0jqbNpSruJ

[Jon Burrows MLA @JonBurrowsMLA]

Two things can be true at the same time. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy and it was unjustifiable. However, this was a flawed prosecution that was never sustainable; it is a striking example of the flawed & unfair approached to legacy.

[ParsonFalcon @ParsonFalcon]

Soldier F -Not Guilty.

Absolute disgrace that this veteran was ever treated in this way.

[Carla Lockhart MP @carlalockhart]

Soldier F 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗧𝗬!

For those who had tried this man before justice was served, shame on you! Those who named him putting his life in danger, shame on you!

[Carla Lockhart MP @carlalockhart]

Soldier F 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗧𝗬!

For those who had tried this man before justice was served, shame on you! Those who named him putting his life in danger, shame on you!

[Ambassador Mike Huckabee @GovMikeHuckabee]

I assure you she’s delusional. She can thank @realDonaldTrump anytime just to set the record straight.

[Sharron Davies HoL MBE @sharrond62]

All I can tell you is when I was fighting (& no one wanted to help) to get fair sport back for our girls this woman took all my calls no matter where she was in the world & as trade sec she was never home. She was stopped from doing all she wanted, whilst in government, but she never stopped trying. I believe her & I know she’ll try to do what’s right not what’s easy.

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

We need to wait for the details of today's synagogue attack. But the fact is if you grant concessions to terrorists, and allow them to believe their terror will be rewarded, you incite new terror. Ministers need to reflect on that as they issue their ritualistic condemnations.