Hello, @reformparty_uk HQ! 👋 I see in the latest edition of The Reformer you’re proposing to send in the Royal Navy to stop the boats. One small problem… you might want to choose a ship that’s still in service! I’d suggest retiring your defence spokesperson too, but then I remembered… you don’t have one! Schoolboy error! 😂⚓

A warm Devon boo 🟢

Argentina threatens the Falkland Islands, and Putin’s navy is expanding its presence in the far north. To protect our interests, we need to have an ice patrol capability at both poles. I challenged the government to set out their plans for the replacement of HMS Protector to allow us to have capabilities in both the north and the south. Predictably, they had no answer.

We are a great country, I truly believe that. Throughout our history, we have evolved time and time again, overcome enormous challenges and led the world in so many ways. Although the rut we find ourselves in today can feel never-ending, we must rediscover the attitude, ambition and determination that have always allowed us to punch above our weight. It’s time to free ourselves from the relentless negativity, the naysayers and the doom-mongers who seem convinced our best days are behind us. We are capable of so much more. It’s time to believe in ourselves again, raise our ambitions and strive for excellence once more.

Was a pleasure to join @KemiBadenoch today. Our veterans deserve more than Labour's lawfare.

In today’s Sunday Times, we’ve shared more detail of the blueprint for Britannia Shield with @benrileysmith - including our plan for ‘Radar Drones’. We’d use MQ-9B ‘Protector’ drones, already in service with the RAF & originally used in the Middle East, for homeland defence. At times of heightened threat, we believe they could augment Early Airborne Warning from the crewed E-7 Wedgetail to give 24/7 long range ‘eyes in the sky’.

Watching the disgraceful scenes in Paris fills me with the same rage I felt during the 2011 riots across England. The footage of a distressed woman apparently watching her livelihood being destroyed, while young men stand around filming, is utterly sickening. What sort of society produces men so devoid of decency, compassion and basic humanity? These mindless thugs aren’t protesters. They’re cowards, exploiting legitimate grievances to terrorise innocent people and destroy the very communities they supposedly call home. There is nothing brave about attacking the vulnerable. Nothing principled about looting. Nothing admirable about standing by and filming someone else’s misery. These people need more than a lecture on right and wrong. They need to learn that actions have consequences. I hope every last one responsible is caught, convicted and locked up.

Deeply saddened to hear this devastating news. My thoughts and prayers are with the four members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have tragically lost their lives, and with their families, friends and fellow service personnel at this incredibly difficult time. 🇨🇦🇬🇧

The greatest disrespect we can show to those who sacrificed their lives for us is to turn their remembrance into a political battleground. The fallen deserve our gratitude, not our agendas. This must not go unchallenged. I will be making sure to tell anyone I see wearing this badge exactly what I think, and I implore others to do the same.

Six years ago this month, a parachuting accident changed my life. This week, I led a debate in Parliament to mark Bone and Joint Action Week, drawing on my own experience to highlight how musculoskeletal conditions affect tens of millions across the UK- and what the NHS and Government must do to improve care. independent.co.uk/news/uk/po…

I’ve held my tongue for long enough, but watching these oddball, military-cosplaying populists drag my old gang’s name through the mud is utterly disgraceful. The Royal Marines have served our nation with courage, honour and distinction for over 361 years. Their reputation was earned through generations of sacrifice, not political grandstanding. We all know what Yusuf and Jenrick have been saying. So if Farage genuinely disagrees with them, why does he keep defending them?

We’re delighted that later today, @DavidReedMP for Exmouth & Exeter East will shine a light on MSK conditions during his adjournment debate on ‘Bone and Joint Health’. On the day, when almost 100 attendees headed to Parliament to say that there are #20MillionReasons to champion MSK health, a parliamentary debate is a brilliant way to end the day. Thank you for speaking up for the 20 million people. #20MillionReasons #BoneAndJointWeek

🗣️ "As we enter an era of deep and multidimensional competition, each part of our foreign policy - from hard power to foreign aid - must work towards the same goal." @DavidReedMP

I’ve worked with many excellent people in the Civil Service- dedicated individuals who care deeply about the future of our country and work tirelessly, day in and day out, to make Britain better. My criticism is not directed at them. But the Civil Service as a whole has become a bloated, inefficient blob that too often fails to deliver value for taxpayers’ money. At a time when hardworking families and businesses are under immense pressure, demands for a four-day working week on full pay, alongside a 10% pay rise, demonstrate a staggering disconnect from the realities facing the rest of the country. Those advocating these demands would do well to consider how they would fare in the private sector, where productivity, performance and value for money are not optional extras. The public deserves a Civil Service that works for them, not one that expects the taxpayer to fund ever-greater benefits without corresponding improvements in delivery. My message is simple: taxpayers are entitled to expect better, and this sort of entitlement cannot be allowed to become the norm.

We cannot let these attacks wipe out Ukraine's educational resources. That is why The Sunday Times is incredibly proud to partner with @Book_Aid for the our Get Ukraine Reading appeal. They are working on the ground to get brand-new books back into the hands of students and restock the libraries whose shelves were destroyed. Every £2 donated sends another brand-new book to a Ukrainian child or library. Please consider supporting the appeal and sharing this thread to help us rebuild what has been lost: bookaid.org/support-us/the-s…

There’s something profoundly weird about watching Yusef and Jenrick cosplay as military commanders, seemingly getting a peculiar little thrill from fantasising about sending the Royal Marines out to use lethal force against civilians. It’s all rather creepy. Meanwhile, some of our most highly trained soldiers are still being dragged through the courts decades after serving in Northern Ireland, where they faced actual armed paramilitaries. I suspect most Royal Marines would find these two deeply unserious. Imagine being lectured on the use of lethal force by a pair of excitable populists playing soldiers, knowing full well that following their orders could leave you facing murder charges decades later. There’s something especially strange about politicians who have never faced combat appearing so enthusiastic about ordering other people to kill. All very easy when it’s someone else’s finger on the trigger and someone else’s future in the dock.

#FloodActionWeek is particularly important here in Exmouth and Exeter East. This year the Met Office, based in our constituency, is predicting a higher chance of repeated storms, prolonged rainfall and the flooding that comes with them. That is why it is vital we have a proper conversation about what we can all do to protect our homes. Our resilience, both locally and nationally, depends on residents checking their flood risk, signing up for flood warnings, making an action plan and considering how to better prepare their property for flooding. The best place to start is floodaction.campaign.gov.uk/

Parliament returns today and the PM can rest assured that the shadow FCDO team will be getting to the bottom of this.

Earlier this year, Palestine Action extremists vandalised Churchill’s statue outside Parliament. Now pro-Palestinian thugs have desecrated the Battle of Britain Memorial. These people have nothing but contempt for Britain, our history and the heroes who fought and died to save this country from tyranny. The sheer arrogance of abusing the very freedoms those brave Britons sacrificed everything to defend is sickening. An absolute disgrace. No excuses. No leniency. Those responsible must face the full force of the law.

History will remember Putin as an invading tyrant. But it will also remember how the rest of us responded. We know where appeasement leads. We know the price of allowing aggression to go unanswered. And we know that peace is not secured by surrendering to those who threaten it. The question is not whether history will judge Putin. It will. The question is how history will judge us. Our resolve must not falter. We stand with Ukraine.