it's better to be a pirate than join the Navy

Joined January 2011
We got there eventually...a magical day. Thanks to my amazing wife @LyndseyPotts #mapplepotts @wylambrewery
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
That a metro system would be built in a northern UK city involving underground tunnels and stations is supposedly an impossible, unrealistic idea from an unserious mind. Meanwhile, Newcastle with 13km of bored tunnels and 9 underground stations built 13 years after first plans:
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
A wise, gracious, and noble friend and colleague - my first group leader when I was elected. John has served Newcastle, Liberalism, and public life with honour. His farewell from the Lords is a sad day, but I wish him and Margaret much happiness in retirement. ♥️🔶
John Shipley spent 34 years on Newcastle City Council and 16 in the Lords. Today, he ended it where he started, opening a debate on local democracy and electoral reform. Thank you, John, and happy retirement.
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
The meaning of the phrase Jews Don’t Count is often misunderstood. It means: as a vulnerable minority. A minority that has suffered, like all minorities, extreme violence and discrimination. The assumption remains, despite history, that Jews are too powerful really to be seen in that way. Drawing attention to Jewish suffering is seen as only another example of their power, of Jews' ability to highlight their own suffering at the expense of others. Jews are not granted specificity in suffering: it must always be compared to the suffering of others, and found wanting. And if you want to see that in action, have a look at some of the responses on here - or no doubt, below this message - to the various attempts to commemorate one acute example of Jewish suffering, that took place three years ago today.
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
Eva Marie Saint, the Academy Award-winning actress who excelled in roles opposite such stars as Cary Grant and Marlon Brando, has died, according to her publicist. She was 102. cnn.it/4yDNTwO
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Archer's obit @thetimes obit is a work of beauty...by turns hilarious and simply staggering...
In the immortal words of Mark Lawson, "Jeffrey's life consisted of the things you couldn't make up, and the things Jeffrey did make up."
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
My take on Archer and the champagne quaffers who turned a blind eye to his crimes and failed to ask him tough questions. British luvviedom and the British establishment at its sycophantic worst, and it's continued throughout today.
"That conversation illustrates the complexity of Archer's life..." @MichaelLCrick and @nadhimzahawi discuss the good and the bad that defined Jeffrey Archer and how he will be remembered. @theJeremyVine | #JeremyVine
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Always interesting how, usually male, 'colourful characters' in public life get forgiven their sins in death? Time for a reprint of @MichaelLCrick meticulously researched Stranger than Fiction which exposed Archer's bizarre life story...
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
#OTD 1976. In Blackpool, Jim Callaghan says Britain has "lived far too long on borrowed time, borrowed money and even borrowed ideas". "For too long this country has trodden the primrose path and borrowed money from abroad to maintain our standards of life".
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
Sydney on a Monday morning! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Quiet week in parliament then? Obvs not enough to do...🙄
🚨 NEW: A committee of MPs will review the UK’s performance at Eurovision “We want to get to the bottom of who chooses our entrant whether our dismal record is the result of bad song choice, weak performance or something else”
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
If you'e never read The Falling Man, you should do so. I post this on September 11th every year, and I find time to read it on this day every year. Still, in my eyes, the greatest piece of journalism I have ever read. esquire.com/news-politics/a4…
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
This will always be a classic in the annals of debate knockout lines. Quayle, a young senator from Indiana was viewed as too callow for VP when Bush 41 chose him. Obviously aware that Quayle had been making the JFK comparison, Bentsen was waiting for this moment. He didn't miss.
The moment Lloyd Bentsen ended Dan Quayle in the 1988 VP Debate
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
Cricket…..You never disappoint 👌🏏
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
PC Matthew Blades, one of the two policemen who died last week in Middlesbrough along with his colleague Tom Clough, was a Manchester United fan. He'd travel to games with his two sons. His wife Sarah and two sons will be at Old Trafford tmrw, the boys will be mascots.
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Anyone fancy a training session at the M11 Track Club? Christ. A timely reminder of the vast difference between normal people and elite athletes.
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
Kevin Keegan took part of the Be Smart, Be Safe road safety campaign in 1976.
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Will Mapplebeck retweeted
PHOTO OF THE DAY, Manchester United and Northern Ireland superstar George Best spotted at the 1966 World Cup Final, sitting next to Mike Summerbee of Man City. 📷Mirrorpix
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