Craig Armstrong

@SamCoatesSky Is Tthis the best you can come up with? How about a deep exposure of how govt announcements are failing to natch policy (esp. re. Defence)? A piece on how the civil service/Whitehall infrastructure leads to ineffective/incompetent follow through?

Cabinet league table Which cabinet minister has been announcing the most policy? Which the least? Using a WMS as a proxy for number of announcements (not perfect, but not totally unfair either as a WMS accompanies Oral announcements), you've got Steve Reed's MHCLG as the busiest, and Bridget Phillipson's Education as the least (remember, still waiting for Supreme Court guidance and the meat of the SEND reforms from her teams). One government source told me that "loads of departments have slowed down because they’re scared of criticism ahead of May" This is based on all the announcements in parliament during the 16-26th March (i.e. last 2 weeks before recess, a typically busy period). There were 89 WMSs in that period. Data: questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statem…

@CraigHope_DM Honestly think youre stirring this for the clicks/sake of it now, which is disappointing.

📺 Will Eddie Howe be Newcastle manager next season? 📽️ Video latest from NUFC HQ... 🔗 youtube.com/watch?v=0PARUy…

@CraigHope_DM Deserves support. Needs club higher ups to back the ambitions they have stated. Can't, however, criticise fans for ambition given those statements. Maybe the press cd, I don't know, ask/demand some hard questions/answers/commitments of higher updates and PIF?

👇 Context to the video below in the answer Eddie Howe gave when I asked what he needed to stay on as NUFC manager... 🗣️ "I need support. Good working relationships with the people around me. A feeling of being able to express myself in the best way possible so you see the best version of myself. If I feel that, and the club feels that, then they’re getting the best manager they can from myself. 🗣️ "Obviously, if that’s not working for whatever reason, on both sides, then it’s best for the football club… which is the most important thing in all of this, that is Newcastle United, not me or anybody else, it’s Newcastle. I will always reflect that in my decision making. I will put the club before anybody."

Easter rt comp! My new book; BLITZ: When WW2 Came Home is out May 21st & I will be doing a few talks/signing: Tring 18th Nottingham 20th North Shields 20th Lytham 21st Warwick 21st Deets in pic & post below. RT 4 chance to win signed copy!

@JohnNicholRAF Guessed when I saw the pic of the seat with no further contextualisation .

This supposedly 'definitive' account of the F-15E rescue needs some serious fact-checking! "unclipped his safety harness and raised himself gingerly out of the battered ejector seat"❓ There's plenty more... so better to simply say it is 'imagined'?

@JohnNicholRAF 100% correct.

War in Middle East. War in Europe. Our economy on brink. Our kids can't get jobs. But for some reason, Scott Mills, a radio Disc Jockey whose name I've only ever heard in passing, has been fired, & THAT deserves the very TOP headline on news? We are no longer a serious country.

NEW BOOK alert 🚨 rt4 chance 2 win signed copy! My 20th (!!) book is published 21 May: BLITZ: When World War Two Came Home avail to pre-order now Huge thanks to the wonderful writers & historians who helped/read/commented @RowlandWhite @1940Andy Dr @robert_lyman Prof @LucyGoBag

Dark chocolate and cherry cake with a chantilly cream and black cherry conserve filling.

@NorthAges @Cumbrae_Viking The original quote was "Sod off! In stone". It was made by the renowned Borders historian, writer and journalist George MacDonald Fraser.

@Cumbrae_Viking I’ve seen it described as “f*** off in stone”, which sums it up nicely!

@PeteGravesTV He'd walk into another job. We'd struggle to replace him. Continuity is no bad thing and there were always going to be downturns. Needs effective backing from owners and also to reflect on what he and staff can do better tactically and to evolve, revitalise, squad.

One final thought. And listen, I appreciate all the replies. Helps me gauge online fan opinion. If the "Eddie out" crew get their wish. Do you think he'd struggle to find another job? Or quickly pop up at one of our rivals? He's the best English manager by a mile.

@jordancronin_ Exactly. We can run but have zero quality and no goal threat.

FULL-TIME: Newcastle United 1-2 Sunderland This manager and group of players have done wonders for this football club but that second-half was utterly shambolic, shameful and embarrassing. Outfought, outrun. An athletic team that lacks any kind of technical ability.

@OctopusEnergy Thanks for that.

@DrCraigArm Hey Craig, your dad’s email won’t have been missed - I’ve just sent him an email directly to help with this and speed things along.

Usual review by @OctopusEnergy and they wanted to increase my dad's bill again. As a pensioner, he can't afford the increase. Replied Friday morning to them asking that his bill remains as is but no reply or acknowledgement. So much for a 'prompt response'. Causing him anxiety.

@UKDefJournal And? Commonplace in Northumberland.

Two British Army Apache attack helicopters were seen flying along the River Clyde and across parts of Glasgow and East Kilbride during routine training activity. Click image for more. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/apache-attack-…

@SkyNews @BethRigby And that statement was "I'm weak and vacillating". No Churchill? He's not even a Chamberlain (who, at least, finally, saw there was no reasoning with an evil dictatorship).

"The prime minister clearly wanted to make a statement to the country." Sky's @BethRigby analyses Sir Keir Starmer's press conference on the situation in the Middle East, including evacuations, the special relationship and the British military response. trib.al/zMoaBpQ

@Keir_Starmer Do be quiet you spineless fool.

Security and strength for our country starts with a strong economy - and a stronger economy puts us in a place to better withstand global tensions.

@SamCoatesSky An RAF base has been attacked and this is, seriously, his 'response'. Pathetic.

Keir Starmer with a implied rebuke back to Donald Trump. He says "this government does not believe in regime change from the skies" He says all UK military action must have a lawful basis - and a viable thought through plan

@BBCNews Pathetic, utterly pathetic.

Starmer seeks to carve out distinct UK approach to this conflict bbc.in/4aMQ088

@SkyNews No, its because he's terrified of a Muslim reaction here and he lacks a spine.

Starmer is cautious on Iran because he knows the chaos Trump's strikes could trigger trib.al/c9ZVttt

@JohnNicholRAF Enjoy. Hoping that all the aircrew involved in action at the moment rtb safely.

35 years ago today, 1991 Gulf War ended. We prisoners-of-war, confined in the horrendous Abu Ghraib, still faced some pretty brutal days before release, with reports we were dead. But we made it home, and tonight we gather to celebrate freedom and raise a glass to absent friends