Lee Chapman 🇬🇧

Afghanistan, 2012. 🇦🇫 24 years old. A relatively new Corporal. And somehow trusted to command the Force Protection Fitter Section on my second tour of Afghanistan. Looking back now, I don't think I fully appreciated the responsibility I had at such a young age. Thankfully, I'd been to Afghanistan before. I knew the environment. I knew the tempo. I knew that when equipment was needed, excuses didn't really count. Our mantra became: “No one goes home until the board is green.” We worked hard. Very hard. But we had a laugh, kept morale up and delivered. We maintained 100% availability of a fleet described as inherently unreliable. I also became involved in technical work and modifications that went far beyond my own section, including a solution that would ultimately save Defence hundreds of thousands of pounds. When I returned home, I was awarded the Master General REME Commendation for outstanding technical ability and leadership. One of the proudest moments of my military career. At 24, my career felt like it was flying. But the bit I've appreciated more as I've got older is this... Someone trusted me with the opportunity. My Workshop Commander put me in that role. I was nervous. I was relatively junior. I certainly didn't know everything. But someone saw something in me and gave me the chance to prove myself. I worked bloody hard to make sure he'd made the right decision. I've never forgotten that. And it's probably shaped how I've tried to lead people ever since. Sometimes people don't need to be completely ready. Sometimes they just need someone to give them the opportunity. Arte et Marte 🇷🇴

Somewhere tonight, a name will cross someone's mind. A face. A voice. A laugh. A memory. Someone they served with. Someone they loved. Someone they still miss. The years may pass and the world may move on... But those we have lost are never truly forgotten by those who carry their memory. 🌺 Tonight, we keep the light burning. For absent friends. We will remember them. 🇬🇧

£10 BILLION. Read that again. While ordinary people were locked in their homes… While businesses collapsed. While families said goodbye to loved ones through screens. While nurses and carers went into work frightened and desperately short of proper protection… Billions of pounds of taxpayers' money were being thrown at PPE contracts. The Covid Inquiry now says almost £10 BILLION of the £14.9bn spent on PPE was wasted. There was a so-called “VIP lane” for suppliers. The Inquiry has called it unfair and inherently biased. Companies received contracts worth hundreds of millions. One supplier secured contracts worth around £1.8 BILLION, inquiry evidence says 90% of that PPE was left unused. PPE Medpro received contracts worth more than £200 MILLION. A court later ordered the company to repay £122 MILLION over gowns that were not fit for NHS use. And this is the bit that should make every taxpayer angry… Who got rich? Who made life-changing money while the country was frightened, locked down and told we were “all in this together”? Because nearly £10 billion doesn't simply disappear. It was spent. It went somewhere. The public deserves to know exactly who benefited, how much profit was made, who opened the doors and why some suppliers were put in a VIP lane in the first place. This shouldn't be about left or right anymore. Follow the money. Publish the names. Publish the profits. And where taxpayers were failed, recover every penny possible. We were told we were all in it together. Were we? 🇬🇧

As another day comes to an end... We pause. We remember. We give thanks to those who gave everything. They are gone. They will never be forgotten. 🌺 We Will Remember Them.

@BackBrexitBen @benhabib6 👏🫡

The police told me there was a death threat against me. I had no idea it had even been made. I entered politics because Britain needs dramatic and radical change. I understood that speaking openly in a deeply divided country carried risks. But I will not allow intimidation to dictate what I say or how I live. Ann Widdecombe never hesitated to defend what she believed was right. Britain owes a debt to those prepared to make difficult arguments bravely and without apology. I intend to do the same. I will not live surrounded by security guards. I will live as a free man.

I have stayed silent about this all weekend, but can't any longer. Ann Widdecombe was clearly assassinated in a pre-meditated terror attack. The police got this very wrong. I have two shocking pieces of evidence that I will outline on Outspoken at 5pm. She deserves better.

Any chance of a bank holiday to celebrate Englands Birthday?

@Keir_Starmer @jonasgahrstore Any chance of a bank holiday to celebrate Englands birthday?

Norway 1 - 2 Jude Bellingham. @JonasGahrStore, your boys took one hell of beating 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Happy Birthday, England. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 On 12 July 927, King Æthelstan united the English kingdoms, creating what is widely regarded as the birth of England as one nation. Nearly 1,100 years later, England still has no officially recognised national birthday. Perhaps it is time we changed that. A nation with this much history, heritage and identity deserves a day to celebrate its story. Happy birthday, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Yes England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Semi finals here we come 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@ThatAlexWoman Funny how it's one of the only platforms proposed not to be banned for under 16 year olds.

Aren't we just learning BlueSky is a twisted dystopian fascistic wet dream of radicalising people already cusping on extreme mental illness into becoming would be assassins and terrorists Never gets mentioned in the online regulation framework mind. Course not. Perhaps they want to create a zombie state of complicit and willing f*ck ups I mean, Stalin, Mao, Hamas, Hitler...it's a playbook right?

Quarter-final time. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁 The stage is set. The nerves are kicking in. The dream is still alive. Can England get the job done tonight, or will Norway end the journey? Who goes through... and who do you think will be the difference maker? 👇 Let's hear your predictions.

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@ThatAlexWoman 👏

The Radical Left are vicious They want us to be scared Scared to stand up for womens safety Scared to stand up for our country They want us terrified In my mind it makes them terrorists Not perky commentators. Not shrewd analysis. Terrorists

0 chance I'll be doing anything at 55 let alone 65. The way this country is headed, my plan is to be sat in another country supping cocktails. We need more young fighting age men and women, not a load of old knackers. Make the military more attractive to join, and treat the troops well enough they'll not want to leave.

🥵 It's hot... But it's not Helmand hot. It's not 45°C, body armour, full kit... and walking into a blue portaloo that's been baking in the Afghan sun all day. 🤢 Some pictures really do have a smell... If you know, you know. 🇬🇧

@Dunkirk_1940 🤣

@Lee_MJ_Chapman PTI shorts and desert boots. NFG😂

I still laugh at this photo... Three REME lads melting away in full body armour. Three Royal Marines wandering around topless like they were on a lads' holiday. 😂 The banter between cap badges was relentless... ...and we wouldn't have had it any other way. 👊🇬🇧

Many homes waited in hope. A mother waited for a letter. A wife waited for a knock at the door. Children waited for a father who would never come home. They didn't yet know that the Battle of the Somme had changed their lives forever. Behind every cross... There was a name. Behind every name... There was a family. Tonight, we remember not only those who fell, but every family whose world was changed by their sacrifice. They gave tomorrow... so we could have today. 🌺 Lest We Forget.

Really... is this where UK politics has ended up? A by-election where the main contest could be @Nigel_Farage vs @CountBinface, because other parties have chosen not to stand. Looking back at the 2024 result, around 54% of voters didn't vote for Farage, so if those voters were ever to unite behind one candidate... Count Binface could genuinely become an MP. You couldn't write it. Nigel should win but worryingly I can see a lot of effort going in to make Count Binface MP a possibility. Anyway... I've stuck a £5 bet on Count Binface. Just in case. 🤷‍♂️🗑️