Piers Morgan - Piers Morgan And Barton In Twitter Row Over National Anthem

Piers Morgan and JOEY BARTON have come to blows over whether or not all Brits should sing the national anthem at the Olympic Games.

Patriotic journalist Morgan took to Twitter last night to insist that all British citizens sing 'God Save the Queen' in respect for the monarchy be they English or even Welsh. 'Bloody ridiculous that these Welsh footballers won't sing the National Anthem. They're representing GB, not Wales. Should be ordered to.' Queen's Park Rangers midfielder Barton also expressed his views on the social networking site revealing: 'If I was Welsh or Scottish, I wouldn't sing England's national anthem. Not a chance. Should of made a British anthem. Fair play to 'em.'

The pair apparently then had a disagreement that continued earlier today when Morgan mentioned that he was with some Welsh sport fans who agreed all Welsh football players should sing it. He was met with a mixed reaction, mostly negative, which spurred him to post a second and third Tweet; the third read: 'You don't represent yourself at the Olympics, you represent your country. Every member of #TeamGB should be proud to sing our anthem.'

It then got rather personal when Barton responded to one of Morgan's comments by calling him an 'elitist prat' and writing 'I told you yesterday, it's their choice not yours...' which forced Morgan to hit back, telling him that rather than being 'elitist', it was respectful which he remarks was a concept that the footballer 'struggles' with. He also refers to Barton as 'Pitbull' - a name that is part of a long-standing feud between the pair that started when Morgan called him it after the footballer was given a 12 match ban for losing his temper and fouling a member of the opposing team.

The Twitter war grabbed the attention of comedian Ricky Gervais who seemed to be enjoying the row, while Vinnie Jones chimed in asking what was going on. When Morgan asks Jones if he would sing the national anthem, he writes back, 'Who has said I wouldn't sing it?' which, if you've seen him in some of his films (take 'Snatch' for example), you can imagine probably sounds like a typical comedy moment with Jones about to reprise his role as Bullet-Tooth Tony.