Ed Pitchford

[Tomer Persico @TomerPersico]

The place Israel occupies in these people's imagination is ridiculous. Israel as the linchpin of colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, ecological devastation - whatever bugs you most, Israel does it worst. Get rid of Israel, save the entire world.

It is much bigger than Rooney. Over the last few years, artists, activists, and academics have repeatedly advanced versions of the same claim: Israel as humanity’s arch-nemesis, the disappearance would somehow solve everything.

Example: Jason Hickel, visiting professor at the London School of Economics, claimed that “A liberated Palestine means a liberated Middle East. A liberated Middle East means capitalism in the core really faces a crisis.” Because why not.

Israel has become a western totem, personifying the cumulative sins of the West’s entire history. In an incredible historical irony, the Jews are now not an oriental, semitic pariah nation nor a degenerate sub-human race, but the purest representatives of the West and the most atrocious white supremacists.

As the West’s original essence Israel naturally carries the West’s original sins: colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, etc. Because the Jews are now considered the very essence of the West, Israel's sins are understood as the carrying the collective blame of all westerners. Making Israel pay is thus not only a step on the long arch towards justice, but serves as a purgative practice for all westerners.

As the effigy of the West, burning Israel will cleanse the West from its past transgressions. The wish to eradicate Israel is therapeutic, salvific: the sins of all western forefathers, those imperialist, colonialist, slave-holding Europeans, will finally be atoned. Capitalism will fall, the environment will be saved. Redemption is nigh, we just have to eradicate that wart of a nation.

As the eternal alter-ego of the West, Jews will always function as its scapegoats. When the West loved itself, we were the alien element supposedly defiling it. Now that the West despises itself, we have become its distilled essence: the figure through whose destruction it fantasizes about purification.

[Daniel Priestley @DanielPriestley]

UK ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANIFESTO - 10 POLICIES IN BRIEF

@KemiBadenoch these are 10 ideas focused on entrepreneurship ….

ATTRACT

1. Start-Up Zones in Britain's poorest postcodes.
Businesses that open and hire 4 people in the UK's most deprived areas pay 15% corporation tax until they reach 15 employees. Poland did this. Katowice alone: 100,000 jobs. Ties the tax break directly to local employment — not capital, not property.

2. A Founder & Talent Fast-Track Visa.
A three-test Founder Visa: raise £50K in year one, hire two people by year two, still trading by year three. Pair with a fast-track residency route for AI, engineering, and life sciences talent. Estonia's e-Residency returns £7.60 for every £1 invested. We have nothing comparable.

3. A Creator & Digital Nomad Visa.
Creators can live anywhere. Right now they're choosing Lisbon, Barcelona, and Dubai — because Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Croatia all have digital nomad visas and we don't. A flat 20% rate on qualifying creator income for five years post-arrival would make London the home of the English-language creator economy.

ENABLE

4. Taper the VAT cliff at £90K.
The UK has the OECD's highest VAT threshold — but the cliff-edge means businesses deliberately cap their own growth to avoid it. The IMF has documented the damage. Fix: phase VAT in gradually between £90K and £150K. Pure growth unlock.

5. Household services deduction for home-based businesses.
Up to £10K/year of childcare, cleaning, and eldercare deductible for home-based business owners — but only when paid to VAT-registered providers. France, Germany, and Sweden all do this. It frees entrepreneurs to work, and drags informal cash work into the tax net.

6. A £6,000 home improvement deduction — the British ROT.
Up to £6K/year of home improvement labour deductible per household, paid to registered tradespeople. Sweden's version: 890,000 claimants, 67,000 companies paid. Upgrades housing stock, creates declared trade jobs, and cuts cash-in-hand work. Cross-party support in Sweden.

7. A working vehicle deduction for trades and mobile businesses.
Vans and working vehicles up to £35K, used 50%+ for business, fully deductible over three years. For a plumber or electrician, the van isn't a perk — it's the office. Enhanced allowance for UK-made and electric vehicles.

8. A 15% digital export corporation tax rate.
Companies deriving 65%+ of revenue from overseas customers pay 15% corp tax on export profits — matching the OECD global minimum, no international friction. Ireland charges 6.25% on IP income. We charge 25%. We're losing companies at the point of incorporation.

REWARD

9. Reinstate Entrepreneurs' Relief.
Restore 10% CGT on the first £10M of founder gains held 5+ years. The rate has gone 10% to 14% to 18% in two years. HMRC's own data: cost to the Exchequer rose 209% as founders rushed for the exit. The policy created the problem it was meant to solve.

10. Scrap the £100K tax cliff.
Between £100K and £125,140, the effective marginal rate is 62% — higher than someone earning £1 million. By 2029, 2.3 million people will be caught in it. No economist can defend the design. Restore the personal allowance. Move the 45% threshold to £100K. Done.

Make the jackpot bigger. Make the penalty for risk smaller. Make working inside the system easier than working around it.

[Daniel Priestley @DanielPriestley]

Elon hasn’t taken any of your money. He’s unlocked new value in the economy. He’s unleashed something that didn’t exist.

Henry Ford, didn’t steel anyone’s horses. Even though we measure a cars performance in horsepower.

Edison didn’t hoard candles. His lightbulbs can be compared to candlelight but they’re something new.

Elon’s wealth is measured in units we understand but represents capacity that is entirely new.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Appalling 🧵

I want those who champion men in women’s sport to explain why they’re happy to put girls at risk like this.

[The Sting @TheStingisBack]

The Rock turns 30 today, and the urban legends about the film are wild.

Connery is an older Bond in The Rock. Fun theory which I like, but the Connery had a cabin built and stayed on Alcatraz story is bull... he slept at the Hyatt Regency.

Chem weapons were “verified” by the military. Nope, the opposite happened.

Nic Cage “banned from action movies” before making The Rock. No, but there was real scepticism, so he chased roles to prove himself.

It was written solely by three people. Not really. It was massively overhauled by Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin, even Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (the writer's of porridge) were pulled in to punch up Connery’s lines.

“An actor nearly died”. Wrong again. During the SF balcony stunt, horrified locals called the cops thinking an actual murder was happening in the hotel.

What is true is that it’s one of the best action films of the 90s.

And Connery’s last line here (and “An act of looneyshe”) is perfect.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

THE ROCK was released 30 years ago today.

Sean Connery’s character is never explicitly identified as James Bond, but a long-running fan theory suggests he is an aging 007, a connection the filmmakers knowingly teased without ever confirming.

[Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler @CEPschindler]

I am not using my account here to comment on things often, but this news story needs a comment:
How is it possible that a professional European politician in 2026 does not see the very obvious historical parallels of supporting the idea of creating lists of Jews?

[Wholesome Side of 𝕏 @itsme_urstruly]

Anyone else remember when Special K created their own diet and it was basically just eating two bowls of Special K every day and everyone accepted that as medically sound?

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

I challenge every single person who believes minors should be enabled and even encouraged to transition to read this first person testimony to the end.

1/3

via @IWF https://t.co/3276o4tg8J

[Juliet Moses @JulietMosesNZ]

During the Spanish Inquisition, Jews could ostensibly redeem themselves by converting to Christianity and conforming to the prevailing orthodoxy.
During this one, Jews can ostensibly redeem themselves by renouncing Israel’s existence and conforming to the prevailing orthodoxy.
No serious person looking back at the Spanish Inquisition would argue that Jews were not persecuted, just because they had the chance to opt-out by excising a fundamental part of their identity.
And no serious person should argue it now.

[Victoria Freeman @v_j_freeman]

Thing about Blair is none of his critics could do what he did. Not one. He made mistakes, even the great ones do, & not every one of his prescriptions is pitch perfect, but as a thinker & communicator he’s light years ahead of anyone on our current political scene.

[Jack Elsom @JackElsom]

Tony Blair: “I always used to say the greatest source of election-losing advice was the Guardian”

[John Rentoul @JohnRentoul]

Wednesday’s @Independent #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/VuLkpnK4BX

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

In his 5000+ word essay Tony Blair calls Andy Burnham, among other things, “delusional” and “dangerous.” Extraordinary intervention here: https://t.co/nxxB7ZzPuC

[Kristi Yamaguccimane @TheWapplehouse]

We have a generation of young men being conditioned to believe this level of insufferable neuroticism is the healthiest way to live

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

This is mental illness. If your personality is composed solely of your sleep stats and macros consumption, then all you’re telling people is that you are pathologically vain and *extremely* boring. This stuff should be heavily stigmatized.

[Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick]

In almost any other household, if a man suddenly parked a brand new £125,000 motorhome in the driveway - and acquired other new vehicles - his wife would ask where on earth he got the money from.

[Batya Ungar-Sargon @bungarsargon]

Actually, drinking wine with friends and family, sometimes more than you planned, getting messy and maudlin with loved ones, is what makes life worth living and is 10X as valuable as optimized workouts, apex podcasting, and whatever that is that he's selling on his wrist.

[Gina @FlorioGina]

The not-drinking-alcohol trend has turned into hysterical wellness babble. It’s one thing to approach alcohol with intention, but another to fear it so much that you claim that a couple glasses of wine ruined their life. Oh no, you skipped a gym session? You “podcasted worse”? You got suboptimal deep sleep for one night? The horror.

I don’t believe the obsession with “optimization” is healthy. People are slaves to their wellness devices and trackers. They allow data (a lot of which is probably not even that accurate) to dictate their life. It’s a very odd thing to demand that you must feel your 100% most optimized every minute of the day in order to live well. We are not robots.

Look at the pockets of the world that live the longest, healthiest lives. They smoke cigarettes and enjoy wine with the people they love. It is no coincidence that the rates of depression and anxiety, SSRI use, and loneliness are rising alongside the sharp decline of people hanging out with friends and just drinking some alcohol.

Nobody is saying you should drink every night or abuse booze. But my goodness enjoy life. And I say this as someone who has had only a few drinks in the last year fwiw.

[Iain Cameron @theiaincameron]

The longest line of sight in the U.K. has been seen only a few times, and photographed once. In 2015, Kris Williams was atop Snowdon in perfect conditions and managed to snap The Merrick in Southern Scotland. A remarkable distance of 232km (144 miles).