Leon

army-skier-skydiver

[Dr. Maalouf ‏ @realMaalouf]

Reminder: the Crusades were a response to over 400 years of Islamic aggression against Christians and Europe.

632: Muhammad dies.

635: Muslims conquer the Christian city of Damascus.

636: Muslims conquer the Christian city of Antioch.

637: Muslims conquer the Holy Land.

639: Muslims conquer the first Christian country Armenia.

641: Muslims conquer the Coptic Christian country of Egypt.

650: Muslim armies reach southern Italy and Cyprus, taking thousands of captives as "slaves" and "concubines."

711: Muslims invade Spain, and by 715, they have occupied most of it.

717: Muslims besiege Constantinople but are expelled.

730: Muslims invade France, only to be stopped by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours.

792: The ruler of Al-Andalus calls for the invasion of France, and Muslim armies are assembled to attack it again, but they are repelled.

827: Muslims invade Sicily and Italy, persecuting monks. Sicily remains under Islamic rule until 1092.

846: Muslims invade Rome and force the Pope to pay tribute.

848: A third invasion of France occurs, and they are repelled for a third time.

909: Muslims occupy Sardinia.

937: The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is burned down by Muslims, and more churches in Jerusalem are destroyed.

1009: Destruction of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem.

1012: Beginning of al-Hakim’s oppressive decrees against Christians.

1071: Turkish Muslims attack the Byzantines and occupy much of Anatolia.

1094: Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos asks Western Christendom for help against the Muslim Turkish invasions.

1095: Pope Urban II finally declares the First Crusade.

[Pure 100% Scottish @purelyscottish7]

Remember in early 2000s thousands of Polish men immigrated over to UK cause their economy crashed but no one said fuck all cause they came to work, minded their own buisness an left our kids alone..

Now their country is one the safest and fasting growing economies in Europe 👏🇵🇱

[shevereshtus @shevereshtus]

The next time you hear ‘Before Zionism, there was peace in the Middle East, Jews and Arabs lived like brothers, all three religions got along,’ remember that this is what it meant:

A thread.

[Daniel Priestley @DanielPriestley]

I’m calling BS on these 120 millionaires calling to be taxed more.

Look closely at who signed. A retired footballer whose been paid millions by taxpayers. A retired trader who’s net worth is well under $5M. Retired musicians, film directors and some heirs. People who finished building years ago - half of them aren’t worth the $10M threshold they think needs the wealth tax. Their wealth sits in liquid portfolios. The tax they propose either doesn’t apply to them or they have liquidity to pay it.

Now picture a founder with a £50m biotech firm. Her wealth isn't in a bank account. It's based on a speculative VC round. To pay 2% she has to rip £800k a year out of her business or sell it down piece by piece until someone else owns it.

Or imagine the restauranteur whose chain is finally having a profitable year after a decade of losses. A PE deal to expand gives him a paper worth of £60M and he now has to find £1M a year, every year personally if he wants to grow. 

Imagine the property developer couple who made a lifetime of delayed gratification and good decisions. Their portfolio makes £4M profit which is barely enough to cover the £2M in wealth taxes per year after they draw it from their company and pay the corporation tax - 100% essentially goes to tax.

The signatories aren't offering to pay a tax. They're volunteering someone else to. Someone who is still building, investing, growing, hiring.

HMRC already accepts voluntary payments. Any of these self-aggrandising millionaires could send extra money tomorrow. ALL of them benefited from lower tax rates and should pay the difference if they want to make a start. None of them will. They don't want to give more. They want a law that forces others to.

The wealth tax they propose won't work. It will backfire.

We don't need to guess. In 1990, twelve OECD countries had a wealth tax. Today it's three.

Sweden scrapped theirs. Germany suspended theirs. France tried it for decades, watched tens of thousands of wealthy families leave, collected a fraction of what was promised, and Macron repealed it because the country was losing more than it raised.

The £24bn projection assumes nobody changes their behaviour. Nobody has ever designed a tax where nobody changes their behaviour. Liquid wealth leaves. Illiquid wealth, the businesses and farms and employers, stays behind and gets squeezed.

The tax doesn't catch the guy with the yacht. It catches the guy with the factory.

It will end up hitting normal people.

Every tax "on the very richest" drifts downwards. Income tax started in 1799 as a temporary 3% levy on the richest 3% to fight Napoleon. Now workers are paying a 45% marginal rate. Inheritance tax was designed for stately homes and now catches three-bed semis in Surrey. VAT launched at 8%. It's now 20%.

When the wealth tax raises a fraction of what was promised, and it will, no Chancellor repeals it. They lower the threshold. £10m becomes £5m becomes £2m becomes your parents' house.

Here's what I'd say to the 120…

If you want your capital serving Britain, I'm with you. The best way is to back founders. Fund the startups and scale-ups on great terms like they do in the USA. Help build companies that scale here instead of selling early to America. Growing businesses already pour money into the Treasury through corporation tax, employer's NI and PAYE on every job they create. Back success and productivity. Stop rewarding fiscal deficits with good money after bad.

That's harder than signing a letter. You don’t get to look like a socialist super-hero. It's also the only version of "proud to pay" that's ever made a country richer.

Don't pretend to ask the government to tax you… or people twice as rich as you.

Invest in real growth and success.

[MaxC | Flight Risk Capital @ColeFusionHQ]

LinkedIn realising it might better to retire at 57 than work for diminishing returns.

[Chris Deeley @ThatChris1209]

England went 1-0 up and Southgate’s waistcoat started calling to Tuchel like the Green Goblin mask

[James Burnett @jamesburnett51]

@FootyAccums Got it wrong, but let’s be honest Argentina played it there way from minute one, aggression , desire , grit and the players didn’t rise to it, they wanted it more and won it there way…

[LIBERTA DEPRE @liberta___depre]

Em Escobar cidade da Argentina, localizada na província de Buenos Aires, durante um 'banderazo' um grupo de torcedores argentinos queimaram uma bandeira da Grã-Bretanha pensando ser da Inglaterra.

[Ray Armfield @KentWomble]

Guess most England fans will remember the post game ‘Wonderwall’ as their standout memories of the tournament so far, but it’s Jude Bellingham taking in “Hey Jude” that does it for me. Still only 23, he’ll be hearing that a lot more in the years to come 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[Michael Harris II〽️ @MoneyyyMikeee]

England I’m forever with you!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Let’s Do It Tonight!!

[Chris Rose @ArchRose90]

I don’t support rioting from anyone but when BLM did it, Labour said that MPs should speak to the black community and listen to the concerns.

Following the scenes in Belfast, has any Labour MP mentioned speaking to white, working class communities to listen to their concerns?

[James May @MrJamesMay]

I’m sure we have all now seen the footage of Metropolitan rozzers kicking a suspected terrorist in the head, repeatedly, when he was down.

We can all play a part in putting an end to this sort of police brutality. Mainly by not going around stabbing people.

[mo ✮ @russellatte]

i want lando to get pole position, have a great start for the race, and just fly away. i wish him a very boring and uneventful race just like last year.

[Inevitable West @Inevitablewest]

🚨BREAKING: British veteran breaks down live on TV over state of the country:

"Rows and rows of white tombs for what? A country of today? No, I'm sorry. The sacrifice wasn't worth the result.

I fought for freedom, and it's darn-sight worse now than when I fought."

[Damocles561 @Damocles561]

@RupertLowe10

[Marko Randelovic @markorandelovic]

The Unite The Kingdom Counter Protestors 🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 👀

#unitethekingdom #tommyrobinson #london #britain #antifa

[Laura 🦋 @formuLau16]

LIKE PLS JUST LISTEN TO THIS. THIS is it. When someone is interested in a new motorsport this is how ppl should be :(