“Outraged and Shocked” British Millionaire Offers Cash to Defend Arrested Street Preachers

A wealthy British entrepreneur is putting up his own money to defend street preachers who are being arrested by police simply for expressing their faith in public.

“I am outraged and shocked to see Christians getting arrested on the streets and being told that they’re offensive for preaching about Jesus when we are living in a Christian country,” Samuel Leeds said in an interview with Truth Times. “We see Christians being persecuted all over the world, but seeing it happen in Great Britain — seeing the disdain, the hatred and now the oppression of Christian voices — really bothers me.”

“Where Christians are being unfairly targeted simply for preaching their faith, I’m prepared to put my money behind defending them,” he declared.

Arresting Sermons

According to Truth Times, Leeds dropped out of school at 16 and became a “property entrepreneur, investor, author and content creator.” So successful has he been that he is now a millionaire and, thanks to theological studies at the Birmingham Bible Institute, has become an advocate for “integrating Christian values with entrepreneurship.” He founded a charity that “supports poverty relief, church initiatives and community projects in the UK and Africa,” and has lately been buying up churches that were about to be sold to developers so they can continue to be used for their intended purposes.

U.K. street preachers face significant persecution at the hands of local police, who believe it is their job to ensure that Muslims, LGBTers, and other official victim groups are never offended. (Those same bobbies may, on the other hand, be fasting for Ramadan to show “solidarity” with Muslims.) In recent months, for example, at least two street preachers have been hauled away in handcuffs for allegedly inciting “hatred” against Muslims and transgenders.

Truth Times wrote:

Having been successful in business, [Leeds] said, he felt it was “only right and appropriate for me to put my hand in my pocket and help these people.” His aim, he explained, is to ensure Christians receive “proper legal representation rather than simply being silenced by police officers who sometimes overstep the mark and don’t even understand the law themselves.”

Pander Candor

Leeds previously stated, “The only hope for Great Britain now is turning back to God and repenting on its knees.” He told Truth Times:

God blesses us when we follow His principles in the Bible. I’m a Christian. I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But when you turn your back on God, take His name in vain and openly mock Jesus Christ, which has become so normal in Britain, you cannot then expect everything to continue prospering without consequences.

When it comes to religion, “Britain has definitely developed a double standard,” he averred. “We’re a Christian country that’s tolerant of everybody and every religion — apart from, increasingly, Christians themselves.”

Leeds, perhaps naively, doesn’t blame “migrants” for this situation, though he does point the finger at other members of society.

“Ironically, the pressure is coming from within our own institutions,” he said. “We see it in interactions with the police, in the constant pandering from some of our leaders and in this apologetic mentality where we seem to be apologizing for being British, apologizing for flying an English flag and apologizing for being Christian.”

Indeed, King Charles recently altered his own job description from “Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith” to “Supreme Governor of the Church of England” and one who “protects the space for faith within the multi-faith nation.”

Leeds’ response: “We absolutely should be tolerant and inclusive of people of all religions and faiths. Everybody should have the right to their own personal beliefs. But the way our leaders pander and seem afraid to offend anybody is ridiculous.”

Faith, Hope, and Verity

Of course, as Leeds correctly noted, one reason the powers-that-be seek to diminish the role of Christianity in society is that Christians are a notoriously independent lot. “It is much harder to have complete control over somebody who has strong morals and believes that their ultimate accountability is to God rather than the state,” he said. The U.K., in his opinion, is “heading towards an increasingly state-controlled society, almost communist in certain respects.”

Leeds said he’s “not sure” there’s “one deliberate, coordinated agenda against Christianity,” but he is sure that “the direction we’re heading in” is “deeply concerning.”

Still, he sees some positive trends. “There’s a revival happening,” he claimed. “There’s a U-turn taking place. People are waking up and people are coming back to God.”

Truth Times cited YouGov polls backing up Leeds’ contention. Some showed belief in God rising rapidly among young adults. Others found a significant increase in adults’ monthly churchgoing, with the number of such churchgoers jumping from 3.7 million in 2018 to 5.8 million in 2024.

Leeds urged other Christians upset by trends in society and government to take action. “Don’t just be angry about what’s happening,” he charged. “Draw closer to God. Stand up for what you believe. Support your church. And do something about it.”

For his part, Leeds is putting his money where his faith is — and hoping that, by so doing, he can help return his nation to its historic faith.

“The UK is in a mess right now,” he said. “No matter who you vote for or who’s in power, ultimately, the real answer is that people need to turn back to God.”