Peter Oates
@thirdlightpress.bsky.social
Third Light Press occasionally publishes Kindle versions of history and historical fiction (and one collection of Augusta Webster's poetry). We look for neglected books that we think someone might want to read again. We're often wrong about that.
Pinned
Gent in the profile pic is Martin Longman, my great grandfather. Came to England aged 16 around 1886 and eventually founded Longman's florists, the company that made Princess Elizabeth's wedding bouquet and her coronation bouquet when she became Queen. Immigrants, eh?
Reposted by Peter Oates
Personal note: London has been home for a very, very long time, but as of today, I am also officially a Brit - that is to say, a British citizen. I feel relieved and I feel grateful - but not, perhaps, in the forelock-tugging way GB News/Starmer expect a new immigrant to be.
November 12, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Personal note: London has been home for a very, very long time, but as of today, I am also officially a Brit - that is to say, a British citizen. I feel relieved and I feel grateful - but not, perhaps, in the forelock-tugging way GB News/Starmer expect a new immigrant to be.
Reposted by Peter Oates
The Culture Secretary who wasn’t there: my SKETCH of Today in Saving the BBC.
thecritic.co.uk/the-...
November 11, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The Culture Secretary who wasn’t there: my SKETCH of Today in Saving the BBC.
thecritic.co.uk/the-...
Reposted by Peter Oates
Rupert Lowe has invited Wayne O'Rourke to parliament
O'Rourke pleaded guilty to stirring up race hatred, after calling for people to go on the streets, burn cars, to attack mosques + the "traitors" defending Muslims
Judge "You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it"
O'Rourke pleaded guilty to stirring up race hatred, after calling for people to go on the streets, burn cars, to attack mosques + the "traitors" defending Muslims
Judge "You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it"
November 11, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Rupert Lowe has invited Wayne O'Rourke to parliament
O'Rourke pleaded guilty to stirring up race hatred, after calling for people to go on the streets, burn cars, to attack mosques + the "traitors" defending Muslims
Judge "You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it"
O'Rourke pleaded guilty to stirring up race hatred, after calling for people to go on the streets, burn cars, to attack mosques + the "traitors" defending Muslims
Judge "You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it"
Reposted by Peter Oates
Personal blog non-substack: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/a-cl...
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Personal blog non-substack: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/a-cl...
Reposted by Peter Oates
Sorry, am I genuinely being asked to believe that the BBC is biased in favour of trans people?
I cannot remember the last time a trans person was given a voice on the BBC. It's as if they don't exist. They are talked about on the BBC, not talked to.
This entire debate is just fucking stupid.
I cannot remember the last time a trans person was given a voice on the BBC. It's as if they don't exist. They are talked about on the BBC, not talked to.
This entire debate is just fucking stupid.
November 11, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Sorry, am I genuinely being asked to believe that the BBC is biased in favour of trans people?
I cannot remember the last time a trans person was given a voice on the BBC. It's as if they don't exist. They are talked about on the BBC, not talked to.
This entire debate is just fucking stupid.
I cannot remember the last time a trans person was given a voice on the BBC. It's as if they don't exist. They are talked about on the BBC, not talked to.
This entire debate is just fucking stupid.
Reposted by Peter Oates
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
Reposted by Peter Oates
Reposted by Peter Oates
Written before the BBC resignations but this by @arusbridger.bsky.social is really worth reading. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Written before the BBC resignations but this by @arusbridger.bsky.social is really worth reading. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
Reposted by Peter Oates
Binning the entire Today programme including all its baggage such as Thought for the Day and the combative 8:10 interview and all who sailed in her, Rajan, Barnett, Robinson, Mason, replacing it with World Service News.
November 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Binning the entire Today programme including all its baggage such as Thought for the Day and the combative 8:10 interview and all who sailed in her, Rajan, Barnett, Robinson, Mason, replacing it with World Service News.
Reposted by Peter Oates
The departure of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness means the BBC is leaderless when it needs leadership more than ever. Where are the people at the head of the BBC standing up for it?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack. With these resignations, it has given in | Jane Martinson
The corporation should have stood up to the Telegraph, Trump and the Tories. Now, its enemies know how little it takes for it to fold, says Jane Martinson, professor of financial journalism
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The departure of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness means the BBC is leaderless when it needs leadership more than ever. Where are the people at the head of the BBC standing up for it?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Peter Oates
the bbc should be forced to replay the whole day’s coverage of january 6th in full every january 6th, exactly as it was broadcast at the time, so no-one can accuse them of misleadingly editing it
November 9, 2025 at 9:17 PM
the bbc should be forced to replay the whole day’s coverage of january 6th in full every january 6th, exactly as it was broadcast at the time, so no-one can accuse them of misleadingly editing it
Reposted by Peter Oates
The BBC should serve as an example to all that there is nothing you can give the far rabid right that will satisfy it.
It has simpered, pandered, soft-balled and fluff-jobbed, both-sidesed and debased itself into being a platform for liars to look down the camera and lie on, & it still gets fucked.
It has simpered, pandered, soft-balled and fluff-jobbed, both-sidesed and debased itself into being a platform for liars to look down the camera and lie on, & it still gets fucked.
November 9, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The BBC should serve as an example to all that there is nothing you can give the far rabid right that will satisfy it.
It has simpered, pandered, soft-balled and fluff-jobbed, both-sidesed and debased itself into being a platform for liars to look down the camera and lie on, & it still gets fucked.
It has simpered, pandered, soft-balled and fluff-jobbed, both-sidesed and debased itself into being a platform for liars to look down the camera and lie on, & it still gets fucked.
Reposted by Peter Oates
If Starmer had said, on day one, ‘we need to change the way we talk about immigration. Immigration is not in itself a problem - very much the opposite. It doesn’t cause the problems with housing, health, transport or education that years of Tory mismanagement has caused,’ everything changes.
November 9, 2025 at 11:58 AM
If Starmer had said, on day one, ‘we need to change the way we talk about immigration. Immigration is not in itself a problem - very much the opposite. It doesn’t cause the problems with housing, health, transport or education that years of Tory mismanagement has caused,’ everything changes.
Reposted by Peter Oates
Catherine Blaiklock, the first leader of the Brexit Party, is a Rupert Lowe ally who wants 10 million people to leave.
Fewer than 5 million people born abroad are neither naturalised British citizens (2.5m) nor EU settled status (3-4m)
But there are another 5 million UK born ethnic minorities.
Fewer than 5 million people born abroad are neither naturalised British citizens (2.5m) nor EU settled status (3-4m)
But there are another 5 million UK born ethnic minorities.
November 7, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Catherine Blaiklock, the first leader of the Brexit Party, is a Rupert Lowe ally who wants 10 million people to leave.
Fewer than 5 million people born abroad are neither naturalised British citizens (2.5m) nor EU settled status (3-4m)
But there are another 5 million UK born ethnic minorities.
Fewer than 5 million people born abroad are neither naturalised British citizens (2.5m) nor EU settled status (3-4m)
But there are another 5 million UK born ethnic minorities.
Reposted by Peter Oates
The BBC’s in a mess, but it’s not the mess you think www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The BBC’s in a mess, but it’s not the mess you think www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
Reposted by Peter Oates
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ -- Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Reposted by Peter Oates
For anyone still tempted to take Dominic Cummings at all seriously, he's now an advocate of Donald Trump-style open racism.
November 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
For anyone still tempted to take Dominic Cummings at all seriously, he's now an advocate of Donald Trump-style open racism.
Reposted by Peter Oates
A fantastic piece of reporting, brilliantly illustrated data, thorough, neutral analysis, transparent data collection… and frightening conclusions. Well done @skynewsrss.bsky.social for putting in long miles on this one
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:54 AM
A fantastic piece of reporting, brilliantly illustrated data, thorough, neutral analysis, transparent data collection… and frightening conclusions. Well done @skynewsrss.bsky.social for putting in long miles on this one
Reposted by Peter Oates
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
UK ‘sliding into avoidable crisis’, major review into workplace sickness warns
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
www.independent.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
Reposted by Peter Oates
A group of bickering ideological lunatics, whose core electorate is fundamentally reliant on the NHS & state pensions, & who propose to savagely cut both, through a deranged commitment to the idea of "waste", & basic racism labelled as antiwokery.
But hey, how *would* they do in Downing Street?
But hey, how *would* they do in Downing Street?
What a UK government led by Reform would really look like
What the party's first six months at the helm at local level shows about how they govern - and whether they can keep their promises
www.bbc.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 11:14 AM
A group of bickering ideological lunatics, whose core electorate is fundamentally reliant on the NHS & state pensions, & who propose to savagely cut both, through a deranged commitment to the idea of "waste", & basic racism labelled as antiwokery.
But hey, how *would* they do in Downing Street?
But hey, how *would* they do in Downing Street?
Reposted by Peter Oates
Christ, he is supernaturally good at this.
November 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Christ, he is supernaturally good at this.
Reposted by Peter Oates
I wrote about the stranger-than-fiction miracles of coevolution in nature and human society—and a smarter framework to understand ourselves. (Or: what connects avocados, ants who farm fungus, karma, and our relationship with dogs?)
"Good Heavens what insect can suck it?"
The stranger-than-fiction miracles of coevolution in nature and human society. (Or: what connects avocados, ants who farm fungus, karma, and our relationship with dogs?)
www.forkingpaths.co
November 4, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I wrote about the stranger-than-fiction miracles of coevolution in nature and human society—and a smarter framework to understand ourselves. (Or: what connects avocados, ants who farm fungus, karma, and our relationship with dogs?)
Reposted by Peter Oates
Seventy-five years ago, Britain helped create the European Convention on Human Rights, a promise of life, liberty, and fairness under the law.
It has strengthened justice, protected victims, and upheld equality. These rights are ours to defend.
It has strengthened justice, protected victims, and upheld equality. These rights are ours to defend.
November 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Seventy-five years ago, Britain helped create the European Convention on Human Rights, a promise of life, liberty, and fairness under the law.
It has strengthened justice, protected victims, and upheld equality. These rights are ours to defend.
It has strengthened justice, protected victims, and upheld equality. These rights are ours to defend.
Reposted by Peter Oates
Sharkbait: Nigel Farage needs the threat of an election to keep Reform moving forwards. My SKETCH.
Sharkbait | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
“A relationship is like a shark,” Woody Allen tells Diane Keaton in Annie Hall. “It has to constantly move forward or it dies.” Watching Nigel Farage trying to keep his Reform Party interesting on…
thecritic.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Sharkbait: Nigel Farage needs the threat of an election to keep Reform moving forwards. My SKETCH.