Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mike Parker

@mikeparker.bsky.social

3.5K followers 590 following 380 posts

Writer in the damp Welsh hills. Books include All the Wide Border, Map Addict, On the Red Hill, The Wild Rover, Neighbours from Hell? "No-one maps the secrets of the UK quite like Mike Parker" - Ayesha Hazarika, Times Radio

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · 6d

No search function, but every cloud and all that…

Bluesky search function, stating ‘No results for Farage’

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · 8d

Camping in Jilly Cooper’s Cotswold village twenty years ago, my partner went to the shop and tied my dog Patsy up by the door.

Suddenly, JC herself burst in. “Whose is that DIVINE dog outside?” she boomed. “What an absolute beauty!” Patsy lapped it up, Preds even more so.

Jilly was a good ‘un.

A dear departed mongrel dog named Patsy.

1 26

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · 25d

“our writing team”

a man is sitting in front of a bunch of monitors including one that says ' matrix '

Alt: a man is sitting in front of a bunch of monitors including one that says ' matrix '

media.tenor.com

1 2

Reposted by Mike Parker

Christian @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 29d

Written by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.

46 840 1.5K

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 14

Good point!

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 14

Perhaps they think folk are arriving on the Montgomery Canal…

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 14

The van proudly leading yesterday’s far-right march in Newtown, Powys. If you’re going to shag a flag, at least get it the right way round…

The back of a policeman looking at the van that was leading the far-right march on 13 September through Newtown, Powys.

3 3 17

Reposted by Mike Parker

Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · Sep 5

On the same day in the Telegraph:

The Telegraph

Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement

Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty

Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence

[Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday]

Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent

29 August 2025 8:57am BST

The Telegraph

Money > Property > Second homes

How to avoid tax on your second home

From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net

[Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto]

Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer

29 August 2025 1:21pm BST

130 3.2K 6.5K

Reposted by Mike Parker

Aled Hughes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @aledhughes.bsky.social · Sep 2

Diolch o galon @mikeparker.bsky.social for taking me on this beautiful journey, it’s a wonderful eye-opener.

Cymreictod is so many individual things to so many people, yet in this complicated relationship with ‘the border’ you make it make sense.

Ewch i ddarllen - such a brilliant read.

3 3 7

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 2

Diolch o galon Aled - that’s massively appreciated, it really is. Gobeithio ti’n iawn.

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 1

Glad you had a great time there - it’s a very special part of the world. I loved researching and writing the book. You can lose yourself in those furzy lanes and joyfully odd towns!

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Sep 1

In September, the audiobook of All the Wide Border: Wales, England and the Places Between is on Audible for £3.99.

“A brilliant, fascinating book…funny and lyrical” said comedian Miles Jupp. And it’s read by me too, finally getting some use out my drama degree!

👇🏼
www.audible.co.uk/pd/All-the-W...

The carved twelfth century font in the borderland church at Eardisley, Herefordshire.

1 2 15

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 31

Really good piece.

NationCymru @nation.cymru · Aug 31

UK governments find it easier to address Farage’s successive foreigner problems than to look at their own role in stoking English grievance✍️ Professors Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones

Nigel Farage and the political power of English grievance

Ailsa Henderson, Professor of Political Science, University of Edinburgh Richard Wyn Jones, Professor of Politics, Cardiff University One apparent constant in contemporary UK politics is Nigel…

buff.ly

1 3

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 31

Scanned every charity shop I’ve passed, no joy. But no shortage of copies of the Salt Path…

1 2

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 31

Still very much on the hunt for this. Anyone found a copy?

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Jul 7

This was Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's first book, the self-published How not to Dal dy Dir (2012). One theme stated is "the divisions within Wales today", which sounds intriguing (and possibly infuriating).

Anyone have this book, or know of it? Or have insights from their time in and around Pwllheli?

cover of How not to Dal dy Dir, a book published in 2012 by Izzy Wyn-Thomas, a.k.a. Raynor Winn, a.k.a. Sally Walker.

1 4

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 31

Congrats to all the hard-working journos and editors who have spent the whole summer straining like constipated turtles to whip up racist riots.

You managed it, just in the nick of time! Weather’s turned, it’s back to school, and people are going to die. You must be so pleased with yourselves.

1 2 12

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 30

I’m really looking forward to it!

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 30

Should be a terrific evening of discussion and music next Saturday in #Aberystwyth, organised by Planet magazine.

I’ll be reading/performing a new piece, weaving together death and family…flags and fascism…queerness and Cymru. With some jokes.

Details/tickets 👇🏼
www.seetickets.com/event/planet...

1 2 5

Reposted by Mike Parker

Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · Aug 27

Reform isn’t a political party. It’s a corporate lobbying firm.

The business model is simple. Wealthy elites pay Farage to push policies that could make them millions.

4 infuriating examples:

1 79 170

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 22

Had a fabulous natter with my old mate Mrs Barbara Nice on her podcast. From fashion to Farage, we covered quite a bit of ground! Thanks for the brilliant hosting by @brumradio.com

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Birmingham Bab with Mike Parker

Podcast Episode · The Mrs Barbara Nice & Friends Podcast · 21/08/2025 · 43m

podcasts.apple.com

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 20

4/3 indeed! All the way. Pob lwc Adam.

Reposted by Mike Parker

Rhys Kaminski-Jones @rhyskamjones.bsky.social · Aug 19

Publication day!!

Find out how C18th Welsh cultural revivalism positioned itself within an expanding British Empire and a newly-minted British state. Includes Welsh sources on slavery/abolition, settler colonialism, Indigenous America, and more

🚨🚨🚨 35% off all formats with the code BB135 🚨🚨🚨

Welsh Revivalism in Imperial Britain, 1707-1819

Reframes the study of Welsh cultural revivalism, highlighting transnational and imperial contexts.

boydellandbrewer.com

12 57 140

Reposted by Mike Parker

Emyr Lewis @emyrlewis.bsky.social · Aug 16

Dau geiliog gyda’i gilydd - dau gegog,
dau geiliog digwilydd,
dau geiliog ffond o gelwydd
gwneud caniad heb doriad dydd.

4 17 31

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 15

Thank you! Honoured to be on your list.

Mike Parker @mikeparker.bsky.social · Aug 2

Cheers Cerith, much appreciated x