Patrick WJ Thompson
LightNews LightNews
banner
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
Patrick WJ Thompson
@patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
78 followers 150 following 19 posts
PhD Researcher at Queen's University Belfast | Interested in civil rights, social movements, Irish-British relations | All views my own
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
sundersays.bsky.social
Noise and Nuance: What the public really thinks about immigration

Read the new report from @britishfuture.bsky.social on public attitudes to immigration, asylum, settlement + the contested politics of the issue

www.britishfuture.org/publication/...
Noise and nuance: What the public really thinks about immigration - British Future
Report on the 2025 British Future/Ipsos Immigration Attitudes Tracker, examining public opinion on immigration and asylum.
www.britishfuture.org
November 27, 2025 at 12:47 AM
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
The longer we have a political class that refuses to tell the truth about immigration, because it is easier to embrace populist misconceptions, the further down the road to disaster we go...
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 14h
Most of the public think net migration increased last year, when in fact numbers halved.

New findings from the Ipsos/British Future Immigration Attitudes Tracker show that 56% of the public thinks immigration increased last year. Just 1 in 6 realise it was down
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
historicaljnl.bsky.social
📢Out now on #firstview!

Daithí Ó Corráin (@dublincityuni.bsky.social) on 'The British Government, Workmen’s Compensation, and the Civilian War Casualties of the Easter 1916 Irish Rebellion'

#Compensation #Civilian #Casualties #Injury 20thc 🗃️

👉Read open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The Easter 1916 rebellion occasioned significant civilian casualties. Having initially resisted the idea of compensating bereaved or injured civilians, the British government relented by establishing the Rebellion (Victims’) Committee (RVC) which assessed 550 compensation applications for death and injury. Utilizing these applications as well as Dublin Castle, Treasury, press, and parliamentary records, this article examines five aspects of the state’s treatment of civilian casualties: why the government’s initial opposition to compensation was eventually reversed; the establishment of the RVC, the bureaucratic compensation process, and the surveillance of working-class claimants; what the compensation claims reveal about the nature and circumstances of civilian casualties during the rebellion; how the Workmen’s Compensation Act (1906) was used to determine compensation awards and, consequently, how this minimized the state’s financial liabilities by treating civilian casualties not as victims of war but on a par with injured workers; and, lastly, why the workmen’s compensation legislation was an inadequate means of treating civilian war casualties. The RVC compensation records enable a unique case study of how the 1916 rebellion adversely affected the lives of ordinary men, women and children, and how the British state endeavoured to limit its obligations to make reparations to them.
November 26, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social
Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient.

International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
Had a brilliant time sharing my work at the @ihrbritainseminar.bsky.social seminar last week at @ihr.bsky.social. Really great discussion as well, facilitated by @colmpm.bsky.social, with lots of interesting questions. Thanks for having me!
November 25, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
historyandpolicy.bsky.social
The organisers of a recent witness seminar @ihr.bsky.social on Conservatism and Unionism reflect in this new opinion article on the tensions that emerged in the final third of the twentieth century and their implications for the present. historyandpolicy.org/opinion-arti...
Conservatism and Unionism in the UK - History & Policy
The team of historians behind an AHRC-funded research project reflect on the fracturing of Conservatism and Unionism in the the UK in the final third of the twentieth century, and the insights into th...
historyandpolicy.org
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 AM
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
My go-to example of this is the University of Lancashire, which has over 25,000 students and 3,000 staff primarily in Preston and Burnley. What happens if institutions like that go under, do we think?
mbellcoop.bsky.social Michael Bell @mbellcoop.bsky.social · 3d
I don't think (successive) governments who ignore the financial crisis in universities really realise what it will look like in cities, including northern cities like mine, if the higher education sector collapses. Newcastle's economy is *really fucking really* propped up by students
sgfmann.bsky.social George Mann @sgfmann.bsky.social · 3d
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
jameschalmers.bsky.social
Alongside mooted restrictions on salary sacrifice - which universities make a lot of use of to pay for pensions - this is not shaping up to be a great budget for a sector already mired in cutbacks and redundancies.
sgfmann.bsky.social George Mann @sgfmann.bsky.social · 3d
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'It is notable that in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise the Department of American Studies at Nottingham was ranked third in the Area Studies unit of assessment and was one of the top-performing units across the whole of the University of Nottingham.' 1/2
hlmurray.bsky.social Dr Hannah Murray @hlmurray.bsky.social · 15d
RED ALERT: the University of Nottingham is threatening to close its Department of American Studies, putting all staff at risk of redundancy, and ending any American specialist knowledge in the Faculty of Arts.

Sign the petition here to save jobs:
www.change.org/p/save-ameri...
Sign the Petition
SAVE AMERICAN STUDIES TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
www.change.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
'the home office is inhabited by an ancient spirit of malice that possesses all who take up the role' is a pretty good thesis tbh
danielsohege.bsky.social Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 6d
Home Office: How dare people say we are acting like the far-right?

Also the Home Office: These far-right graphics look great, let's copy them.
Home Office post with a black background and the words Access to benefits restricted to British (with a union flag as the texture for the word "British") Citizens in all caps bold font
November 21, 2025 at 4:13 PM
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
My talk at @ihr.bsky.social / @ihrbritainseminar.bsky.social on British perceptions of the Northern Irish Civil Rights Movement is this Thursday! Come along in person, or join online!

www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
‘Out of sight and out of mind?’: British Perceptions of the Northern Irish Civil Rights Movement
www.history.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
zatapatique.bsky.social
Truly a battle of wits
November 14, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
colincarlson.bsky.social
OVER A MILLION USERS

DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT

EVERY *WEEK*

what the fuck are we DOING here
ryanmarino.bsky.social Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 19d
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.

This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
jonathancohn.bsky.social Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 20d
I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.

www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
lswisnom.bsky.social
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
usihs.bsky.social
Exciting news! Filming will soon start on a Bad Bridgets film, inspired by Elaine Farrell & Leanne McCormick's great book. We're delighted to have both Elaine & Leanne on our USIHS Committee (for many reasons, this is just today's extra one) @badbridgetbook.bsky.social
deadline.com/2025/10/dais...
Daisy Edgar-Jones And Emilia Jones To Star In ‘Bad Bridgets’ From LuckyChap
Daisy Edgar Jones and Emilia Jones are set to star in 'Bad Bridgets', from 'Kneecap' director Rich Peppiatt.
deadline.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:32 PM
patrickwjthompson.bsky.social
Nice to have a write-up of my recent @royalhistsoc.org article featured in this month's Mitchell Institute @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social newsletter. I did not, however, realise how much my shirt needs an iron in this photo...!

www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI...
November 3, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
historyworkshop.org.uk
What if friendship were understood not just on an individual, personal level, but as something political – a radical practice capable of upending hierarchies and producing revolutionary social change?

Laura C. Forster and Joel White reflect on radical friendship and everyday solidarities.
Friends in Common
How might we reassess friendship as a transformative, even revolutionary, political resource?
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
October 30, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
This is so bleak:

www.404media.co/a16z-is-fund...
Last week, I wrote about Doublespeed, essentially a click farm that sells “synthetic influencers” to astroturf whatever product or service you want across social media, despite it being a clear violation of every social media platform's policy on inauthentic behavior. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. a16z’s Speedrun is also backing: Creed: An AI company “rooted in Christian Values” which produces Lenny, a “Bible-based AI buddy who's always got your back with wise words, scripture-inspired guidance, and a listening ear whenever you need it.” Zingroll: The “world’s largest Netflix-quality AI streaming platform,” which is another way of saying it’s a Netflix populated exclusively with AI Slop. Vega: which is building “AI-powered social orbits.” What does that mean? Not entirely clear, but the company has produced one of the most beautiful Mad Libs paragraphs I’ve ever seen: “We’re building the largest textual data moat on human relationships by gamifying the way people leave notes for each other. For the first time, LLMs can analyze millions of raw, human-written notes at scale and turn them into structured meaning, powering the most annotated social graph ever created.” Moona Health: an AI-powered Sleep care app the company says is covered by insurance. “Our AI-powered platform automates insurance claims and scheduling and analyzes sleep data – providing personalized session guidelines to therapists,” Moona says. Jooba: “The world’s first autonomous recruiting firm.” Margin: “The World’s first AI powered credit card.” Margin says “Customers earn points, with dynamic rewards that adapt to their preferences in real time.” First Voyage: A wellness app that gives you AI “mythological pets that turn wellness into play.” Axon Capital: billed as “DeepMind for Finance,” Axon says it has “pioneered brain-inspired, low-latency AI for financial markets.”
October 28, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
emilymfg.bsky.social
Really excellent and thorough review by @katyhayward.bsky.social of ‘For and Against a United Ireland’ this morn. Too often IT book reviews actually fail to review the book itself! This was an impressive critique informed by Katy’s own formidable expertise:

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
October 25, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
wolfsonhistory.bsky.social
"Original and captivating."

The #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges on why they have shortlisted Kieran Connell's (@kieranconnell.bsky.social) 'Multicultural Britain: A People’s History' (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) for the 2025 prize.
October 22, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
davidandress.bsky.social
Nobody actually cares what goes on in universities. All they actually care about is how posh they think a particular university is, based on decades-old vague impressions. Discuss.
mcmwright.bsky.social Matthew Wright 👨🏼‍🦼 @mcmwright.bsky.social · Oct 24
HE thought experiment: You are the parent of an A-level student and you're helping them research universities. You discover a flaw in the metrics that convinces you that a particular institution is actually vastly better at teaching, research and student support than their ranking and offers suggest
October 24, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
burnslibrary.bsky.social
Our new digital exhibit is live! “A Part to Play” draws on Burns Library collections to explore the cultural sphere of The Troubles considering how individuals used cultural forms to explore their communities’ perceived heritage, values, and aspirations. 

https://bit.ly/part-to-play
Mural of Bobby Sands with quote "Everyone Republican or Otherwise Has His/Her Own Part to Play"
October 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
evansmithhist.bsky.social
As @livunipress.bsky.social are promoting International Open Access Week, here is an OA article that @njbarnett.bsky.social and I wrote about communism and nuclear disarmament in 1950s Britain for Labour History Review in 2017.

@sslh.bsky.social

www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/epdf/10....
October 23, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Reposted by Patrick WJ Thompson
ihr.bsky.social
In this On History blog, Gaverne Bennett and Jenny Lelkes-Rarugal discuss how the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) can be used to research and teach the histories of race and ethnicity
Researching the histories of race and ethnicity in the Bibliography of British and Irish History  - On History
blog.history.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 10:03 AM