Peter Leslie Brearey (23 December 1939 – 7 May 1998) was a British secularist, socialist, and journalist, and editor of The Freethinker from 1993 to 1998.
He remained a Marxist for the rest of his life, but had moved away from the CPGB towards the Socialist Party of Great Britain.
[1] He also wrote an opinion column for the Pontefract and Castleford Express, one edition of which (from 1985) was cited by Granville Williams in a discussion of the decline of local newspaper journalism:[2] In stark contrast to the politicised headlines and stories in most of the national press attacking the miners, the P&C went in for straight reporting.
[5] According to the Dictionary of Atheism, Skepticism & Humanism, Brearey "brought color and life to the journal".
[3] In New Humanist, Jim Herrick wrote that "his acceptance of the Freethinker editorship could be seen as the culmination of his career.