John Moore
@johnofnorwich.bsky.social
Nothing useful to contribute, mainly just snarky comments from the sidelines.
Reposted by John Moore
There are many factors at play in how the discourse of UK political governments became detached from (geo)political reality, but a key aspect is in how both Labour and Conservatives came to assert supposed Brexit benefits that much of the rest of the country knows are pure fantasy
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
There are many factors at play in how the discourse of UK political governments became detached from (geo)political reality, but a key aspect is in how both Labour and Conservatives came to assert supposed Brexit benefits that much of the rest of the country knows are pure fantasy
Reposted by John Moore
Have written for the New Statesman about why, if he will not accept an apology, the BBC should welcome a Trump lawsuit. They should show guts and fight it because impartially matters and if they don't, they will have tacitly accepted a rewritten history.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/med...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/med...
Trump's attack can rescue the BBC
The BBC should use the threat of legal action to strike a blow for press freedom
www.newstatesman.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Have written for the New Statesman about why, if he will not accept an apology, the BBC should welcome a Trump lawsuit. They should show guts and fight it because impartially matters and if they don't, they will have tacitly accepted a rewritten history.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/med...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/med...
Reposted by John Moore
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
There is such a thing as 'settled science' — anyone who says otherwise is trying to manipulate you
How bad-faith arguments sow doubt by weaponizing scientific humility.
www.livescience.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
If Labour were to give up focussing on specific groups of people they want to attract and instead focus on the values they want to represent - you know, governing like a Labour government - who knows, maybe they'd stop haemorrhaging support?
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
British Politics' Midlife Crisis
Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters
benansell.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
If Labour were to give up focussing on specific groups of people they want to attract and instead focus on the values they want to represent - you know, governing like a Labour government - who knows, maybe they'd stop haemorrhaging support?
Nail hit on head.
1. BBC does flattering coverage of Reform.
2. Reform gains poll leads.
3. BBC justifies flattering coverage of Reform with reference to poll leads.
😬
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
2. Reform gains poll leads.
3. BBC justifies flattering coverage of Reform with reference to poll leads.
😬
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...
BBC not ‘trying to ingratiate’ itself to Reform UK, Tim Davie tells MPs
Director general says broadcaster is ‘trying to get the balance right’ amid increased coverage
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Nail hit on head.
The Internet, more specifically social media, is a fantastic petri dish for the growth of stupidity.
Before the internet, if someone had a ludicrously DUMB worldview, they would have found it very hard to find likeminded souls.
Now, thousands or millions of people like them are a few clicks away.
That incredible reinforcement of something that should never be reinforced is dumbing down the world.
Now, thousands or millions of people like them are a few clicks away.
That incredible reinforcement of something that should never be reinforced is dumbing down the world.
August 19, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The Internet, more specifically social media, is a fantastic petri dish for the growth of stupidity.
Reposted by John Moore
Donald Trump Declares Victory Over Statistics
Trump Gets Rid of Those Pesky Statistics
The numbers were simply not patriotic enough.
www.theatlantic.com
August 2, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Donald Trump Declares Victory Over Statistics
Reposted by John Moore
“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you're the one filming it.”
July 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you're the one filming it.”
"It is true that the left’s abandonment of class politics in favour of the politics of identity has allowed racists to rebrand racism as white identity. The contempt displayed by sections of the left for the working class has pushed many into the arms of the radical right. "
Kenan Malik on the attempt to relegitimise overt racism on the online right, such as the online racism about the pupils at Birbalsingh's school
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
Modern racism has become loud and proud | The Observer
The response to a photo of a class in London shows how ethnic notions of national identity have seeped into mainstream conservatism
observer.co.uk
July 13, 2025 at 9:10 AM
"It is true that the left’s abandonment of class politics in favour of the politics of identity has allowed racists to rebrand racism as white identity. The contempt displayed by sections of the left for the working class has pushed many into the arms of the radical right. "
Reposted by John Moore
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I finished writing this, it occurred to me that there was no chance I was the first to think of doing this, so I did a search and sure enough, the writer Talia Lavin had the same idea months ago.
www.techdirt.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Who Goes MAGA?
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
With apologies to Dorothy Thompson, whose 1941 essay in Harper’s, “Who Goes Nazi?” remains a worthwhile read on the cultural archetypes of who is drawn to fascism, and who would never go down such a path. It felt like it could use a modern updating, however. Update: Just after I…
This is a crucial distinction which gets to the core of what populism is about. People are swayed by fantasies, not rigorous logic.
As you say, things must be "explained in understandable terms", but simplism *doesn't* "explain" things. It takes problems and "explains them away".
A reality-based politics has to confront people with reality. When it apes the simplistic, fantasy-messaging of populism, it undermines its own basis.
A reality-based politics has to confront people with reality. When it apes the simplistic, fantasy-messaging of populism, it undermines its own basis.
July 7, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This is a crucial distinction which gets to the core of what populism is about. People are swayed by fantasies, not rigorous logic.
Could not agree more with this. The only way back is after an end to exceptionalism, which seems improbable. Question, though...Are the British exceptional in their exceptionalism?
I understand. We understand.
We understand the importance that Europe had in your lives and the sense of biting loss for many of you.
We understand what Brexit has done.
2
We understand the importance that Europe had in your lives and the sense of biting loss for many of you.
We understand what Brexit has done.
2
June 19, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Could not agree more with this. The only way back is after an end to exceptionalism, which seems improbable. Question, though...Are the British exceptional in their exceptionalism?
Reposted by John Moore
The radicalisation of Britain's Right under the influence of US think tank money and X-Twitter is one of the big stories in UK politics in my view. 👇
If Carswell was not now at Mississippi Center for Public Policy + X, but still needed public support from British voters, he may have kept a more realistic + less radicalised view of British public appetite for forced deportation of legal migrants & settled citizens. That has not grown since 2005-15
June 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM
The radicalisation of Britain's Right under the influence of US think tank money and X-Twitter is one of the big stories in UK politics in my view. 👇
Reposted by John Moore
When did you ever hear the BBC stating that it must alter “story selection” and “other types of output, such as drama”, to win the trust of Green voters, or of unrepresented people on the left?
All the shifts are in just one direction.
bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/b...
All the shifts are in just one direction.
bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/b...
BBC Bosses Draw Up Plans to Win Over Reform Voters by Changing News and Drama Output
The Director General Tim Davie and other executives discussed altering BBC “story selection” in order to secure the "trust" of supporters of Nigel Farage’s party
bylinetimes.com
June 10, 2025 at 7:04 AM
When did you ever hear the BBC stating that it must alter “story selection” and “other types of output, such as drama”, to win the trust of Green voters, or of unrepresented people on the left?
All the shifts are in just one direction.
bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/b...
All the shifts are in just one direction.
bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/b...
Reposted by John Moore
The entire modern conservative movement’s existence and future depends upon the base being kept inside a hermetically-sealed cable and social media bubble, so that they can tell them demonstrable lies about the real world. Tell them up is down, hot is cold, black is white, and be *believed*.
Apparently the city of LA has been burned to the ground.
June 9, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The entire modern conservative movement’s existence and future depends upon the base being kept inside a hermetically-sealed cable and social media bubble, so that they can tell them demonstrable lies about the real world. Tell them up is down, hot is cold, black is white, and be *believed*.
Important thread.
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
June 8, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Important thread.
A simply joyous bit of writing.
June 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A simply joyous bit of writing.
Reposted by John Moore
Germany would surely welcome any fleeing American rocket scientists associated with the former regime
June 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Germany would surely welcome any fleeing American rocket scientists associated with the former regime
Reposted by John Moore
must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away
“In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately”
June 5, 2025 at 8:15 PM
must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away
This is absolutely spot-on. None of this would be possible without the normalisation provided by the mainstream media. If, day in, day out, you denounce extremism, you can yourself be portrayed as extremist (e.g. 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'), so they avoid it, with the consequences we're seeing.
Trump vs Harvard: It's the fascism, stupid iandunt.substack.com/p/trump-vs-h...
May 30, 2025 at 11:23 AM
This is absolutely spot-on. None of this would be possible without the normalisation provided by the mainstream media. If, day in, day out, you denounce extremism, you can yourself be portrayed as extremist (e.g. 'Trump Derangement Syndrome'), so they avoid it, with the consequences we're seeing.
Reposted by John Moore
I remain fascinated by the phenomenon of people who are loudly and proudly low social trust *except* when faced with an extremely obvious con
May 28, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I remain fascinated by the phenomenon of people who are loudly and proudly low social trust *except* when faced with an extremely obvious con
Reposted by John Moore
You have won the election, UK Labour, you have the top job. Now do something with it. Stop staring at Reform and letting them dictate your agenda. Govern, for God's sake, and do what you believe it, what voters wanted when they put you in power.
May 23, 2025 at 6:39 AM
You have won the election, UK Labour, you have the top job. Now do something with it. Stop staring at Reform and letting them dictate your agenda. Govern, for God's sake, and do what you believe it, what voters wanted when they put you in power.
Reposted by John Moore
If M.R. James wrote safety signage
May 20, 2025 at 12:26 PM
If M.R. James wrote safety signage
Reposted by John Moore
When anyone to the left adopts reactionary policies, they win over no one but convince a lot of people that the reactionaries are making sense!
In short, Starmer has taken a massive hit among Labour voters, for no gain elsewhere, while boosting Farage's popularity, including doubling his ceiling among Labour voters.
I.e., the political scientists were right, Morgan McSweeney was horrendously wrong.
I.e., the political scientists were right, Morgan McSweeney was horrendously wrong.
Keir Starmer's net favourability rating has dropped 12pts in a month to -46, his lowest level ever, including a 34pt drop among Labour voters
All Britons: -46 net rating (down 12 from 13-14 Apr)
By 2024 vote
Labour: -5 (down 34)
Lib Dem: -13 (down 12)
Conservative: -76 (up 1)
Reform: -94 (down 5)
All Britons: -46 net rating (down 12 from 13-14 Apr)
By 2024 vote
Labour: -5 (down 34)
Lib Dem: -13 (down 12)
Conservative: -76 (up 1)
Reform: -94 (down 5)
May 16, 2025 at 9:22 AM
When anyone to the left adopts reactionary policies, they win over no one but convince a lot of people that the reactionaries are making sense!