Mores.blog
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moresblog.bsky.social
Mores.blog
@moresblog.bsky.social
A blog to discuss contemporary issues and UK politics through the lens of political philosophy.

Our blog: https://mores.blog
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Hi all, we wanted to make a little thread to introduce ourselves to Bluesky users!

We are a group of political philosophy masters graduates who established this blog in summer 2023 to stay in touch with political philosophy after graduating.

See below for some of our existing blogs🔽
Reposted by Mores.blog
“Votes at 16 is the most debated bit of today’s electoral reforms but the least significant in its effects.” Discuss.
July 17, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Just over a year on from the 2024 GE and the Government has moved to fulfil their manifesto pledge on lowering the voting age to 16.

Ultimately this change is an insignificant step in overturning widespread apathy in the UK's political and economic system.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Voting age to be lowered to 16 in UK by next general election
16- and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in all elections as part of changes including easier voter registration and crackdown on foreign interference
www.theguardian.com
July 17, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Not sure the recent private instruction from the Government to dissuade civil servants from speaking publicly will really help anything.

If we are to improve trust and transparency in Government and Policy, it is vital that civil servants, who are vital in these decisions...
June 26, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The newest edition of the British Social Attitudes Survey has been published by the National Centre for Social Research

In sum, this year's edition largely reasserts the trend of dissatisfaction and apathy with the UK's political and economic system🔽

natcen.ac.uk/british-soci...
British Social Attitudes | National Centre for Social Research
Every year the British Social Attitudes survey asks a representative sample of the population what it's like to live in Britain.
natcen.ac.uk
June 25, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Our full article on the welfare cuts and how they demonstrate that the focus on deliverism rather than a underlying political and moral philosophy will only continue to undermine the Government, can be found here:

mores.blog/2025/03/28/w...
June 24, 2025 at 10:36 AM
As the Government faces a large rebellion from 80+ of its own MPs re the welfare cuts, it's worth remembering how we got here.

March 2025, we wrote about how the cuts demonstrate Labour's vision problem - they are allowing themselves to be governed by ‘deliverism’ rather than a moral philosophy
June 24, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
Whatever you think about Palestine Action's tactics, I'm not 100% sure ministers have entirely thought through the decision to label them a terrorist organisation. From now, if I was to say here, "I support PA and their campaigns", I could in theory be jailed, with a maximum sentence of 14 years.
June 23, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Today's vote to send the assisted dying Bill to the House of Lords is an important landmark for UK politics.

The process is far from over but this vote signifies a move towards policy orientated around individual autonomy that trusts people to be the authors of their lives and their death.
June 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Mores.blog
In Praise of Kim Leadbeater

Regardless of how today's vote goes, she has shown us a politics of compromise, compassion and decency. We should treat it as proof of concept for a better kind of politics.

iandunt.substack.com/p/in-praise-...
In Praise of Kim Leadbeater
The Labour MP has provided a vision of what politics can be: practical, empathetic, consensual and rational.
iandunt.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 10:29 AM
ICYMI

We wrote about the Local Elections and how maybe it is time to rethink devolution to ensure that localism becomes a force in and of itself - not just a byproduct of national politics...
June 11, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
"Doing nothing about the real issues behind people's struggles, politicians like Starmer create & trap us on an 'island of strangers' – a place not only of 'alien foreigners' but of Brits alienated from themselves & a political system of no use"

My long read on how complexity/humanity is missing 👇
How Our Politicians Created an ‘Island of Strangers’ So They Don’t Have to Make Our Lives Any Better
By presenting tougher immigration as a solution to people’s discontent, Keir Starmer and others sidestep the real reasons why people feel estranged in their lives – it’s a cynical and simplistic polit...
bylinetimes.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Our new blog covers the recent local elections in the UK but in a different light.

It asks whether the stream of hot takes from the local elections speak to the fact that devolution in the UK has failed to cement localism as a force in and of itself.
The UK’s 2025 Local Elections – Time To Rethink Devolution?
Many commentators have dubbed the recent Local Elections in the UK as a watershed moment. Reform UK and Liberal Democrats beat the two traditional main parties, the Labour Party and the Conservatives, to first and second place with both taking control of several county councils and unitary authorities. Meanwhile, of the 6 Mayoral elections, Reform UK took impressive victories in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull & East Yorkshire to defeat the Conservatives and Labour Party.
mores.blog
May 30, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Really thought provoking report published this week by the Race Equality Foundation on last year's racist riots in August that laments the Government's failure to recognise the true scale and underlying causes of the violence.

raceequalityfoundation.org.uk/projects/res...
Responding to the 2024 Racist Riots - Race Equality Foundation
PROJECT Responding to the 2024 Racist Riots A sector-wide initiative focused on confronting the root causes of the August 2024 racist riots and establishing long-term strategies for violence pre...
raceequalityfoundation.org.uk
May 29, 2025 at 2:32 PM
We are just days away from disposable vapes becoming illegal and the formal regulation of vaping advertising (1 June).

This makes me think of one of our first blogs back in August 2023 on the 'The Vaping Advertising Paradox' that was slowly arising for policy makers.

mores.blog/2023/08/22/t...
The Vaping Advertising Paradox
The content and repercussions of vaping advertising has received increasing attention and scrutiny within the UK’s political debate. Some have even argued that the UK state should update poli…
mores.blog
May 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Mores.blog
Our letter condemning the genocide in #Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire. A great crime is being committed, and we cannot stand by.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan among 380 writers and groups to call Gaza war ‘genocide’
Letter also signed by Hanif Kureishi and Russell T Davies urges ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid
www.theguardian.com
May 28, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Encouraging to see Phillipson citing the Government's moral mission to end child poverty.

This move must not be standalone but should come part and parcel with a wider rethink of Labour's policy and philosophical platform - wealth tax, winter fuel + so on.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Minister gives strongest sign yet Labour could end two-child benefit limit
Bridget Phillipson says it is party’s ‘moral mission’ to ensure fewer children grow up in poverty
www.theguardian.com
May 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
UPDATE: my open letter against Starmer's anti-immigrant policies has now passed 200 UK politics academics signing
May 21, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
If Britain is an "island of strangers", that's not because of people who've raised families here, built new lives & contributed to our schools, industries & public services.

It's because of changing technologies & patterns of work, social atomisation, declining social provision & rampant inequality
May 14, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
If you had any doubts about the intended audience for today's migration announcements, the newspapers Starmer took questions from at the press conference were: Times, Sun, Mail, Express. No one else.
May 12, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
So much to dislike here, but cuts to care worker visas are *especially* self-destructive

The sector is in crisis & that's spilling onto the NHS, paralysing that

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Why Labour is tightening UK immigration rules – and what it means for migrants and employers
No 10 says overhaul will combine control and compassion to rebuild public trust – but the politics are fraught
www.theguardian.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
NEW: Internal DWP figures show 700,000 families *already* in poverty are forecast to be hit by planned disability benefit cuts

That's on top of the 250k+ who are predicted to be newly pushed into poverty by the changes

By me, for the Guardian:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Disability benefit cuts to hit 700,000 families already in poverty, DWP forecasts show
Internal government forecasts obtained by the Guardian reveal ‘truly shocking’ effects of planned cuts
www.theguardian.com
May 7, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Really interesting report by the Fairness Foundation into short-termism as it makes the moral, political and economic case for embracing long-termism.

It's not an issue that is exclusive to the last few years but instead speaks to many of the structural challenges facing the UK.
The UK government must learn from Wales and bring about a politics that looks to the future. Our new report, 'Mission to the Future', looks at why UK politics should embrace long-termism and how to make it happen. Coverage in @bigissue.com at www.bigissue.com/opinion/uk-p...
Mission to the Future
How and why UK politics must embrace long-termism
fairnessfoundation.com
May 7, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
The UK government must learn from Wales and bring about a politics that looks to the future. Our new report, 'Mission to the Future', looks at why UK politics should embrace long-termism and how to make it happen. Coverage in @bigissue.com at www.bigissue.com/opinion/uk-p...
Mission to the Future
How and why UK politics must embrace long-termism
fairnessfoundation.com
May 7, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Mores.blog
Got back last night from focus groups this weekend in Beverley, Hull,Scunthorpe & Peterborough and without doubt the disillusionment was the worst I’ve heard, in every group it was anger; despondency or misery about the state of Britain that doesn’t feel sustainable.
April 29, 2025 at 8:27 AM
An article from The Guardian this morning reveals that the Government are minded to keep the 2 child benefit cap with 'polling suggesting that voters support' it.

Policy by polling will breed short term solutions; time for the Government to deliver a philosophy

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Ministers privately ruling out scrapping two-child benefits cap
Sources says government is ‘not going to find a way’ to ditch cap despite predictions that child poverty levels will soar
www.theguardian.com
April 22, 2025 at 10:43 AM