Members back the data and the ban, but turn down the freebie

The day's clearest message from refnation members: show your working. A legal requirement for polling organisations to publish full sample sizes and raw figures won overwhelmingly, with the top Yes case arguing that if a poll shapes national debate, "the public has a right to the raw data behind it." No voters replied that nobody reads the data anyway, which rather proved the Yes side's point about who gets to decide what is worth reading.

The verdicts

Members were in a rule-making mood. They voted comfortably to ban foreign states from owning Premier League clubs, Should foreign states be banned from owning Premier League clubs?, the most-respected case sneering at owners who use clubs for "sportswashing, money laundering, or as a trophy plaything." No voters said regulation, not a ban, is the fix. They also backed requiring online marketplaces like Amazon to collect VAT from their sellers, though the most-respected Yes voices barely cheered, and both starred cases came with conditions.

On welfare, Should benefit claimants who refuse extra hours of work be sanctioned? won comfortably, yet almost nobody defended sanctions without exemptions. Even supporters wanted carers and the ill protected, while the best-respected No case called the question "too broad."

The freebie fared worse. Should people who give up owning a car get free bus travel? was rejected overwhelmingly, the sharpest objection being practical: "How do you prove they did?" The most-respected No case added that the scheme would reward people who get a car just to surrender it.

There was little appetite for demolition. Should the Department for Culture, Media and Sport be abolished? went down comfortably, though the most-respected No voices wanted reform, not defence, and talked of "a complete refocus." Members also comfortably rejected Should the armed forces cut the number of senior officers? The Yes side had the best jibe, "The Navy with more Admirals than Ships," but the No case answered with more troops and experience kept for a rapid expansion.

The day's closest result was still a comfortable one: members decided that Does the UK government give too much priority to minority groups at the expense of the majority? deserves a Yes. Its best-rated case was about queues and rents rather than identity, while the No side answered with one flat denial: "There is literally no evidence whatsoever to support this idea."

A fresh ballot is open today, and members' profiles are waiting to be filled in.

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