Members Stand Firm on ECHR and Back Compulsory Civics

Refnation members split almost down the middle on whether the UK should leave the European Convention on Human Rights, ultimately deciding No comfortably. The debate turned less on rights themselves than on where sovereignty is safest: in Parliament or in external safeguards. The sharpest Yes arguments called not for abandoning protections but for recasting them under British law.

The verdicts

Should all schools be required to teach national civics and politics as a core subject for all pupils? won overwhelmingly. Yes voters stressed the need for political understanding; opponents worried about trusting teachers to deliver it without bias. The decisive result came with a clear condition: it must be taught in an unbiased, non-partisan manner.

Members also backed making anyone sleeping outside due to their circumstances classed as ‘vulnerable’ for emergency housing, again overwhelmingly. Even strong Yes arguments carried caveats about citizenship and who gets help first.

On electoral reform, members voted comfortably to scrap the first-past-the-post system for electing MPs. The simplest No case was that every vote should count, though many supporters still valued local representation.

Should all people who work in London be allowed to vote for the London Mayor, even if they live outside London? was rejected decisively. Voters drew the line at letting workplace confer a ballot, with the strongest case against it invoking “one person one vote”.

Should recent tax and policy changes that increase farmers’ costs be reversed to support the farming economy? passed comfortably. Family farms became the test case, with the divide centring on whether the rules mainly hit wealthy landowners or businesses whose wealth is tied up in land.

Members also said social media companies should be required to allow replies to posts by government officials and public bodies. The strongest Yes case was not simply for more comments but against official statements becoming one-way communication.

Finally, members told Andy Burnham No on calling a general election for a fresh mandate. The argument hinged less on his goals than on who gets to authorise them: a new leader seeking judgment or a governing party told to get on with the job.

Voting continues today.

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