UK backs army for migrant crisis and scraps breakfast TV

The single most decisive verdict of the day came on immigration: the UK told Spain to send in the army. Five in six voters backed using military force to stop migrant crossings, with barely any argument over the legal niceties and the loudest dissent amounting to little more than a joke about castle walls.

The verdicts

Should welfare certified farmers be allowed to bypass council planning permission and build on their own property? produced a modest win for deregulation. The country split with the Yes side prevailing by a clear margin, though the No camp left more opinions on the page and the chamber's most respected voice still came from the winners.

Should testing of primary school basics like spelling, punctuation, grammar, and numeracy be maintained? saw the UK back keeping Key Stage 2 tests by four to one. The chamber's firm tilt toward accountability held even as its most respected dissenter warned that you never made anything heavier by weighing it.

On farming and the environment the country was equally clear. Should the government expand the Sustainable Farming Incentive to pay more farmers for environmental improvements? passed with a three-in-five majority, though the most respected voice on the winning side admitted unease about the scheme's churn.

Rather than attempt to improve the energy efficiency of old housing stock should it be demolished and rebuilt? was rejected decisively. Demolition lost not to any grand retrofit vision but to simple caution, with the sharpest lines warning against blanket rules.

Should the prisoner escort and custody service be reformed to reduce court delays? produced a three-to-one verdict for change. Almost no serious opposition case appeared, leaving the near-third who voted No strangely silent even as the Yes side argued over exactly what reform should look like.

The country split almost down the middle on whether an increasingly informal prime minister dress code proves decline in political leadership. Is an increasingly informal prime minister dress code proof of the decline in all aspects of political leadership? fell to No by the narrowest of margins, turning on whether clothes are symptom or distraction.

Finally, Should breakfast TV be abandoned as an utter waste of time as you start the day? passed by a whisker. The chamber's most respected opinion, with five times the backing of anything else, called the question the most inane and ridiculous it had seen, yet voters still clicked Yes to ditching it.

Voting continues today on fresh questions.

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