UK votes to scrap university target and rein in water firms

The UK delivered its clearest signal yet on higher education, voting overwhelmingly to scrap the target of sending half of school-leavers to university. Should the UK end its target of sending half of school leavers to university? saw the country line up behind the blunt view that baristas do not need degrees, with every posted argument coming from the Yes side.

The verdicts

Should water companies stop paying dividends or bonuses until they fix their 2.6bn litres per day of leaks? produced the day's strongest majority, as the country called for a reckoning with private ownership rather than a mere technical fix. On governance the chamber voted overwhelmingly that government ministers should declare all criminal convictions including spent ones, its sharpest reaction one of simple disbelief that they do not already.

The country also backed developing an indigenous submarine nuclear missile delivery system independent of the USA, choosing sovereignty by more than two to one, though the most respected Yes voice urged spending on the war already under way. Fertility rates in the western world were judged concerning, yet the chamber's most respected contribution framed demographic decline as a gentle retreat over generations, a reminder the debate is not only about pensions.

In tighter calls the UK narrowly voted to abolish Holyrood, the sharpest exchanges focusing on who actually holds the right to decide. It also rejected regulating private rents in England, siding with a supply-side warning that prices should be set by demand and supply. On welfare the chamber came within two votes of imposing a 1000cc engine cap on the Motability scheme but ultimately dismissed the idea as neither fair nor effective.

Voting continues today.

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