UK demands undivided MPs and fitness-tested police

The country delivered its clearest message of the day on the role of MPs: they should be banned from all second jobs except those needed to maintain professional qualifications. Two in three backed the move, convinced that any outside work is a distraction from the day job.

The verdicts

Should those that have been out of work for a year be forced to do 20 hours community service? Yes carried the day, though the chamber’s sharpest voices warned that unpaid work without real jobs would amount to performative cruelty.

Should local oil and gas be exploited to ease the burden of the ludicrous green agenda? Domestic production won by two to one, yet the floor’s most respected voices were on the losing side, pointing to nuclear, wasted wind power and a biased question.

If a community cannot practise core aspects of their faith because they conflict with UK law, should they leave the UK? The country chose Yes decisively. The sharpest line was that people should either change their practices or voluntarily leave; the real argument was whether departure should be demanded or merely encouraged.

Should police officers and military personnel comply with minimal physical fitness requirements, tested regularly? Near-unanimous support arrived with a built-in qualification: fitness must be tied to the actual demands of the job, not imposed as a blunt universal test.

If the Scottish Parliament passes a referendum bill, should Westminster grant a Section 30 order? The country said No. Scotland should be allowed to make up its own mind, the Yes camp argued cleanly, but Westminster’s veto carried the room for now.

Should we hang child murderers? The No side prevailed in a dead heat. One person mistakenly killed by the state, the floor’s sharpest case warned, is argument enough.

Should we ban leveraged buyouts of UK businesses and sports clubs? Voters backed a ban by four to one. Owners taking the upside while workers, creditors and supporters carry the debt became the room’s governing complaint; the lone No voice never supplied the contrary case.

Voting continues today on fresh questions.

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