Should the UK government spend £50m to develop flying taxis for London?

Voters here gave the flying taxi scheme short shrift, with 38 of 45 rejecting the £50m outlay and only 7 in favour, an 84-16 rout that leaves little ambiguity about the reception for this piece of futurist industrial policy.

The generational pattern is telling: it was the youngest working-age cohort, 25-34, who supplied most of the yes votes (4 of 15, 27%), while every over-55 voter with a profile said no, all 9 in the 55-64 bracket and all 4 aged 65+. Enthusiasm for gadget-led transport solutions, it seems, has a shelf life.

The gender split adds another layer: men voted no by 29 to 2 (94%), a near-unanimous dismissal, while women were still firmly against but noticeably less so, at 6-2. On a question that pits eye-catching technology against basic scepticism about state spending priorities, this reads less as a verdict on flying cars themselves than as another instance of public wariness toward government backing "revolutionary" tech before it has left the test bench.

Fifty million pounds, and barely one in six could be persuaded it was money well spent.