Mark. It's not a question of whether a student can vote or not, but where they are likely to vote. Deliberately holding an election after the majority of students have finished classes and gone home means that constituencies with universities are likely to lose significant numbers of student voters who tend to be non-Tory. It's not a question of depriving students of their voting rights but of deliberately picking a date that favours the Tories. Nothing illegal in doing that, but to argue that it will have no effect is disingenuous IMHO.

Ross. We were disputing whether imposing an election date of 12th December, as opposed to the 7th (favoured by other Parties) would change voting patterns - reallocating Labour student voters away from university constituencies. Your suggested government business are unlikely to be accomplished during the 5 day window between the two dates.
In any case Johnson leads a minority government, so why should the opposition pass anything, giving him any possible electoral advantage? I suspect his administration is deader than it has ever been and that's pretty moribund (not entirely his fault by the way)

"Electric cars could be charged in 10 minutes in future, finds research
Scientists are developing rapid-charging batteries that could be in use in a couple of years"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/30/electric-cars-could-be-charged-in-10-minutes-in-future-finds-research

"Is a plastic Christmas tree more sustainable than a real one?
In the UK’s first ‘plastic-free’ town, Penzance, there is consternation at the arrival of 150 artificial trees, amid suggestions that this is the most environmentally friendly option"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2019/oct/30/is-a-plastic-christmas-tree-more-sustainable-than-a-real-one

Big news:

"Chile cancels climate and Apec summits amid unrest"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-50233678

That should save some unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions!

AK, I'm sorry I can't agree with you on the student vote issue. You started by claiming that the election date was after term ends, and when it has been pointed out to you that this isn't correct, you back-tracked and said that it was "essentially" after the end of term, because students pack up and leave after their last lecture (I paraphrase slightly).

Times must have changed. When I went to University, we had to do lots of academic work, and our holiday reading lists were enormous. So much so that I always stayed on for a week after the official end of term date to carry out reading that required access to obscure books and law reports that were available in my University law library, but not at home. All fellow students who didn't have access at home to first-rate libraries did the same. We were usually back a week before the official start of term, too.

Also, as Tiny has pointed out, students can vote at home or at university, as they can register in both places - but of course it's illegal to vote twice. Most students are registered at home, it appears (disclaimer - I don't know if this is true). In any event, this looks to me like a non-issue. I fear, however, that it's a sign of remainers setting out their stall in advance and getting their arguments ready as to why the election result might be deemed illegitimate if it goes the "wrong" way. Of course, if it goes the "right" way, no more will be heard of these issues.

I repeat - I will accept the election result, whether I like it or not. Unfortunately we seem to live in a post-democratic age where "liberals" now feel free not to accept the results of referendums and elections if they don't like the result (Brexit, Trump). It's a worrying trend.

AK, There is important legislation to implement the N.I. Budget that must be passed before the end of this parliament or services in N.I. will be unfunded and there are other important bills need to be completed adequate time is needed.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7629417/Germany-forced-DOUBLE-EU-contribution-28-5billion.html

I have speculated on more than one occassion that Germany might be the next country to leave the EU. The Germans haven't really thought the EU empire thing through properly. Their success and our contributions shielded them from how financially out of control and poor heavy the EU has got. The EU uses a lot of German and British money to keep the EU poor sweet and make lives for the EU workers very comfy indeed. One of the things that swung Brexit for me was that the EU machine suffered no austerity, even at the height of the financial damage.