For all prospective PhDers:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/26/postgrad-checklist-what-to-ask-when-picking-a-phd

[congrats if you manage to do any of these!]

That is a very odd set of questions.

Average completion rates really are not relevant unless it is just for your supervisor and related projects. Everything else is guesswork.
I cannot see any advantage of asking about "responsible recruitment" whatever that really means.
You would have to be insane to walk into an interview and ask questions about gender based violence, decolonising or the #metoo campaign unless that was directly linked to your work. If anyone actually wants to be considered to be a "chip on the shoulder" type then by all means fire away but if you want to maximise your chances of acceptance you simply cannot be as aggressive as that.

There are plenty of good questions missing from this list.

What are your expectations of me?
What hours do you expect?
What days do you need me physically at my desk?
Can I work from home?
Will I be writing my own papers?
How much supervision are you expecting to provide?
Do you expect me to be completely independent?
Will I be expected to supervise new PhD students in the future?
How often do you want to meet up with me and what format do you prefer those meetings to adopt?
Can I knock on your door or do you prefer formal emails to setup meetings?
Who is reponsible for generating ideas?
If it is me, do you want to vet them before I get started or should I just run with it?
How long do you expect me to take to complete?
Do I need a set number of deloverables, papers etc?

Finally, simply have a chat about their research. Get a feel for whether you both get on with each other.

I feel if you asked a lot of questions and pointed ones you would come off as difficult and unlikable. I would ask mainly about project then a few practicals and only ask more if it felt right. Tricky.

I understand that but the problem with your approach is that in your desire not to be rejected for the post you have a very high risk of landing yourself with the wrong supervisor for you. This is an interview for both supervisor and student. This forum is absolutely crammed full of posts from people who either forgot that or didnt realise it.

You absolutely must find out about stuff like this. Nobody else will do it for you. All of those questions I have listed are absolutely fundamental and it will affect you if you get them wrong. There are good ways of asking those questions of course but there is no point in me messing about during an interview trying not to be rejected, getting the job and then having to spend the next 4 years walking on eggshells. It is vital to the future working arrangements that I see the supervisor as they would be on a day to day basis and that they get to see me in mine. If they cannot handle an assertive and intense student then the PhD will be a disaster if I cover that up. I have terminated several job interviews in the past when it was clear there would be a problem and I have had a couple terminated on me. Only once did I accept a job offer after I had a heated argued with the lead engineer (she made a technical mistake through inexperience and wouldnt admit it claiming I was at fault) during the interview and it was a disaster. It is just not worth it. There are always plenty of other jobs for me to to go for.

I fully agree with all your questions pm133 and wish I'd asked them myself! As for being off putting, I don't think so. Asking such questions would indicate that you give a damn, you're sorted, and you want what's right for you. Maybe the approach would matter though... a casual chat where these things come up would be preferable!

Yes the approach you adopt is key. You would need to be careful not to come across as aggressive or overly assertive. I cant see any way of asking about either decolonisation or policies about aggressive sexual assaults without coming across appallingly though :-D Honestly, I do wonder what on earth those Edinburgh students were thinking when they advised asking about that.