argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Boundary Review in England — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent progress has been made on the boundary review in England.
Nicholas Desmond John Smith (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. The covid-19 virus has, of course, had an impact on every facet of our lives at the moment. Will he tell us more about its impact on the commission’s boundary work and whether it has been able to co-ordinate its work with other Boundary Commissions, such as those working on the parliamentary boundaries?
Digital Election Campaigning: Transparency — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: To ask the hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent discussions the Committee has had with the Commission on improving transparency in digital election campaigning.
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): At its meeting on 24 March, the committee approved the commission’s interim corporate plan, which includes plans to address voter concerns about digital campaigning. The commission’s recent report on the 2019 general election highlighted significant public concerns about the transparency of digital election campaigns, which risk overshadowing their benefits. The commission has set out actions that parties, campaigners, Governments and social media companies should take to support trust and confidence at future elections. The actions include extending the imprint rules for printed materials to digital campaign materials so that voters know who is trying to influence them.
Digital Election Campaigning: Transparency — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: To ask the hon. Member for City of Chester, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent discussions the Committee has had with the Commission on improving transparency in digital election campaigning.
Kevin Denis Brennan (Labour, Centre-left): This follows on from what the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) asked earlier. Last week, he said the Electoral Commission, which, as my hon. Friend said, is asked to do this important work on digital campaigning, was "arrogant", "incompetent" and "politically corrupt, totally biased and morally bankrupt".—[Official Report, 13 May 2020; Vol. 676, c. 246.] This was because it had the nerve to enforce the law and fine Vote Leave £61,000. Would the committee agree that to try to intimidate an independent electoral body in this way is more in the tradition of the politicians of Zimbabwe than of Britain?
Speaker’s Statement — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Before the first urgent question, I have a short statement to make. The Government have called for Parliament to set an example as to how business can continue in this new normal. The Government should also set an example themselves. It is unacceptable that the business of answering written questions in a timely and substantive way has not continued. The Government simply must do better. The Departments that do not improve soon can expect to be called to answer an urgent question on this matter.
Future Relationship with the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Come, come, this is about your policy, not the Labour policy. You are much better than that. Mr Gove, you have a great future—don’t waste it here. Right, let us move on. We now call William Wragg.
Constitutional Law — House of Commons, 2020-05-19
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): We now come to the motion on ways and means. Mr Speaker has not selected any amendments and his provisional determination remains that a remote Division will not take place on the main motion. I call the Minister, Jesse Norman, to move the motion. He is asked to speak for no more than 10 minutes.
Weddings Sector: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State has announced the reopening of places of worship for individual prayer despite some faiths only practising communal prayer in their place of worship. This separation has caused confusion, which turned to chaos when the Government only published the nine-page guidance on Friday. Why did the Government not provide clear and timely guidance to all places of worship, regardless of their method of prayer?
Building Safety Programme — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): In remembering all those who lost their lives at Grenfell and the families and friends who are left behind, it is shocking that three years after Grenfell there are still 2,000 high-rise residential blocks that have dangerous cladding on them. The £1 billion building safety fund is welcome, but it will only remediate 600 of those blocks; it will do nothing to touch lower-rise residential accommodation, dangerous insulation and other fire safety defects, leaving thousands of people worried about their safety and their financial circumstances. Will the Minister go back to the Chancellor and put it to him that we now need a great deal more cash—the Select Committee says probably up to £15 billion—to ensure that fire safety defects are removed from all residential buildings within the next two years, which means five years after the Grenfell disaster?
Building Safety Programme — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Michael Lee Amesbury (Labour, Centre-left): Three years on from the Grenfell disaster, when 72 people tragically lost their lives, 245 buildings are clad in dangerous ACM and at least 1,700 are clad in equally flammable material. If the remedial work continues at the same snail’s pace, it will take up to 39 years for the work to be completed, yet if someone wants a controversial billion-pound planning application approved, it seems that high-value chicken dinners get things done. Will the Minister advise the House as to what influence can be applied to quickly make all our high-rise buildings safe once and for all?
Private Renters: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his response, but on the day that Marcus Rashford, a 22 year-old footballer, wrote to all of us in the House to raise the spectre of family impoverishment under coronavirus, does he recognise the fact that a substantial proportion of private renters have dependent children—they are not all bedsit-land stereotypes? Will he bring forward immediately the plans to end section-21 evictions? The Conservatives are the party of the family; if people are losing their jobs already, they should protect families and homes now.
Private Renters: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): I associate myself with the remarks by hon. Members about the victims and survivors of Grenfell. Today the Treasury Select Committee says that freelancers, new starters and many others have fallen through gaps in the financial support schemes. Local housing allowance does not even cover average rents. Anyone with no recourse to public funds cannot even get universal credit. Over a million people are struggling with rent, but this is fixable. Will the Government today heed the calls of Shelter, Citizens Advice, Generation Rent, numerous charities and building societies and the Labour party, act now and prevent people from losing their homes in an evictions crisis in the autumn?
Local Authority Funding: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kate Ofunne Osamor (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his response, but the financial cost of covid-19 to Enfield council is expected to be more than £68 million and the Government have so far funded only a fraction of that burgeoning cost. The Minister is fully aware of local authorities’ statutory duty to provide a range of services to their communities. In the absence of fair funding, should local authorities begin making plans for more austerity to fill the funding gap by cutting vital services such as libraries, waste collection or adult social care?
Local Authorities: Lost Revenue — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Public Lands
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The financial position of Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly County Borough Councils, which cover my constituency, was difficult enough before the pandemic owing to years of UK Government austerity. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that the Welsh Government receive the funding they need for Welsh local authorities and the funding that the Prime Minister committed to Wales in February to tackle the effects of Storm Dennis? The impact of the floods and the pandemic have caused a hugely difficult situation for local authorities in my area and across Wales.
Building Safety Fund — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Lucy Maria Powell (Labour, Centre-left): As my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) has explained, the fund is not big enough for the demand, and many buildings in Manchester are ineligible for it. Last week, I met residents of Skyline Central 1, whose building will not be eligible because the freeholder has already begun works on the property, yet the freeholder is passing all those costs on to leaseholders, to the tune of £20,000-plus each. So what more will the Government do to ensure that leaseholders are not bearing the brunt of removing dangerous cladding from their buildings?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State is caught up in a cash for favours row that now reaches inside No. 10 Downing Street, but last week he did not even have the courage to show up and answer questions in this Chamber, so I hope he will be answering now. Given the gravity of the allegations surrounding his unlawful decision on the Westferry development, will he agree to make a full statement to the House, publish all correspondence and disclose all conversations with other Government Ministers and officials relating to the case, to reassure the public that the integrity of the planning process cannot be auctioned off at Conservative party fundraising dinners?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State has admitted that giving full consent to Richard Desmond’s Westferry development was unlawful because of apparent bias, so why did he not immediately recuse himself from taking the decision instead of unlawfully trying to force it through?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Did the Secretary of State know, when he signed the planning consent for Westferry, that the next day a new levy would come into effect, which would have cost the developers tens of millions of pounds more?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Housing
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): On the Westferry development, the Secretary of State has just told the House that the Department was advised of the conversation with Richard Desmond at the fundraising dinner before he overruled his own planning inspector to approve the Westferry development, but a whistleblower in the Department says that there is no record of the dinner appearing in official documents. That is potentially a serious breach of the ministerial code, especially as the Secretary of State himself has just admitted that it is a highly contentious application. Will he now confirm when and how he advised the Department of the meeting, given the question of bias that this issue raises?
Social Distancing: 2 Metre Rule — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Florence Eshalomi (Labour, Centre-left): A number of businesses in my constituency, just over the river in Vauxhall, were home to a thriving nightlife, with the culture of the South Bank. A number of them are small businesses in hospitality, tourism and the creative industries, with a number of people on freelance contracts and a number of people who have not been able to get any Government support over the last few months. They have all played their part in adhering to the lockdown rules, but their sector will be the last to open up. Social distancing rules will make a big difference to their ability to survive the next few months. Will the Minister take into account the particular nature of this sector? What assessment has been made of the additional impact of social distancing on these businesses?
Social Distancing: 2 Metre Rule — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kate Ofunne Osamor (Labour, Centre-left): During the lockdown, small businesses in my constituency have planned considerable changes to their business models in preparation for reopening in a way that is safe for employees and customers. That not only takes time but is an extra financial burden for small businesses, in particular. Will the Minister please confirm what extra financial support is readily being made available for understandably worried small and medium-sized enterprises to help cover the extra financial costs associated with reopening?
Social Distancing: 2 Metre Rule — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): Before it is safe to reduce the 2 metre rule, do we not require a world-beating track and trace system to be in place? And does a world-beating track and trace system not require a fully functioning app?
Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Mary Kelly Foy (Labour, Centre-left): This weekend we saw neo-fascists and the far right marching on the streets of Britain. Now more than ever, we need a Government and a Home Office that can be trusted to tackle the racism and prejudice that still exists in British society, yet the lessons learned report on Windrush found that the Home Office displayed "ignorance and thoughtlessness" on issues of race, while the majority of the victims of that policy are still without compensation. Given that, can the Home Secretary tell me how people can be expected to trust the Home Office to adequately address racism in British society?
Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Naseem Akhtar Shah (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Home Secretary for unequivocally condemning the far-right thuggery and abhorrent behaviour that we witnessed on our streets. I pay tribute to the police officers and wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Today, the Prime Minister has announced another review. We have had the race disparity audit in 2017. We have had the Lammy review. We have had the McGregor-Smith review. We have had the lessons learned review. We have had the Public Health England covid-19 review, of which we still do not have the details because they are being hidden by the Government. This review covers the inequalities in health, education, employment and justice that are faced by BAME communities. Why do we need another review of issues that we have known about for decades, rather than getting on and doing what needs to be done to address them?
Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Civil Rights
James Stewart Murray (Labour, Centre-left): We know this Government have failed to implement the recommendations from the Lammy review and the Windrush lessons learned review, and they chose to hide the recommendations of Public Health England’s review of the impact of covid-19 on BAME communities. Can the Home Secretary explain why anyone should draw any confidence from the Prime Minister’s cross-governmental commission in response to the Black Lives Matter protests?
Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Public Lands
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the Home Secretary on not only the tone but actually the content of much of what she has said. I hope that in protecting war memorials, this will be not just about war memorials, but about all memorials that are culturally sensitive and significant, and that this focuses on community payback, not just putting people in prisons In Brighton, we had 10,000 to 20,000 people march for Black Lives Matter. Most were very good—socially distanced and almost all wore masks—and, at the same time, we had a number of far right extremist thugs standing on our memorial and doing Nazi salutes, drinking alcohol and getting drunk, just as we saw here. However, we must not dismiss these people just as such thugs, because we know that they are organised. They have killed before, including personal friends of mine—people I knew not only here in Britain but in Norway. May I ask the Secretary of State what she is doing to co-ordinate with international colleagues to ensure that the communications and ideology of these people are disrupted?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Other
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): We have to get this on to the record. My right hon. Friends the Members for Barking (Dame Margaret Hodge) and for Derby South (Margaret Beckett) want to be here engaging in the debate, but they are unable to be here because the virtual Parliament has been closed down for debates such as these, and they have to shield. The Government are telling them not to be here. That is the reason they are not here. Is that not correct?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Other
Justin Piers Richard Madders (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I am sure there are many Members who cannot be here for good reasons but who would like to take part in the debate. They are following the Government’s advice, which is to work from home wherever possible. This just shows how confused the approach is sometimes, and it really is an affront to democracy that those Members cannot take part in important debates such as these.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Other
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): I will be brief. The House of Lords—the other place—voted tonight. It did so electronically. Does the hon. Gentleman not think that that would be a more sensible way forward here, because we could have been doing it already?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Order. I am anxious that we return to the substance of the regulations. We have had quite a wide-ranging debate about virtual Parliament versus any other kind of Parliament, but we are here to discuss the regulations.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): Let me quickly put on the record my thanks to the Minister. At the very beginning of the outbreak back in February, when the first outbreak was in my constituency, she briefed me daily and was constantly available as a source of information at that point, so I thank her Can the Minister explain to the House why, on issues such as zoos, in the few days it has taken to get this statutory instrument to the Floor of the House, there has already been a U-turn? Why is there so much confusion about this announcement?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Public Lands
Justin Piers Richard Madders (Labour, Centre-left): I want to come in on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Peter Kyle). Paragraph 23C of schedule 2 deals with aquariums and zoos, including safari parks, and we just need to be clear about the Government’s position on that. Are they now saying that that paragraph is no longer going to be applicable, or are zoos part of this? I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify that, please.
Caravan Industry: Hull and East Riding — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): As many Members will know, Hull is the capital of caravan manufacturing in the UK, and the Hull MPs have a strong tradition of standing up for the sector. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Dame Diana Johnson) was instrumental in protecting the industry after the global financial crash in 2008. She was joined by my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) in the fight against the caravan tax under the coalition Government. I take up the baton with my Hull colleagues today to ask the Government to act to protect this vital industry I first wrote to the Government about the challenges facing the caravan industry in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister on 20 May, jointly with my hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull North and for Kingston upon Hull East. In it, we asked that caravan dealerships be opened at the same time as car dealerships and that, in line with the then current guidance for estate agents and house viewings, caravan parks should also be allowed to open for sales and meetings. I am happy to say that those asks were met by the Government, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for heeding the calls from the industry and acting upon them Like other businesses across the country, caravan manufacturers have benefited from the Government’s economic support measures, including the job retention scheme and the business interruption loan scheme. Unfortunately, all those measures have not been enough to alleviate sufficiently the pressure on the industry, and without further intervention, the future is stark. The position of caravan manufacturers sets them apart from others in the manufacturing sector, as they are entirely dependent on trade in the leisure and tourism sector.
Caravan Industry: Hull and East Riding — House of Commons, 2020-06-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Member is quite right. Hull is the capital of caravan manufacturing in the UK, but that is not to say that it is not a vital industry in other areas of the country as well Because caravan manufacturers are not officially part of the leisure and tourism sector, they are not eligible for the extra Government support that leisure and tourism enjoy, so I am here to speak up for an industry which faces unique challenges and plays a pivotal role in the prosperity of a region that has no capacity to withstand its loss. The caravan industry is a great British manufacturing success story. The industry’s supply chain comprises caravan manufacturers and their suppliers, which feed into the UK retail network of caravan parks, dealerships and distributors. The industry contributes £9 billion a year to the UK economy and is a growing exporter. Employment within the supply chain stands at 207,580, and I understand that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) has the third largest caravan site in Northern Ireland in his constituency.