argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Loss and Damage Fund — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: Environment
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report confirms that many consequences of climate change are already locked in, regardless of ongoing efforts to mitigate them, and that the consequences will fall mostly on those least able to cope and on those least responsible for the crisis. Can the President confirm that his Government will be aiming for an equitable loss and damage agreement that compensates developing nations and recognises the disproportionate role of developed nations in causing such loss and damage?
Loss and Damage Fund — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: Environment
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The IPCC’s latest report, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald) mentioned, acknowledged loss and damage, and warned that it is most concentrated among the poorest, most vulnerable populations. The loss and damage mechanism was established at COP19 back in 2013, and recognised in Paris in 2015; its details, however, are still to be finalised. The Scottish Government stepped up to the plate in Glasgow on that issue, followed by private enterprises and others, such as Wallonia. It will clearly be the subject of even more international attention at COP27. As COP President, what pressure is he putting on his own Government to follow the Scottish Government’s lead?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: First, may I say how brave the Ukrainian people are and that they have the full support of the whole House? May I also commend the Prime Minister and the Government for the excellent actions that we have taken so far? Ukraine is very much the bread basket of the world and it grows much wheat. We therefore need to make sure that there is food security and also security of global food supply. Does the Prime Minister agree that we need also to look to our production in this country to make sure that we can maintain a good standard of food production and enhance our food production in order to keep good and affordable food for the future?
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I join you, Mr Speaker, in welcoming the Ukrainian ambassador to our proceedings With every passing hour, the world is witnessing the horrors of Putin’s war in Ukraine. In Kherson, a family of five—a mother, her parents, her six-year-old daughter and her baby son—were murdered in cold blood by Russian troops. In the same city, a 12-year-old boy watched his mother die as he desperately attempted to save her from the rubble of her own home. These are war crimes happening in Europe right now Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, and, one day soon, he must face justice in The Hague. To prosecute Putin and his regime, the full range of war crimes charges need to be used, including the crime of aggression by a state, but the UK has always refused to sign up to the prosecution of this crime in international law. Surely with Putin’s crime of aggression in plain and horrific sight in Ukraine, now is the time to drop that opposition. Will the Prime Minister meet with me to discuss this, and will he amend the UK War Crimes Act 1991 and support the International Criminal Court prosecution of Putin for his crimes of aggression against the people of Ukraine?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This is the first of two points of order that I hope to raise today. On Monday, the Government published a newly signed free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand, and briefed the press about it before sharing the agreement with my International Trade Committee, despite assurances from the Secretary of State for International Trade and her Department that this would not happen. My Committee has also sought clarity from the Secretary of State about key aspects of the scrutiny timeline to ensure that we and this House have time to meaningfully consider the FTA before its ratification—without response, nearly a month after we set her a deadline I am sure you will agree, Mr Speaker, that ensuring parliamentary scrutiny of a free trade agreement that the Government sign is of the utmost importance. I am deeply concerned by the cavalier approach that the Government seem to be taking in this regard, and so is the equivalent Committee in the House of Lords. The Government’s attitude directly impacts on my Committee’s ability to conduct the scrutiny it has been appointed to do by this House under Standing Orders, and by extension, this shows a discourtesy to this House as a result. Can you please advise me on how to ensure that the Government uphold their commitments to parliamentary scrutiny, particularly in regard to free trade agreements in the future?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. There has been no detail of the sought scrutiny timeline and the Committee and its staff—and up in the House of Lords there is the same feeling—are very disappointed with the Department for International Trade. When can we have the scrutiny timeline, please?
Support for Ukraine and Countering Threats from Russia — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: International Affairs
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Well, a boy can dream. That now will not happen, but Ukraine is a democracy and the Ukrainians are a free people. They need and deserve our support and focus, and the unity of this House—today, tomorrow and going forward. I am sorry to say that the Minister is almost certainly correct that this will get worse before it gets better, so let us focus on how we make it better. It will require some big, bold thinking—a Marshall plan to rebuild that country from the destruction caused and the destruction yet to come In that, we must maintain unity. Where we push the Government to go further and faster, it is not because we want to be oppositionist for opposition’s sake—that is in nobody’s interest. Let us keep to the unity that Ukrainians need, because it is not just us watching the war in their country; we should ask ourselves what we want them to see when they read our newspapers or scroll through our social media accounts. I want them to see common cause to end the war, support Ukrainians and ensure that Ukraine’s democratic future, which they took a stand on in 2013 and into 2014, is still there. Ukrainians today are the real leaders of the free world, and they deserve nothing less.
Support for Ukraine and Countering Threats from Russia — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: International Affairs
Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The invasion of Ukraine is brutal and it is wrong; the justifications for it are a tissue of lies. The resistance of the Ukrainian people against such an onslaught, with Russia deploying internationally banned illegal weapons against civilian targets, is heroic. I imagine everybody here is humbled by the bravery and courage of ordinary people taking up arms to confront such aggression.
Support for Ukraine and Countering Threats from Russia — House of Commons, 2022-03-02
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Mark Flynn (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Putin’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn Let us be in absolutely no doubt—not that I believe anyone in this House, or anyone across these islands, Europe or the wider west is—that this is Putin’s war. It is his war of choice—a war against Ukraine, a war against its people, a war against its democracy, a war against its freedom, and a war against that most precious thing of all: its hope. But let Putin be in no doubt that we are united. We are unified in our opposition to his barbarity, and that will not change. We will stand in solidarity and in support of President Zelensky and all those who stand at the forefront of the fight for democracy at this moment It is some 30 years since the USSR collapsed. When it did, I was but a bairn—a toddler in my mum’s arms. I could not have envisaged that in my lifetime I would turn on the phone with my own wee boy in the room and look at an image that a woman had posted of her child on the bathroom floor in a makeshift bed, because that is where her bairn goes when the air-raid sirens go off. It does so of its own volition. She says that her child has now become an adult. Putin’s inhumanity to man has caused that This Government have done much good in recent weeks. The military support that they have provided is to be commended and their humanitarian response is a start, but we can and must urge them to go further. I believe that they will, in time, do just that. On the humanitarian response, we are of course no longer within the European Union, but we are Europeans and we should have a collective sense of purpose when it comes to our response on this most severe of issues, this refugee crisis that is in front of us. We should have a collective unified European response On sanctions, the Government can and must go further. The SWIFT mechanism is indeed a remarkable success, but the reality is that there are oligarchs in this very city who have built their reputations on money laundering, who have turned this city into a laundromat and who are taking their time at this moment to shed their wealth before the sanctions come into play. That cannot be allowed to happen. We must not allow that to happen, particularly when these are the very same people who, like Roman Abramovich, say they have no interest in politics. He says he has no links to the Kremlin, but at the same time, his spokesperson tells us that he is trying to broker peace. He cannot be doing both things at the same time. People like him and his colleagues must feel the full brunt of our force, and they must do so now. I have said it once, I have said it twice and I will say it a third time: Putin’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.
Costs of Living: Households and Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.; What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.; What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.
John Joseph McNally (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Scottish Government introduced the Scottish child payment to tackle child poverty head on. That payment doubled to £20 and is set to increase further and be extended to children under the age of 15, resulting in 50,000 children being taken out of relative poverty. Given that Wales has persistently had the highest child poverty rate in the UK, does the Secretary of State not agree that welfare powers should now be devolved to Wales so that the Welsh Government can introduce a targeted child payment of their own?
Costs of Living: Households and Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.; What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.; What recent steps the Government have taken to mitigate the impact of rising costs of living on (a) households and (b) businesses in Wales.
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In relation to the cost of living crisis faced by people in Wales and across the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister told the Welsh Tory party conference that the UK Government would "put our arms around the British people again as we did during covid" Based on the evidence of the Sue Gray report, they are more likely to be linking arms in a conga line. Can the Secretary of State for Wales tell me what discussions he has had with the Chancellor on an emergency Budget to help the poorest households in Wales and across the United Kingdom?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: When the Prime Minister gets passionate, things get done. Brexit is done. The vaccine—[Interruption.] If the Opposition can contain themselves—the vaccine roll-out is done. So will he personally intervene so that the immunocompromised, like my constituent Scott, can get access to British wonder-drug Evusheld—not next winter, not next year, but now—so that they can enjoy this summer and enjoy their freedom, just like the rest of us?
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I want to join others today in expressing my deepest sorrow at the horrific events in Texas yesterday. Some 19 children and two teachers have needlessly lost their lives. Many of us in Scotland will be remembering the tragic events that took place in Dunblane 26 years ago. The thoughts and prayers of the SNP are with the families suffering today, but we also hope that lawmakers will finally act to bring to an end the scourge of gun violence that plagues the United States The reports of the Prime Minister’s and Downing Street’s lawbreaking have been damning: empty bottles littering offices; rooms so crowded people were sitting on each other’s laps; and security forced to intervene because parties were so outrageous. At the centre was the Prime Minister orchestrating it and grabbing a glass for himself to toast the partygoers. For eight months, we have heard every excuse under the sun, but now we have all seen the damning photo evidence. While people stayed at home to protect the NHS, the Prime Minister was engaging in drinking and debauchery that makes a mockery of the gut-wrenching sacrifices that each and every person made. Will the Prime Minister now take the opportunity and resign?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Government Operations
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As I speak, the public are poring over the sordid detail of what went on—out of the public eye, behind the high gates and walls of the Prime Minister’s residence. The report is damning. It concludes that many gatherings and many individuals did not adhere to covid guidance; that "events…were attended by leaders in government" and "should not have been allowed to happen"; that "junior civil servants believed that their involvement…was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders"; that there was an "unacceptable" "lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff"; and, crucially, that: "The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture." That leadership came from the top, and the Prime Minister—in the words of the report—must bear responsibility for the culture. A fish rots from the head. The Prime Minister’s Dispatch Box denial of a party taking place on 13 November is now proven to be untrue. He was there on 13 November, photographed, raising a toast, surrounded by gin, wine, and other revellers. The charge of misleading Parliament is a resignation matter; will the Prime Minister now finally resign This Prime Minister has adopted a systematic, concerted and sinister pattern of evasion. Truthfulness, honesty and transparency do not enter his vocabulary. That is just not part of his way of being, and it speaks for the type of man that he is. Credibility, truth and morality all matter, and the Prime Minister has been found lacking, time and again.
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Neither I nor my Edinburgh South West constituents would wish to live in a state where the Government of the day can influence the police in the exercise of their duty to investigate without fear or favour, so we are puzzled as to why the Prime Minister did not receive questionnaires in respect of three gatherings for which other people in No. 10 received questionnaires. We are also puzzled as to why the ABBA party in the Prime Minister’s flat has never been investigated by either Sue Gray or the Metropolitan police. What can be done by way of an independent investigation to assure me and my constituents that the Metropolitan police have not been nobbled?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): A comment from the Sue Gray report that sickened me was: "I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff." The Prime Minister has made a public apology at the Dispatch Box, but when will he personally apologise to those hard-working cleaning staff, who took a risk every day to keep everyone else safe?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Government Operations
Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister’s utterances on partygate at that Dispatch Box have proven to be the fantasy that we all knew they were. Allegra Stratton resigned for merely joking about a party; she has more integrity in her little finger than the Prime Minister could ever hope to possess. This charlatan of a Prime Minister is without shame, without credibility and without any hope of ever winning another election. Will he sacrifice anyone or any institution—including his own party—to try to keep his ever-weakening grip on power?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Macroeconomics
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It is rumoured that the Chancellor will shortly—finally—be announcing some further help for our constituents who are struggling with the cost of living crisis, but we know how things work in this Government with their enormous team of spin doctors. Have the Prime Minister’s Government deliberately held back the details of that desperately needed help in order to provide some cover for the damning impact of this report?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Government Operations
Richard Gordon Thomson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We now know that, while the Prime Minister was happy to let the bodies pile high outside Downing Street, he was also happy to let the bottles pile up high inside Downing Street. We also know that he has come to that Dispatch Box and denied point blank that events took place—events that we now know did take place—that turned Downing Street into the most notorious party flat in central London. The Prime Minister has diminished and demeaned his office. He speaks of leadership, but any leader should know when it is time to go. Why will the Prime Minister not go, so that the country can move on as it needs to, without him in office?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: Labor
Steven Bonnar (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The conclusion of the report states that Ms Gray found that "some staff had witnessed and been subjected to behaviours at work"— that were concerning, and that there were— "…multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff." For me, that is the most damning and also the most telling part of the report. Why is it that people like the Prime Minister and the people who work at No.10 think that cleaners, security guards, nurses and teachers are beneath them and less important than them?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Mark Flynn (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I appreciate that the Prime Minister struggles with the truth, but can he vouch to me and to this House that he will do everything he possibly can to stave off his Back Benchers and instead lead the campaign to protect his precious Union?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: International Affairs
David Michael Doogan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Can the Minister set out how support for Ukrainian forces will be updated or augmented to deal with increased and intense artillery bombardment from better supplied Russian forces? They have retreated much closer to their own borders, and their supply lines have greatly opened up. Given that, how can we further support Ukraine in defending itself?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-05-25
Topic: International Affairs
David Michael Doogan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): A rare moment of accord between the hon. Member and I. He is absolutely right. If we look at the dysfunctionality of Russia’s land forces in Ukraine, we can contrast that with Russia’s sub-sea naval forces and secure precisely no comfort from thinking that that reads across. They are among the very best in the world, crewing some of the very best submarines in the world and deploying some of the very best tactics in the world. If we think that we can combat that threat in the South China sea, we are very much mistaken. That alone is an opportunity to quickly have a root-and-branch review of the integrated review The Minister for Europe and North America is in his place to reply for the Government. We have touched on the grain situation in Ukraine. It is not NATO’s, the west’s or Ukraine’s responsibility, but humanity’s responsibility to get that grain out of Odessa and into global markets where it can provide a lifeline—literally, sadly—to the poorest in the global community. If it is sufficiently, or even remotely, close to his area of responsibility, he might consider whether there is some mechanism that clever people in the Department for International Trade, or his Cabinet colleagues, could look at to forward buy the value of the grain in Ukraine so that it is already sold before it leaves. That would deny Russia the opportunity, however tenuous it might be, of saying that it is aiding the Ukrainian war effort with finance If the finance is already in place, that argument no longer stands and it will be evidence that, if Russia still blockades outward transit of grain from Odessa, that is purely a malign act of belligerence that will cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives. Getting the grain out would also vacate the silos and storage facilities in Ukraine so that they can receive this year’s harvest and not store up the same problem for years to come. It is vital that we co-ordinate the best ideas around that priority, so I look forward to hearing how we might do that.
Global Trade Barriers — House of Commons, 2022-03-03
Topic: Foreign Trade
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Minister is reeling off figures, but he might want to consider this one: 4,300 fewer businesses in the UK are exporting goods and services than in 2018, according to the Government’s own annual stocktake. Why are this Government so anti-trade?
Global Trade Barriers — House of Commons, 2022-03-03
Topic: Foreign Trade
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): They are great at talking the talk but not at walking the walk. The European Union will remain Scotland and the UK’s largest export market for some time to come, yet this Government have done nothing to remove or even ease non-tariff barriers, bureaucracy or Brexit red tape, and they have not done anything about the labour shortages that are hampering exporters. They have spent the past year decimating the fishing industry and its livelihoods. This year, why are they going after farmers, with the Australia and New Zealand trade deals, already roundly condemned by the farming industry, set to result in floods of cheap, lower-quality meat and dairy products being exported into the UK from around the globe?