argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK Infrastructure — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Transportation
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I do share my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm for helping his constituents to access jobs and for cycling as a way of getting to and from work. At the spending review we announced £710 million of new funding for schemes like the one he described, but Bolton is also receiving £30 million through the towns fund and the shared prosperity fund, and work on the electrification of the Wigan-Bolton line has begun, supporting economic growth for his constituency and the wide area.
UK Infrastructure — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Transportation
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady points out, with our investment in infrastructure—particularly rail, in the £96 billion integrated rail plan for the midlands and the north—we are showing how the Government are supporting the growth of the economy, including through providing the transport infrastructure that we need for that.
UK Infrastructure — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Labor
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): We have many measures in place to support people’s jobs. We know about the figures for record levels of payroll employment and also the increase in the national living wage earlier this year. I am glad to hear the hon. Gentleman’s support for the UK infrastructure bank that we are currently legislating for, which is a really important part of our determination to drive regional and local growth across the UK.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government understand that many families are struggling with rising prices. That is why we have announced £37 billion-worth of support, with the bulk of that targeted on the most vulnerable in our society, and those families receiving around £1,200 of help this year.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): I gently point out to the hon. Lady that just a few weeks ago we announced £15 billion-worth of additional help, particularly for those on means-tested benefits, who are receiving a one-off payment of £650. The aggregate amount spent on that proposal is in fact more generous than simply uprating with inflation as she suggested, so those families will get more help under our plan than with her proposal, and that money will arrive first in July, with the second payment later in the autumn.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): As I said, we are providing an enormous amount of support—around £1,200—which is targeted at those who most need help. Of course, no Government can make the challenges go away completely, given the scale of the problem that we are facing, but I am confident that the support we have put in place is significant and will make a meaningful difference to those who most need it. The hon. Lady talks of the practical steps that we can all take to help with the cost of living. Perhaps her party could start by opposing the crippling rail strikes of the past week or two, which are doing nothing to ease the burdens of the cost of living on public sector workers.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that £37 billion of support is being targeted at the most vulnerable and will come over the next few months, from the summer through the autumn and winter, to help with the price cap. As we said, we do expect the cap to increase significantly in the autumn, which is why we have put the support in place. He talked about taxes, so he will be pleased to tell his constituents that in just a couple of weeks’ time, they will have their taxes cut when the national insurance threshold rises to £12,500, which will deliver a £330 tax cut to around 30 million people in work. That will start to put more money in people’s pay packets in July.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, 70% of workers in this country will have a net tax cut. That is what the Government are delivering. In just a couple of weeks’ time, the first £12,500 that anyone in work earns will be free of any tax or national insurance. That will deliver a £6 billion tax cut for 30 million people. As I said, for 70% of all workers, excluding the most wealthy, it represents a net tax cut, because we are on the side of hard-working people.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Energy
Abimbola Afolami (Conservative, Centre-right): The Chancellor knows that a significant part of inflation is not within this Government’s control, and indeed not within the country’s control; it is a result of international energy costs, particularly oil and gas. That is happening globally because there is an imbalance between supply and demand across the world. What is the Treasury’s approach, working with other countries and major energy companies, to try to bring down those prices overall in the coming years? Unless we do that, increasing energy costs will be inimical to the economic growth that everybody in this House wants to see.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Energy
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a thoughtful point, and he is right. As the Bank of England recently pointed out, the bulk of the excess inflation that we are seeing is being driven by global inflationary forces. He is also right that in the long term, the best way to combat that is to increase the supply of energy. In particular, the Prime Minister’s energy security strategy sets out a plan to do exactly that, which will have an impact on bills next year and beyond. Between now and then, we have the support in place to help people.
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Energy
Philip Andrew Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Esther McVey), may I urge the Chancellor to think again about the cut in fuel duty? Although the one he introduced was welcome, it has not really been noticed by many people, so will he consider a much more substantial temporary cut in fuel duty, as has been done in Germany?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): In common with countries around the world, the UK is experiencing global inflationary forces. We are taking action to support the country through that, with £37 billion of support targeted at the most vulnerable, but also focused on the long term in combating inflation and reducing prices through supply-side reforms, responsible fiscal policy, and a strong and forceful independent monetary policy.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Energy
Philip Andrew Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): Many people are grateful to the Chancellor for all the support he has given to help people with their energy bills, but many businesses are also struggling with very high energy bills. Will he consider giving further support to businesses to help them through that, preferably through cutting their taxes? It would be a tragedy if the Chancellor kept all those businesses going, at huge cost, through the pandemic, only to see them come a cropper after the pandemic because of the inflationary cost pressures caused by those lockdowns.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Labor
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): On wage policy, this is the Government who introduced the national living wage and, this year, increased the national living wage by about £1,000 a year. Combined with the cut to the universal credit taper rate and the increase in the national insurance threshold, that is significant support to those on the lowest earnings. It is right that we increase people’s wages, but the hon. Lady should start in her own office, where, I heard, she is perhaps not quite paying her own staff properly.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: The Chancellor is familiar with the opportunities in northern Lincolnshire and the wider Humber region to advance economic growth; what plans does he have to develop the infrastructure and support local authorities to achieve that?; Recently, it was revealed that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is failing to use the third-party data information that we get through international agreements to investigate how much tax is being evaded through offshore assets. Given that £850 billion is held offshore, with two thirds of it stashed in known tax havens, either Ministers are content for the super-rich to evade paying their fair share in the knowledge that their offshore wealth is not being systematically checked, or they will direct HMRC to use this reporting data, as is done in the US and Denmark, to uncover tax evaders. Which is it?
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I am proud that HMRC is a leader in tax transparency, has a number of double tax treaties and co-operates with a large number of countries and international organisations to share tax information to ensure that people pay their fair share.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: The Chancellor is familiar with the opportunities in northern Lincolnshire and the wider Humber region to advance economic growth; what plans does he have to develop the infrastructure and support local authorities to achieve that?; Recently, it was revealed that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is failing to use the third-party data information that we get through international agreements to investigate how much tax is being evaded through offshore assets. Given that £850 billion is held offshore, with two thirds of it stashed in known tax havens, either Ministers are content for the super-rich to evade paying their fair share in the knowledge that their offshore wealth is not being systematically checked, or they will direct HMRC to use this reporting data, as is done in the US and Denmark, to uncover tax evaders. Which is it?;   The global cost of living crisis is affecting many of our constituents, so it is welcome that those on means-tested benefits—one in three households—will receive £1,200 in support from the Government this year. When will that vital support be hitting bank accounts?
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to highlight the need to target support on those who most need it. I am pleased to tell him that the payments will be made for those on means-tested benefits in July, with the second of those payments following a few months later, in the autumn, for those on tax credits, so that deduplication can be done.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: The Chancellor is familiar with the opportunities in northern Lincolnshire and the wider Humber region to advance economic growth; what plans does he have to develop the infrastructure and support local authorities to achieve that?; Recently, it was revealed that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is failing to use the third-party data information that we get through international agreements to investigate how much tax is being evaded through offshore assets. Given that £850 billion is held offshore, with two thirds of it stashed in known tax havens, either Ministers are content for the super-rich to evade paying their fair share in the knowledge that their offshore wealth is not being systematically checked, or they will direct HMRC to use this reporting data, as is done in the US and Denmark, to uncover tax evaders. Which is it?;   The global cost of living crisis is affecting many of our constituents, so it is welcome that those on means-tested benefits—one in three households—will receive £1,200 in support from the Government this year. When will that vital support be hitting bank accounts?; In his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss), the Chancellor seemed actually to be boasting that unlike the Scottish Government he is not willing to invest in tackling child poverty or in supporting carers. May I therefore suggest that instead of boasting about his poverty-inducing social insecurity system he tries looking at and replicating the Scottish child payment and the carer’s allowance supplement?
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out very clearly the choices the Scottish Government made at their most recent spending review, on which they can be judged. Let us be very clear: it is the Scottish Government and the Scottish Government alone who are wasting millions of pounds of this country’s and indeed their country’s citizens by pursuing a referendum. That is the last thing that Scotland or the UK needs, soaking up resources that should be spent on people who need them.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for her reply, for coming to the House to set out the additional measures that the Government are putting in place, and for allowing hon. Members to probe the effectiveness of those measures and what is being done to address the unacceptable decline in rape prosecutions in recent years The figures show that more than 67,000 rapes have been reported—the highest figure on record, but probably still only the tip of the iceberg. Despite the measures that my hon. Friend has announced, victims still face the trauma of knowing, when they report, that in the past, police, court staff and many others have not been properly trained to support victims—hence the high drop-out rate among victims taking cases forward. The measures that my hon. Friend has introduced will start to help, but rebuilding trust with victims cannot be done overnight. That is why it is so important that Ministers talk about the measures that they are introducing and come to this House to enable us to inquire about their effectiveness The Government’s independent adviser on the rape review said recently that "no one involved thinks where we are is good enough—because it is not even remotely good enough" She said that a year on, we are "doing better, but still pushing further." By coming to the House today, the Minister is enabling hon. Members to hear more fully what she and other Ministers are doing to rebuild trust among victims and, importantly, to deliver the Government’s ambition to double the number of rape cases that reach the courts by the end of this Parliament—an ambitious plan on which we need to hold the Government’s feet to the fire.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): I sincerely thank my right hon. Friend for asking this urgent question. She is absolutely right to identify the need to rebuild trust in the system among victims. The golden thread that runs through all our work is non-defensive transparency. That is why, in our forensic examination of each stage of the criminal justice system, we are working with the police, the CPS, the judiciary, as constitutionally appropriate, and all the agencies, as well as the vital victim support charities and agencies. We are working together so that at each and every stage we can measure the impact of our efforts and try to communicate it to victims I understand that people want us to do more and go faster, and that they want to see improvements. However, I ask colleagues across the House to please bear in mind that what we say in this place has a resonance with victims. We must ensure that we are being accurate about progress when it is happening, so that we encourage victims to come forward, and so that they know that change is happening in the system.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the disappointments of the hon. Lady’s responses, and indeed her advocacy last week, is that in the past we have been able to find cross-party consensus on matters that are of great interest to Members on both sides of the House, particularly in relation to the Bill that became the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It is disappointing, to put it mildly, when Labour Members either insist on using figures that are not correct—not up to date, for instance—or seek to criticise the Government, perhaps not realising that in doing so they are also criticising the police, who are operationally independent—
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): They are criticising the Crown Prosecution Service, which is operationally independent, and the courts, which are constitutionally and operationally independent. All three of those agencies in the criminal justice system are working together to make the difference On the national roll-out of section 28, the hon. Lady is wrong. We now have 47 Crown courts operating section 28, and we are rolling out section 28 recordings across the country, nationally, far faster than we anticipated in the rape review. On enhanced specialist support in courts for victims of sexual violence, again, we have worked closely with the judiciary. We are piloting it, as we are obliged to do, and I am sure that others in the House will understand why we have to tread carefully, but we hope and expect that the result will justify further rolling out. As for Operation Soteria and suspect investigations, we will have rolled that out in a further 14 police forces by September, and we will have rolled it out nationally, across all forces, in the first half of next year When the hon. Lady criticises this Government, she is, I am afraid, implicitly criticising those who are working on the frontline, making these changes happen.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): A male Member of the House is shouting at me across the Dispatch Box while I am trying to explain. This is a deeply serious subject, and it must be—I would hope—a matter on which we can find measured and constructive ways of working together in order to improve justice for victims, because that, surely, is what we should all be focusing on.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Jacqueline Doyle-Price (Conservative, Centre-right): Support for victims of rape is essential to ensuring that more of these crimes are brought to prosecution, but rape victims often say that, having gone through the trauma of the assault, they are then dehumanised by being treated, effectively, as a piece of evidence when they report it, and then have to prepare themselves to be traumatised yet again when they appear in court. What discussions is my hon. Friend having with the Department of Health and Social Care to make good the NHS’s commitment to giving all victims of rape a lifetime care pathway, so that they can be confident enough to appear in court?
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Lady for raising those historical cases. They are in the system and the injection of investment—£477 million in the overall Crown court system—will help with those particular cases. One of the reasons we selected the three pilots as we did—I should say that the Lord Chief Justice very much worked on this—is that we looked at the backlog of sexual violence cases within courts. For those courts with a lot of sexual violence cases—through no fault of anyone; we are not alleging that there is any fault within the system—and with these backlogs, we hope that this enhanced specialist support will give us some evidence as to whether these measures work, with a view to going further if need be.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): I have absolutely no doubt of my hon. Friend’s commitment and dedication to this cause, and I am grateful to her for that. A lot of the figures she quotes are encouraging, but the fact is—she says it herself—that we have a long way to go. As she said, key to this is confidence in the system. Victims need confidence to come forward in the first place and then confidence to stay the course through the process, which can be fairly punitive, as she would be the first to admit. What more can she do to drive that confidence among victims?
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): There are many ways in which we can support victims. One is through specialist support such as ISVAs and the victims charities that do such a vital job of working with women and victims of sexual violence. Another thing that we are in the process of setting up is a 24/7 support line for victims of sexual violence, and I am extremely grateful to Rape Crisis for its help on this. We are testing it carefully over the next couple of months to ensure that we understand when peaks and flows will necessitate proper staffing, but we are absolutely committed to providing those services so that victims can get the help they need when they need it.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Mark Clarkson (Conservative, Centre-right): When we talk about this distressing subject, there is the potential to go into abstraction and talk about statistics when, in fact, behind every one of those figures is a shattered life. What is being done to ensure that people dealing with victims of rape and sexual assault understand fully the trauma that the individual going through the process is experiencing, so that they can help them to stay in the process?
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): The focus of Operation Soteria, the police technique of focusing on the suspect rather than on the witness’s credibility, is critical to the increased understanding that my hon. Friend talks about. He is right to say that when we talk about percentage increases and so on, it can take away from the individual person or people who have been so hurt and traumatised. If I can just translate this into English, from October to December last year, 467 people were convicted of a rape offence. That represents a 15% increase on the previous quarter. Those 467 people were convicted and sentenced by the courts, thereby protecting the public from their violent behaviour.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): I worked with the hon. Lady on the Domestic Abuse Bill and I know how committed she is to ensuring that victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence secure the justice they deserve. The whole of this Government are committed to this piece of work, from the very top. From the Prime Minister down, this is an absolute priority for the Government. I welcome scrutiny—I welcome hon. Members asking me questions at the Dispatch Box—but I also ask please that we acknowledge it when there are early signs of progress, precisely because I want to encourage victims to come forward and get the support they need.
Rape: Criminal Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2022-06-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Fay Alicia Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Yesterday, I met the Chief Crown Prosecutor for Wales, who singled out my police force, Dyfed-Powys police, for its early engagement with the Crown Prosecution Service as it seeks to secure charging decisions. The CPS is urging police forces to be proactive and to seek advice as early as possible so as to improve the number of cases that can progress. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Dyfed-Powys police on this and urge other police forces across the country to adopt this practice?