argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. What he did not say was when he wrote the letter. In my experience, the Prime Minister is as courteous as anybody in this House. She receives a very large volume of correspondence, as other very senior Members do, and it is her usual practice to respond timeously, but I do not know when the letter was written. All I would say is that the matter is clearly of the highest importance, and I hope that by the ruse of a point of order the hon. Gentleman has effectively expedited the matter. If he has not succeeded in doing so, I have a feeling that we will be hearing from him again ere long. I thank him: it was indeed an important matter, and I appreciate him raising it. If there are no further points of order—if the appetite has now been satisfied—we come to the urgent question.
Yemen — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mark Andrew Pritchard (Conservative, Centre-right): The Foreign Secretary knows that Her Majesty’s armed forces always act with the highest professionalism and integrity, but how confident is he that when alleged war crimes—breaches of the laws of war, of international humanitarian law and of international law—are investigated in the future, the technical assistance given to the Saudi regime by Her Majesty’s armed forces will not drag them into accusations of complicity in such actions?
Gosport Independent Panel — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I always listen to all of my colleagues with equal doses of respect and affection, but I am moved to observe as we approach the festive season that it would probably be a good idea for the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) to send copies of his textbook on succinct questions as Christmas presents to all colleagues.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not believe that is the right interpretation. I do recognise that a number of colleagues across the House have concerns about the backstop arrangement, but let me underline one point. Under the backstop arrangement, were it ever to come into place, the United Kingdom would be an independent coastal state. Some people have read the withdrawal agreement and taken it to mean that somehow the common fisheries policy would be extended if the backstop were to come into operation and that we would not have control over our territorial waters and our exclusive economic zone. That is not the case. Even in the event of the backstop coming into operation, we will be an independent coastal state, and fishermen, whether they are in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the United Kingdom, will be able to take advantage of the additional fishing opportunities that arise as a result.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (Conservative, Centre-right): If the backstop is not implemented but the implementation period is extended, can the Secretary of State confirm that that would mean we have to remain in the CFP beyond the 21 months? Is he aware—perhaps he can reassure the House—that the French are circling, as we all expect them to do, with Sabine Weyand saying that the British "would have to swallow a link between access to products and fisheries in future agreements"?
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Immigration
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I am grateful to those who work in the fish processing industry, and indeed to those who work offshore, who come from across the world, and not just from European economic area nations, to help ensure that industry is strong. That is why my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has made it clear that our post-Brexit immigration policy will be truly global in scope and focused on making sure this country is an economic success, emphasising that we have taken back control.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I will answer my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) and the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) before giving way. We have been told at different times that we will have to bend or buckle when it comes to fisheries. The Prime Minister and the negotiating team have absolutely not bent or buckled, which is why the European Commission’s own negotiator has had to attempt to sweeten the pill It will not have escaped my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford that other countries are expressing their dissatisfaction with the withdrawal agreement for precisely that reason. He spent a distinguished time as a Minister and as the Conservative party’s Europe spokesman, and he must know that if other countries are complaining that they have lost out, it is a sign that this country has secured an advantage.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. You are right to say that I want to make sure I can answer as many questions as possible, from Members in as many parts of the House as possible, but this is a well subscribed debate and I have been able to make only about two or three of the points I wanted to make while I have been answering questions.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Henry Hayes (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is absolutely right about processing, and it also requires concentration on productivity, investment in technology and making sure our processing industry is as competitive as possible. I hope that can be debated during our deliberations on the Bill and included in the Government’s objectives.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Members have not been too bad at sticking to the time limit suggested earlier, but as the House can see, a great many people still wish to speak. I would like to try to impose a voluntary time limit of six minutes. [Interruption.] I appreciate that this is a bit of a surprise for the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (David Duguid), who has much to say on this subject, so I shall not hold him to six minutes, but everyone else is now warned.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Hon. Members have been very good in observing a time limit, but to make sure that everyone has a chance of speaking, I am now going to impose a formal time limit of six minutes.
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Immigration
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): That is page 29, but there is absolutely no information on how the SNP would do that or what it would do. It is absolutely farcical—you have no plan for how you will go forward on the CFP; you will simply go back into it and do as you are told Other things we have not heard are—[Interruption.] Oh, come on, please. The hon. Lady mentioned nothing about the Scottish Government’s report that says that the fishing industry will benefit from £540 million and see an extra 5,000 jobs in Scotland as we come out of the CFP. The SNP will not mention that, because it wants to go back into the CFP I agree with a lot of things said by a number of Members—including the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (David Duguid), the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael)—about the problems that the Government’s immigration policies are causing for fishermen. I held a Westminster Hall debate on the matter at which a number of Members spoke. [Interruption.] If SNP Members would stop barracking me, I may be able to answer their questions. This is something for which I believe there is cross-party support. I believe that the Government could make small changes to ensure that we get the right people into our—
Fisheries Bill — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not an unerring truth in this House that anyone who speaks the truth gets barracked by Scottish National party Members? They are not interested in debate, the facts, or answering the questions that my hon. Friend is putting; they are interested only in a separatist circus that threatens the jobs and livelihoods of the people they fail to represent.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Other
Luke Patrick Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I seek your guidance on the rules about hon. Members using another hon. Member’s place of birth as a line of attack in this Chamber. Earlier today, I intervened in the debate on the Fisheries Bill. When I sat down, the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford) said from a sedentary position that I should go back and be an MP for Swindon. Now, I am all for robust debate, and I am proud of where I was born, but I understood that the reason we refer to each other by the names of our constituencies is that we are here to represent our constituents, not ourselves, and that therefore where we were born does not matter. I first fought for my seat in 2015 and have represented it since 2017, and I have fought for my constituents every single day. I ask for clarification, for all Members of the House, that whether they were born in Scotland and now represent a seat in England, or whether they were born in Northern Ireland or Australia and now represent a seat in Scotland, it does not matter, because what counts is where we want to be and what we do in this House—
Ryarsh Quarry, Kent — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Public Lands
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): I rise to present a petition on behalf of 2,734 residents in and around the village of Ryarsh, who are united against the allocation of a site on Roughetts Road for quarrying—there were a further 881 signatures online. For a village the size of Ryarsh, with only a few hundred residents, this shows how the whole community and many more have come together as one on the issue. Members of the community are in the Public Gallery, and I am sure that everyone in the House welcomes them. I am grateful to the Ryarsh protection group and to Ryarsh Parish Council for the months they have spent getting so many signatures. No doubt all those who signed will be pleased that Kent County Council’s draft minerals and waste local plan does not include the site The petition states: The petition of Residents of Tonbridge and Malling, Declares that land in Ryarsh, west of Roughetts Road is an unsuitable location for a quarry and Kent County Council should not allocate site M8 for sand extraction in their Minerals and Waste Local Plan The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges Kent County Council to reconsider the allocation of a site for quarrying in Ryarsh, West Malling And the petitioners remain, etc [P002296]
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): The Somerset Tourism Association and Visit Somerset have made representations to me on this matter and they very much agree with the right hon. Gentleman that a reduction in VAT on overnight accommodation and visitor attractions leaves more money in the pockets of visitors to spend on other things during their stay. So the money is not lost to the system; it grows the visitor economy even further.
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Henry Edward Millar Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is making a powerful argument and I hope that the Treasury will listen sympathetically. He is right that reducing VAT on tourism would boost the economy, and it would also be a boost to gateways to the UK such as Gatwick airport in my constituency, where many tourists arrive from abroad and benefit the local community. It would certainly help to boost the economy further.
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on securing this debate and on his perseverance in ensuring that we have this opportunity to debate these important matters. He quite rightly raised the importance of tourism, of which the Government are extremely aware: 1.6 million people are employed in the sector. He made important points about the sheer reach across the economy of the tourist sector, right down to the very point that he raised in his own constituency of examples of farms where additional income is being raised through participating in tourist-related activity. The sector provides £66 billion to the UK economy and 3.8% of gross value added. He is also right that, at the moment, tourism is booming not just in his constituency, but across the United Kingdom. Last year, 2017, was a record year, with 39.2 million visitors to the UK, which was 4.3% up on 2016. Not only are more tourists coming, but they are spending more as well, with an even larger increase in the amount that they are spending It is important to put on the record the admiration that we as a Government have for the sector and the gratitude that we have for all those who work so hard in what is quite a tough industry—it is one of those sectors that has rather a nice, soft and fun feel to it, but we all appreciate that a lot of hard work goes on behind that. The Government not only recognise the importance of tourism, but are also there to support tourism. I cite three broad areas in which we do that. The first is to get the broader economic factors correct. As the House will know, we have had eight years of economic growth and the Office for Budget Responsibility is now projecting a further five years of growth. We have high levels of employment, low levels of unemployment and we are seeing inflation coming down towards its target as well. That is an important broader macroeconomic context in which we hold this debate and discuss tourism The second area is business in general. We have reduced tax on companies across the board from 28% in 2010 down to 17% in the coming couple of years.
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. Does he agree that one of the taxes that could really catalyse growth in our visitor economy, not just for tourism, but for business travel as well, is further reductions in air passenger duty, beyond the very welcome announcement in the Budget, because nothing, surely, can catalyse growth in our visitor economy more than further reductions in APD?
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Peter Heaton-Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for giving way. On the subject of coastal towns, as he and the whole House will be aware, the best places to visit as a tourist are some of the wonderful coastal towns of North Devon. The tourism industry in my constituency has lobbied hard for exactly the position that the right hon. Gentleman has proposed. It is something for which I have a great deal of sympathy, but I wonder whether, as well as Her Majesty’s Treasury entering into those sorts of thoughts, we could look across the Government at other ways that the tourism industry can be supported. The point that is often made to me is that, for a relatively modest spend on promotion of the UK and its regions as a tourist destination, we can have greater benefits for the local economies.
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I recognise the sterling work that he does in promoting tourism in his own constituency. He is a constituency neighbour of mine and I am well aware of the good work that he does. He is right: we must do a lot of important things in terms of specifically supporting tourism.
Tourism Industry: VAT Reduction — House of Commons, 2018-11-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises the issue of VAT specifically in Northern Ireland. As he will be aware, we undertook a call for evidence, which we announced at the Budget before last. We have now reported on that and will continue to look at the issue of VAT, although we are currently constrained by virtue of our membership of the European Union, as I will argue later. Northern Ireland actually has some advantages over the Republic of Ireland when it comes to VAT. For example, we have the highest VAT threshold for businesses that have to charge VAT in the European Union and the OECD, including the Irish Republic The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland mentioned the specific support we provide for tourism. We provide some £60 million per year for our GREAT Britain campaign, £20 million per year of which goes to VisitBritain. Our tourism action plan looks at regulation, transport, skills and all the other things that underpin tourist activity as well as money and taxation. Some £40 million goes to the Discover England fund for promoting tourism outside London At the heart of the right hon. Gentleman’s ask is clearly a reduction in VAT, particularly with regard to food and beverages, attractions and accommodation— the areas that he cited when he mentioned the VAT directive and the derogations in items (7), (12) and (12a). The Government recognise the strength of feeling on this matter. We have met campaigners over many years, and I have engaged extensively with Members right across the House. We will keep VAT and VAT on tourism under review, but unfortunately there are some issues from which we cannot hide away. One of those issues is the fact that, if we are to make a change, under the current arrangements with the European Union that change would have to be UK-wide. It would therefore come with quite a hefty price tag The Treasury estimates that, in the first year at least—although one recognises there are dynamic effects of reducing taxes, increasing activity and therefore perhaps getting more tax revenue further down the line—we would be looking at a cost of about £10 billion for reducing VAT from 20% down to 5% in the categories that I mentioned. That would be about £7 billion on food and beverages, £2 billion on accommodation and £1 billion on attractions. Some of that loss, or some of the relief that we would be providing, would be dead weight in the sense that it would not necessarily solely apply to supporting tourism.
Sporting Infrastructure: Cornwall — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Derek Gordon Thomas (Conservative, Centre-right): Dare I say, Mr Speaker, that your tie today is a fine one The Minister will be aware that I have been working with stakeholders in Cornwall for 10 years now to deliver a stadium for Cornwall. A stadium is not only about sport, although we should celebrate Cornish sport, it is also about the health and wellbeing of children and adults right across the county of Cornwall. We have been working hard and we are nearly there with the money; what more can the Treasury do to deliver on this fantastic opportunity?
Sporting Infrastructure: Cornwall — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): That was very tenuous. Once a new stadium has been built in Truro, perhaps people will not need to go to Plymouth to support Argyle. We are supporting grassroots sports in several ways—for example, the soft drinks industry levy has ensured that more than £500 million of additional funding has gone into school sport and into the health and wellbeing schemes that are delivered, along with breakfast clubs, in our primary schools.
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Housing
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): Budget 2018 announced our plan for the high street, which provides £1.5 billion of support to fund local areas as they make their high streets fit for the future. The plan includes a £675 million future high streets fund, planning reforms, a high streets taskforce, support for community assets and a cut by a third to the business rates bills of independent retailers for two years from April 2019, saving businesses almost £900 million.
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): Although I welcome the measures that the Chancellor just mentioned—they are helping high streets greatly—the business rates system is currently not working for high streets. Will the Chancellor therefore consider a type of transaction tax that would level the playing field between online businesses and those based on premises, and also enable businesses such as Starbucks and Amazon to start to pay their fair share of tax?
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a point that has been raised on many occasions. There is concern about the way the business rates system works. In 2016, we conducted a fundamental review of business rates that agreed that property-based taxes were easy to collect, difficult to avoid and stable. There was no consensus around any replacement for business rates. My hon. Friend will know that separately the Government announced in the Budget a digital services tax to ensure that digital businesses pay tax that reflects the value that they derive from UK users.
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Peter Heaton-Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Chancellor join me in congratulating Barnstaple, where the high street has bucked the national trend? We have fewer vacant premises and increasing footfall. Will the Government continue to support retailers, especially the smaller independent businesses that are the backbone of our economy?
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I see the right hon. Gentleman nodding Business rates are an issue for retailers, and there are some simple things that could be changed now. Does the Chancellor agree, for example, that, for many retailers, their busiest period is Christmas when they could perhaps agree to pay more in business rates and then pay less in periods when they are less busy, so, overall, the same amount is paid, but there is flexibility in payment?
Support for the High Street — House of Commons, 2018-12-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): There are a couple of points there. First, I should just say to the hon. Gentleman that I was actually congratulating him the other day on his display of synthetic anger, which is one of the best in the House. On the wider point, the high street is facing challenges because of the uptake of online retailing across the UK at a faster rate than in any other large economy. That means that our high streets will have to adapt. The Government cannot save the high street from the need to change. What they can do is support it as it goes through that process of change.