argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Policing (England and Wales) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is also moving money from the most deprived areas to some of the wealthiest? For example, 50% of properties in County Durham are in band A, so the ability to raise a great deal of money locally is quite limited, unlike in Surrey or Woking, where, given the larger council tax base, further money can be raised. This is moving money from poor areas and giving it to wealthier areas.
Policing (England and Wales) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Housing
Diane Julie Abbott (Labour, Centre-left): My right hon. Friend raises a key point about the precept. Ministers like to claim that by generously allowing PCCs to raise a greater precept, they are somehow doing them a favour. The truth is that reliance on money raised by the precept hits poorer communities that have lower house prices harder. It is not equitable to be endlessly praying in aid the precept, rather than providing proper funding from the centre.
Local Government Finance (England) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lyn Carol Brown (Labour, Centre-left): I am staggered, to be honest, because I think that council tax is a regressive tax. Each adult in Newham has lost 50% of the grant that was given by the Government, in an area where more than 50% of our children live in poverty, in order to give to the Tory shires. Does the Secretary of State honestly think that is a fair settlement?
Local Government Finance (England) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Councils such as Durham County Council are being disadvantaged, because even if they increase their council tax by 2% to cover that element, it will raise far less than could be raised by some councils in the south, which have larger council tax bases. The demands on Durham County Council are far greater than those on councils in Surrey, for example, because we have fewer self-funders, so how can that be fair?
Local Government Finance (England) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Mixed Topics
Preet Kaur Gill (Labour, Centre-left): My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that the Government have to stop running councils into the ground with their cuts, and should instead invest properly to halt and reverse the real-world implications of their ideologically driven austerity policy?
Local Government Finance (England) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Housing
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Wait a minute. It was built in the 1960s, it is full of asbestos and it is very energy-inefficient. If he wants to put capital—public money—into it, fine, but it will not happen, because the money is not there, and what he suggests would cost a lot more than what has been proposed. In addition to that, the council is going to save somewhere in the region of £300,000 a year in running costs. In terms of trying to grow our council tax base in County Durham, that is what the Government want us to do. That is a good, prudent way in which the council is operating. As I say, if the hon. Gentleman is against jobs going to his constituency, please redirect them to mine, because I will have them. [Interruption.] Well, I just ask him to learn his facts. If he wants dog-whistle politics, which he obviously does, then fine, but let us see what is to the benefit—[Interruption.]
Local Government Finance (England) — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Other
James McMahon (Labour, Centre-left): This point has been made at the Dispatch Box before, but a number of important, non-controversial Bills fell when the election was called. If the Government want to work cross-party on bringing those non-controversial Bills forward, we will be happy to support them.
Early Years Sector — House of Commons, 2020-05-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): Nurseries and childcare providers have struggled to stay open during this crisis. The Minister will know that the confusion over the Department for Education statements on free entitlement and the furlough scheme has caused many financial headaches. Last week, the First Secretary of State said at PMQs that if those providers were finding it too much to bear, the Government will look "afresh" at what can be done. Can the Minister tell me when the Secretary of State will look afresh at what needs to be done, and, given that the Minister is regularly in touch with nurseries, will she tell me the last time that she spoke to the nurseries and childcare providers in my constituency, because they do not seem to know about plans to rescue their provision?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-05-05
Topic: Civil Rights
Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour, Centre-left): It has become apparent that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are being disproportionately affected by covid-19. People in Erith and Thamesmead have also raised concerns about the disproportionate effects of covid-19 on disabled people, people from low social economic backgrounds, women and children. Does the Secretary of State have plans to publish a report on the effects of covid-19 on people who fall under one or more protected characteristics?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-05-05
Topic: Immigration
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful, Mr Speaker. The Health Secretary told me that he would make public the evidence behind the Government’s repeatedly confirmed decision, in contrast with other countries, not to ask people arriving at our ports and airports to self-isolate. However, that evidence was not included in the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies papers published today, even though the papers say we were affected by many cases arriving or coming back from Italy and Spain. Surely, we need to see the evidence and scrutinise it in order to get border policy right. Why has it been withheld?
Points-based Immigration — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): The phrase "brightest and best", when it appears in immigration talk, is obviously subjective and deliberately vague. What the private sector and local authorities want to know is: under the new Government system, will they be able to get people to come in who want to provide care—people we are desperate for?
Turkey-Greece Border: Refugees — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question, and I also thank the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) for securing it. As she has rightly said, the behaviour of both Greece and Turkey towards the refugees stuck on their mutual border is utterly shameful—Turkey for wilfully putting them in that impossible position in the first place, knowing that there is nowhere for them to go; and Greece for its unacceptable, heavy-handed response, including the use of tear gas and water cannon, even against people in flimsy dinghies in treacherous conditions Much as the self-interested sympathies of Germany and other neighbouring EU countries may lie with the Greek Government, there is no right or wrong in this crisis. Turkey is using the threat of a refugee crisis as leverage to scare up EU and NATO support for its disastrous intervention in Idlib, and Greece is ignoring its obligations under the refugee and human rights conventions by responding with such brutality. Both are equally in the wrong and should stand equally condemned, both legally and morally. The question is: where do we go from here? While there are no easy answers, there are, as ever, two starting points. First, is the welfare of unaccompanied children and adolescents at severe risk of exploitation, neglect and abuse? Can the Minister give us his estimate of how many children and adolescents are affected? He has been asked this question several times by several Members, so I will ask again: will the UK be joining Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal in offering these children help Secondly—again, as always—we must address this crisis at source and stem the increasing outflow of refugees from Idlib. We therefore urgently need an internationally agreed political solution to end the war in Syria, with the safe and peaceful resettlement of refugees at its heart. May I therefore ask the Minister, in closing, what action is currently being taken towards that end?
Turkey-Greece Border: Refugees — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): My right hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), the shadow Foreign Secretary, and the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) have already asked about child refugees, who are vulnerable by any definition. Can the Minister please confirm that the Government are joining the coalition of the willing led by the German Government to relocate 1,500 child refugees to try to help with some of the pressures in this crisis?
Turkey-Greece Border: Refugees — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister has mentioned resettlement, and I am glad to hear the commitment to 5,000 places under the resettlement scheme, but I have two questions. What are his Government currently doing to improve access to the resettlement scheme on the ground? I have heard from refugee NGOs that it can be very difficult to get on to the scheme. Also, has the Home Secretary continued negotiations with the EU on the unaccompanied children about whom we have heard so much? We have heard about a letter, but what else has happened?
Turkey-Greece Border: Refugees — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Zarah Sultana (Labour, Centre-left): Some 5.5 million people have been forced to flee brutal war in Syria, with more than 3.5 million fleeing to Turkey. The European countries have refused to do their fair share and instead have built a fortress to keep out people in need of safety. That is what we are witnessing at the Greek border. In the light of that, will the Government finally do what is right and significantly step up efforts, including by opening up safe and legal routes?
Turkey-Greece Border: Refugees — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Immigration
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will be as worried as everybody else about the reports of the refugee camp being burned and of the vigilante groups on the ground. What support are the Government giving, particularly to NGOs, to help to de-escalate the situation out there?
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Housing
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to move amendment 2, in clause 1, page 2, line 3, after "lessee in occupation" insert ", or a person who is a legal occupant of the property and who is in a contractual relationship with the lessee or freeholder," This amendment is intended to expand the definition of persons who can request an operator to provide an electronic telecommunications service to include rental tenants and other legal occupants who may not own the lease to the property they occupy.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman anticipates some of what this debate is about, but I point out to him that in 2003 there were no relevant powers or requirements on operators to notify when a foreign supplier became part of the network. More broadly, we are not, and I hope the hon. Gentleman is not, saying that the presence of suppliers from, or investment in our country by, different countries such as China—the Government have overseen huge investment in our infrastructure by the Chinese—is by definition wrong; we are saying clearly that we need to put in place plans to mitigate and manage that presence and investment. The Government are not doing that. The hon. Gentleman talks about avoiding party political debates, but he is making historical party political points.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. I hope that Members will not interrupt the debate with too many points of order. I am sure that the hon. Member for Preston (Sir Mark Hendrick) is clear that if there were any need to make a declaration, I would expect him to do so.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Other
Mark Phillip Hendrick (Labour, Centre-left): Yes, I was about to do so, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have consulted the Speaker’s Office—as it will confirm—and checked this point, and I wish to declare a visit to the Huawei factory 10 years ago.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point of order. As I have said, I am sure that the hon. Member for Preston will make any declarations necessary, and I hope that he has sought advice on the issue.
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): This is clearly a question of great importance, yet unfortunately I hear nothing new. The Secretary of State seems to be committing to diversification, but what is the new commitment? Is it diversification of the supply chain, which was in the review, or is it diversification of the supply chain leading to the elimination of high-risk vendors, and if so by what date?
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mathew Richard Allen Rodda (Labour, Centre-left): I have listened attentively to the views that have been expressed during this important debate. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is important for us to get the legislation right, and to think very carefully about this issue? Should we not also consider the importance of generating a supply chain within the UK, given that we have many excellent employers in both British-domiciled and overseas companies, which are adding a great deal to the country’s economy and which could be developed further?
Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-10
Topic: Housing
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): I am afraid that the Secretary of State’s so-called assurances have sown more confusion, rather than rectifying the situation. He says the Bill should include tenants, but he also said in the same speech that it would be disproportionate to extend the Bill to do so. I will therefore press amendment 2 Question put, That the amendment be made.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker; that was a very quick promotion As the Secretary of State said, not only is co-ordination across the UK important, but the unique situation in Northern Ireland means that co-operation with the Republic of Ireland is equally important. Can he explain why those in Northern Ireland who hold an Irish passport, as is their right under the Good Friday agreement, are still unable to check their eligibility for the self-employed support scheme, and can he commit to urgently rectify that problem before the scheme starts to pay out?
Covid-19: Devolved Administrations — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The contact tracing app that the UK Government are developing is apparently different from the one that the Irish Government are advocating, which may create significant difficulties not only on the island of Ireland but in relation to travel to and from the rest of the UK via, for example, Welsh, Scottish and English ports. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government on the proposed app, and what would he advise people in Northern Ireland to do?
Legacy Issues — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Civil Rights
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The Victims’ Commissioner said: "The aim of addressing the legacy of the past must be to build a better future" Why did the Secretary of State, in that spirit, not consult with key organisations such as the Commission for Victims and Survivors before publishing his statement on 18 March? Does he agree that victims must be at the heart of the proposal, and that any proposals must have their full support?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): At the end of March, I asked the Prime Minister to help the thousands of our people stranded abroad, notably in south Asia and especially in the Punjab. Grudgingly, and much slower than other countries, the Foreign Office organised fights back, but many are still stranded. Furthermore, the FCO now seems to be washing its hands of those with indefinite leave to remain, even though they may have lived and worked here for years and are the husbands, wives, parents and grandparents of British citizens. Some have described it as another Windrush scandal waiting to happen. Will Prime Minister will sort this out?
Covid-19: Housing Market — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Housing
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome much of what the Government have proposed, particularly the help for private tenants. However, we should recognise that many tenants’ rent arrears will grow over time, causing problems not merely for them, but for small private landlords. Will the Secretary of State consider a scheme like the Spanish Government’s, which offers low-interest loans to tenants to help them to pay the rent and the landlords to receive it? As for the market for new housing, if demand for new homes falls, will he consider increasing grants to housing associations and councils so that they can help the construction industry keep going by building more social homes for rent?
Covid-19: Housing Market — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Housing
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): May I press the Secretary of State on the issue of the cliff edge facing many in the privately rented sector? What action will the Government take to avoid mass homelessness as the moratorium on evictions lifts and we emerge from the covid-19 crisis?
Covid-19: Housing Market — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Housing
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): At the beginning of this crisis, the Secretary of State said "Everyone in", and that he would fund councils to end homelessness. Since then, it has been suggested that that might not apply to those with no recourse to public funds. That is nonsense: the virus could not care less about someone’s migration status. Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to clarify that when he said everybody he meant absolutely everybody, and that he will be providing funding to make sure this happens?
Speaker’s Statement — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Before we start the business today, I should like to make a statement. Before I call the Leader of the House, I want to make some points that arise from the announcement last night about the likely duration of hybrid proceedings. My priority, and the priority of all I am sure, is to ensure that those on the estate are safe while business is facilitated. I am working with the parties and the Commission to ensure that this duty of care is taken seriously. Nothing in the announcement of the Leader of the House changes the position on social distancing in and around the Chamber and throughout the parliamentary estate—I think that we are all agreed that only changes to the guidance from Public Health England can actually do that. I may suspend sittings between items of business to allow safe access to, and exit from, the Chamber. I am also quite prepared to suspend a sitting if I believe that the safe number of hon. Members in the Chamber risks being exceeded. If physical Divisions replace remote Divisions, they will take much longer than usual—probably around 30 minutes and possibly up to an hour—to ensure that social distancing can be observed. Business is now resumed Business of the House (13 May) Motion made, That— The following arrangements shall apply to today’s business: Business Timings Remote division designation Business statement Up to 20 minutes None Agriculture Bill: Consideration Up to one hour and 55 minutes; suspension; up to one hour and 15 minutes from the resumption following the suspension Remote division Agriculture Bill: Third Reading Up to two hours and 15 minutes from the resumption following the suspension Remote division Committee on Standards No debate None Committee of Privileges No debate None At the conclusion of proceedings on Consideration of the Agriculture Bill the Speaker shall put the Questions necessary to bring those proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with Standing Order No. 83E (Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on consideration and up to and including third reading) At the conclusion of the time allocated to the debate on the Third Reading of the Agriculture Bill the Speaker shall put the Question, That the Bill be now read the third time.—(James Morris.) The Speaker declared the Question to be agreed to (Order (4), 22 April).
Remote Division result: New Clause 2 — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I have been informed that a small number of Members have inadvertently cast their votes, by electronic means, in the opposite way to the one in which they intended to vote. I am informed that their use of technology was not quite as good as they felt it ought to be and that a few Members have made a mistake. There is no provision under the current temporary system by which a Member can change their vote once it has been cast, but I am satisfied that even if a small number of votes had been cast in a different way it does not affect the result of the Division Clause 42 Regulations under section 40: classification of domestic support and provision of information Amendment proposed: 39, page 38, line 28, leave out subsections (4) and (5).—(Deidre Brock.) Question put, That the amendment be made The House proceeded to a remote Division.
LGBT Rights — House of Commons, 2020-05-06
Topic: Civil Rights
Gillian Furniss (Labour, Centre-left): Owing to the coronavirus pandemic, gender identity clinics in England have had to reduce their services. While it is understandable that hospitals prioritise their services during this crisis, can the Minister assure the House that trans people will still be able to access the gender identity services they need during the crisis?
Covid-19: Domestic Abuse — House of Commons, 2020-05-06
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. This Friday marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. I know all hon. Members will be keen to mark this occasion, even in these exceptional circumstances. I will be marking the occasion with a wreath-laying ceremony in the House on Friday We now come to questions to the Prime Minister. I would like to welcome the Prime Minister back to his rightful place in the Chamber. The whole House and the whole country are delighted at his recovery, and I welcome him back to this elected House.