argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Exiting the European Union (Building and Buildings) — House of Commons, 2020-11-18
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I will be brief, because to be honest I do not understand why this SI is being debated in the main Chamber and has not been tucked away in a Committee Room as it should have been In a former life I worked as a civil engineer, so I was familiar with working with British Standards and then the changeover to Eurocodes. The harmonisation of products was welcome: it gave a wider choice and helped to bring down the cost of construction projects and make them more efficient, in the UK and throughout the EU. That was a big advantage of that harmonisation. I suggest to the Minister that the UK should not be in a rush to diverge, because there are unintended consequences from diverging for no real reason. Will the Minister explain how any proposed changes in legislation will be handled? How will he judge the impact of the benefits of making changes versus the possible disadvantages of diverging from an EU-wide coding scheme The Minister stated earlier that he hopes to get a trade deal; how detailed are the trade deal discussions on matters such as this? It is really important that after we leave the EU, EU products can still come into the UK to keep building projects going and that UK manufacturers are able to export their goods to the EU uninterrupted and uninhibited. Otherwise, there will obviously be an economic cost to the UK. How detailed are the proposals in the current trade deal discussions We need to face reality, because the Minister’s Prime Minister says that we can leave the EU without a deal and that that will not cause any problem. If we leave the EU without a deal, what will that mean for construction products that are either exported from the UK into the EU or, vice versa, imported into the UK from the EU? As I say, those imports are vital to keep our construction projects going—to keep houses being built and infra- structure upgrades going. The UK Government are planning a big infrastructure investment, which in itself is to be welcomed—if we get a cleaner, greener UK, that is to be welcomed—but it will rely on construction products coming from the EU. What will be the real impact if there is no deal and the UK is operating as a third country? I would be interested to hear the Minister clear that up. With those brief remarks, I conclude.
Banning of unpaid work trials — House of Commons, 2020-11-18
Topic: Labor
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank my constituent, Ellen Reynolds, for her actions in bringing the petition together. She has experienced what it is like to work a so-called trial shift and not to get paid. She does not want anyone else to go through that. Her e-petition on the parliamentary website has more than 7,000 signatures. I hope there will be more, so that we get a Government response, a debate and perhaps even action to stop that unscrupulous practice The petition states: The petition of residents of the constituency of Glasgow North, Declares that unpaid trial shifts are open to exploitation and can be used by unscrupulous employers to take advantage of vulnerable people looking for a job; further that often unpaid trials are for minimum wage jobs and the people applying for them cannot afford to work for free but may have no other option; further that unpaid trial shift workers may also have to incur the cost of travelling to and from the trial shift as well as procuring a uniform; further that potential employees may feel as though they cannot say no to exploitative trials without risking their future livelihood; and further that it is unfair to force someone to work for hours without pay, and incur additional costs, for a job they might not even get The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to take action and ban all unpaid work trials And the petitioners remain, etc [P002629]
Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Today, Oxfam campaigners are visiting the new FCDO to hand in a letter on behalf of thousands of people, including my constituents, that calls on the UK Government to stop fuelling the war in Yemen and to reverse the decision to resume arms sales licences to Saudi Arabia. Does the Secretary of State not accept the inherent contradiction between selling arms with one part of the FCDO and providing aid with the other? Does he also accept that what Yemen needs is an urgent and immediate ceasefire, rather than an escalation of this five-year-old conflict?
Belarus — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Alyn Edward Smith (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We on the SNP Benches, and I am sure those across the House, support and salute the bravery of pro-democracy activists and call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, along with, of course, Maria Kolesnikova. I am sure that we all agree on that point I am grateful for the Minister’s statement and I agree, as far as it goes, but I would urge her to go further. I make four concrete proposals specifically based on the rule of law. There are things we can do through the OSCE and European partners, but there also things we can do specifically. Targeted sanctions on individuals under the Magnitsky regime is something that the UK can do now. We welcome the suspension of military co-operation, but could we have an explicit statement on what it actually involves and its ramifications? Can we explore humanitarian aid to activists? Poland has given €10 million to brave activists. Can we explore sanctions against companies involved in facilitating oppression by the regime? These are concrete points that the UK can act on now.
Belarus — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Alyn Edward Smith (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I will be brief, Mr Speaker—my apologies. I welcome the Minister’s comments. There is a lot of common ground. Will she commit to meet Belarusian activists here in the UK? My office will be happy to facilitate that.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It has been two years since President Mnangagwa took office in Zimbabwe, yet progress in human rights reform has been non-existent. In the past year alone 70 critics of the Zimbabwean Government have been abducted and tortured by security forces; what steps is the FCDO taking to engage with the Zimbabwean authorities to progress reforms and ensure that those responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice?
Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Legal Obligations — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister referred to Northern Ireland and said, "This is a good deal", when he struck it last year. Now he seems to disagree with himself. There are U-turns everywhere, but this is something else. No wonder it is reported today that the head of the UK Government Legal Department has just quit because of the rowing back in respect of the withdrawal agreement and Northern Ireland. The internal market Bill is taking a wrecking ball to devolution. The Government are hellbent on a poor deal or no-deal Brexit—and hang the implications—but using the Bill to renege on parts of the withdrawal agreement is extraordinary and dangerous Can the Minister explain what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about the impact of these plans on Northern Irish businesses and the Good Friday agreement? What advance discussions did he have with the Northern Irish Executive? I suspect the answer is: precious few. We have all seen the Government’s wilful disregard for devolution and their own international reputation. Who will want to do business with a Government who cannot stick to an agreement with themselves, never mind anyone else, and who make it up as they go along, as we heard just now and as people in Scotland are only too aware?
Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Legal Obligations — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We know that people in No. 10 like to move fast and break things, but I do not think we knew that that extended to the Northern Ireland protocol, with the consequences that will have for the Good Friday agreement and the devolution settlement as a whole. Does the Secretary of State accept that these are not just bits of paper, but that they affect people’s lives and livelihoods? Who, once all this is broken, is going to pick up the pieces?
Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Legal Obligations — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: International Affairs
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Mr Speaker, "Whatever form it takes, Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil the Good Friday Agreement, including the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland" That is a clear statement of intent from your counterpart in Capitol Hill, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Given that they make it clear that the Secretary of State’s Government can rip up international agreements to suit their own version of Brexit or they can have a US-UK trade deal, but not both, what will it be?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: Labor
Christopher Charles Stephens (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a similar point to the one raised by the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), can the Secretary of State tell us what advice and guidance his Department is issuing to employers that are trying to use covid-related absence to trigger points for absence management interviews and to remove occupational sick pay? We saw recent such attempts by IKEA, which then dismissed the trade union representative who had the temerity to tell trade union members what their employer was up to. Will he condemn those employers that are trying to use covid-related absences to remove occupational sick pay and the like?
UK Internal Market Bill: Scotland’s Education System — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): During the debate on that Bill in the other place last week, Lord Callanan assured peers that "the devolved Administrations will retain the right to legislate in devolved policy areas." —[Official Report, House of Lords, 18 November 2020; Vol. 807, c. 1520.] However, during the previous Education questions the Secretary of State would not give a clear answer on whether the Bill could impact the Scottish Government’s ability to set university fees in Scotland. So can the Minister now confirm that her Government’s internal market Bill will not undermine the Scottish Government’s provision of free university tuition?
UK Internal Market Bill: Scotland’s Education System — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Well, that is a very unequivocal answer, so we look forward to that not coming back to bite them at any point in the future. I am glad the Minister is engaging with the GTCS, because in the other place the Minister has had to table an amendment to specifically include school teaching in the list of exempted professions. School teaching could be interpreted narrowly as solely relating to the education of children, but of course GTCS-registered teachers teach in many different educational settings, so will this Minister clarify whether the amendment is intended to include any institution in which teaching is delivered?
UK Internal Market Bill: Scotland’s Education System — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Government Operations
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): That is an encouraging answer from the Minister, so I thank her for that response. She says that the Government have engaged with the GTCS, but last month the GTCS wrote to the Secretary of State on this very matter and has yet to receive a response. Is that normal Government practice when dealing with professional organisations? When should the GTCS expect to hear from the Secretary of State?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Education
Christopher Charles Stephens (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Scottish universities receive an average of 8% of their total research funding from the European Union, with a majority coming from Horizon 2020, so can the Secretary of State tell us whether participation in Horizon Europe is still on the table? If not, how should our universities be looking to replicate that funding?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Macroeconomics
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Prime Minister for advance sight of his statement and for his telephone call earlier today This morning, people right across these islands woke up to the more encouraging news on the development of vaccines to fight this deadly virus. It is right that we pay tribute to the remarkable efforts of thousands of scientists across the world who worked at unprecedented speed to produce those vaccines. All those scientists offer us hope that there is a way out of this pandemic, based on the primacy of safety for our society. Far too often in the recent past, expertise and science have been questioned or demeaned by right-wing politicians. Let us now ensure that those same politicians never forget that it is the commitment and dedication to science that is now coming to our society’s rescue While we all welcome that hope on the horizon, there remain far too many of our citizens who have not received a single penny of support since the beginning of the pandemic. Three million freelancers, sole traders and the recently self-employed all remain excluded from any of the economic support established by this Tory Government. Those include people across our community —painters, bricklayers, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs and plumbers—and because of the choices made by this Tory Government, they are now facing Christmas with no help and no support. I and my party have been raising that issue since March, eight months ago. The excluded are not asking for any special treatment; they are looking for some of the same fairness that others have seen. Others have received support, and those who are excluded should also be getting it The Chancellor’s spending review this Wednesday will take place exactly one month before Christmas day. Will the Prime Minister guarantee today that a package of financial support will finally be put in place for the 3 million people who have been excluded from any economic support? Will there be some pre-Christmas cheer for the 3 million who have so far been excluded from help?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The uplift to universal credit was welcome, but people on legacy benefits, the sick and the disabled have also faced additional costs and hardships because of the pandemic, many of which were incurred to follow Government advice on shielding or protecting themselves. How does the right hon. Gentleman justify not applying the same uplift to those people, and can this injustice be rectified going forward?
Covid-19: Winter Plan — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In a recent survey, 95% of disabled people said that their costs had increased even further as a result of the pandemic, with no £20 uplift to their legacy benefits. Will the Prime Minister listen to the Social Security Advisory Committee, the Work and Pensions Committee, cross-party MPs and peers, and those who signed the "Don’t leave disabled people behind" petition, and please take action to end this injustice?
Exiting the European Union (Agriculture) — House of Commons, 2020-11-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Richard Gordon Thomson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Minister described the instruments as technical and largely ensuring continuity in their scope and measure. There have been discussions between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Government have given their consent for them, so on that basis we will not oppose them I seek one key assurance from the Minister, which I hope she will address. She will understand the huge importance to producers of provenance, especially in Scotland, where the ability to identify Scottish produce as such is of enormous value in all parts of the value chain. I seek from the Minister an assurance that there is nothing at all in either of these instruments that might prevent Scottish produce from being identified as such in the export process, either now or in the future.
Covid-19 Support: Worst-affected Sectors — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Neil Charles Gray (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Ending the furlough scheme early is going to put livelihoods at risk, so will the Secretary of State provide an update on her discussions with the Treasury about extending the covid-related increase to universal credit and ensuring that it is expanded to legacy benefits? While she is in those discussions, will she raise extending the furlough scheme and ask that the covid self-isolation grants be tax-exempt, as called for by the Social Security Secretary in Scotland, Shirley-Ann Somerville?
Covid-19 Temporary Measures — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that 1.3 million people across Scotland will lose out if the DWP does not make the £20 increase to universal credit permanent and extend it to legacy benefits. The Resolution Foundation also reports that one in three working-age families in the so-called red wall constituencies will be £1,000 a year worse off if the planned cuts to universal credit go ahead. How exactly is that levelling up?
Covid-19 Temporary Measures — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): More than ever, with millions facing unemployment and reduced hours or earnings, our social security system must be properly funded. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has rightly pointed out that cutting social security takes money out of the economy by reducing consumer spending. If the Minister is not yet convinced that cutting universal credit is grossly unjust, will he at least consider making this permanent to stimulate the economy?
Universal Credit: Poverty Reduction — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The reality is that that is not enough. Thanks to the efforts of the Scottish Government to mitigate the worst impacts of austerity, Scotland has the lowest child poverty rates, but the impact of UK Government policies means that 4,600 children in my constituency are estimated to be living in poverty, which is absolutely shameful. Will the Minister listen to the calls of the End Child Poverty coalition and the likes of Macmillan Cancer Support and pledge to keep the £20 a week universal credit uplift to avoid putting more families and children into poverty?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Neil Charles Gray (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): For some time, the SNP has led the campaign to end the universal credit five-week wait. We think that is best done by the introduction of grants, so we welcome today’s Work and Pensions Committee report. We also agree with the idea of renaming advances as "new claim loans" to make clearer what they actually are. Will the Secretary of State look favourably on the report’s findings and accept its recommendations?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Applications for the new self-isolation payment are to be launched last week, but there is a real risk that some people may not apply for the £500 because of tax concerns. Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People has written to the Chancellor calling for an income tax exemption for the payments, similar to the exemption for the test and trace support payment scheme in England. Will the Secretary of State urge the Chancellor to exempt the new self-isolation payments from tax?
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Wishart (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): So here we go. The coveted no deal is now within touching distance. The dance of the no-deal seven veils is now down to its Brexit underwear. The easiest deal in history will now mean the UK leaving on Mongolian terms. The absolute rubbish we had to listen to about oven-ready deals and holding all the cards is now just the stuff of grotesque bad jokes. And whose fault is it? Well, not the Minister’s or that of this cabal of Tory anti-EU obsessives. It is all the fault of these Europeans. How dare they ask the Tories to stand by what they agreed, and how dare they ask for a level playing field and to retain the integrity of the single market! The EU must have the patience of saints to try to negotiate with these clown shoe-wearing goalpost shifters. As we have just heard, the EU has once again offered to have intensive talks, so it is back in your court, Minister The Minister somehow expects Scotland to go along with this disaster. Well there is a saying that he will know as a proud Scot, which will be Scotland’s response to this: he can go awa’ an’ bile his heid. Independence is now the settled will of the Scottish people, with 58% of Scots now in favour, so here is a proposition for the Minister: why does he not just go off and get his no-deal Brexit if that is what England indeed wants, and in Scotland we can now secure our independence—what our people want—which will allow us to design our own future European relationship? Surely there is nothing wrong with that. He gets what he wants and we get what we want. Will he agree to that at last, and say goodbye to his rotten Union and his rotten no-deal Brexit?
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We have heard the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster basically blame the EU for the breakdown in the talks, but the EU has not walked away from the talks despite the Government setting out a course of action that will break international law and the withdrawal agreement that was reached less than a year ago. Has the right hon. Gentleman considered that his Government bear responsibility for any collapse in negotiations, given their obligations to respect the rule of international law?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Steven Bonnar (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Given that the national minimum wage already falls far below the real living wage, does the Minister think that people will be able to survive this winter with their workplaces closed and receiving only two thirds of that amount? Will the Government not give consideration to the calls from the Scottish Government and English regional leaders to do the right thing and offer more assistance?
Covid-19: Protection of Young Workers — House of Commons, 2020-07-22
Topic: Labor
Christopher Charles Stephens (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for that answer. However, Glasgow South West constituent Caitlyn Lee, who has worked for the Blythswood Square hotel for five years, will receive only £580 in redundancy pay, which barely covers one month’s rent, because, under statutory redundancy pay law, young workers under the age of 22 are entitled to half a week’s pay whereas workers over 40 get one and a half weeks’ pay. Will the Government address this discrimination, and what will they do to mitigate the mass redundancies of young workers so that they are not disadvantaged any further?