argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Pension Schemes Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister and acknowledge the points that he has made. I just think that there may be permission to go a bit further in this regard, and that is the point that I want to emphasise I support directed advice, particularly where there is any question of a scam. I welcome a power for trustees to intervene. I am happy to support the proposal from my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms). In my view, it might be better to give the Money and Pensions Service a role in offering limited advice rather than just the guidance so that we try to bridge the gap between guidance and advice. The fundamental difficulty seems to be that, unless people have a particularly big pot and can afford advice, they are denied it, and guidance is not sufficient to protect them or steer them in the right direction. There is an argument for something to bridge that gap, and it might be worth looking at a role for the Money and Pensions Service in doing that Finally, I want to go back to where I started and share my concerns that the Bill might be giving too much power to the Pensions Regulator. I was not entirely convinced by the Secretary of State’s comments at the outset. There is a legitimate fear that clause 107 has the potential to criminalise a much wider group of people than can possibly be necessary or sensible. I ask the Minister to look at that again and see if we can be absolutely certain that the net has not been cast too wide.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Minister agree that as the virus is coming roaring back, particularly in areas such as my constituency, now is the wrong time to be getting rid of the furlough, and that if we are going to have extra restrictions, we also really need much greater extra support so that we can compensate and look after business owners and individuals that have to self-isolate or close?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Colleagues will be aware that this is an extremely short debate. To have any chance of getting everyone in—the Minister can come back at the end to respond to points that have been made—I will impose a three-minute time limit on Back-Bench speeches.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Maria Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): The Government, when introducing regulations such as this, should avoid overcomplication. Rules and regulations like this, which entire populations are expected to follow in their everyday lives, should be simple, explicable, understandable and transparent in the sense that they are evidence-based, especially when they lead to curbs on individual liberties and, as a consequence of breaking them, large fines The measures take 10 pages to set out, and contain a number of confusions: between a national restriction and a local one, and in areas of local restrictions that can be confusing; or differences between what is law and guidance—what we must do, or be fined, as opposed to what we are advised to do, for our own good. It is not at all clear what people are supposed to do, even if they read these 10 pages of detailed regulations Most of all, regulations need to be effective in bringing down infection rates. At present, it seems difficult to argue that the local lockdown rules have been effective. In 19 of the 20 areas where there have been introduced, infection rates have soared. On Merseyside, we have only had the rules for a week, but infection rates are soaring The local lockdown has the potential to cause great economic damage, and yet the regulations do not at present contain any provision for compensating those businesses that are now fighting for survival as a consequence of the effect of the measures on their ability to remain viable. That in turn threatens the livelihoods of thousands of people. In Garston and Halewood, unemployment has already doubled this year to 8%, or about 5,000 people, but worse is to come, because I have 15,000 furloughed jobs in my constituency and furlough ends in three weeks. Some industries are not able to operate normally, or in some cases at all, such as entertainment, events, aviation and others. Now, areas such as hospitality are threatened with severe consequences by the economic impact of local lockdown measures. As for the approximately 77,000 self-employed workers in the Liverpool city region, many cannot work at all and qualify for no support whatever from the Government support schemes—they are simply excluded. There are almost 58,000 jobs in hospitality and the visitor economy in the Liverpool city region. Until coronavirus, it had been booming, with 10 consecutive years of growth. Now, 6,300 businesses and many thousands of jobs are at immediate risk. The Government have not offered any additional economic support under the regulations—just £7 million, across nine local authorities, for outbreak control Furlough ends in three weeks. These measures will still be in place, if not more stringent ones, if we believe some of the briefings this evening, and given the infection rates. The Government must implement a local business and job support scheme for where local lockdowns are implemented to prevent the jobs carnage we are about to see. I hope that the Minister will agree with me.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Order. I want to bring the Minister in at the end for at least five minutes. We can get everybody in if people think about each other. If people take, say, two and a half minutes, we can get everybody in. I am sure Margaret Greenwood will lead the way.
Payments for Victims of the Troubles — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): May I begin by reflecting on the fact that this summer we lost the great John Hume, a peace campaigner and politician who, more than any other, is responsible for the peace these islands enjoy today? I am sure the whole House will join me in sending our deepest condolences to his extraordinary wife Pat, his family and our friends in the Social Democratic and Labour party Yesterday would have been the 40th birthday of Tim Parry who, along with three year-old Johnathan Ball, was killed by an IRA bomb in Warrington in 1993. The peace foundation set up in their name supports victims of terrorism nationwide, but at the end of this month that service will close unless Ministers deliver on the funding that they have promised in the House. In this week, of all weeks, will the Secretary of State step up and secure the future of this vital service?
Payments for Victims of the Troubles — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): I think the Secretary of State may have misheard me: I was talking about the Warrington Peace Centre, which previously enjoyed funding directly from the Home Office. I hope he will consider that and raise it with his colleague the Home Secretary The father of Tim Parry, Colin, has said, on the anniversary of his son’s 40th birthday, that the appointment of Claire Fox to the House of Lords offends him deeply. Given her continued refusal to apologise for defending the Warrington bombing, may I ask whether the Secretary of State was consulted on her peerage? Has he raised any concerns with his colleagues in No. 10?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Other
Keir Starmer (Labour, Centre-left): I have already expressed congratulations to all those students and I do so again, but I want to go back to my question, which the Prime Minister avoided. I know why he avoided it, because he either knew of the problem with the algorithm and did nothing, or he did not know when he should have. Let me ask again: when did the Prime Minister first know that there would be a problem with the algorithm?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. I think that questions are being asked, and we do need to try to answer the questions that have been put to the Prime Minister. It will be helpful to those who are watching to know the answers.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): Last week, the Financial Times published a list of the 12 Government U-turns made under this Prime Minister, from the exam results fiasco to the contact tracing app and the wearing of masks. He has just said that he takes full responsibility, so I wonder which of those 12 U-turns is the Prime Minister’s favourite.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Katharine Helen Brooks-Osborne (Labour, Centre-left): Low public confidence in social distancing measures means that many businesses are struggling. If the job retention scheme ends in October, there will be catastrophic consequences for workers, businesses and the economy. So despite earlier waffle from the Prime Minister, I am asking him again: will he commit to extending the job retention scheme or are we to expect more governmental incompetence, resulting in unnecessary redundancies and further strains on our already collapsing economy?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker, and for the Minister’s response. I would first like to send my thoughts to the family of Abdulfatah Hamdallah, who died in the English channel—a powerful reminder of the gravity of this issue Over a year ago, the Home Secretary said: "We’ve been working extremely closely with our French colleagues to tackle the use of small boats but we both agreed more needs to be done." Why does the Minister think that that work last year has proved so inadequate? The Minister himself scrambled to France on 11 August and announced the joint action plan, but can he outline when that will be available for scrutiny? We all agree on the need to tackle criminal gangs, but does he also accept the importance of safe routes for those seeking asylum? The Government were warned, including by the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, that the collapse of safe routes would lead to growing numbers of people taking to the sea The expectation around the Dubs amendment across the House was that 3,000 children would be accepted under the scheme. Does the Minister now agree that it was a profound error and, frankly, lacking in compassion to close down that scheme when only a 10th of that number had been accepted? What provisions have been put in place for the welfare of any children who have been intercepted on the crossing? What safeguards are being put in place to ensure that all accommodation is kept safe and covid-secure, as well as protected from far-right attacks, which have unfortunately been reported in recent days What we need now are solutions, not empty headlines trying to sound tough. I have deep concerns that in recent weeks the Government, through talking up the deployment of the Navy and the RAF, have tried to militarise the solution when lives are at risk. Ultimately, the sad truth is that people are fleeing their homes as a result of poverty, war and persecution. Does the Minister accept that abolishing the Department for International Development is a great mistake? Is it not the truth that the Government’s approach to this whole issue has, frankly, been defined by a lack of compassion and a lack of competence?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Nadia Edith Whittome (Labour, Centre-left): A report last year by the Foreign Affairs Committee, of which the Home Secretary was a member at the time, said: "In the absence of robust and accessible legal routes for seeking asylum in the UK, those with a claim are left with little choice but to make dangerous journeys by land and sea." How many more people like Abdulfatah Hamdallah have to die before the Home Secretary creates those safe and legal routes?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Rosemary Clare Duffield (Labour, Centre-left): Given the recent very violent assault on a young man who had just landed on a Kent beach and the planned protests by far-right groups in Kent reported in several broadsheet newspapers, what extra support is the Secretary of State offering police in Kent to ensure the safety of all those who seek asylum in our country? Will the Minister join me in telling the hate-driven, violent groups that make their way to Kent to go back to where they come from?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): One reason we have seen a rise in small boat crossings is the crackdown on border controls in terms of lorries and the significant drop in freight traffic because of coronavirus. Does that not just show that the problem will not go away, despite the sort of military heroics that the Government are trying to embark on in the channel, and that we need to identify safe and legal routes? In particular, we need to work in France with people who have a proven connection to the UK, particularly refugee children, to try to deal with the problem before they try to reach the UK by illegal means?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): It has been sad to watch a summer of the Government chasing cheap newspaper headlines, rather than getting a grip of this challenge, because growing global climate change will only make more challenging migration patterns for European countries. We need a cross-European solution. We have heard from the Minister for immigration compliance what his solution is: "Nothing to do with me, guv—stay in Italy, stay in Greece, stay in France, stay in Germany." That will not do. So what are the Minister and the Home Office doing, today, to get to a mature, equitable and humane solution with our European partners?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister talked earlier—with some pride, I think—about our taking the highest number of applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, which is good. Overall, the UK takes three times fewer asylum applications than France, three times fewer than Spain and four times fewer than Germany. So if we were to reopen safe routes properly, what level of asylum applications does he think would be a fair share for us to deal with?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Fleur Anderson (Labour, Centre-left): There are still 6,000 children in makeshift camps in the EU. In the time it took for the Home Office to process the 480 spaces—only 480—that it committed to under the Dubs scheme, hundreds of those young people have gone missing. In another life, they could be my children. With the Dubs scheme now formally closed, what steps is the Minister taking to protect vulnerable children such as the ones in those camps who seek refuge from war, torture and persecution?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): The UK needs to do more, not less, to provide sanctuary for refugees, given the world’s growing ecological and economic crises. Instead, the Government are dehumanising these people by presenting them as an illegal threat. This is a dangerous path and one that goes completely against the ideals we should be aspiring to: empathy and humanity. Why can the Minister and the Government not see this?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Kevin Denis Brennan (Labour, Centre-left): To understand the scale, am I right in saying that the number of asylum applications in the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available was 35,566; the number of asylum applications on the most recent figures available in France was 114,500; and that for the same period in Germany, the figure was 161,900?
Proceedings During the Pandemic (No. 4) — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Other
Valerie Carol Marian Vaz (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Leader of the House for tabling the motion and the Procedure Committee for its work on this issue. It is the right thing to do in the circumstances, given the difficulties that we still face with the pandemic, so Her Majesty’s Opposition support the motion.
Families in Temporary Accommodation — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Siobhain Ann McDonagh (Labour, Centre-left): How does the law work without enforcement? We know from the programme "Ross Kemp: Living with..." that homeless families travel approximately 400,000 miles—or 16 times round the globe—each year to get to their temporary accommodation, and 60 councils are not informing the receiving authorities. That is the reality; what are the Government going to do about it?
Town Centre Investment — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Naseem Akhtar Shah (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Secretary of State agree that the provision of appropriate community spaces and opportunities in town centres can be crucial to social cohesion? During decades of austerity, our communities have lost so much of their town centres. Will the Secretary of State tell me what steps are being taken to ensure that any town centre regeneration plan is drawn up with the help of the community members so that communities are prioritised and benefited, including through jobs and social spaces?
Renters Reform Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): The economic consequences of covid-19 could continue for years to come. Given the Secretary of State’s commitment that "no one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus", does the Minister agree that it is about time this Government looked at the measures the Welsh Labour Government are putting in place to protect renters from eviction by unscrupulous landlords?
Renters Reform Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): The evictions ban ends on 23 August and the Government could have already brought in this Bill, raised LHA temporarily to average rents, scrapped section 21 or given courts discretion in arrears cases, but they have not done any of those things and thousands of people are struggling with rent now. So will the Minister guarantee to honour the words of the Secretary of State in March: no one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus" Yes or no?
Housing: Environmental Standards — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that new housing is of the highest standard of environmental sustainability.
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Can I urge the Secretary of State to look at the letter from 18 conservation groups, deeply worried this morning by the fact that they believe that the planning system is going to be radically deregulated? Does he not agree that we want sustainably built homes in sustainable locations? Will he talk to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and get his act together over this suggestion that there will be no more environmental impact assessments worthy of that name?
Residential Buildings: Cladding — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Ian Robert Byrne (Labour, Centre-left): With applications for more than 1,000 buildings made to the building safety fund already, it is clear that £1.6 billion will not be anywhere near enough to remedy all high-risk residential buildings that still have dangerous cladding, more than three years after the Grenfell Tower fire. The Government are trying to find ways to fit a potential £15 billion liability into a £1.6 billion funding pot. Will the Minister commit to release more funding in line with the Select Committee recommendation to ensure that all fire safety defects in every high-risk residential building are addressed, allowing residents to live safely in their homes without fear of bankruptcy?
Residential Buildings: Cladding — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Michael Lee Amesbury (Labour, Centre-left): Although we welcome the publication, finally, of the draft Building Safety Bill today, the Department’s own figures highlight the fact that 246 buildings are still wrapped in Grenfell-style cladding and thousands more are cladded in equally flammable materials. How will the measures outlined in the Bill speed up remediation while increasing the size and the scope of the building safety fund?
Planning Reforms: Environmental Standards — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): Hounslow Council’s new council housing will no longer have gas boilers installed, only the newest low-energy systems available. Both the leader of Hounslow, Councillor Steve Curran, and community organisation Brentford Voice have said they would like national planning policies to require all new developments to incorporate low-emission energy systems. Will the Housing Secretary’s reforms require all new homes to be zero-carbon and affordable to run, yet still to be warm in winter and cool in summer?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Housing
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): There are sections of my community blighted by absentee landlords, substandard housing and a total disregard for the need for tenant vetting. Will the Minister take this opportunity to support the Horden housing masterplan in my constituency to regenerate local housing, which could be replicated in neighbouring areas that face the same housing issues and create much needed jobs in the local economy in construction and the housing industry?
China — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Immigration
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will be aware of the important financial contribution that Chinese students make to our universities and research sector in particular. What plans do the Government have should those numbers fall? Perhaps more importantly, what can he do to reassure Chinese students and those of Chinese origin in this country that they are safe and welcome here and what can he do to tackle Sinophobic racism?