argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Aviation, Travel and Tourism Industries — House of Commons, 2021-06-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): My constituents are significantly impacted by the aviation industry, and I have been hoping to raise their case in this place for a long time. Thousands of my residents in Lewisham East live beneath two major flightpaths, with planes flying over-head to and from Heathrow and London City airport. Travel restrictions during the pandemic brought a welcome respite for many of my constituents living underneath those flightpaths, but there is no doubt of the important role the aviation sector plays in our economy for travelling reasons and for jobs. However, in reviving the aviation industry, the Government must consider how we can make important improvements. This is all part of building back better The noise pollution and emissions from living beneath two busy flightpaths can have a devastating impact on my constituents’ health and wellbeing. Noise pollution would be a greater problem for them if London City airport and Heathrow were to expand and increase their traffic Prior to travel restrictions, one of my constituents wrote to me to explain that she suffered as a result of the low-frequency noise, describing it as extremely depressing, debilitating and painful. Another constituent has been left feeling depressed and suicidal due to the consistent disruption caused by night-time noise These cases are not isolated. In a meeting I held about the issue in summer 2019, residents packed out the room to tell me their distressing stories arising from the lack of consultation from air flight operators and the commonality of noise interruption and pollution, from the early hours of the morning until late at night. This is unacceptable. The Government must not and cannot ignore my constituents. They must address aviation noise before travel begins to increase. It is a serious concern Children in my constituency may well be suffering from undetected health issues arising from low-frequency aircraft noise. According to the World Health Organisation, noise is the second largest environmental cause of health problems, yet no regulations are in place to monitor it and to protect our residents We need assurances from the Government that areas such as mine with high population density will not revert to having busy flightpaths that constantly disturb people and reduce their and their families’ quality of life. Will the Minister carry out an assessment of flightpaths over densely populated areas and work with airports to alter their flightpaths accordingly? For the health of my constituents and the good of the planet, our aviation industry must be rebuilt responsibly.
Safety of Journalists — House of Commons, 2021-06-10
Topic: Civil Rights
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): I want to start by condemning the recent Israeli air force attacks that destroyed the building housing al-Jazeera and over a dozen media outlets during the assault on Gaza. They say that truth is the first casualty of war. It is clear that this was done to try to stop the world seeing the truth about that horrific assault on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis that it created. I want to focus today on the role that brave journalists play in exposing war crimes. Regrettably, our country has been involved in too many unjust wars in recent years—wars of conquest, wars for control and wars for oil. Crimes were committed in those wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including, in Iraq, the killing of journalists. Much of what we know about those crimes was exposed by the fearless work of a journalist—a journalist who exposed unlawful killing; a journalist who exposed US renditions; a journalist who exposed the horrors of Guantanamo Bay; a journalist invited to work in this country by The Guardian newspaper; a journalist, who, as we meet today in Parliament for this debate, is sitting in a British high-security prison, solely because of his journalism; a journalist who faces extradition to the United States for his award-winning journalism, carried out here in Britain; a journalist who faces a 175-year sentence for exposing war crimes, which would mean he would spend the rest of his life behind bars in a super-maximum security prison; a journalist whose potential extradition is opposed by Amnesty International, the National Union of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. That journalist is Julian Assange I appeal to President Joe Biden, who is in this country for the G7 summit, to drop the charges so that the extradition is called off. Present Biden was, of course, vice-president when President Obama took the decision not to prosecute Julian Assange because of the huge damage it would have done to press freedom. Prosecuting Julian Assange would, in the words of Amnesty International, still have "a chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression" That is why I raise this case today. That is why I urge President Biden to do the right thing.
Safety of Journalists — House of Commons, 2021-06-10
Topic: Civil Rights
John Martin McDonnell (Labour, Centre-left): I speak as the secretary of the National Union of Journalists parliamentary group. I pay tribute to the work of the NUJ here in the UK, led by its general secretary Michelle Stanistreet and president Sian Jones, and to the work of the International Federation of Journalists to protect journalists across the world According to the figures we have received, there are at least 235 journalists in prisons across the world today, and 42 journalists have been killed for doing their job in the last year. It is strong and fearless journalism that makes press freedom worth defending, and we must protect it here and abroad against violence and suppression. I agree with others that the whole House should be condemning the bombing of media companies and the harassment and arrests of journalists operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including the ongoing harassment of the al-Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem, Givara Budeiri. We must also condemn the jailing of the 12 journalists in recent months in Belarus. We even hear that journalists have been threatened and arrested while covering the Black Lives Matter protests in the US We should not be complacent about press freedom on our own shores, either. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) that it is a continuing stain on the reputation of this country that Julian Assange remains in Belmarsh prison. There are no justifiable grounds for keeping in prison a journalist who had the courage to expose the war crimes and abuse of human rights committed by the world’s leading military powers We also have a Government who just yesterday were forced by the courts to release documents detailing how the clearing house unit in the Cabinet Office has blocked freedom of information requests from journalists. I pay tribute to openDemocracy, which pursued this case. I quote the findings of the judge, who said that there was a "profound lack of transparency about the operation" of this unit that "might appear" even "to extend to Ministers". It also does not build confidence in the Government when a Treasury and Equalities Minister publicly attacks a young black journalist and makes false statements about her on social media, seemingly for simply daring to ask the Minister a question. That the Government have been found to be attempting to bully journalists should not come as a surprise when they are led by a Prime Minister who once offered his help to have a journalist beaten up In honour of World Press Freedom Day, I offer my thanks to journalists here and around the world who face obstruction, threats and intimidation simply for doing their jobs. We all pay our tribute to them.
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Housing
Darren Paul Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for giving me an advance copy of his statement this morning People across the country will want to know whether the promises made today will actually be delivered or whether they will, once again, result in failure. Will the Minister set out how the voucher schemes announced today will be delivered differently from the failed schemes of the past, such as the green homes grant?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): Once again, we hear warm words, big headlines and big figures from the Government, but too little detail, as the Public Accounts Committee has repeatedly highlighted. So I hope the Minister will make sure that there are repeated and meaningful reports to Parliament on these figures, good or bad, so that we can keep a track on this. Will he also look at the issue of people’s behaviour? As others have highlighted, there is a challenge on not just the money but the hassle factor, for example, in greening homes that are very challenging to insulate. How is the Department looking at that? Will he commit to do so?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): The delivery of a target of 600,000 new heat pumps by 2028 requires significant resource; otherwise, only the very well-off will be able to afford the cost of both the heat pump and the additional insulation that most homes would need to make the pumps cost-effective. As the hon. Member for St Ives (Derek Thomas) said, many homes will need additional power supplies. Will the Government therefore extend their ambition and link the programme for adequate insulation with adequate funding for heat pumps, such that more people than just the very well-off will be able to deliver the changes according to the Government’s strategy?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Joseph McDonald (Labour, Centre-left): Many of us on the Labour Benches, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) and my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham), have been articulating the case for carbon capture, usage and storage for many years. Despite the shortcomings of the statement, including any clarity on whether the net zero strategy will meet the 2035 sixth carbon budget, the east coast cluster announcement is most welcome. Will the Minister ensure that the collective voice of working people, through their trade unions, is heard, and that all stakeholders, including Ben Houchen, the mayor, part company with the anti-trade union rhetoric and work in an inclusive and co-operative manner to ensure that the economic and employment opportunities are fully delivered for working people in my Middlesbrough constituency and across Teesside?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Housing
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): The other week, Lord Deben, the chair of the Climate Change Committee, speaking at the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, indicated that, if we are to hit the Committee’s targets, local government has an incredibly important role to play in the retrofitting of existing homes, the building of new homes, local planning policies and local transport policies. Is it therefore not disappointing that there is not one single mention of the role of local government in the Minister’s announcement today? What has the Minister to say about that?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): The zero-emissions vehicle mandate is welcome, although, as the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands) said, the Government do need to get a move on. They have been cutting plug-in grants year on year, and there are now reports that the Chancellor wants to axe them all together. What in this strategy will actually help to make the purchase of electric vehicles more affordable for the average consumer?
Net Zero Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): That we move to warm homes fuelled by heat pumps is welcome, but warm words are not enough. What guarantee can the Minister provide that the Government will use taxpayers’ money to invest in heat pumps made in Britain, creating jobs here in Britain and supporting British business?
Independent Expert Panel Recommendations for Sanctions and the Recall of MPs Act 2015 — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): As I said, I completely understand the reservations that Members have—I have them myself. Retrospective rule change is an extremely unfortunate situation to be put in. As I outlined, other options were open, but unfortunately they were not taken up, so we find ourselves in a position where we will have a prospective rule change and there will be someone among us whom the independent expert panel has found to have carried out behaviour that would otherwise have triggered a recall. I respect and value the different views of the right hon. Gentleman and of other hon. Members, nevertheless I seek to test the opinion of the House by putting the amendment to a vote.
Independent Expert Panel Recommendations for Sanctions and the Recall of MPs Act 2015 — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Jessica Rose Phillips (Labour, Centre-left): I wish to say from the get-go that had the case that has been discussed involved a Labour Member I would say exactly the same thing as I am about to say On the substantive motion, I echo the words of many about the progress that has been made on closing the loophole but only wish, as my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) said, that it had been made sooner, because we find ourselves in a difficult position today. I very much hope we do not end up voting on party political lines, however. We cannot be whipped on these issues, and I am sure that standard has been maintained across the House. It will be a shame if we vote on party political lines on these issues rather think about the consequences of for and against. I will be voting for the amendment on retrospectivity, and many of my constituents—[Interruption.] Does the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) have something to say?
Independent Expert Panel Recommendations for Sanctions and the Recall of MPs Act 2015 — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Jessica Rose Phillips (Labour, Centre-left): Nobody made that connection until the hon. Gentleman just stood up. What I said was that it is unacceptable because that person would have nowhere to go. The reality is that someone who is vulnerable is not going to come forward to somebody who has used vulnerabilities for their own ends. I am simply using an example; I could use any example, but that is a case I have been dealing with and I would not be able to say that that person should go to a surgery in Delyn. I do not necessarily particularly like the retrospective nature of this—actually, I do not mind, because it was a loophole that should never have existed and we are all about to vote to say that it should not have existed, apart from in this instance. I do not believe that many people could stand here and say they would feel the same way if it involved their political party, and the vote today is not a political decision for me. I understand the concerns of the ICGS chairs, but it is not a political complaint that I am making: it is a moral one, and a safeguarding one that is needed to protect our House and our reputations, and to protect our constituents As we walk through the Lobby we have to ask ourselves if we are comfortable with how we are voting. Young women work in my offices here—and there are, by the way, people who were expelled because of this case: the two people who felt they could not work here anymore. People get expelled because of sexual harassment in this building all the time, but those people are the staff who can no longer go on because it is just not worth it. Then they cannot get a job with another Member of Parliament because they are told, "I’ll lean on your references". I have heard that a few times from complainants in this place The truth is that the system was never perfect before and it still will not be perfect. As we go through and test it, we are going to find other things. Lots of us—I can see the faces of those who have been involved in this debate for the entire time that it has been going on—want to make it so that people feel confident and comfortable coming forward. The complainants, most of whom I have spoken to, do not like that we have left this as unfinished business. They want it finished, and retrospectivity will enable that to happen. For me, it is nothing to do with politics; it is to do with what is the right thing to do—what we would want for our children working anywhere, and what we would want for our constituents.
Independent Expert Panel Recommendations for Sanctions and the Recall of MPs Act 2015 — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): The Leader of the House knows that I will vote with him on this matter, but for me the biggest problem is that the Member concerned has shown absolutely no insight into his conduct. That was a point that the independent expert panel made, and it has been absolutely self-evident at every single moment since. That really does pose a problem for all of us. I know that many Members on his own side have said to him, "It would be better for you and for the House if you were to step down." I very rarely say this, but as a former priest, I would say this to him as well. I think it would be in his own best interests, for him to be able to move on in his own life, if he were to step aside, and that is what I would prefer.
Coronavirus Act 2020 (Review of Temporary Provisions) (No. 3) — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Dawn Petula Butler (Labour, Centre-left): The Act has always been presented on the Floor of the House as an all-or-nothing Bill; MPs never have an opportunity to change, amend or scrutinise it, so I think that the Secretary of State is just a little misleading in how he is presenting it to the House today.
Coronavirus Act 2020 (Review of Temporary Provisions) (No. 3) — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman is better than that, with respect. He is very experienced, and he knows full well that right hon. and hon. Members have various responsibilities as Members of Parliament. Come on! That was akin to those ridiculous tweets that we sometimes see going around, saying that an important issue is being debated in Parliament and asking why the Benches are empty and so on, when it is an evening Adjournment debate.
Coronavirus Act 2020 (Review of Temporary Provisions) (No. 3) — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): There is a limited amount of time for this debate, which needs to finish at 4.31 pm, and I want to give the Minister 10 minutes to respond. There are more people standing than indicated to the Speaker’s Office that they wanted to speak, which means there is even more pressure on time. I ask hon. and right hon. Members to confine their speeches to five minutes.
Coronavirus Act 2020 (Review of Temporary Provisions) (No. 3) — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I am afraid I fear the mood of the House is not to have a vote. The right hon. Gentleman would have to rustle up a few more people to really get the sense that we required a vote—
Supporting Small Business — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to move, That this House recognises the importance of British businesses to high streets and communities across the UK and the exceptional challenges they face due to the pandemic and rising costs; regrets the Government’s current plan to end all temporary support for businesses from April 2022; calls on the Government to support businesses by freezing the business rates multiplier and extending the threshold for small business rates relief from £15,000 rateable value to £25,000 in 2022-23; and further calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to update the House in person before January 2022 on his Department’s assessment of the impact that removing the temporary business support will have on small businesses Our high streets are not simply units of economic activity or just a place to buy the things we need. They are an important part of the tapestry of where we live, work and share our everyday lives. It is where people meet, eat, catch up over a cup of tea, bump into old acquaintances, receive a smile or a kind word. My first Saturday job as a teenager was working at a chess shop called the Chess and Bridge Centre on the Euston Road. People would come from miles around not just to buy, but to ask the advice of the owner and those of us who worked there. I learnt a lot. Our shops are as much about people as they are about products, and that is why they must and they will endure. That has been so many people’s experience during the course of the pandemic. As businesses have done everything asked of them—despite advice from Government often chopping and changing—they have bent over backwards to find new ways to serve their customers and to keep their own businesses afloat. We should all be thankful Some 2.8 million people are employed in retail in our country. As the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers points out, retail is one of the few sectors that regularly offers flexible opportunities for workers to balance their work alongside caring commitments they might have. Yet, incredibly, there is no Government industrial strategy for the retail sector to work with business to increase wages, skills and productivity. We have allowed an imbalance to be formed where bricks and mortar businesses are at a significant disadvantage to online retailers—online retailers whose warehouses typically attract considerably less business rates and, indeed, may not even pay corporation tax in our country One in seven shops remain shuttered after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, with the north of England seeing a higher proportion of closures. A British Retail Consortium survey concluded that business rates were a factor behind two in three shop store closures in the last two years. That cannot be allowed to continue. It should alarm this House that the Office for National Statistics business impacts survey data suggest that 330,000 business, responsible for over 800,000 jobs, are at risk of closure in just the next three months. Even a fraction of those losses will be deeply felt in all our communities.
Supporting Small Business — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Eleanor Claire Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): Some 99.8% of businesses in Lewisham are small and medium-sized enterprises. They are the lifeblood of our high streets and they support our local community, and many have suffered during the pandemic. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government’s plans to remove temporary support are an unfair cliff edge that could see many viable small businesses go under?
Supporting Small Business — House of Commons, 2021-10-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): I know my hon. Friend is a keen supporter of businesses, including the Kirkdale Bookshop on Sydenham’s high street and Billings butchers. She is a fine steward for the people of Lewisham West and Penge. I cannot offer expertise on the shopping behaviours of all hon. and right hon. Members—[Laughter.]—but some of our shopping behaviours changing does not mean that our high streets should not have a positive future. There is scope for fresh ideas and a renewed relationship with our high streets, but without easing the pressure of business rates for next year, many shops, including many carrying debts from the pandemic, just will not make it. That is why action is needed now.