argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have repeatedly said in this House, this Government will be negotiating a deal that will be good for the whole of the United Kingdom. That is why we have been listening to businesses and others from across the whole of the UK—yes, the devolved Administrations, but also people from the regions of England and businesses from across the whole of the UK—to understand the interests and what we need to take into account as we negotiate the deal.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): As my right hon. Friend launches into the negotiations, I wonder if she has had time to consider the excellent House of Lords report that says we have no legal obligation to pay any money whatsoever to the European Union. Does she share my view that that is an excellent basis for beginning the negotiations?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I can assure my hon. Friend that I have noted the House of Lords report on this particular matter. As he will know, when people voted on 23 June last year they were very clear that they did not want to continue year after year paying huge sums of money into the European Union.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): What the hon. Gentleman says comes a little strange from his party: I seem to remember the time when the Liberal Democrats were going around telling everybody that they were going to have an in/out referendum on membership of the EU, yet now that we have had an in/out referendum on membership of the EU they are not willing to accept the result the British people gave them. We are, and that is why we are putting it into practice. We are delivering the will of the British people.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Conor Burns (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been very clear that the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe. A strong and prosperous EU remains in the interests of the United Kingdom. Does my right hon. Friend agree that a strong, stable united United Kingdom is also in the interests of the EU, and will she vigorously resist anyone who uses this moment to try and destroy our precious United Kingdom?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. As he has said, and as I have said before, a strong remaining EU of 27 will be in the best interests of the UK. We want to see the EU remaining strong, but we also want to see a strong UK playing its role as a global Britain. It is important that we keep the Union of the United Kingdom together; there is much that binds us, and I do not want to see anybody engaging in constitutional game-playing with the future of the United Kingdom.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As the right hon. Gentleman knows full well, we have been in discussions with the Scottish Government and the other devolved Administrations, recognising the issues they have raised, and recognising the concerns and the common ground between us. The right hon. Gentleman refers to the views of the Scottish people in relation to the announcement made yesterday by the Scottish First Minister; I might remind him that the evidence in Scotland is that actually the majority of the Scottish people do not want a second independence referendum.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Bernard Christison Jenkin (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my right hon. Friend for her very measured response to the provocation of the calling of a second independence referendum in Scotland: she is not ruling out a referendum in the future, but now is not the right time. Will she also point out that the Scotland Act 2016 reserves all the single market issues to the United Kingdom Government? These are matters that we should share with Scotland in the discussion, but they are matters reserved to the United Kingdom.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have just said in response to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), at the moment the evidence is that the Scottish people do not want a second independence referendum. As we negotiate issues in relation to access to the single market through the free trade deal that we will be negotiating, we will be taking into account the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom—of every part of it—and ensuring that that deal works for everybody across the UK, including the people of Scotland.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is right: obviously there is a set of circumstances, but the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has looked at this issue and it is not right to have a border poll at this stage. What we should all be focusing on is bringing the parties together to ensure that we can continue to see the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland working, as they have done, in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. We want to see that devolved Administration being formed, and that is what all the parties should be looking for at the moment.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Mark James Harper (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not clear from the European negotiations that a lot of the detail will not be finalised until the end of the process, and therefore that the timetable set out yesterday by the First Minister for a premature second independence referendum is an excuse, not a reason? Should we not listen to the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), who referred to the last independence referendum as a "once in a generation opportunity"?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend rightly points out that we have a timetable of up to two years for the negotiations, and it is possible that the details will not be finalised until close to the end of that period. He is also entirely right to suggest that those in Scotland who talk about having a second referendum should remember what the right hon. Member for Gordon said: it was a once in a generation vote that took place in September 2014. It seems that a generation is now less than three years.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her support for the Government as we look ahead and try to negotiate the best possible deal for the United Kingdom. That is precisely what we will be doing.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that contingency planning should take place, and we obviously have to look at a variety of scenarios. A lot of work is being done by the Department for Exiting the European Union and will be done by other Departments as well. It is important that that work is done properly so the Government can have the best possible information on which to negotiate our relationship for the future.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): There has been much speculation about the divorce from the European Union and about how much money would need to be paid in the process. I am afraid that I am going to disagree with my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) on this point. Since we joined the EEC in 1973, we have paid in £184 billion. That is the net contribution—the actual amount that we have paid in after taking into account any money that we got back. When people get a divorce, do they not split the net amount in two? That would mean that £92 billion should be paid back to us. Did the Prime Minister have a chance to bring that up at the summit?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): There is no blueprint. I have said consistently over the past seven months or so that we are not looking to adopt another country’s model for our relationship with the European Union. We will negotiate the deal that is right for the UK.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): This House chose to give a vote to the British people in the referendum on 23 June, and the people of the United Kingdom voted in that referendum. The majority voted for the UK to leave the European Union. When I talk to people who voted to leave and to those who voted to remain, the overwhelming message is that they now want the Government to get on with the job of delivering on that vote.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I have said this on a number of occasions in the House, and I will repeat it here today: we want to negotiate the best possible trading arrangements. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) has talked about a tariff-free, frictionless and seamless movement of goods and services. It is wrong to think of the single market as a binary issue, in which we are either in it or have no access to it. We want to ensure that we have good access to the single market and the best possible trade deal, which will allow frictionless and, as far as possible, tariff-free access.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I particularly welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments on the Balkans, an area that has plunged Europe into horror several times over the past few centuries. Will she confirm that it is Britain that has insisted that we keep the mission there going, despite the opposition of several of our European partners?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The United Kingdom has been playing a key role in relation to the western Balkans. There was a good discussion at the European Council and clear recognition around the table of the need for us to continue to be involved in the western Balkans and of a number of steps that can be taken to ensure that we stabilise the region, which is in the interests of not only the countries in the western Balkans but the rest of us in Europe.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Kevin John Foster (Conservative, Centre-right): Did the Prime Minister have the chance to take up with the European Commission and the Spanish Government their attitudes to the border with Gibraltar and to the separatists who claim that their countries could break away and then just rejoin the EU?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): In our negotiations, the Spanish Government have been concerned and clear that it is not possible for a country to break away from a member of the European Union and immediately rejoin the European Union—the Barroso doctrine, which has been reaffirmed by the European Commission. As for Scotland, independence would not mean membership of the European Union. Scotland would remain outside the European Union.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I have had several discussions with European leaders on that point. That is why I said in response to an earlier question that there is good will on both sides about dealing with the issue and about recognising the needs not only of UK citizens living in other EU member states but of EU citizens living here in the UK. There is good will, but, as has been made clear in the past, no discussion can happen until the negotiations have been formally triggered.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Alberto Castrenze Costa (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement that politics is not a game, but those of us who have fought the SNP know that it is a game to them. Yesterday’s announcement by the First Minister is just the first of many that we will hear in the coming weeks and months. Does the Prime Minister agree that it is imperative that her Government and every Member of this House who believes in Great Britain and Northern Ireland reaffirm to our constituents outside of Scotland why it is that the United Kingdom is important to us all?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is vital for us to continue to confirm and reaffirm the importance of the United Kingdom. He says that we should reaffirm that importance to constituents outside Scotland, but we should also reaffirm the importance of the United Kingdom to Scotland and to Scotland’s economy, which I did recently when I was in Glasgow.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Government Operations
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The Joint Ministerial Committee process has been operating for some months at various levels and has brought UK Government Ministers together with the three devolved Administrations to discuss issues that have been raised on both sides, including looking at the Welsh Government’s paper on Wales’s particular concerns, which are being taken into account.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): The Premier of Luxembourg apparently believes that we might yet be persuaded to stay in the EU. Are there others like him? If yesterday’s emphatic proceedings did not disabuse him, will the Prime Minister do so in the nicest possible way?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I think we can be reassured that the votes that took place in this House and in the House of Lords last night and the granting of Royal Assent to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill will send a clear message to everybody in Europe that we mean business.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. and learned Lady knows, when we trigger article 50 and enter negotiations, we will be negotiating as the UK Government. We have been in discussions with the Scottish Government and the other devolved Administrations, and those discussions continue. However, I have of course already set out our broad objectives for the negotiations, which included a reference to the sort of trade deal that she and her colleagues have said they want for the United Kingdom and for Scotland.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): There were smirks and laughter from the Opposition Benches when my right hon. Friend spoke of the single market and digital. Will she remind the House that we want to continue to trade with the single market and that we inject £60 billion-worth of demand into that market? With investment from Snap, Facebook and SoftBank, this country is a powerhouse in digital.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Technology
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right about this country’s important role in the market for digital services, which is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has set out a digital strategy. I was rather surprised by the derision from the Opposition at the suggestion that we should encourage a single market in digital services in the European Union, which we can trade with and sell into. They seem not to want us to develop that market in a way that is good for the United Kingdom.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has said in the past that he has a different view on the result of the vote and of where the Government should be going in relation to membership of the European Union.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I know that the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) asked about the single market, and I have answered many questions about that. My response to him is the same as my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt), which is that it is important for us to encourage the market—the market that we are going to be working with, that we are going to be trading with, that we want the best possible access to and that we want our services to be able to operate within—to be a free market with which we are able to work.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement. As we do not pay to sell our goods and services to any other country around the world, will she confirm that we will not accept any deal that requires us to pay the European Union for access to the single market?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend may have been looking at the same report as my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg) in relation to the sums that we pay. As I said in my response to him, the vote on 23 June 2016 was about many things. Obviously, in terms of leaving the European Union, one of the things that people were clear about is that we would not continue paying huge sums into the EU every year.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been very clear about the importance of maintaining and delivering on the agreements that have been made in relation to Northern Ireland, and that issue is very clear to other member states of the European Union. Of course the common travel area existed long before either the Republic or the United Kingdom were part of the European Union, and one of the objectives I set out as we look to the future negotiations is that we will be looking to maintain the common travel area.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ben Howlett (Conservative, Centre-right): Following the last few months of debate, I am assured by the Prime Minister and her Government that they are striving to achieve a zero-tariff trade deal on goods and services with the EU as they enter formal negotiations. Will she outline the potential impact on European markets of not agreeing a trade deal with the UK following its departure from the European Union?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important point, because all too often people act as if somehow we are just a supplicant in this relationship and that anything that is decided will have an impact only on the United Kingdom. Of course a trade deal will have an impact on companies within the remaining 27 member states, as they want to trade with and operate within the United Kingdom. That is why I am confident that, when we come to the negotiations, people will see the benefit to both sides of getting a good trade deal.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): First, the hon. Lady is slightly misinterpreting the speech I gave at Lancaster House, in which I said that there are certain elements of the customs union that we would not wish to be part of because they prevent us from negotiating trade deals on our own, as the United Kingdom, with other countries across the world. I said that the relationship we want with the customs union is to have "as seamless and as frictionless a border as possible" I indicated that that might be called "associate membership" or it might be something else, but we need to do that as part of the negotiations. Our relationship with the customs union will be part of the negotiations that will start when we trigger article 50.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I am doing nothing of the sort. The hon. Gentleman needs to recognise that there is a difference between access to the single market, protecting our ability to operate within the single market, and membership of the single market. Membership of the single market means accepting free movement, accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and, effectively, remaining a member of the European Union. We have voted to leave the European Union, and that is what we will be doing.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Being a member involves accepting certain other requirements from the European Union, requirements that people voted not to be part of when they voted on 23 June. That is why I have consistently said that Members of this House must stop thinking that the only option is membership of the single market or nothing—it is not. There is an option of having a comprehensive free trade agreement that gives us the sort of access that we want to have.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the Prime Minister on her strong leadership. Latvia will host NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe in meetings tomorrow. I represent a considerable Ukrainian community in Huddersfield. It is clear that there are currently real and present threats from Russian aggression throughout the whole of Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans; will the Prime Minister continue to put NATO at the forefront of our efforts to tackle the worries and concerns resulting from Russian aggression?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely assure my hon. Friend that we will continue to put NATO at the forefront of those efforts. I am pleased that the UK is able to make a specific contribution this year to NATO’s efforts in relation to the eastern border of the European Union and NATO countries with Russia. For example, we will soon see UK troops going to Estonia as a very visible sign of our commitment.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is obviously correct in the facts she sets out about the voting in the election. The focus we must all have now and in the coming couple of weeks, because there is limited time set aside in the legislation, should be on bringing the parties together to form a devolved Administration. I believe it is absolutely essential that we do everything we can to ensure that a devolved Administration are maintained in Northern Ireland. On the impact of Brexit, we have been very clear about the relationship we want to ensure with regard to the border with the Republic of Ireland, and we continue to work with the Republic of Ireland and others to deliver on that. Nevertheless, over the next couple of weeks the focus of us all must be on bringing the parties together to ensure a devolved Administration are formed in Northern Ireland.