argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Other
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Thank you very much for indulging the hon. Member for West Dunbartonshire. During the urgent question, my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald) intimated that I represent my home town, the great borough of Clydebank. I am sure you will be very well aware, Mr Speaker, that I not only represent my great home town, the borough of Clydebank, but the ancient borough of Dunbarton and of course the mighty Vale of Leven. I am delighted to say that I will be standing for re-selection and, hopefully, re-election as the Member of Parliament for the greatest constituency in this House, West Dunbartonshire.
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Was there any discussion in the Committee about the franchise for the referendum? If 16 and 17-year-olds and EU citizens had been allowed to vote, we might have had a very different result. They will be allowed to vote in the Scottish council elections in two weeks, but they will be denied a vote in the UK general election about four weeks after that. Would it not be appropriate to have consistency, and for the franchise to be as wide as possible?
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We all understand and accept that it is a pay-as-you-go system, but that does not detract from the fact that when someone pays national insurance, it is on that basis that they are earning entitlement from that mechanism. As for the national insurance fund, the surplus is actually £30 billion, and it needs to have—the Minister is right—two months’ cashflow within it, which is £16 billion. So the point remains the same—the money is there to do this.
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Other
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Minister has made it clear that he will communicate with the shadow Minister, but can we ensure that there is communication with all Members of the House if this closure happens? We hope that it will not, because it will impact all our constituents in a very big way.
Tackling Infectious Diseases — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way again. I had the huge pleasure of visiting the Centre for Virus Research in my constituency just a couple of weeks ago. The staff there undertake world-leading work, so the point she is making about our need to continue to attract the best talent from the European Union is vital. She mentioned the moral case; does she agree that it is also vital that the funds, particularly those that come through the Government’s commitment to the 0.7% aid target, are still available for research? I hope that when the Minister responds, he will be able to reinforce the Government’s commitment to that 0.7% target, unlike some of his colleagues earlier today.
EU Citizens in the UK — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps she is taking to reassure non-UK EU citizens resident in the UK about their legal status after the UK leaves the EU.
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The point is that the EU offer would give EU nationals living in the UK and British nationals living abroad more rights than the Prime Minister’s offer. One thing the Minister could do to reassure EU nationals living in the UK is to state that access to the national health service will be considered sufficient by the Home Office to fulfil the requirements for comprehensive sickness insurance. That was the cross-party recommendation of the Exiting the European Union Committee in the previous Parliament. What or who is stopping the Home Office from implementing that recommendation now?
Family Rights — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Immigration
Ronald Jack Cowan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My constituent Paul McMillan, a medical student from Port Glasgow, is unable to be with his American partner because of the minimum income requirement on spousal visas, which stands at £18,600 and is due to rise. He has decided that because of the UK Government’s increasingly hostile attitude towards immigrants, on completing his studies he will emigrate from Scotland to be with his partner. Scotland will lose not only his future medical expertise but the expertise of his partner, a qualified social worker. Considering Paul’s situation, will the Home Secretary abandon plans to increase the minimum income requirement?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Immigration
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Scottish Affairs Select Committee, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Institute of Directors have all said that Scotland requires a different immigration policy for its unique demographic needs. Will the Home Secretary consider the report by Professor Christina Boswell of the University of Edinburgh that evaluates the options for a differentiated approach to immigration policy in Scotland?
Grenfell Tower — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Housing
Kirsty Ann Blackman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for coming to the House to make a statement on the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and I appreciate the chance to have advance sight of the statement, which was very useful. I also welcome the announcement about the 112 households that have received payments. I am not certain whether he has said this already, but I would appreciate knowing how many households still need to receive payment and the timescales for those payments—how long are they likely to take Along with many Members in the House, I have been approached by residents in my constituency who live in multi-storey blocks. I commend the work that local authorities have done to take action to test buildings and to reassure tenants who live in those buildings. I used to live in a local authority multi-storey, and I well understand the access issues that concern people. I appreciate the moves that have been made by a number of organisations working together to provide reassurance I restate the position of the Scottish National party that the public inquiry should be as wide-ranging as possible. At every stage, the views of the Grenfell Tower survivors should be taken into account. I would also ask a couple of things. I would like reassurance that residents are being helped as far as possible to replace documentation that they lost in the fire, and about residents whose families want to take part in the inquiry and who live abroad. What financial help is available for them to ensure that they can come and take an active part in the inquiry Lastly, I would welcome confirmation that there will be no prosecution of the tenants. It is really important that those tenants, and anyone who has been living there, come forward, and I would welcome the Government’s views about that.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Immigration
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek your assistance as to how I might put the record straight regarding an exchange that I had with the Prime Minister last week about the requirement for European Union citizens resident in the United Kingdom to have comprehensive sickness insurance. On Monday 26 June during the Prime Minister’s statement on the European Council, I raised the concern of my Lithuanian constituent who, despite having been resident in Scotland for more than five years, is unable to claim permanent residency because she does not have comprehensive sickness insurance. The Prime Minister’s answer gave the impression that her Government could do nothing about the predicament of such EU nationals in the UK until the UK leaves the EU, because comprehensive sickness insurance is a requirement in EU law. I fear that this inadvertently gave a misleading impression, and I am afraid that the matter was compounded by the Minister for Immigration repeating the same assertion in an answer to me earlier this afternoon While it is correct that comprehensive sickness insurance is a requirement of European Union law, there are steps that the Government could take immediately to state that access to the NHS in the UK satisfies that requirement. That is not just my view: it was the unanimous recommendation of the cross-party Exiting the European Union Committee in the last Parliament at paragraph 73 of its second report. I am sure that the Prime Minister is aware of the Committee’s recommendation and would, like me, not wish the record to stand uncorrected.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Other
Kirsty Ann Blackman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will be aware of my interest in the estimates process. I was terribly excited to see estimates on the agenda for this week, but tomorrow estimates will be decided without debate. I understand that this is because the Liaison Committee is not in place, and it therefore cannot put forward reports for debate. On the following day, supply and appropriation will be on the agenda, but that will also be decided without debate. Being particularly keen, I went to the Vote Office to see if I could get some papers on the estimates, but I understand that no papers will be available until after we have taken tomorrow night’s motion—that was what I was told in the Vote Office just now. I understand the circumstances that mean there are no debates right now—I get that. However, my concern about the lack of information is one that I think the House should consider.
Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing Bill — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his response. The clear guarantees that businesses and consumers are looking for must not be eroded after Brexit. If we have guarantees and the Minister can give us further detail on them, passengers and businesses will be reassured Clause 2 will give the Secretary of State power to reform the ATOL scheme and the air travel trust fund, with only an affirmative resolution by each House of Parliament required. Any changes that the Secretary of State wishes to introduce to the scheme must be preceded by a full consultation and an impact assessment that allows for proper scrutiny of the proposals. Although we absolutely welcome the move to update the ATOL scheme to ensure that a maximum number of travellers are protected when they go on holiday and to align it with the EU travel directive 2015, passenger rights have been enshrined in EU law and consumers and businesses deserve clarity on how Brexit will affect them. The UK Government must provide more flesh on the bones and explain how such rights will be written into our laws. The updating of the scheme is to be welcomed, but the post-Brexit world poses a range of challenges on which consumers and airline business require clarity. I forward to hearing more detail from the Secretary of State in due course.
Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing Bill — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I welcome you to the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, and congratulate the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Paul Masterton) on a fluent maiden speech. I am sure it will not be the last such speech he gives in this House Does my hon. Friend agree that this Bill demonstrates why we need Government assurances about the impact of Brexit? There are so many uncertainties about so many aspects of consumer protection and its impact on individuals’ daily lives. If we had had such assurances and clarity this time last year, perhaps we would not be in this situation.
Leaving the EU: Free Movement of People — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Immigration
Questions: What assessment he has made of the implications of exiting the EU for the free movement of people between Northern Ireland and the (a) Republic of Ireland and (b) rest of the UK.
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The simplest way to ensure that free movement continues unimpeded across these islands is to accept that there will in reality be no increased border checks or in-country controls on EU nationals after Brexit—any controls occurring in-country. That is what the Home Secretary has previously suggested. Will the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland confirm that that remains the Government’s thinking?
Confidence and Supply Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on the peace process of an agreement on confidence and supply between the Government and the Democratic Unionist party.; What assessment he has made of the potential effect on the peace process of an agreement on confidence and supply between the Government and the Democratic Unionist party.
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Can the Secretary of State not see that the UK Government’s credibility with the other constituent parts of the United Kingdom has been destroyed following the £1.5 billion bribe for Northern Ireland, subverting the Barnett rules, as the price of staying in office?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Other
Questions: Businesses in my constituency share the Prime Minister’s desire to provide certainty for trade arrangements in the years immediately following our exit from the EU. Can she confirm that any transitional arrangements will be for a strictly limited period and that any suggestion of ever-retreating deadlines or a perpetual status quo would fall short of honouring the decision made by the people of this country to leave the EU?
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Prime Minister’s failure to give a straight answer to that question speaks volumes and has succeeded only in piling more pressure on the Scottish Secretary, whose position now looks less secure with every day that passes—[Interruption.]
Health, Social Care and Security — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman mentions funding. Does he think that England should see a change in the Barnett consequentials as a result of the Northern Ireland deal—the grubby deal or the protection money that has been offered to the Democratic Unionist party? I am talking about £30 billion to £40 billion for England, which would help greatly in the case that he mentions.
Health, Social Care and Security — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Housing
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am not saying that the local authority was scrimping and saving because it did not have money; it was because it was not spending the money. It used cheap panels and it did not put in sprinklers. Some 600-plus buildings across London and England are covered in panels that clearly contain flammable materials. We hear from Camden that fire doors were missing, despite millions of pounds having been spent. As Ben Okri says in his poem, there has been a focus on surface and appearance rather than on the substance of such buildings and the protection of people who live in them.
Health, Social Care and Security — House of Commons, 2017-06-28
Topic: Housing
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If the hon. Lady had paid any attention, she would recognise that I did not use that term, and I talked about Governments. The fire in Irvine in 1999— 18 years ago—identified the issues with cladding and sprinklers. That is many Governments ago and a long time in which this place has not taken sufficient action on tower blocks.
Personal Independence Payments — House of Commons, 2017-03-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What estimate he has made of the number of disabled people who will be affected by the changes introduced by the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017.; What estimate he has made of the number of disabled people who will be affected by the changes introduced by the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017.
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Former Sergeant William Bradley, who is one of my constituents, developed severe PTSD and depression while serving in the Gulf war, and he was medically discharged from the Army in 2003. He had been on the enhanced PIP rate since 2014, but it was cut to the lower rate last year. Following an appeal, it has now been removed completely. The reply from the PIP hotline was that someone with mental health issues can work, and that this is really a benefit for people with severe physical disabilities. Will the Minister meet me to discuss this awful case, or, if PIP is not the right benefit for those with mental illness, can she explain what is?
Universal Credit — House of Commons, 2017-03-27
Topic: Housing
Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Mounting evidence from the full service roll-out areas exposes the fact that the universal credit system is beset with failure. It is simply not working. Rent arrears are soaring, claimants are waiting up to three months to have their claims processed and some people have even lost their homes. The Government need to get their head out of the sand, so will Ministers call a halt to the full service roll-out while they conduct an immediate review?
Leaving the EU: Departmental Policy Implications — House of Commons, 2017-03-27
Topic: Immigration
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Reports at the weekend suggest that the UK Government intend that EU migrants currently living here will retain access to benefits, but those who arrive after the triggering of article 50 will be denied access. Does the Secretary of State agree that that is actually dependent on the will of the EU member states, and his Government cannot guarantee any of those rights as they press ahead, dragging us into the unknown without any credible plan?
Bus Services Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2017-03-27
Topic: Other
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. On Monday last week I asked for an emergency debate under Standing Order No. 24. I do not seek to reapply for that debate, but last week Mr Speaker said that he would "hope and anticipate that the usual channels would find time for it to be debated."—[Official Report, 20 March 2017; Vol. 623, c. 655.] Business collapsed at 4.35 pm last Tuesday and it is finishing at 7.43 pm tonight. This is completely illogical to me and to everybody else watching elsewhere. Can you advise on how I could get a debate on the significant concerns that I still have about the Tories’ two-child policy and rape clause before it is implemented in 10 days’ time? If now is not the time, when is?
Exiting the EU: Disability Rights — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for her answer, but she will be aware that a lot of her Conservative colleagues are desperate to do away with many of the regulations. As we go forward post Brexit, will she guarantee that there will be no rush to deregulate and there will not be a reduction in the statutory protections available to disabled people?
Exiting the EU: Disability Rights — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): There is already a lot of fear and anxiety as this Tory Government have substantially reduced disability support with the powers they already have. How then can we trust this Government’s word? Will the Minister set out exactly which of these rights will be safeguarded following Brexit?
London Attack — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Other
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I join all the tributes that have been paid. I think those of us who were locked down in the Chamber will also want to pay particular tribute to Mr Deputy Speaker, the Chairman of Ways and Means, and to the Leader of the House for keeping calm and carrying on, and keeping us informed about what was going on. I also pay tribute to the Hansard reporters who kept democracy going and reported, three hours after the business had finished, the live recording of the proceedings up to the Adjournment of the House. That is a tribute to the continuity of our democracy.
Equitable Life Policyholders: Compensation — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am pleased to be able to speak today and to keep up the pressure on behalf of constituents who have been hard hit and who deserve better. I thank the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for initiating the debate and for his continued hard work on behalf of all those affected. Like, I am sure, other Members, I remember the reassuring adverts that must have attracted many people at the time. They were warm, homespun and affirming, telling us that "It’s an Equitable Life," which it clearly was not. If there were any equity or justice in life, we would not be here today on behalf of our constituents whose lives have been changed in such a damaging way. Although I understand the steps that have been taken so far, their confidence in both government and financial regulation has been shattered I think of constituents of mine, such as James Moore of Newton Mearns or Howard Lyle, who lives in Eaglesham. Howard is now 81, but he was a self-employed business man. He worked hard for his living and did all the right things to provide financial security. In fact, he ended up working until he was 72 years old. He felt that he had done everything possible to ensure that he had good financial plans in place and would not be dependent on the state in his retirement. But, of course, all his well-laid and well-paid-for plans are in tatters. Howard says: "All I am looking for is a repayment of what I and hundreds of other pensioners are owed." Who could possibly argue with that? I have named only two constituents, but, like other Members, I know of many others who are similarly affected and have been similarly failed by what is clearly a toothless regulatory system, which has utterly let them down.
Equitable Life Policyholders: Compensation — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Stuart Blair Donaldson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making some great points. Given the hardships that some of our constituents have faced, given the injustice and, indeed, the age that some of them are reaching, will she join me in expressing admiration for their tenacity and their determination to keep the issue on the political agenda and to continue to fight this injustice?
Equitable Life Policyholders: Compensation — House of Commons, 2017-03-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Fraser Weir (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I have a daughter who is now into her third university degree, so I know exactly what the hon. Gentleman is talking about. Yes, parents are having to use their own money to help out their children, and that can cut down the amount that will be available to them in the future. That is a decision that they have to make, however; it is a slightly different issue. The bigger issue is the future. Many young people today are not earning enough money, and many have been landed with large debts following their university degrees. That, and the lack of confidence in the system, will have an impact on their ability to save for a pension. I think I have gone on long enough now, so I will end on that point.