argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Defense
Questions: I commend the Chancellor and his team for the robust policy response that we have seen to this crisis so far, but may I ask them to continue to focus laser-like on the issue of cash flow, which is particularly important to smaller businesses, particularly important to the workforce, and particularly important to the vulnerable groups in society? That issue of cash flow is probably the most important when it comes to determining employment, which is important to everyone in this Chamber and to the country at large.; I acknowledge that the Government are dealing with an incredible number of challenges at this time and pay tribute on behalf of all MPs to the work that has been done by Ministers, by those on the Front Benches and by the people behind the scenes who are supporting them in this work. The financial challenges of families with children have not yet been specifically addressed, so will the Treasury listen to the Child Poverty Action Group and work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a fairly simple solution that will put money directly into the pockets of families with children, which is temporarily to increase child benefit?; On behalf of my constituents in Clwyd South, may I commend the Treasury team for its hard and speedy work over the past couple of weeks? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government will stand behind businesses, small and large, in Clwyd South and elsewhere in Wales and the UK as the crisis progresses?; I welcome my right hon. Friend’s world-leading package of support to businesses. There are many charities and community care providers in West Bromwich East, including Sandwell Community Caring Trust, which are all working extremely hard to protect the vulnerable. I thank them, and all the teachers and frontline staff in my constituency. Will he confirm that all charities that pay through PAYE will be eligible for the scheme and relief package?; The Chancellor has been more creative and accommodating than his equivalents in any other jurisdiction. Setting aside the question of fairness, how practical is it to use historical tax data to try to impute a wage equivalent for the self-employed?
Tobias Martin Ellwood (Conservative, Centre-right): The economic interventions that the Chancellor spoke about are greatly welcome in Bournemouth East. Will he join me in paying tribute to the armed forces for what they are doing and what they will do? We should all recognise that that is in addition to their day job of keeping the nation safe. What will happen in the spending review? Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is important that there is additional capacity for our armed forces so that they can deal with the threats that continue to exist, but also have the ability to step forward to help the nation in times of crisis?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Defense
Questions: I commend the Chancellor and his team for the robust policy response that we have seen to this crisis so far, but may I ask them to continue to focus laser-like on the issue of cash flow, which is particularly important to smaller businesses, particularly important to the workforce, and particularly important to the vulnerable groups in society? That issue of cash flow is probably the most important when it comes to determining employment, which is important to everyone in this Chamber and to the country at large.; I acknowledge that the Government are dealing with an incredible number of challenges at this time and pay tribute on behalf of all MPs to the work that has been done by Ministers, by those on the Front Benches and by the people behind the scenes who are supporting them in this work. The financial challenges of families with children have not yet been specifically addressed, so will the Treasury listen to the Child Poverty Action Group and work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a fairly simple solution that will put money directly into the pockets of families with children, which is temporarily to increase child benefit?; On behalf of my constituents in Clwyd South, may I commend the Treasury team for its hard and speedy work over the past couple of weeks? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government will stand behind businesses, small and large, in Clwyd South and elsewhere in Wales and the UK as the crisis progresses?; I welcome my right hon. Friend’s world-leading package of support to businesses. There are many charities and community care providers in West Bromwich East, including Sandwell Community Caring Trust, which are all working extremely hard to protect the vulnerable. I thank them, and all the teachers and frontline staff in my constituency. Will he confirm that all charities that pay through PAYE will be eligible for the scheme and relief package?; The Chancellor has been more creative and accommodating than his equivalents in any other jurisdiction. Setting aside the question of fairness, how practical is it to use historical tax data to try to impute a wage equivalent for the self-employed?
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of our armed services, and I join him in paying tribute to them for what they are doing, not just to keep us safe every day, but right now when we are calling on them to help us meet this public health emergency. As we speak, they are doing extraordinary work to help our healthcare system to respond to what is coming. We recognise that, and it will be recognised when we think about funding for the armed services not just today, but in the future.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Defense
Questions: I commend the Chancellor and his team for the robust policy response that we have seen to this crisis so far, but may I ask them to continue to focus laser-like on the issue of cash flow, which is particularly important to smaller businesses, particularly important to the workforce, and particularly important to the vulnerable groups in society? That issue of cash flow is probably the most important when it comes to determining employment, which is important to everyone in this Chamber and to the country at large.; I acknowledge that the Government are dealing with an incredible number of challenges at this time and pay tribute on behalf of all MPs to the work that has been done by Ministers, by those on the Front Benches and by the people behind the scenes who are supporting them in this work. The financial challenges of families with children have not yet been specifically addressed, so will the Treasury listen to the Child Poverty Action Group and work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a fairly simple solution that will put money directly into the pockets of families with children, which is temporarily to increase child benefit?; On behalf of my constituents in Clwyd South, may I commend the Treasury team for its hard and speedy work over the past couple of weeks? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government will stand behind businesses, small and large, in Clwyd South and elsewhere in Wales and the UK as the crisis progresses?; I welcome my right hon. Friend’s world-leading package of support to businesses. There are many charities and community care providers in West Bromwich East, including Sandwell Community Caring Trust, which are all working extremely hard to protect the vulnerable. I thank them, and all the teachers and frontline staff in my constituency. Will he confirm that all charities that pay through PAYE will be eligible for the scheme and relief package?; The Chancellor has been more creative and accommodating than his equivalents in any other jurisdiction. Setting aside the question of fairness, how practical is it to use historical tax data to try to impute a wage equivalent for the self-employed?
Stuart Paul Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): I want to follow on from my right hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) and talk about our great armed forces. I expressed my delight at the budget of £10 million identified for veterans’ mental health. Will the Chancellor confirm that that will remain a priority, as the problem does not go away?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Defense
Questions: I commend the Chancellor and his team for the robust policy response that we have seen to this crisis so far, but may I ask them to continue to focus laser-like on the issue of cash flow, which is particularly important to smaller businesses, particularly important to the workforce, and particularly important to the vulnerable groups in society? That issue of cash flow is probably the most important when it comes to determining employment, which is important to everyone in this Chamber and to the country at large.; I acknowledge that the Government are dealing with an incredible number of challenges at this time and pay tribute on behalf of all MPs to the work that has been done by Ministers, by those on the Front Benches and by the people behind the scenes who are supporting them in this work. The financial challenges of families with children have not yet been specifically addressed, so will the Treasury listen to the Child Poverty Action Group and work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a fairly simple solution that will put money directly into the pockets of families with children, which is temporarily to increase child benefit?; On behalf of my constituents in Clwyd South, may I commend the Treasury team for its hard and speedy work over the past couple of weeks? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government will stand behind businesses, small and large, in Clwyd South and elsewhere in Wales and the UK as the crisis progresses?; I welcome my right hon. Friend’s world-leading package of support to businesses. There are many charities and community care providers in West Bromwich East, including Sandwell Community Caring Trust, which are all working extremely hard to protect the vulnerable. I thank them, and all the teachers and frontline staff in my constituency. Will he confirm that all charities that pay through PAYE will be eligible for the scheme and relief package?; The Chancellor has been more creative and accommodating than his equivalents in any other jurisdiction. Setting aside the question of fairness, how practical is it to use historical tax data to try to impute a wage equivalent for the self-employed?
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): I am happy to give that assurance. I know my hon. Friend is a champion—rightly so—of our armed forces and speaks with great experience and authority on that. He will be aware of a number of measures that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has announced. That is one of them, and we stand by it.
Self-employed Persons: Financial Support — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): Without straying into individual cases, the key advice from the Government is to follow the medical advice that was set out following the Prime Minister’s statement and updated on the Government website. That sets out the advice to workers, including what is safe to do and what is essential.
Self-employed Persons: Financial Support — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very happy to draw my right hon. Friend’s concerns to the attention of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care so that precise medical guidance can be given to address the concern he raises.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on covid-19. The spread of coronavirus is rapidly accelerating across the world and in the UK. The actions that we took yesterday are not actions that any UK Government would ever want to take, but they were absolutely necessary. The goal is clear: to slow the rate of transmission in order to protect the NHS and save lives. Our instruction is simple: stay at home People should only leave their home for one of four reasons: first, to shop for basic necessities, such as food, as infrequently as possible; secondly, to exercise once a day, for example a run, walk or cycle, alone or with members of the same household; thirdly, for any medical need, or to provide care or help to a vulnerable person; and fourthly, to travel to and from work, but only where it cannot be done from home, and employers should be taking every possible step to ensure that staff can work remotely. Those four reasons are exceptions to the rule. Further guidance is available on the gov.uk website I want to be clear that where people absolutely cannot work from home, they can still go to work. Indeed, it is important that they do so in order to keep the country running. Key workers, for example in the NHS and social care, pharmacists and those in the medicines supply chain, should go to work, unless they are self-isolating because they or someone else in their household has symptoms. We will be publishing guidance later today to explain the steps that employers must take to ensure that employees are safe, including making sure that there is a 2-metre gap between workers wherever possible In addition, all non-essential shops and community centres are closed as of today, and gatherings of more than two people in public must stop. These measures are not advice; they are rules. They will be enforced, including by the police, with fines for non-compliance starting at £30 but up to unlimited fines I want to update the House on the shielding that was introduced yesterday. We are writing to up to 1.5 million of the most vulnerable people in the UK to advise them that they will need to shield themselves from the virus in the coming months. We will provide targeted support for all those who need it so that they have the food supplies and medical care they need to make it through. Guided by the experts, we will look at the evidence and continually review the effects of the measures We are engaged in a great national effort to beat the virus. Everybody now has it in their power to save lives and protect the NHS. Home is now the frontline. In this national effort, working together, we can defeat this disease. Everyone has a part to play. I commend this statement to the House.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Health Secretary for the superhuman efforts he has taken to resolve the issues around PPE in the last week. The evidence is that we are in a much better situation now than we were a week ago. He will not mind if I follow up what the shadow Health Secretary said about testing. The concern is that we appear to be testing on a daily basis virtually no more people than we were over a week ago, when the commitment was to increase the daily number of tests from 5,000 to 25,000. Given that this is a vital part of the success of the suppression strategies in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, can he give us an estimated date when we will get back to routine covid-19 testing in the community of all suspected cases? Even if that is three or four weeks away, a date means that there is a plan, and without a date, people will not be confident that this really is the plan.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Although I was not in the Chamber, I heard the comments that my right hon. Friend the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee made about this yesterday, and he is right to push on this issue. I am not going to give him a date today, because we are in the middle of buying the tests that are needed, especially the new tests that have just come on stream. I have been able to give him the update that we have now purchased millions of these tests, which will arrive in the next days and weeks. I will be in a position to give him a more concrete timetable, and I will make sure he gets that as soon as we can make it public.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): On the last point, there was an urgent question about exactly that issue. It really is a matter for the Treasury. The hon. Gentleman is right that contact tracing is incredibly important, and the amount of contact tracing that we have done is one of the reasons why we have managed to be behind other European countries in the curve. At this stage in the epidemic, it is not possible to have contact tracing for everybody, as we can when there is a very small number. We are looking at how we can do that better and enable individuals to contact trace, including by using technology The hon. Gentleman asked about refugees. I do not know whether he was in the Chamber yesterday, but that subject was brought up and I said that I would look into it. I will get back on that as soon as I can The hon. Gentleman asked about the number of ventilators. We started with around 5,000 and we now have more than 12,000, which we have bought. We have also made the call to arms for manufacturing capability to be turned over to ventilators, and that has been very successful I strongly endorse and support the backing of the Scottish Government and the SNP in the UK-wide approach to getting the message out to everybody that the most important thing anybody can do is stay at home.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very reassured to hear that by the end of the week, care settings will all get PPE, which is not what the leader of my council was being told recently. I accept the Secretary of State’s reassurance: it is really good news. Can he further reassure me that the PPE, when it arrives, will be to the right specification, in particular FFP3 respirator masks and not simply paper masks, which are next to useless?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): If there are specific concerns about the non-delivery of PPE to council settings, I want to know about them through the hotline that we have set up precisely to short-circuit such problems having to be brought to my attention on the Floor of the House. Let us fix them directly. On the second point, it has got to be the right stuff according to the clinical guidelines.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Graham Stuart Brady (Conservative, Centre-right): Care homes are being asked by local authorities to contract for block bookings of beds, but at the moment they would bear the liability if something were to go wrong—if residents were to come to them with the infection. May I urge my right hon. Friend to look urgently at the question of whether an indemnity can be provided?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the glimmers of light in these troubling times are the amazing community volunteer projects that have sprung up in all our constituencies. The Secretary of State will be pleased to learn that on Sunday, we set up a "shopital" outside Worthing hospital, and I spent several hours selling rice, spuds and, crucially, loo paper to more than 100 ambulancemen, nurses and doctors. Should not that sort of arrangement be happening anyway with the supermarkets and with the new scheme delivering food packets, to make sure that NHS workers for whom going shopping at eight o’clock in the morning during the "golden hour" is not appropriate can get on with their job much more easily?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): I did not know that my hon. Friend was engaged in that sort of activity on a Sunday morning, but I am delighted that he was. Making sure that we get hot meals to NHS staff who are working often many more shifts than gives them time to make a good meal is incredibly important. It is something that we are working hard on, but I am really glad when it happens spontaneously, as well as when we try to sort it from the Department.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State is doing an excellent job and is being incredibly responsive, despite what I appreciate must be the huge volume of correspondence coming into his inbox. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. However, there is confusion about whether people should be going to work or not. From both a health and an economic perspective, as a business owner, I would much rather have a short, sharp shock, with everything closed down for 30 days to get this disease under control and allow the Secretary of State to get his testing and tracking in place and defeat it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): If they are essential, yes, but the aim here is to try to absolutely push down the speed of transmission of this disease over the next few weeks, to get a grip on its spread. That means that, while we have set out four reasons where it is reasonable to leave one’s home, people should stay at home if they do not have a good reason.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Alicia Alexandra Martha Kearns (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon Friend confirm what the advice is on visiting loved ones in hospital? Will he also confirm that Rutland is not a "hospital desert"—as reported by Sky News, which has concerned my constituents, who have access to Leicester and Peterborough—and urge the media to be cautious about deeply unhelpful and sensationalist reporting?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Defense
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): The armed forces are doing an absolutely fantastic job of supporting civilian efforts, for instance in the NHS on the logistics of delivery of protective equipment and much more; but the armed forces will not be involved in the enforcement of the law. That is for the police, who will levy fines, starting at £30 and escalating if people continue to flout the rules.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Ruth Rosamond Edwards (Conservative, Centre-right): NHS workers are on the frontline of this battle, at huge personal risk. Many have returned to the NHS especially to fight coronavirus. Does my right hon. Friend agree that when this is over, we need to find an appropriate way to recognise and honour their bravery?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point, which is that we as a nation owe a debt of gratitude to those who work in the NHS, and we need to constantly search for ways to show it, so that they all know how much we value the work that they do.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-24
Topic: Health
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (Conservative, Centre-right): May I personally thank my right hon. Friend and the Department for the rapid response he has given to every inquiry that I have made on behalf of my constituents? I also praise the NHS in Dorset and, of course, throughout the country for all the fantastic work that everyone is doing in the face of this appalling virus First, we are still having problems getting PPE; I heard the Secretary of State say that the phone line, to which he kindly referred me, is still the best way to try to follow up on that. Secondly, supermarkets are impossible to get hold of so that food banks can go online to request regular deliveries. Is there some way that we can get a message to all supermarkets to help out in that regard?