argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I invite the hon. Lady to resume her seat. She has a right to be heard. She has a right not to be shouted down by Front or Back Benchers, and she will not be.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Simon James Hoare (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to the Leader of the Opposition for giving way. If we take him at his word that this most untrustworthy Government and Prime Minister are wedded to doing the most evil and disastrous things to this country, can he explain his reticence about a general election at which he has the chance to sweep us out of office?
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like the right hon. Gentleman to clarify something he said earlier. He talked up his link-up with the Liberal Democrats on wanting to have an election on a different date in December. He went on to say that that would be conditional on 16-year-olds and European Union citizens having ballot papers. I wish to ask him a simple question: if there is no time to do that, does he still back the idea of an election in early December?
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
William Nigel Paul Cash (Conservative, Centre-right): The bottom line is this. I heard the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) talking about disrespect just now, and I heard the Leader of the Opposition talk about trust. What those who are abstaining or voting against the motion are doing is utterly disrespectful to their own constituents and utterly disrespectful to our democratic system. They are not trusting the people, they are not removing the uncertainty and they are not allowing the British people their democratic right to choose Members of Parliament whom they wish to elect in individual constituencies What the Leader of the Opposition and the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber are doing is denying democracy. That is completely and totally unacceptable, whether people are remainers or leavers. The democratic right of the British people is to have a general election in the situation we are in now. Yes, certainly we should be supporting leaving the European Union, but remainers, too, have the right to vote, and that is being denied them by the Leader of the Opposition and every single Labour Member of Parliament and others who are either abstaining or voting against the motion today. That is a total denial of democracy. When it comes to the general election, I trust that the people who know why they have been denied it will vote against those Members of Parliament, to make sure that those Members themselves see the damage they have done to our democratic system.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is talking about the sad state of democracy in our country. When we go around the world and say, "The United Kingdom stands for respecting democracy and the rule of law," other countries say, "Well, you had a referendum where the majority of the people wanted to leave, and your Parliament will not deliver on that." It is quite clear that not being able to deliver on that result weakens our position in pushing for democracy around the world.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
Stephen Daniel Double (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very good point, about which I know he has a great deal of experience and knowledge. The eyes of the world are looking on this place to see whether we will be true to what we said we would do and whether we will respect what the voters told us to do.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I take careful note of what the Father of the House has said, and I am certainly open to any such discussions, but it does require willing participants, and it remains to be seen, with the passage of time, whether that be so. But I think everybody will be attentive—on this occasion, as on every other—to what, on the basis of 49 years’ experience in the House, the Father of the House has had to say to us.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Housing
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady points out, my reservations about the Heathrow expansion are on the record for everyone to read. The fact is that the House has voted by a large majority to give outline planning permission to this project. It is now for the scheme’s promoters to demonstrate that they can come up with a scheme that meets the exacting conditions on the environment that Parliament has set.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Housing
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene. Like many Members, I am one of a team of species champions, each representing an individual species that is in some way endangered. Does she agree it is very important that, as we tackle the housing challenge, we ensure developers build houses and create estates in a way that is sustainable for the surrounding countryside and allows those who move into such areas to live side by side with nature in the neighbouring area? Otherwise, we will lose more of the species that are so valuable to us.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Before the Secretary of State gives way to the plethora of people who wish to intervene, at present the number of people who wish to speak means that speeches will be limited to between three and four minutes. If people intervene and take more time during the Secretary of State’s speech, that time limit will go down significantly.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Giles Francis Watling (Conservative, Centre-right): I am a very old-fashioned man, and I come from an age when we mended things if they broke. I hope that my right hon. Friend agrees that the Bill will encourage people to go back to the days when we actually fixed things rather than threw them away at the end of use.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot give that commitment today, but we work very closely with the Northern Ireland civil service, and the hon. Lady will be aware that many provisions in the Bill are ready to apply to Northern Ireland; for the moment, they need Ministers to switch them on. We will continue to keep the question of governance under review, and I would love to see many more of these measures extended to Northern Ireland, but we have to respect the constitutional settlement.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The consultation paper makes very clear that we have not set a time frame. We have talked about the period of the troubles ending with the Good Friday agreement, but I am not prejudging the decision. Omagh is one atrocity, but there are many more, subsequent to the agreement, that we will have to consider as well. I want to hear from all victims. I want to hear from people who may not have been involved in a tragedy such as Omagh but whose victimhood may have resulted from their being in prison or being attacked, or as a result of a range of other experiences. I want to hear from all those people, and we will then reflect on what, if any, is the best time frame for the payments.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is posing questions about business management that I was qualified to answer a few months ago, but I am now in the hands of the business managers. I will say that today’s debate in the other place was extremely moving. The Labour party, the Democratic Unionist party and the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) have been hugely supportive of the Bill. We need to accelerate it and drive it forward, and I will continue to make strong representations, to my successor and to the Leader of the House.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 — House of Commons, 2019-10-28
Topic: Other
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I want to focus on the things that need to be worked through. Those things are immediate. Those things require time now, and they cannot be delayed. Therefore my focus is on trying to work through a whole set of issues over the coming days and weeks.
Forced Migration — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department is investing in migrant source countries to give people better opportunities to build decent lives at home. Over the past four years, support for UK aid across all programmes has enabled 14 million children to gain a decent education, and nearly 52 million people now have access to clean water and better sanitation.
Forced Migration — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Immigration
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady will know, in every year since 2016, the UK has resettled more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU member state, and I pay tribute to the local authorities that have already settled 16,000 refugees from Syria. The hon. Lady will also know that we intend to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees, as well as up to 3,000 vulnerable children and their carers, by 2020. Under our new compact, there are global resettlement scheme plans to resettle 5,000 of the most vulnerable every year post 2020.
Forced Migration — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Immigration
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the fantastic work that my right hon. Friend did in this Department. He was an absolute champion for DFID Phase 2 of the safety, support and solutions programme is now running. We are delivering humanitarian protection to vulnerable migrants en route, as well as informing people about living conditions and—as my right hon. Friend mentioned—the other risks that they may face if they travel through the Sahel or the horn of Africa. One of our partners, the International Organisation for Migration, has reached more than 4,000 people with awareness-raising activities.
Forced Migration — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: Global food insecurity is obviously a major factor in mass migration. Will the Secretary of State update us on what his Department is doing with aid agencies in respect of the merits of integrating nutrition into all areas of work?
Hugo Swire (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the Rohingya situation and tell us what discussions he has had with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Government in Dhaka about the situation in Cox’s Bazar?
Venezuela: Humanitarian Support — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the invocation of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament, which, for the benefit of observers, customarily sits annually in the Chamber on a non-sitting Friday. A sitting is due to take place next month. It is a magnificent organisation that deserves the support of every one of us.
Venezuela: Humanitarian Support — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. We have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to fraud, and we have robust controls against diversion. I can tell him that we have due diligence assessments in place to monitor the spending in Venezuela.
Supporting Women in Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to support women in developing countries in (a) business and (b) further education after they have finished school.
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): DFID’s support for the SheTrades Commonwealth programme has trained over 2,700 women-owned businesses. We recently announced £30 million for the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa programme, which will help to unlock $3 billion of additional lending to women entrepreneurs.
Supporting Women in Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to support women in developing countries in (a) business and (b) further education after they have finished school.
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is right. Economic empowerment for women is vital, and I made mention of the affirmative finance programme, which is tackling issues such as access to finance, access to mentoring support and overcoming laws that discriminate against women. It is worth pointing out that women typically reinvest up to 90% of their income into education, health and nutrition, compared to 40% for men, so investing in female-led businesses can transform societies.
Supporting Women in Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to support women in developing countries in (a) business and (b) further education after they have finished school.
Anne Margaret Main (Conservative, Centre-right): Menstruation stops many women participating in the business world and mostly affects the poorest, no more so than in the Rohingya camps, as Oxfam has told me. WUKA produces underwear that deals with the problem, is reusable and environmentally sustainable. Will his Department meet WUKA, Ruby Raut and others in St Albans who have developed the product to help women beat the problems of menstruation?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Other
Questions: Many of my constituents are concerned about plastic pollution, and I recently attended the launch of plastic-free Congleton. What are the UK Government doing to reduce, and indeed stop, plastic pollution in developing countries?; This month, we are celebrating 25 years of Fairtrade in the UK. At his first appearance at the Dispatch Box, will the Secretary of State reaffirm this Government’s commitment to Fairtrade? Will he join me in celebrating, with the Fairtrade Foundation, such a milestone achievement?; The Minister is aware of the devastating 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir, with massive loss of life and damage to housing and infrastructure—and of the gratifying international response, with assistance. Although the recent earthquakes were not on the same scale, they are causing major hardship; so what assistance is the Department providing to the authorities there, both for emergency relief and for long-term reconstruction, to help the long-suffering people of Azad Kashmir?; Further to the question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (John Spellar), will the Government press for the United Nations group on India and Pakistan to make a fact-finding visit to Kashmir to assess the humanitarian and human rights situation there?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) had a question on the Order Paper but it was not reached, so I will call him, on the strict understanding that he will be exemplary in his brevity.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Public Lands
Julian Charles Sturdy (Conservative, Centre-right): Askham Bog, a world-renowned nature reserve in my constituency, has been described as "irreplaceable" by, no less, Sir David Attenborough; yet it is threatened by proposals to build more than 500 houses on adjoining land. Will my right hon. Friend put in a good word with the Prime Minister to ask him to join me in lying down in front of the bulldozers to save that important piece of natural heritage?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Housing
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend. I always put in a good word with the Prime Minister on his behalf, and I share his passion for preserving our precious natural habitats. Local community views are of course incredibly important to the local planning process; that is what our revised national planning policy framework provides. He will understand that I cannot comment on individual planning applications.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Lady for her question. My eagerness to rise to the Dispatch Box was because, in Black History Month, as she becomes the first black MP to take to the Dispatch Box for PMQs, it is only fitting to say that she has blazed a trail and made it easier for others to follow in her footsteps. That is something in which I and every hon. Member in this House can take pride in paying tribute The right hon. Lady raises the increasing level of online and wider abuse that politicians from all parts of the House get, and we should come together to be clear that there must be zero tolerance of any abuse or any threats. May I also say that I have found the level of abuse that she herself has received online to be totally disgusting and totally unacceptable. At the same time, I am sure that, as a passionate champion of free speech, she will defend our right in this House to defend the issues of substance. The remarks that the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend, made were aimed at the suggestion that he could not describe the surrender Act in such terms. It is absolutely clear, given the substance of the legislation, that it would achieve that and undermine the ability of the Government to go and get a deal in the EU, which on all sides we want to achieve.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady has referred to the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) and the abuse that she has received, which I and all Members of this House, I know, believe is totally unacceptable. There is a place for free speech, but we should never allow that to cross over into abuse, intimidation or harassment of hon. Members from all parts of the House going about their business. The most important thing that we can do on the specific issue that the right hon. Lady raises is get the institutions in Northern Ireland back up and running so that they can exercise their rights, their prerogatives, on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Housing
Questions: Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that legislation to establish a tough independent regulator of internet companies empowered to challenge the automatic right to anonymity online should be a priority for the Queen’s Speech?; On Saturday, I was out knocking on doors with my listening team, listening to the views of local people, as we do every week. The message to me, whether they were leave or remain voters, was crystal clear: get Brexit done by 31 October. Deputy Prime Minister, can you reassure my constituents that we will leave the European Union by the end of this month, come what may, no ifs, no buts?; Housing, I believe, is the first of the social services; without it, we cannot have education, productivity or health. The NHS has a diagnosis code for inadequate housing. The Department of Health wrote to me saying that poor housing costs the NHS £1.4 billion a year, but that figure is now four years old. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Department of Health writes to me with the most up-to-date figures and places that information in the Library?
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly pass on the hon. Lady’s specific request to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. She is right to raise the quality of housing. When I was Housing Minister, we developed proposals for a social housing Green Paper. We want social housing tenants to feel they are treated with respect. I remember meeting an individual who said that he ran his own business, and when he went to work he was treated with respect but when he came back home he was treated disrespectfully by his housing association. That is not right I would gently say to the hon. Lady that we have delivered over 222,000 additional homes in the past year—the highest level in all but one of the past 31 years —and we have built more council housing than in the previous 13 years of the last Labour Government.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-10-02
Topic: Housing
Questions: Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that legislation to establish a tough independent regulator of internet companies empowered to challenge the automatic right to anonymity online should be a priority for the Queen’s Speech?; On Saturday, I was out knocking on doors with my listening team, listening to the views of local people, as we do every week. The message to me, whether they were leave or remain voters, was crystal clear: get Brexit done by 31 October. Deputy Prime Minister, can you reassure my constituents that we will leave the European Union by the end of this month, come what may, no ifs, no buts?; Housing, I believe, is the first of the social services; without it, we cannot have education, productivity or health. The NHS has a diagnosis code for inadequate housing. The Department of Health wrote to me saying that poor housing costs the NHS £1.4 billion a year, but that figure is now four years old. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Department of Health writes to me with the most up-to-date figures and places that information in the Library?; The Government update of the national planning policy framework published in July 2018 changed the policy we have had for generations of not building on the green belt. The policy now allows future development to be considered. Local planning authorities are coming under great pressure from developers who do not want to spend money to improve brownfield sites. Unspoilt areas such as the Seven Cornfields on the edge of my constituency are now under threat from inappropriate development by house builders who put profit above all else. We should not be building on such sites, especially at a time of concern for the environment. I ask the Prime Minister to review the green belt policy to protect areas such as the Seven Cornfields from developers.
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady’s concerns are shared right across the House, so it is something that will be of interest and importance to everyone here today. The national planning policy framework is very clear: the green belt must be protected and brownfield sites must be brought forward. In order to provide a greater boost to the supply of new housing, we have introduced measures to boost the density of and the ability to raise homes in more urban or suburban areas while protecting the green belt. A huge amount of money has gone into infrastructure development right across the country to ensure that we can build the right homes in the right places and to answer the significant concerns of local communities, who ask where all the schools, housing and roads will come from. We are making sure that we give councils the support they need to build the right homes in the right places.