argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My wife comes from County Armagh, and I was married some two miles from the border at the height of the troubles. Is it not arguable that the present border arrangements in the island of Ireland contribute massively to the present peace process that we enjoy?
European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As someone who feels very strongly that the polarisation in this debate has been immensely damaging for our country and that there are not enough people finding ways of bringing our country back together again, may I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he shares my view that this is a route to achieving a compromise—an art that appears to have been lost in this place at present—and perhaps a way for someone such as me, who believes in a relationship that is akin to what Norway has, to find a way forward and achieve a compromise that not only meets the obligation of implementing the referendum outcome, but recognises the views of many people about the need to maintain a very close relationship with the EU?
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s confirmation tonight that he will, along with my party and the Labour party, vote against the Government. If the Government continue to pursue this reckless no-deal policy, will he continue to work with us to block any attempt to take us off the cliff edge against the will of Parliament?
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I want to say thank you to the MPs in different parts of the House who worked so hard on the Bill that we all passed tonight. It is that cross-party working—putting party interest to one side and putting the national interest first—that the country expects us to do. In particular, those colleagues on the Conservative Benches who have stuck to their principles and done what they think is right should be commended for that. The way that they have been treated has been shameful I am intrigued that as a result of the House of Commons saying clearly that we will not countenance crashing out of the EU with no deal, the Prime Minister’s response is that this somehow messes up his plan. It is as if it is news to him that the House of Commons does not want a no-deal exit. Was he not paying attention on the previous occasions that we voted to say that there should not be a no-deal exit? Is he seriously saying that the extent of his plan was to try to bully the EU and that he could only get a good deal by threatening that we would leave without a deal? Because if that is the extent of his plan, it is not very well thought through.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It should be no surprise to the hon. Lady that the Liberal Democrats want to stop Brexit. We have been crystal clear on stopping Brexit. For all our different views in different parts of the House about that, I do not think that anyone can accuse us of not being straightforward about where we stand On the negotiation, the Prime Minister—
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have already given way On the terms of the negotiation, the Prime Minister says that he now cannot do this negotiation because we are taking no deal off the table, but we know that there are no serious negotiations anyway. The word "disingenuous" was used by the Father of the House, and I think that that is accurate. The Prime Minister has wanted the job he has for so long it has been almost painful to watch. He has been prepared to say anything and do anything to get that job. He said—
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have given way The Prime Minister has said that we will get a great deal. Well, now he has the job. That is the job: go and get a great deal. But he knows that he was just saying whatever came into his head to get the job. He knows he cannot a great deal because there is no such thing as a great Brexit deal, and he is scared of being found out.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have already given way to somebody on the Government Benches. I am going to say what I have to say The way I think that this is best resolved is by putting this issue to the people in a people’s vote to decide on a Brexit way forward. I do not believe there is a majority in this country for any specific type of Brexit deal. I am not even convinced there is a majority in the Conservative party for any type of Brexit deal We could have a general election. I say to the Prime Minister that such an election should be held in a responsible, calm and orderly way, and not with the threat of crashing out with no deal either during the campaign or in the immediate aftermath. If he wants an election, extend article 50 for the purposes of having a general election and bring it on. If he is not prepared to do that, do not be surprised when people are not fooled by his tactics and vote against him.
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2019-09-04
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the right hon. Lady agree that a no-deal Brexit is no way out of this Brexit conundrum? Years and years of difficulties will follow and it is dishonest and not right to say that a no-deal Brexit will solve the Brexit issue.
Situation in the Gulf — House of Commons, 2019-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): First, may I pass on my best wishes to the shadow Foreign Secretary? As a cyclist myself, I know how vulnerable cyclists are in London. May I also apologise for the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), who has been detained by a leadership contest announcement in which she has been elected as the leader of the Liberal Democrats. I am very pleased that that has not required any Liberal Democrats to resign—other Members may regret that—in the way in which the leadership of the Conservative party has required some very sensible Ministers such as the right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), to resign their positions In relation to Iran, it is clearly time for cool heads. I very much welcome the fact that we have the current Foreign Secretary in post and he has made it clear that we are not up for military action. Does he think that discussions now need to take place about the composition and size of our fleet? Does he agree that although we are not in an actual war with Iran, we are clearly in a propaganda war? Is he able to say a little bit about what the Government are going to do to counter the image that the Iranians are portraying of the ship perhaps going off course and colliding with another vessel?
Welsh Exports — House of Commons, 2019-10-17
Topic: Agriculture
Jane Dodds (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have spoken before about the impact of export tariffs on Welsh lamb and beef exports, which would be seriously damaging for the Welsh farmers I represent in Brecon and Radnorshire. We have heard the Government recently talk up Japan as a tariff-free export destination, but only £4,000 of lamb goes to that particular country. Can the Secretary of State provide a guarantee—yes or no—that the livelihood of Welsh farmers, such as those in Brecon and Radnorshire, will not suffer as a result of the imposition of these export tariffs?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Southend on the initiative of welcoming ambassadors from countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Maldives and India to boost trade once we leave the European Union?; The annual number of customs declarations established by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs under a no-deal scenario is estimated to be 270 million. The current number is 55 million. How do the Government expect to process the additional workload when they are shutting down vital HMRC centres such as Lynx House in Portsmouth?; Back when we were told that we hold all the cards, the post of British trade negotiator had been obsolete for 45 years. Would the Secretary of State recommend it as a long-term career path? We are, as we know, at the beginning. When does she envisage the negotiations ever being over?; Despite the 2016 Colombia peace agreement, murders of trade unionists, human rights defenders and community leaders continue in very large numbers. Can the Secretary of State assure the House that there will be no free trade agreement with Colombia until it fully complies with its international human rights obligations?
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The National Audit Office said yesterday that if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, cross-border shipments could be reduced by more than 50% and would take 12 months to return to normal. Can we stop this charade? Is it not the case that no responsible Government would do that to our businesses, and that if there is no agreement with the EU by Saturday, the Prime Minister will send the letter requesting an extension, not least because if he fails to do so he will be in contempt of court, given the proceedings in the Court of Session?
Online Pornography: Age Verification — House of Commons, 2019-10-17
Topic: Education
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Further to that point, when the Children’s Commissioner worked with DCMS and had workshops with children asking them what they wanted from this, they reported that their e-safety lessons at school were generally boring and not very useful. Does this not highlight how important it is to have relationship and sex education across the whole of our education system, but also, critically, to give teachers high-quality training to deliver fun, useful lessons that children find will actually help them?
Compliance with the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019 — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): If the Prime Minister fails to secure a deal by 19 October and refuses to send the letter, as he is required to do by law, does he intend to resign or stand down temporarily and let someone else in Government sign the letter for him?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: International Affairs
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): In response to a written question tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), Ministers have confirmed that UK law enforcement agencies provide training to the Hong Kong Police. With that in mind, has that training been put through the overseas security and justice assistance risk management system? If so, what assessment, particularly in light of recent events, has been made of the risk that that training may now be assisting in human rights violations in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: International Affairs
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As has already been mentioned, the 70th anniversary of the Communist party is coming up next week and it has been reported that this could be accompanied by large-scale pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. We have seen aerial photographs of armoured vehicles lined up ready to respond. Have the UK Government been in touch with their counterparts in China to stress the importance of maintaining a proportionate response, of the rule of law and of the protection of human rights throughout what could be a difficult period?
Arms Export Licences (Saudi Arabia) — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: International Affairs
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): When Court orders are contravened a couple of times, it can perhaps be dismissed as a failure to follow procedures, but when it happens on multiple occasions, it suggests that there is a systemic problem; the system is not working. Will the Secretary of State look at implementing a policy of the presumption of denial in respect of all export licences to countries listed as human rights priorities on the annual Foreign Office human rights report, so that those exports to those countries would be banned in the first instance?
International Climate Action — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: Environment
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the Secretary of State agree that the climate emergency demands that we reform the whole financial system, to decarbonise capitalism and green the City? If so, why are the Government taking three years to implement the mandatory disclosure of climate-related financial risks, when it could be brought in within one year?
International Climate Action — House of Commons, 2019-09-26
Topic: Energy
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): If we are serious about tackling climate change, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. To that end, does the right hon. Lady agree that the proposals for the west Cumbria coal mine should be cancelled, and will she speak to her right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to whom I have written? Will she instead commit Government money through the northern powerhouse to create renewable industry and energy jobs in west Cumbria instead?
Hong Kong — House of Commons, 2019-09-03
Topic: International Affairs
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The demonstrators have acted largely peacefully, but everyone in the House will have seen the footage of the police acting in an unjustified and extremely violent manner. With that in mind, will the Foreign Secretary commit to ensuring that the UK is not exporting crowd control equipment—water cannons, tear gas and so on—until that independent inquiry has been carried out and adequate safeguards have been put in place, and will he encourage our international partners to do the same?
Leaving the EU: Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-09-03
Topic: Government Operations
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There are widespread reports that the Secretary of State is seeking to sanitise the Operation Yellowhammer documents. Can he confirm that any ministerial demand that civil servants water down Operation Yellowhammer would break the ministerial code, that no civil servants risk being disciplined if they refuse to undertake this work, and that they will be covered by whistleblower legislation?
Education Funding — House of Commons, 2019-09-03
Topic: Education
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Institute for Fiscal Studies has described the Education Secretary‘s figure of £14 billion extra for schools as "somewhere between meaningless and misleading." It calculates that the real-terms increase will be more like £4.3 billion by 2022-3. That is just enough to reverse the cuts that have been made since 2015, so eight years later schools will, in essence, receive nothing. Given the importance of numeracy to the national curriculum, does the Secretary of State regret not doing his sums properly?
European Union (Withdrawal) — House of Commons, 2019-09-03
Topic: Agriculture
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I sincerely hope that I am not seen to be an arrogant Member of this House. I always try to represent the interests of the far north of Scotland. Will the hon. Gentleman, and others in the Chamber, at least accept that a no-deal Brexit would ruin the crofters and sheep farmers in my constituency, and that would lead to the second highland clearances?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2019-09-03
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. Across the country, people have been protesting because they are worried. They are worried about the Prime Minister’s riding roughshod over our parliamentary democracy. Tonight the House of Commons has spoken: it has said that we will not let that happen Much as I relish the opportunity to take on the Prime Minister in a general election, it is vital—[Interruption.] It is vital that this House acts with responsibility, and does not take our country into an election at a point at which there is any risk that we will crash out of the European Union during that election campaign or immediately afterwards. We must act responsibly.
Customs Regulations — House of Commons, 2019-10-30
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What steps the Government have taken to ensure that customs regulations are the same in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK.
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is one of the defining characteristics of a nation state that goods moving into a territory are subject to regulations that are not there for goods that move within it. That is why the withdrawal agreement is a threat to the future of the Union that is the United Kingdom. It is why the former Prime Minister was absolutely right to discount completely the possibility of a customs border down the Irish sea. Why has the Conservative and Unionist party changed its mind?
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): If the Prime Minister had bothered to go to the Northern Ireland border, he would know the genuine fear that people there feel about his proposals, which they see will result in physical infrastructure for the border, whether that is actually on the border or, as he euphemistically puts it, at some other point in the supply chain. His plans there have been denounced as the worst of both worlds. Will the Prime Minister now go to the Northern Ireland border and listen to the people and communities there, or does he just not care?
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Macroeconomics
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I commend the Prime Minister for rare consistency; when he said "f*** business" he really meant it. Manufacturing Northern Ireland has described his proposals as an "existential threat" and as being "thrown under the bus". Can he confirm which businesses in Northern Ireland he consulted on his proposals and which of them supported them?
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Foreign Trade
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Prime Minister has denied on multiple occasions during this session that what he is proposing involves physical customs checks, but he has just said in his statement—on page three—in relation to the new protocol and customs checks, that there will be a "number of cases where physical checks would be necessary" Is he denying that he said that? Secondly, he refers to the political declaration, but it is a declaration of aspiration with no legal force. Is it not the case that the free trade agreement to which he refers will take at least three years to negotiate? Nothing will be done by this at all.
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Prime Minister is promising to get Brexit done at the end of the month. But the EU is not going to sink to the bottom of the sea, and today’s exchanges—lasting almost two hours—have demonstrated that many, many questions are unanswered and nothing has been resolved. Rather than this being "getting Brexit done", is not this the "never-ending Brexit"?
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): First, I congratulate the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn on securing this urgent question and on the powerful way in which she has been an advocate for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her constituent. I thank the Minister for his efforts and those of the current Foreign Secretary in trying to secure Nazanin’s release. We can only imagine the anguish caused by the way in which this mother is separated from her daughter, and we hope this can be swiftly resolved so that the family can be reunited. What can the Minister do to bring that about? I also want to ask him about the wider issue of the disturbing trend of Iran arresting people on trumped up charges, with them effectively becoming hostages to geopolitical disputes they have nothing to do with. That behaviour is entirely unacceptable as a tactic. As the Minister says, it risks huge reputational damage to the state, so what more can this Government, perhaps through the auspices of the United Nations, do to raise that wider issue, and to crystallise to the Iranian state and any others that wish to undertake this tactic that it is counterproductive and not acceptable?
Bullying and Harassment of MPs’ Parliamentary Staff — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is correct in what he is saying, but there is a greyer area at the edge of this issue. He has outlined the obvious cases of shouting, bullying and so on, but I would also argue that when an MP asks a member of staff to babysit a child or go to the MP’s flat to wait for the gas man to come that, too, is an abuse of that member of staff.
Bullying and Harassment of MPs’ Parliamentary Staff — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Government Operations
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I pay tribute to the brilliant speech he is making. I recognise much of what he is saying from my experience in my own party. The Liberal Democrats have been through an incredibly painful process of coming to our own independent complaints procedure, which enables many of the issues he is raising to come to the fore. Most importantly, it was co-created by activists and, in particular, young women in the party who felt that the current processes were not working. I believe that the procedure is now much more robust. It is by no means done, and he is right that the buck stops with MPs and that we have to lead from within our parties. I commend him for his words.
Bullying and Harassment of MPs’ Parliamentary Staff — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Government Operations
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I recognise much of what the hon. Lady is saying, but there is a Members’ HR service which has been dealing very professionally with some issues in my office. That service is available, although not enough. It should be much more structured in the way she suggests, but it does exist. I want to take a moment to thank the staff for their work; they probably just need a lot more resource.