argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): Members have talked about free trade, but Brexit is of course the biggest reversal of free trade in the UK’s history. Margaret Thatcher was a great proponent of the single market, which is the probably the greatest example of free trade in the world. She also did not like referendums and quoted Attlee, who said that they were the instrument of demagogues and dictators because of their use by Hitler. Unfortunately, we now appear to be withdrawing from the customs union and the single market. We are withdrawing from the EU, making ourselves much weaker in negotiations with other countries. We are also making the EU weaker. The EU is currently the biggest market in the world, but that title will go to China after we leave, so there will also be significant impacts on human rights, democracy and the rule of law Of course, this Bill is not directly about our relationship with the EU, but we will be reducing our trade with it due to the tariffs that will be imposed if we do not have membership—I hope we will—of the single market and the customs union. This Bill is about our relationship with third parties—the 65 agreements—but it is not fit for purpose in that respect, because it does not do what it says on the can. It claims that it can guarantee the continuation of those 65 agreements on existing terms, but it is intuitively obvious from a business point of view that other countries will see Britain up against the wall, on its own and weaker, and they will demand better terms, whether lower quality, lower standards or lower prices. What is more—
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): I will let the Minister intervene, but he can respond to this as well. The EU has quotas for various countries, but other EU27 countries will want to take some of that business, and we will lose again and again.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister tells us that third parties are not behaving like that at the moment, so he implies that they will not behave like that in the future—what false logic; what naivety.. That is absolutely ridiculous. Any negotiator or country that sees Britain with its back to the wall, turning away from the biggest market in the world, will ask for more. If they did not say that they will give the money to Spain or wherever, they would not be doing their job. What is more, they will be dragging their heels, because they will know that the clock is ticking and that we need to get something sorted out. They have everything on their side. The Minister is so naive. All the negotiations over the past 40 years have been done by EU negotiators. We do not have the negotiating capacity. He is smiling glibly and pretending that it will be all right on the night, but it will not. People will remember what he has said today and how naive he was This Bill is simply not fit for purpose. It takes two to tango, and the Bill presumes, as the Minister does, that the EU will tango and not trip us up in the process The other facet of the Bill is secrecy and hiding what will happen. My hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner) said that the US-UK deal will be hidden for four years, and there are all sorts of fears about our having to import substandard food products from the US, including chlorinated chicken, which the Secretary of State looks forward to eating—his name is Fox—and hormone-impregnated meat. In the US, medicines are introduced into meat and asbestos is for sale. All those standards may end up coming through the back door under the cloak of darkness in these secret deals I know that the Bill is not about the US-UK relationship at the moment, but the Minister and the Secretary of State have mentioned CETA, which already enables certain changes to occur. There is a real risk that we will take on some of these problems. Indeed, there is a real risk that we will lose out on opportunities that the EU is creating, particularly in the trade relationship with Japan. That trade relationship will involve 600 million people and comprise 30% of the world’s GDP. The Europeans have built in environmental conditions, particularly through the Paris agreement, and other rights and protections that we enjoy in the EU, and the real problem is that downstream, due to both changing the existing bilateral relationships and as part of future trade relationships, the protections and rights we enjoy through our trade relationships in the EU will be bargained away. Whether it is human rights, environmental rights or consumer rights, those things are now inadvertently on the table, and that table is under the cloak of darkness, as there will not be public scrutiny There should be a guarantee of scrutiny, and we should ensure that the rights and protections we enjoy in the EU are sustained in future trade relationships. In my view, we should stay in at least a customs union, and ideally the customs union and the single market.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): As we know, 51% of people currently want to remain while 41% want to leave. On the day, it is the case that the people of Wales voted as the hon. Gentleman said, but he will also know that Wales is the beneficiary of billions of pounds of EU, convergence funding, that 70% of our exports go to the EU and that 25,000 jobs in Swansea bay rely on the EU. It is very much in the interests of Wales to be in the single market and in the EU, and that is increasingly the view of the people of Wales. The people of Swansea West certainly voted to stay in the EU As everything unfolds, people are essentially saying, "I voted for more money, market access and a greater say, but I find that I am not getting any of those things. I am not getting what I was promised, and I want a final say on the exit deal." People should have that final say Specifically on the money, we know from the Financial Times that we are losing £350 million a week, that the divorce bill will cost £1,000 per family and that the increase in inflation is costing the average worker a week in wages. That was not what people voted for, and people are worried about these deals. I have been contacted by Liberty, for instance, about the loss of workers’ rights and environmental rights, and even about issues such as slavery We want open and transparent trade agreements. We want the protection of being in the single market and the customs union, and we want people to have the right to a final say—to think again—on the basis that the facts have changed. That is what democracy and a sensible future for Britain is about.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (Labour, Centre-left): Had the Secretary of State been in his place, I would have reassured him that the Labour party knows that the Bill is a deliberately limited piece of legislation concerned with continuing the existing trade arrangements after Brexit. However, the fact that the Bill is about transmuting EU agreements into UK law does not mean that we do not have questions about, first, the process the Government are adopting; secondly, the degree of parliamentary scrutiny of the arrangements, or lack thereof—after all, the Institute for Government recommended that the Bill should ensure that there is parliamentary time for debate and scrutiny, but the Government seem to have ignored that; and thirdly, the possible effect of the Bill on future trade deals The Opposition recognise that the UK will need to formalise trading relationships with those third countries that have a trade agreement with the EU because, should Brexit happen, we will no longer be party to those agreements. However, the Government intend to award Ministers sweeping Henry VIII powers to amend retained EU law, so that they can fast-track the agreements. I join my colleagues in opposing the use of Henry VIII powers for such fast-tracking, especially when those powers might be used to water down or remove standards, safeguards, rights or protections. We heard no reassurance from the Secretary of State on that We want a truly independent Trade Remedies Authority to help to protect UK industry, but that authority should report directly to Parliament rather than to the Department. That seems so obvious that I do not know why the Minister has not already caved in on the issue The Bill awards to HMRC new powers to share limited taxpayer information with international bodies and Departments, including the Department for International Trade, but the circumstances in which the Government intend those powers to be used has not been made clear and the wording of the legislation is opaque. More clarity on that from the Minister would be helpful Many organisations are saying that the Bill is a missed opportunity to align Britain’s international trade and international development policies. The Government have been clear that trade is a route out of poverty, so they should be saying through the Bill more about how the sustainable development goals in particular could be used to achieve that aim. The Fairtrade Foundation has raised the potential effect of Brexit on Fairtrade, but it seems the Government have not fully considered it. The fair trade market is currently worth £1.6 billion and is dependent on an effective trading relationship with the EU27. Many fair trade goods are exported to one EU country before being processed and re-exported to other EU countries. It is not clear whether the Bill takes that into account.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, but the point I am making is that it would have been extremely helpful to have had things like that flagged up in the legislation, partly to give reassurance to developing countries Global Justice Now has highlighted the problems with some existing economic partnership agreements because some countries have refused to sign them. It would have been useful for the Government to have taken that on board in the Bill and stated clearly that they would seek to improve on those agreements in future trade deals The Overseas Development Institute has presented some recommendations for the Government, which I think it would be helpful if the Minister addressed. It recommends that the UK should, first, apply the principle of "do no harm" so that, at the very least, existing unilateral preference schemes should be rolled over; secondly, prioritise the roll-over of existing free trade agreements with developing countries; and thirdly, align its trade and development policies There is a lot at stake. When I was in Bangladesh recently, I met a fair trade co-operative that has extremely good working practices and can export to a range of countries, including the UK. I urge the Government to support those sorts of projects and businesses, in this legislation and in future legislation.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Mian Faisal Rashid (Labour, Centre-left): This Bill is nothing short of an assault on parliamentary sovereignty and on our democracy. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Bill does almost nothing but undermine MPs’ capacity to scrutinise legislation. It gives the Executive the power to sign up to treaty obligations that Parliament will be powerless to debate or oppose We have heard time and again that Britain’s departure from the European Union was to be about taking back control and giving power back to the UK Parliament and the British people. Beyond this rhetoric, the Government have been reluctant to make much clear about its Brexit plans, but it is clear that the Bill fails to fulfil any promises to take back control. Instead, it leaves us extremely vulnerable to the interests of big business and of the Secretary of State. Colleagues will be aware that the Bill gifts Ministers sweeping Henry VIII powers to bring trade deals into legislation, with no opportunity for meaningful debate, for amendments or, crucially, for a meaningful vote As a Parliament, we have not been responsible for our trade policy for over 40 years, and much has changed in that time. If we are to create a trade policy fit for the 21st century, as the Government claim, we must be prepared to enact new statutory instruments that reflect those changes and allow Parliament to do its job. In addition, the Government claim that the Bill is being used simply to carry through existing deals, but there is no guarantee of that.
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): It is vital for our economy and for jobs that new trade agreements are signed to replace the arrangements to which we are party as an EU member, before the UK’s exit from the EU. Contrary to the bullish assertions of Ministers, the implementation of existing arrangements actually means the renegotiation of each of the many agreements that the EU has with our partners. This is not a rollover—a point made very well by my hon. Friends the Members for Nottingham East (Mr Leslie) and by for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western). New trade arrangements will require new governing and regulatory institutions and consideration of quotas and diagonal cumulation for rules of origin In an intervention during the powerful speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), the Minister for Trade Policy said that third countries are not seeking "significant changes". When the Minister sums up, perhaps he will explain why he is so keen to deny Parliament the right to judge what is and is not significant, because the problem with the Bill is that it proposes powers for the Secretary of State without scrutiny, and without the opportunity for Parliament to have its say on what is and is not significant. Those powers hold open the prospect of cuts in workers’ rights and opening up access to our public services to large corporations. They also raise the prospect of cuts in environmental and consumer standards—all pretty significant Fifty-seven per cent. of UK trade is either with the EU or with countries with which the EU has a trade agreement. Forty-four per cent. of trade is with the EU alone. Given that the EU is our largest source of trade, it is significant that the Chancellor has backtracked from the Prime Minister’s position where she ruled out membership of a customs union. We welcome the Chancellor’s clarification that he is supporting Labour’s position of leaving open the option of joining the customs union with the EU.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Martin David Whitfield (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. There are reports circulating in the Scottish press that the Government are not going to table any amendments to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. Could you advise me how the Government can be held to account regarding statements of intent that they made in Committee?
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. During the passage of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill through Committee, Scottish Conservative MP after Scottish Conservative MP said that clause 11 was deficient, but took the assurances of those on the Treasury Bench that amendments would be tabled on Report. Subsequent to that, at Scottish questions, the Secretary of State for Scotland gave an undertaking that amendments to fix the deficiencies would come before the House on Report. I wonder whether you have had any indication from the Secretary of State for Scotland that he will come to the House to correct the record and put us straight about when amendments to the Bill, which everyone has admitted is deficient, will be tabled.
Local Authorities: Voting Services — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Government Operations
Elizabeth Anne McInnes (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for that response and welcome him to his new role. As well as the snap general election last year, my local authority of Rochdale Borough Council presided over the Greater Manchester Combined Authority mayoral elections, for which it received no central funding, which is surprising considering that one of the Mayor’s functions is to replace the police and crime commissioner’s role, which did receive central funding. What action will the Government take to help local authorities such as mine to deliver well-run elections for these new roles?
Local Authorities: Voting Services — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Government Operations
Catherine Jane Smith (Labour, Centre-left): On behalf of Opposition Front Benchers, I welcome the Minister to his new role The chair of the Electoral Commission has warned that our electoral system is facing a "perfect storm" due to funding pressures, and 43% of local authority election teams have experienced real-terms cuts since 2010. Will the Minister outline why the Government’s democratic engagement plan fails to address these concerns, and will he ensure that a full and comprehensive review of the delivery and funding of electoral services is implemented as a matter of urgency?
Government Contracts: SMEs — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Government Operations
Jon Hedley Trickett (Labour, Centre-left): Too often, rather than outsourcing to SMEs, very large companies are employed. In this respect, despite being under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and reportedly having debts of £1.5 billion, the massive outsourcing company Carillion remains a major supplier in terms of Government procurement. If it were to collapse, it would risk massive damage to a range of public services. Do the Government have a contingency plan for such an eventuality, and what is the likely cost to the taxpayer?
Government Contracts: SMEs — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Government Operations
Jon Hedley Trickett (Labour, Centre-left): The truth is that the Minister has failed to answer the central question. The Government have been outsourcing public services to large outsourcing companies on an industrial scale. When these massive outsourcing companies fail, as too often they do, does the Minister really think it is fair that the costs stay with the taxpayer, while the profits are creamed off by the shareholders?
Democratic Processes: Foreign Influence — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Government Operations
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): In order to protect ourselves, the chair of the Electoral Commission has said that we need new rules for online political advertising to combat external influence, particularly via Facebook and Twitter. When will the Government bring forward the legislation we need?
Social Mobility — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Social Welfare
Joanne Marie Platt (Labour, Centre-left): The recent Social Mobility Commission report found that the worst-performing areas on social mobility are no longer inner-city areas but remote, rural and coastal areas and former industrial areas. What steps will the Government take to redress the funding imbalance that the north faces and to tackle social mobility issues in post-industrial towns such as Leigh?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: International Affairs
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour, Centre-left): The Government have withheld a dozen documents relating to the Government’s European policy in the early 1990s. What are they trying to hide? What embarrassment is the Tory party trying to cover up? Will the Minister release those documents?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: One of the Minister’s new responsibilities is the important negotiations with the devolved Assemblies and Parliament. When will my right hon. Friend undertake meetings for those important discussions on the future of our country?; Earlier, the Minister remarked that the 2017 snap election had been well run, but following that election the Association of Electoral Administrators felt the need to provide its members with a free counselling service. What action will the Government take to address the significant staffing pressures and unsustainable workloads experienced by our election staff?; With over 25% of overseas development money being spent outside the Department for International Development, is there a role for the Cabinet Office in encouraging more cross-departmental spend and better reporting across all Departments?; Lewisham has over 2,000 residents in temporary accommodation, and three quarters of those who have contacted me are not on the electoral register. I am not happy with this. Are the Government? If not, what will they do about it?; After the Prime Minister’s painful and protracted reshuffle clearly failed to ensure that the Cabinet reflected diverse and modern Britain, what steps is the Minister taking to increase diversity in the civil service?; On new year’s eve, another four young people lost their lives to knife crime. We have failed to tackle this epidemic because we have failed to recognise that the solution—[Interruption.]
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker On new year’s eve, another four young people lost their lives to knife crime in London. We have failed to tackle this epidemic because we have failed to recognise that the solutions span health, education, poverty and aspiration. What can the Minister do in his role to get Departments working together to find a long-term solution?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Labor
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hope you might be able to advise me on how I can ascertain Government policy and action on an urgent matter that affects my constituency in Norwich. As you will know, hundreds of jobs could be lost with the closure of the Colman’s mustard factory and the Britvic factory in my constituency. I have repeatedly asked the Business Secretary to come to Norwich to meet the highly productive workers there and see the highly profitable factories. So far, he has not got back to me. Although I understand that he is still in his place at the Department, there are several new junior Ministers whose positions and responsibilities we do not know. May I ask for your guidance on how we might get clarification on that point and answers from the responsible Ministers very urgently, given the hundreds of my constituents who face losing their jobs?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: International Affairs
Martin David Whitfield (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This point of order is pursuant to the one I raised last night, on which you made good, clear suggestions. I now understand that the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has issued a statement, but not an official statement. Given the words that were spoken on 6 December, have you heard from the Secretary of State whether he intends to come to the House to rectify the record?
NHS Winter Crisis — House of Commons, 2018-01-10
Topic: Social Welfare
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the Secretary of State on facing down the Prime Minister on Monday, when what emerged was one man, two jobs, no governor. He must accept that the £6 billion in cuts to social care since 2010 has had a major impact, particularly on winter crises. Does he regret the Government’s decision to take that money out of social care?