argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I will do my best, Mr Speaker. One would not want to be accused of being unduly meek in the circumstances We accept the market-based price of sterling and do not have a view on what level this should be. Were the Government to speculate on the value of sterling, it could hurt confidence in our macroeconomic framework. However, as the price of sterling fluctuates in the normal way, Her Majesty’s Treasury believes that investors should be entitled to hedge, including by short selling. The foreign exchange market is a global market, and it is essential that we work with other jurisdictions to ensure a consistent international approach to the oversight of these markets. That is why the UK has supported the work of the Bank for International Settlements to create a single global foreign exchange code, and work is ongoing to ensure that it embeds common standards of good practice in this area The United Kingdom will be leaving the European Union on 31 October, whatever the circumstances. We must respect the referendum result. We would prefer to leave with a deal, and we will work in an energetic and determined way to get that better deal done.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend on his appearance at the Dispatch Box. Does not that limp excuse for an urgent question reveal the contempt the Opposition have for financial markets, which contribute 11% of tax revenue to the Exchequer? Does he agree that the fact that, of the $6.6 trillion of currency dealing done globally, 43% is now done in the City of London—a record high—is a vote of confidence in the City and the way the Government are handling it, and how far does he think the pound would fall if that lot on the Opposition Benches ever got into power?
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Other
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Tempting as it is to follow the trail laid down by my hon. Friend, I will content myself with saying that, just as I would not comment on the actions of individuals in my reply to an Opposition Member, I will not comment on the actions of individuals now. However, the idea that there are vested interests on only one side of the debate could clearly be contested.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Housing
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): To the best of my knowledge, we have not commissioned specialist advice on the housing market. If I am incorrect, I will ensure that that is set out in writing to the hon. Lady. It is very clear that the UK housing market is in its most robust condition for many years. Indeed, we are now building many multiples of the situation we inherited in 2009, when house building had well nigh stagnated. Of course, many of the problems faced in our housing market stem from the disastrous failure of the last Labour Government to build enough homes in the first place.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Luke Patrick Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): Uncertainty hits not only the London markets but the markets in Edinburgh and elsewhere across the United Kingdom. Does my hon. Friend agree that the best way to end this uncertainty is to vote for a deal, as he did back in March?
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I yield to nobody in my appreciation of how hard people work in the Tees valley and, indeed, how passionate they are about our area, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that democracy needs to be honoured. We need to deliver on the referendum result and to get this done. There will no actions for the City to take if we get a good deal across the line and the hon. Lady votes for it.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Civil Rights
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I struggle to see what all that necessarily has to do with the question before the House, but what is very clear is that most people in Bristol are also smart enough to spot that it would be thoroughly unwise to ignore the result of a democratic referendum.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Other
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Would that all parts of our country were as well served as Dudley is by the hon. Gentleman, who is absolutely right: it is genuinely dispiriting that in the mother of Parliaments we find ourselves debating material that is more fit for the tinfoil hat brigade than for Parliament at a crucial time in our country’s history.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): The short selling regulations cover the sale of shares, so that falls within the remit of the existing legislation. Clearly, we all want to see our country thrive and move forward towards a better future. That will be best done by voting for a deal, as of course many of the members of the hon. Gentleman’s former trade union will have done.
No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I point to the wise words of the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords last November, who said that short selling "is not necessarily the evil practice that the popular press held it to be…It had a role."—[Official Report, House of Lords, 28 November 2018; Vol. 794, c. 706.]
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I am deeply disappointed by the news that Wrightbus has had to enter administration. This is a real blow for the people of Ballymena. A number of redundancies have been announced. This clearly creates an extremely difficult situation for all those who have lost their jobs and for their families. Support will be provided to those affected via the Northern Ireland civil service, and I—along with my hon. Friends—will continue to do everything that I can, as I have been doing over the weekend and in previous weeks, to work with Invest Northern Ireland and Government colleagues to support any potential purchaser of the business or assets who may be identified during the process of administration.
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Simon James Hoare (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my right hon. Friend able to make any comment on what seems to be an absurdly large religious donation made by the owners of Wrightbus in recent years? Although the donation was made when the company was profitable, reports cite a figure in the region of £15 million, which seems grossly excessive. Given that these are jobs that Northern Ireland can ill afford to lose, will my right hon. Friend also give some thought to how we can ensure that this matter does not fall between the two stools of its being a devolved matter and there being no devolved Assembly to pick up the reins and run with it?
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Other
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for that contribution and take this opportunity to pay tribute to his activist approach. It was not always of benefit to me as Government Chief Whip, but many, many companies benefited from it across the United Kingdom.
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): As I said in my statement, it is really important that everybody who thinks they could help to unlock this process does what is in the best interests of the people of Ballymena and the employees of the company.
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): The administrator is responsible for the sales process. As I mentioned earlier, there may be a number of things that the administrator and others will want to look at in the coming months, but the immediate task in hand is to find a buyer and to ensure that the Government, Invest NI and all other interested parties support that process.
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): Given the extent of the job losses in Ballymena and the fact that this company had orders in May for 20 hydrogen-powered buses for TfL, each worth £500,000, does the Secretary of State agree that this is a viable business, if the issue of the donations is set to one side, and that the cash-flow issue around donations to Church charities needs investigating?
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): It would be wrong to attribute this matter to Brexit, bus strategy or other issues. Very often, one of the issues in a capitalist economy is that companies do run into trouble. It is our job now to do everything we can to get this company out of that trouble.
Wrightbus (Ballymena) — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Points of order would ordinarily arise at the end of the statement. [Interruption.] Yes, there is a statement to come. The hon. Lady is ahead of herself, which is not a novel phenomenon in the House of Commons. If she can contain her impatience for a matter of minutes, we will hear the product of her lucubrations before very long.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight that in certain parts of the country, including his constituency, geography can present a challenge for the delivery of services. I look forward to his letter and will be very happy to respond and to look into the matter with him.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady will recall, many years ago, when I had more hair and it was not so grey, I sat on Westminster City Council, and St Mary’s was an issue back then that we discussed on various occasions. She is right to highlight it, but I would have expected her to very much welcome the inclusion of Imperial and St Mary’s in the announcement of seed funding to develop their proposals and get the investment they need.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady, as she says, comes to this with a wealth of experience. The bids were put forward by individual trusts working with their STPs, and in the context of the STPs that have been developed. There is a synthesis and a read across to ensure that, in this announcement, we have picked the trusts that put together the most compelling bids in order to deliver value for money and improvements where they are needed.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman made several points. I am pleased that he has been enjoying improving reading of Conservative party press releases. On his serious point about the Imperial trust, the seed funding will be for the trust to develop its plans as a trust and to put forward its proposals. I am happy, as I am in respect of other colleagues, to write to the hon. Gentleman to set out the process, how the money will be spent and how swiftly it can be allocated. There is always a need for the development of a business case when large sums of public money are involved, and I am sure he would expect one for any major investment in his trust. The seed funding will enable the trust to get going quickly and put together its case.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Other
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. As I said to the hon. Members for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) and for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day), I am happy to write detailing the process, and I am happy to include the hon. Gentleman and his hon. and right hon. Friends in that.
Health Infrastructure Plan — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for attempting to pile a number of requests into his question. On where bids have come from for these moneys, they have come from those trusts and been worked up by those local trusts. On the specific requests he has and that he wants to raise with me about particular shovel-ready projects, I am very happy to look at those with him.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 7 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): If I can, I will come to my hon. Friend’s point slightly later in my remarks Since my appointment in July, I have met public servants from a range of sectors who are doing an incredible job in the absence of support from local political leaders at Stormont, but they cannot of course take the proactive decisions that are needed on public services, the economy or the areas that we have already heard about in today’s debate. If we cannot secure the restoration of an Executive, we will pursue the decision-making powers that are needed at the earliest opportunity. In addition to the reporting requirements, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 requires the UK Parliament to introduce laws on same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships, abortion and victims payments. This House has spoken, and the duty to legislate will come into effect if the Executive are not back up and running before 21 October. My Department will shortly begin an awareness campaign to ensure that women and citizens across Northern Ireland are clear as to how we plan to proceed to regulate for these new legal duties I recognise that these are sensitive issues, and this Government’s preference is that they are taken forward by a restored Assembly and Executive, but to those who now lobby me and others in Government to somehow change the law I say that the only way for these laws to be changed and shaped in the best interests of Northern Ireland is for the Northern Ireland party leaders to form an Executive and get back into government. To that end, following the frustratingly slow pace over the summer caused by a range of factors, I will this week work urgently with the Northern Ireland parties and the Irish Government to do everything I can to break the logjam and to get Stormont up and running. The time for that is now. The party leaders need to show leadership and do the right thing for the people of Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 7 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I am happy to restate that I do not think that any one party or any particular issue has held things up, but it is time that we move on. I call on each party to play its part in getting Stormont up and running, and I hope and expect that they will On the matter of historical institutional abuse, I want to say first that victims in Northern Ireland have shown incredible courage and dignity through their engagement with the Hart inquiry and their campaign for redress. Without their willingness to speak up about the trauma of what happened to them, we would not have been able to forge a path from the inquiry to the consultation on the draft legislation, and to the present position where there is a commitment to introducing a historical institutional abuse Bill in Westminster by the end of the year in the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive. I know that colleagues will join me in restating today our collective determination to see progress made in delivering redress to the victims as soon as possible.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 7 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend knows that the Government, like the previous Government, view taking more decisions from Westminster with great caution. We respect the Good Friday agreement and want to encourage local institutions to take the decisions required.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 7 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Richard Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend speaks powerfully of the symbolism of the buildings, and it is important that we recognise that in this debate. I would be interested in discussing his proposals further in due course We can ask no more of victims. We can ask no more of the inquiry. The policy officials have prepared the policy and the lawyers have prepared the draft law. Now it is time for us, as political representatives, to act. It is therefore my sincere hope and belief that colleagues across the House will support us as we seek to deliver this legislation in the coming weeks I thank all colleagues for the debate that we have had so far, and I look forward to hearing further contributions. Obviously we are debating some of the most sensitive issues that this House can scrutinise. I will do everything I can as Secretary of State to deliver the Bill and address many of the issues that we have heard about today.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 6 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the point that the right hon. Gentleman is making. I can assure him that, as we work towards the regulations and consult on their detail, the guiding principle—fundamental to the Government, and which we believe is the basis of consensus on which to proceed—is that we see this as a pension that is not designed for terrorists or those injured at their own hand. We will have to work through the detail of how it works and the burden of proof in those situations, but I am clear—as I am sure he is, because I have heard him speak passionately on this subject before—that I do not believe there is consensus in this place to move forward without that guiding principle. I do not think that this Parliament, under any Government, would seriously propose making payments to terrorists or those injured by their own actions. That principle needs to guide us as we get into the detail We are clear that what we are considering is a payment in recognition of the suffering of those severely injured through no fault of their own. The victims’ pension is the right thing to do, and I genuinely congratulate those, such as the WAVE Trauma Centre, who have made the case with such tenacity and resilience over the years. Like many Ministers and shadow Ministers before me—Conservative and Labour—I have listened to and been deeply moved by the stories of those whose lives have been profoundly affected by the terrorist atrocities of the troubles. When we read the stories of people such as Paul Gallagher, Jennifer McNern or Peter Heathwood, it is frankly impossible not to be moved by their courage and resilience. The reality is that there has been widespread criticism of compensation schemes in the past. Many of those who would benefit from the payments feel that they were not treated well or supported in the right way, and it is surely time that we do more to support those individuals.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 6 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Civil Rights
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): May I echo the hon. Lady’s point? I think there is a nervousness in the Government caused by a fear that if this place legislates it is offending the nationalist community, but members of the nationalist community were victims of institutional abuse or victims of terrorism and they all want compensation and need pensions and to have justice for what they have suffered. We need to be bold and brave about this. We will do no favours for the nationalist community by not legislating on either historical institutional abuse or victims compensation.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 6 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s point, and it is possible that the hon. Member for Belfast South intended to make a similar one, but I was pressed to clarify the Department’s position, which I have done. Let me be candid: in my meetings with victims groups, I have been struck by the strength of the expressions of precisely that lack of trust and confidence. When I meet the commissioner, I will press her to respond to those concerns, because if I were in that position and people were expressing those views, I would be worried. It is incumbent on her to respond appropriately.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 6 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): It is more than a technical point; it is a point of fairness. Both of those lines of inquiry reflect the fact that what was discussed through the Stormont House agreement, as I understand it, was relatively narrow in scope. We are discussing widening the scope and thinking through the consequences of doing so. I would not even be entertaining this conversation if our minds were not open to doing that, but it reinforces the need to think through the consequences, including the financial consequences, and the ability to defend any proposals.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 Section 6 — House of Commons, 2019-09-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Richard Hurd (Conservative, Centre-right): The word "compensation" has come up several times. I think I should clarify that we are not talking about a compensation scheme. The victims payment scheme was originally crafted and designed to acknowledge the damage, harm and suffering that have occurred, and hopefully through those payments to make a difference to the dignity and quality of people’s lives. The hon. Gentleman presses me on the scope of a proposal that is wider than the one considered as part of the Stormont House agreement. We have to think it through and determine the degree to which we can hold a consensus To bring this to a close—I sense your approval, Madam Deputy Speaker—I wholly concur with the hon. Member for Belfast South on taking a victim-centred approach. I have been shocked by the way in which victims of the troubles have been left to feel neglected and disrespected. I feel strongly that we need to move forward on this agenda. One of the clear messages from the debate was the support for the guiding principle that we should constitute this scheme only as payments for those injured through no fault of her own. The hon. Lady pressed me for a commitment, and she is right: we can act, because this Parliament has rightly obliged us to so, and we will act, not just because the law requires us to do so if the Assembly is not up and running by 21 October, but because it is so clearly the right thing to do Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House takes note of and approves the Report pursuant to Section 3(13) of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019—Victims’ Payments, which was laid before this House on Wednesday 4 September.