argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Social Welfare
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): The weather is even worse now than it was last March. Will there be a repeat of the "Everyone In" initiative for rough sleepers, with the Prime Minister guaranteeing a repeat of the emergency funding at least at the same level committed last March?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Social Welfare
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent Ross has had no work since the first lockdown and is one of the people who have fallen through the gaps in the self-employed support scheme. His only income now is £598 per month universal credit. His rent, council tax and bills are £590 a month, so he is living on £8 a month. Could the Prime Minister live on £8 a month? If not, will he ask the Chancellor to look again at how he can help the people excluded by the self-employed support scheme?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): Can the Prime Minister tell the House when every child in my Leeds constituency and across the country will have access to a laptop, when every parent who needs help will be able to afford the necessary broadband or phone charges so that their children can connect up to their lessons, teachers and classmates, and who they should contact if they cannot?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): On Sunday, the Prime Minister came on national television and, looking into the eyes of the British people, told worried parents that it was perfectly safe to send their dearly loved children to school. The following day, after being buffeted around by scientists, the Leader of the Opposition and the devolved Governments, he announced that it was not safe for children to go to school and promptly closed them all down. Does the Prime Minister agree that the constant last-minute U-turns and this erratic approach to policy making are not conducive to assuaging the anxieties of people who are desperately seeking stability, certainty and assured leadership?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Macroeconomics
Catherine Jane Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The Chancellor announced the financial support package via a 90-second video on Twitter yesterday. With him not coming before the House, it is difficult for us to ask questions, so perhaps the Prime Minister will help. Yesterday’s announcement about grants did not say how long this new one-off grant support is intended to last. Will the Prime Minister tell us what will happen with business support should the current lockdown have to be extended or the vaccine roll-out delayed?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Diane Julie Abbott (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister will be aware that, as school lessons move online, the cost of pay-as-you-go broadband is completely prohibitive for poor families in areas such as Hackney. He is talking about coming to cut-price arrangements, but what so many families need is access to free broadband—an excellent policy, which was in Labour’s 2019 manifesto. No child should be deprived of an education because their parents cannot afford the broadband cost, so will he look again at providing free broadband when it comes to accessing online education?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Labor
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): When the Chancellor announced his support schemes for businesses and workers last year, I warned him repeatedly that the coverage did not go far enough and that many people in Bradford would be unfairly excluded, putting jobs, businesses and the livelihoods of the self-employed at risk. Will the Prime Minister therefore listen to my calls and those of campaign groups such as ExcludedUK to ensure that the same mistakes are not made, and guarantee that everybody in Bradford who needs financial support during these difficult times will get it?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexandra Mary Davies-Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister will be aware that the Welsh Labour Government have committed to providing the most generous financial package available to businesses across the UK. Sadly, in Pontypridd, even the very best support available has not been able to prevent mass redundancies and business closures. My constituents could have been helped if this Tory Government had stepped up to the plate sooner and committed to the Union when Wales went into an earlier lockdown. Can he explain why Wales continues to be an afterthought and what steps he will take to prevent people in Pontypridd from being excluded from any future support?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): I have listened closely to the Prime Minister, but at no point have I heard him apologise to education leaders, teachers, students and parents for the chaos earlier this week. He rightly asks the public to change our behaviours, which is in all our interests, but there is a reciprocal obligation on him, too. What has he learned from all this, and what will he do differently in future?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander David Sobel (Labour, Centre-left): I am sure the Prime Minister will agree that councils have borne the brunt of covid, particularly during lockdown, and have given all our communities maximum support. Leeds has incurred £40 million of additional costs, as the council is not covered by the grants the Government have given, and will now face further lockdown costs, with an overall £100 million budget shortfall, in the main caused by years of central Government underfunding. Will the Prime Minister ask his good friend, the Chancellor, to grant local councils a one-off payment to offset the additional costs incurred due to covid-19 and ensure the financial stability of councils this year and next?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Rachel Louise Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): It was irresponsible of the Government to announce the cancellation of GCSE and A-level exams and to say nothing about BTEC exams, with no details of an alternative plan being agreed. Students and their families in Luton South have already suffered greatly over the past nine months and are deeply anxious about the continued uncertainty that has been created. Many students have contacted me to say that they are suffering negative impacts on their mental health as a result. What plans has the Secretary of State to provide additional mental health support for our children and young people?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Michael Lee Amesbury (Labour, Centre-left): Given that the company Computacenter, which was awarded the £96 million contract with no competition, failed to deliver all the laptop kits to vulnerable children in the first lockdown, why is the Secretary of State sticking with Tory party donors from that company this time?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Paula Barker (Labour, Centre-left): I would like to place on record my thanks to the National Education Union and to Unison for the work that they have been doing to keep school staff and pupils safe. In my constituency of Liverpool, Wavertree, I have been inundated with inquiries from worried parents and nursery staff about nurseries remaining open, and the risk that that poses, particularly when elderly grandparents, as part of support bubbles, are often used to pick up children. I am afraid that the narrative from the Secretary of State that this group is the least at risk is not enough and does not instil confidence. Will he fully explain to my constituents why nurseries and early years settings are not closing, with the exception of providing services to the children of key workers?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Lilian Rachel Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): Many of my university student constituents have contacted me because they are desperately worried about the impact that covid restrictions are having on their learning, research, educational success, future careers, finances and mental health and wellbeing. Does the Secretary of State believe it is fair for them to continue to pay full fees and full rent when they are not receiving the university experience they expected, and what will he do to support students, especially those facing financial hardship?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Secretary of State’s U-turn on GCSEs and A-levels, late though it was, adding to the pressure on schools and teachers. I am sorry that his approach on BTECs appears to be an afterthought and an abdication of responsibility, but I want to ask him about primary assessments. Does he accept that proceeding with SATs this year would place an unnecessary and pointless burden on schools, and will he take action to cancel this year’s tests and to do so in good time?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): We all want children back in school as soon as possible, so why do we not work together to make that happen? With that in mind, will the Secretary of State tell me when he last met teachers’ unions and what practical steps he agreed with them that the Department would take—for example, acquiring more space for schools, so that children and teachers can spread out? What steps did he agree that could make schools even safer so that we can get children back in school as quickly as possible?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): Despite serious safety concerns, we were told yesterday that BTECs were still going ahead, only to be told late last night that it was simply up to schools and colleges to decide whether it was safe. The Secretary of State ignored education unions and organisations when they repeatedly told him that it was not safe to reopen schools, colleges and nurseries on Monday, and nurseries are still open in full today, despite widespread anger and disbelief in the sector and without any robust scientific evidence from the Secretary of State that nurseries will not act as a vector for transmission of the virus Safety is the Secretary of State’s responsibility. Up to one in 50 people now have the virus, and the number continues to climb. Will he now listen to education unions and organisations, cancel BTEC exams, urgently take the same safety approach on nurseries as he has done with schools, and provide upgraded risk assessment guidance and vaccine access to all settings that are currently open to vulnerable and key worker children?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State clearly prefers testing, rather than vaccination, as the means to make sure our teachers and learners will be safe when schools can reopen. The Prime Minister wants that to happen in six or seven weeks’ time. To have an adequate testing regime in every school by that period will require working around the clock in every minute available between now and then. Will the Secretary of State confirm that every school in my constituency has access to the support it needs to make sure that such a regime will be in place in time?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): I have been contacted by a distraught young lady from my constituency who works full time and is a private candidate studying for her A-levels. With exams now cancelled, students in standard schooling will have predicted grade assessments from their teachers, but self-taught students have no such thing. Last year, thousands of private A-level candidates went without any grade when their exams were cancelled. Will the Secretary of State work with the exam boards to make provision for self-taught students like my constituent and to do what is necessary to ensure that they are not overlooked and that their money, time and study really do pay off?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): Ofqual suggests that as many as 1.78 million children do not have access to a computer. What the Education Secretary has announced today is just a 10% reduction in those numbers by the end of next week, which will still leave 1.6 million children unable to access a computer. Bridging the digital divide is essential, so when will those 1.6 million children receive their laptops, and when will he address the situation of the 900,000 children who do not have data access?
Covid-19: Educational Settings — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Mary Kelly Foy (Labour, Centre-left): As students have been advised not to return to university for the foreseeable future, most will be left paying for accommodation that they cannot use. It is clearly unfair that students renting private accommodation will be left thousands of pounds out of pocket, and the Government’s miserly £20 million contribution to the university hardship fund obviously is not enough. Does the Education Secretary agree that the Government have a responsibility to refund students their accommodation costs?
Public Health — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): I will support these measures, but I regret the need to implement them. The public are weary of the Government’s U-turns, dither and delay at crucial moments throughout this pandemic, when what we needed was decisive leadership. Nothing highlights the Government’s incompetence more than their approach to education, and to schools in particular At the end of last term, the Government threatened legal action to keep schools open in Greenwich, while at the same time planning to keep all schools closed in January. All the time, the Government were aware that a new variant was ripping through Kent and the south-east, and today, the Government recognised that this new variant was rapidly causing schools to be a vector in our communities. It has been obvious from the start of this pandemic that education was going to be severely disrupted due to school bubbles having to regularly isolate, and that online learning was going to be a regular part of children’s education, but the Secretary of State is yet again way behind the curve. He failed to get devices out to children during the first lockdown, and according to Ofqual, 1.8 million children in this country face lockdown without access to digital devices. A report in July warned the Government of a second spike this winter and also warned there was a possibility of a new variant, yet there has been too little urgency from the Government to get devices out to those who need them. Too many children are going to suffer due to the inability of the Government to read the facts before them Now our schools are closed, and confidence in the Government is shot through. Teachers have seen how the virus has ripped through their schools, and parents are worried for their families. To create confidence in the safety of schools, staff will need to be vaccinated as soon as possible. Teachers do not need scientists or experts to tell them the risk to which they are exposed when they are in school. Figures published today in TES show that the infection rate among staff in Greenwich schools was almost three times the rate of the local community. Teachers see these figures, and they need to be confident that they are safe when they return to their classrooms. They have seen at first hand the number of colleagues and pupils forced to isolate and those who have tested positive. The Government must not wait to be forced into yet another U-turn. Teachers need to be tested alongside other essential workers, and the Government should accept that now.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Education
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to take part in this most important debate on the public health crisis facing this country I believe that it is right to go into lockdown and stay at home as much as possible to protect ourselves and others, and I will be supporting the measures today. However, these actions should have come much sooner. This is sadly the result of a long line of Government failures, from the lockdown coming too late in March last year, through the fiasco of test and trace, to the chopping and changing of tiers and relaxations in the lead-up to the latest lockdown. I have many concerns about the lockdown, not least economic ones, particularly in respect of people who are not supported at all by Government programmes or the Chancellor’s support packages, but today I will concentrate on just one: the situation in our schools and the impact on public health. At the eleventh hour, schools were instructed to close. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on digital skills, I have raised the lack of data and devices for school-age children throughout the pandemic—for the past 10 months—often working with my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh). Ten months on, it is still not sorted. Even with today’s announcement by the Secretary of State for Education, about 1 million school-age children will lack adequate data and devices to learn effectively. That is a disgrace Children in that position have now been classified as vulnerable, compounding the situation in our schools. Schools have been given no guidance on which children are to be in school and which are not. Do they have to impose limits? Should they include spacing? There is no guidance. I have spoken to many headteachers in my area today Alternative education hardly gets a mention. It has a frequently changing school population and the devices to do not follow the pupils What is the prioritisation for vulnerable children and for children with two key worker parents, one key worker with another parent working full time or a key worker with another parent not in work? Social care and hospitals will come to a standstill if this is not sorted. Teachers cannot be in two places at once: they cannot teach what is potentially more than half the school population in lessons and teach online All of those issues need to be addressed for the lockdown to be effective, for our frontline healthcare and social care system to cope, and for all our children and young people to receive an equitable and fair level of education.
Public Health — House of Commons, 2021-01-06
Topic: Social Welfare
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): Let me start by saying that I will support these measures today, but I simply regret that the Government are acting too late again. Clearly, the measures are necessary, and so is support for those whose lives are being affected by them. Ministers will know that too many have fallen through the gaps in the support schemes provided by the Chancellor, particularly in small businesses and among the self-employed. In my constituency, that is especially true in the hospitality and creative sectors We have not got time today to discuss all the ill-considered rules and deadlines, but I would ask Ministers to agree to meet representatives of the excluded, along with those hon. Members who have taken up their cause. As so often in a crisis, those who have the least have been hardest hit by covid. The Government could begin to address the unfairness by making a commitment today that the temporary £20 a week increase to universal credit and working tax credit will be made permanent from April. They could also commit to extending that to the legacy benefits: employment and support allowance, income support and jobseeker’s allowance This is a moment to pay tribute to the workers who have kept the country going, and who will do so in the weeks and months ahead. Let us remember them as we move forward by tackling the low pay and fragile employment faced by too many in the private sector, and let us give those in the public sector the pay increase that they deserve, not the pay freeze that they do not So much now depends on the vaccine. Let us remember that the first vaccine to enter British arms, and which we should celebrate, was developed by scientists of Turkish origin in Germany with an American company and manufactured in Belgium—an international response to an international crisis. I hope that that will be reflected in our country’s wider response, and I hope Ministers will confirm that, as we roll out the vaccine in the UK, they will work with our partners around the world to ensure it also reaches those who desperately need it in low-income countries. In agreeing to these measures today, let us also resolve to tackle the injustices that have been highlighted by this crisis.
Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery: Climate Action — House of Commons, 2021-02-24
Topic: Transportation
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): Public transport is one of the cleanest modes of transport we have, as it helps to get thousands of carbon-emitting vehicles off our roads, but our public transport infrastructure, particularly rail, is woefully outdated in the north of England and simply not fit for purpose. Will the right hon. Gentleman therefore back my calls for the northern powerhouse rail scheme to be built in full, including a Bradford city centre station, to prove that we are taking this climate emergency seriously by getting more people on to public transport and more cars off our roads in the north and by providing good, green, sustainable jobs?
Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery: Climate Action — House of Commons, 2021-02-24
Topic: Energy
Matthew Thomas Pennycook (Labour, Centre-left): Next week, the Government will co-host a summit of the Powering Past Coal Alliance to boost international co-operation on the phasing out of coal, yet at the same time, Ministers are refusing to intervene here at home to prevent the opening of a new deep coal mine in Cumbria. The president knows full well that the proposed mine is not purely a local matter, that it will not help to secure the future of UK steel and that it will not provide the long-term secure jobs that Cumbrians need. However, it will increase emissions, undermine progress to our net zero target and damage our credibility as COP26 host. My question to him, therefore, is a simple one: in this critical year, why on earth are he and his Cabinet colleagues content to see this mine approved?
Climate Change: UK as a Global Leader — House of Commons, 2021-02-24
Topic: Environment
Stephen James Morgan (Labour, Centre-left): Improving air quality is an essential part of our work to tackle the climate emergency, yet the Government refused to back Labour’s call to make sure that air quality targets meet World Health Organisation guidelines by 2030. What will the Minister do to ensure that we are truly world-leading in our efforts to reduce emissions?
Climate Change: Raising International Ambition — House of Commons, 2021-02-24
Topic: International Affairs
Darren Paul Jones (Labour, Centre-left): With many developing nations further behind in the roll-out of their covid vaccinations, what steps is the COP President taking to ensure that every nation on earth is able to fully participate at COP26 in November?