argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Stephen Creswell Timms (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the Secretary of State on his choice of Monega Primary School for his speech this morning Some multi-academy trusts are a bureaucratic mess at the moment. I welcome the proposal to allow local authorities to set up and lead trusts. Does he also have plans, as has been reported, to allow schools to exit MATs that do not suit them and to increase the accountability of trusts to local authorities?
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
James Ian Mearns (Labour, Centre-left): As a member of the Education Committee of just short of 12 years, I have to say that an evidence-led policy would be a welcome departure for this Government. On teacher recruitment and retention, there is a bit in the White Paper on aims to improve the workforce, but not on the "how" and the "what with". There is no involvement by teaching universities in the Institute of Teaching. With recruitment and retention continuing to pose enormous challenges for many schools, particularly in disadvantaged areas, the White Paper pays scant attention to how schools in those areas will be able to recruit and then retain specialist teachers in, say, maths or physics.
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): The White Paper says that it "marks the start of a journey" Quite why it has taken 12 years to start a journey to raise standards will be beyond the understanding of most parents, staff and children. If the Secretary of State wants to learn from the evidence of successful and sustained improvement in schools, will he apply the lessons of collaboration and support from the London challenge, which transformed education standards in the capital and did not involve a name change on the badge above the door?
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): Education is a big passion of mine, and I thank the Secretary of State for his recent announcement that Tameside will be an education improvement area. With that, the focus on skills, outcomes and opportunities is key, but that is not possible in substandard education buildings. It would be remiss of me not to mention Russell Scott Primary School in Denton, which has been dubbed Britain’s worst rebuilt school and for which a bid is in to the Department for Education. Can we have the new school that those kids so desperately deserve?
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Mohammad Yasin (Labour, Centre-left): Schools in Bedford and Kempston, like those everywhere else, have been through the most difficult period of disruption, and have had to do so on reduced budgets. Not once in any of the conversations I have had with heads, teachers or parents, who are desperate for support, has anyone asked for more targets. If targets were not being met before the pandemic, why does the Secretary of State think that increasing them is going to do anything but create more stress for children and drive more teachers from the profession?
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): I am concerned that the Secretary of State may be underestimating the damage that has been done to some children by the isolation during the pandemic—that is certainly what I hear from schools in Cambridge. That damage can be addressed through more interventions and more resources; is there anything in the White Paper to address that in a county such as Cambridgeshire, which remains one of the most poorly funded in the country?
Schools White Paper — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): If the Secretary of State is to deliver on this package, which has been announced 12 years into a Conservative Government, he is going to have to fund it. If we want decent teachers at the front of classrooms, we are going to have to pay them, so where is the funding for decent teachers in this package? If we are to improve schools, they need the resources; is anything in this package going to increase per-pupil funding?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Anthony Joseph Lloyd (Labour, Centre-left): I point out to the Foreign Secretary that most of Ukraine’s neighbours are protected by EU and NATO membership. One that is not is Moldova, which has already taken in huge numbers of refugees. Does she agree that, particularly because of the situation of Transnistria, it is vital that we are able to offer some support to the democratic Moldovan Government, who share our values and aspirations but are in a parlous state?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has just issued a very strong appeal for an urgent and immediate ceasefire. What are the British Government doing to support his call before there is more bombing, more deaths and more people driven into refugee status? Could the UN be the medium for a longer-term peace conference that will bring about some degree—hopefully a real degree—of peace and security for people in the area? Will the Foreign Secretary say something about the very brave peace activists in Russia who have risked a great deal to speak out against this war?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): At the United Nations General Assembly, we have seen some key votes in which the vast majority of the world has come together to stand with Ukraine, but we have also seen first 37 and then 38 countries remain neutral, either actively or passively, by abstaining. What work is the Department doing to help those countries to move into a safer place, whether in the context of energy, food dependency or, indeed, their security?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): I want to place on record my thanks to the people of Warwick and Leamington for their phenomenal response to this crisis, and in particular to members of the Polish community and to Dawid Kozlowski, who has set up a warehouse one and a half times the size of this Chamber for all the contributions that have been received. Can I ask the Secretary of State to elaborate on the point raised by the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) about humanitarian aid going from the UK not just into Ukraine but into neighbouring countries, and on how that is being channelled?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): I pay tribute to the Ukrainian armed forces, to the resistance fighters and to ordinary citizens for the fortitude they have shown in the face of Russian aggression. It is a human reaction: I cannot help feeling that there is more that we can and should be doing to help them at this time. The Foreign Secretary will have seen media reports that Russia’s plan B is to carve the country into two distinct territorial units politically. In her statement, she said: "We will work to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty." I agree with her, but what does she mean by this?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman knows that is not a point of order for the Chair. He has made his point clear, and I am sure those sitting on the Treasury Bench will have heard what he has said. If any clarification is necessary, I expect it will be forthcoming Skills and post-16 education bill [lords]: Programme (No. 2) Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)), That the following provisions shall apply to the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [Lords] for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 15 November 2021 (Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [Lords]: Programme): Consideration of Lords Message (1) Proceedings on the Lords Message shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion 2 hours after their commencement Subsequent stages (2) Any further Message from the Lords may be considered forthwith without any Question being put. (3) The proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—(Amanda Solloway.) Question agreed to.
Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Education
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister refers to the consultation that the Government did on the defunding of BTECs and the twin-track approach. Am I right in saying that 86% of respondents to the Government’s own consultation said that the Government should keep the twin-track approach? If so, why is the Minister highlighting that consultation, which has come back to him telling him that the approach he is taking is wrong, as a reason not to vote for the amendment the Lords have proposed here?
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): Only the other week, alongside RMT and Nautilus members I engaged in a very noisy protest outside the P&O and DP World headquarters in London. That protest was noisy, and I hope it was a nuisance to those working in P&O head office. People are very concerned that the Government have such a stubborn attitude to trying to retain provisions that could make the noise of that important protest against injustice unlawful.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Indeed the Minister can heckle me from a seated position, but it does not make him right. Under the provisions in this Bill, protesters could be criminalised if the police determine that they are too noisy. We have suggested amendments, and the Lords have done the same. Conservative Members have expressed significant disquiet at the timing of such a draconian intervention. Why on earth is the Home Secretary pushing ahead with plans to stop protests that make noise? The police have never asked for these provisions, and I doubt they would ever use them. The public did not ask for them, and Members from the Home Secretary’s own party did not call for them.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: International Affairs
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that the measures give legitimacy to the secret police—or the open police—who are basically bundling up those in Moscow who protest against Putin’s brutal war? This is playing into the hands of Putin. Does she also agree that the proposals will effectively stop picketing as a legal and legitimate means of protest in trade disputes? It is despicable.
Lateral Flow Tests in Healthcare Settings — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Macroeconomics
Virendra Kumar Sharma (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Member for that important intervention. I am sure that the Minister took note of his concerns We all know that we are experiencing and facing an increasing cost of living crisis, and earlier this month the Foreign Secretary agreed that the escalating crisis in Ukraine will only drive inflation higher, so in the midst of the most serious cost of living crisis for a generation, with a national insurance tax rise and with covid remaining a global threat, it would be wrong to add a further burden on to families wanting to stay safe from covid and visit friends and families in care settings. The introduction of charges for lateral flow tests risks introducing a serious cost on many for visiting their closest family when those visits mean so much to visitor and host.
Cost of Living Increase: Impact on Households — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare
Kim Marie Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): The question was about what assessment has been made. The Resolution Foundation predicts that inflation will rise above 8% but benefits will increase by only 3%. Liverpool has some of the most deprived communities in this country, with 33% of children in my Riverside constituency suffering poverty. Does the Chancellor believe that now is not the time to increase national insurance contributions while the cost of living is increasing, forcing people into poverty at the highest level since the 1970s? Will he commit to putting measures in place in the spring statement?
Cost of Living Increase: Impact on Households — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Energy
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Citizens Advice has told me that one in six people in my constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney are unable to pay their energy bills right now, and that is before they spike next month and before the Chancellor’s national insurance hike. Some 86% of people said that they did not think that the October energy loan scheme would make a difference in helping to pay their bills. The conflict in Ukraine will inevitably lead to a further surge in energy prices, so if he will not accept Labour’s suggestion of a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, what exactly will the Chancellor do now to relieve the pressures on people in my constituency and across the country?
Cost of Living Increase: Impact on Households — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Marie Elizabeth Rimmer (Labour, Centre-left): Since the Chancellor announced his household loan scheme in response to the energy crisis as well as a huge rise in national insurance, the world has changed. Other Departments have adapted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When will the Treasury?
Cost of Living Increase: Impact on Households — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Energy
Patrick Bosco McFadden (Labour, Centre-left): The package on energy announced by the Chancellor last month has already been rendered obsolete by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some estimates of average annual household energy bills suggest that there will be rises to £3,000 or even more from October. That is a ruinous figure for many of our constituents. Will the Chancellor revisit this support package in next week’s spring statement, and will he reconsider his refusal to fund help for hard-pressed households through a windfall tax on the enormous profits that oil and gas companies are making?
Cost of Living Increase: Impact on Households — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Patrick Bosco McFadden (Labour, Centre-left): Of course, there are global factors driving up energy prices and inflation in many countries, but what singles out the UK is this Government’s decision to impose a tax rise on working people right when the impact of rising energy bills is hitting people the hardest. Why are the Government so determined to make the cost of living crisis worse now with these tax rises, particularly when the Treasury is briefing anyone—including the Government’s own Back Benchers—who will listen that the Tory party is planning pre-election tax cuts?
Kickstart Scheme — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Labor
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): Just in case colleagues in the House did not quite hear the Chief Secretary, he admitted that kickstart has failed. It promised young people 250,000 jobs and got barely half of that. But it is worse than that. The National Audit Office said about kickstart that there was "limited assurance over the quality of the work placements created by the scheme, or whether jobs created by employers would have existed anyway" So in relation to the failed kickstart scheme, what does the Chief Secretary make of the following economic expression: "dead weight loss"?
Kickstart Scheme — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Centre-left): Businesses in the steel industry are more likely to be able to support the kickstart scheme if the Government manage to get Donald Trump’s unfair tariffs of 25% on British steel exports lifted, as the Japanese and the EU have already achieved. Has the Chancellor spoken to the Chief Secretary about this issue, and if not why not?
Reducing Economic Inequality — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): But real wages are falling by the largest amount since 2014, inflation is set to hit 8% and the energy price cap is going up. In the cause of fairness and sound economics, when will the Financial Secretary and her colleagues admit that it makes sense to use the record profits of North sea oil and gas to help ordinary people, who face a cost of living crisis?
Managing the Public Finances — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Stewart Murray (Labour, Centre-left): Just in the last seven days, we have learned that 7 billion items of personal protective equipment were not fit for purpose, the Government are burning 500 lorryloads of it a month and former Treasury Minister Lord Agnew admitted that the lack of anti-fraud measures in the Government’s covid business support packages meant it was "happy days if you were a crook". When billions of pounds of public money have been lost through the Chancellor’s incompetence, is the Minister ashamed to be hiking taxes on working people by billions of pounds next month?
Regional Growth — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare
Catherine McKinnell (Labour, Centre-left): The stark reality in the north-east is that we have seen rising child poverty and reliance on food banks in recent years, and the poorest households lost £1,000 when the Government cut universal credit in the autumn. Rising prices look set to take away another £1,000 from households, before the economic impact of what is happening in Ukraine. Ahead of the spending statement next week, may I urge the Treasury please to do more to tackle the destitution that will be inevitable if nothing is done to intervene to support households in the north-east, who will then support the local economy to grow?
Regional Growth — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Daniel Owen Jarvis (Labour, Centre-left): The shared prosperity fund could be one of the Government’s most effective means of encouraging regional growth across the UK, but only if the investment goes where it is most needed. Does the Minister believe that the Treasury should apply the funding commitments that were rightly made to Cornwall also to the Tees Valley as well as to South Yorkshire?
Tackling Illicit Finance — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: International Affairs
Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (Labour, Centre-left): But it took a group of anarchists to seize Deripaska’s London mansion yesterday, so when will the Minister do what Europe and America have already done and seize rather than just freeze Putin’s cronies’ assets? When will he close the loopholes that still allow them to escape sanction by putting their assets in their family members’ names or using shell companies based in British overseas territories?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Social Welfare
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): Families in my constituency are facing the cost of living crisis, and the planned real-terms cut to social security will force more of them into poverty and into having to make impossible decisions between eating and heating their home. According to the Trussell Trust, one in three on universal credit were not able to dress for the weather last month as they could not afford appropriate clothing or shoes. That is unacceptable. Will the Chancellor increase the level of social security support in his spring statement next week to alleviate some of the worst impacts of the cost of living crisis?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: With the cost of fuel reaching record levels, we face a cost of living rise across the board. Everything we consume has to be delivered, and in Clacton that can be a long way. France is offering rebates and Germany a fixed price reduction. Has my right hon. Friend considered a special reduction, of say 15%, for vital fuel users, such as haulage companies?
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): Millions of people are worried sick about soaring bills. Meanwhile, BP says it has more cash than it knows what to do with and has compared its record profits from inflated prices to a cash machine. Those profits are not being used to fund new investment. They are going on dividends and share buybacks, so why will the Chancellor not make North sea oil and gas companies pay their fair share of taxes to tackle the enormous cost of living crisis?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: With the cost of fuel reaching record levels, we face a cost of living rise across the board. Everything we consume has to be delivered, and in Clacton that can be a long way. France is offering rebates and Germany a fixed price reduction. Has my right hon. Friend considered a special reduction, of say 15%, for vital fuel users, such as haulage companies?
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): That is not happening with the share buybacks. The Chancellor is totally out of touch. He does not seem to understand how the cost of living crisis is affecting the least well off in society, as campaigner Jack Monroe highlighted. The Institute for Fiscal Studies confirmed that the poorest households face an inflation rate 50% higher than the richest households. The Resolution Foundation warns that between 2020 and 2022, 700,000 more children will have fallen into poverty. That is devastating, but it is not inevitable. The Chancellor can and must do more in the spring statement to provide people with real help, not just a loan. Why is he so intent on shielding oil executives, instead of protecting the poorest in society?
Shale Gas Production — House of Commons, 2022-03-15
Topic: Energy
Edward Samuel Miliband (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) on securing this urgent question. He is right to try to smoke out the Government’s position, and it is no wonder he is confused—I think he will remain confused after the Minister’s reply Let us be clear that the Government placed a moratorium on fracking because they said it is dangerous and they could not rule out "unacceptable impacts on the local community." The Business Secretary said in 2020 that "fracking is over," and just a few days ago he wrote "it would come at a high cost to communities and our precious countryside". Yet last Wednesday, just three days later, the same Business Secretary said "the Government are open to the idea."—[Official Report, 9 March 2022; Vol. 710, c. 355.] Yesterday, at Chatham House, the Minister ruled it out. The Government are all over the place I will ask some questions, because this issue does matter. It is about our energy security, it is about communities that are deeply worried about the impact of fracking, and it is about the climate crisis. Has the Minister or his Department seen any scientific evidence since the 2019 moratorium that suggests fracking might not be dangerous and might be safe? If he does not have any evidence, why is he approaching the Oil and Gas Authority to ask it not to concrete over the wells, which was the original decision? If he does not think fracking is safe, why is he sowing uncertainty in communities across our country? If he does not have any evidence, will he assure the House that no review of fracking—no nods, no winks and no nudges—will be announced in the relaunch of the Government’s energy strategy? Clarity on this matters Finally, would it not be the best thing that the Government can do to guarantee energy security—the Minister should be clear about this—to have a green energy sprint by ending the onshore wind moratorium, ending the objection to solar power, embracing tidal power, moving forward with nuclear and having a properly funded national energy efficiency programme?