argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): You couldn’t make it up. We are trying to deal with the issue of abuse in politics, and someone shouts, "Will there be a hard border?" The point I was about to make is that, as far as we can achieve, I want any debate on Scottish independence to be respectful. It has to be about the future of our country. It has to be respectful of all points of view, and everybody has a responsibility to ensure that that takes place.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I commend the hon. Gentleman, because he speaks with absolute sense. We have to be cognisant of what is going on. I suspect there are not many Members of this place who have not had threats, many of them death threats. Let us be under no illusion: this is increasing—we all know it is increasing. Of course we need to ensure in particular that our staff members get protection. We have to cool the temperature in this place. We have to accept the position of leadership that we all have. The next few days are going to be absolutely challenging. Let us show some responsibility and leadership in what is a time of crisis.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: International Affairs
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The United Kingdom Government’s Queen’s Speech, placed before the House by the Prime Minister, states: "As the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, my Government will ensure that it continues to play a leading role in global affairs, defending its interests and promoting its values." Does my right hon. Friend agree that leaving the European Union diminishes the position of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the global order, and plays no part in supporting people such as my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, or Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in determining their freedom and ability to return home?
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is correct. Some 3.8 million women are affected by these pensions changes. We have been over this time and again: the lack of notice given—in some cases, only 14 months. Some women have lost years of pension entitlement—in some cases, tens of thousands of pounds. The callousness, the lack of consideration! The fact that many of these women are suffering is absolutely disgraceful, and they have had nothing but contempt from this Government.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Technology
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I very often agree with the hon. Gentleman, and I absolutely agree with him on this. There ought to be a commitment in the Queen’s Speech that the TV licences of those over 75 will be paid by the Government. My question to the Prime Minister is: where is that? Let us have a signal that those over 75 will have the comfort of being able to watch television and having their TV licences paid for.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Social Welfare
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We have just heard about the attack on women born in the 1950s and the assault on free TV licences, and we know about the changes to universal credit. Does my right hon. Friend share my concern that this Queen’s Speech has done nothing to halt that relentless attack on pensioners?
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Absolutely—and pensioners will be better off in an independent Scotland than they are under this Conservative Government. What a missed opportunity the Queen’s Speech has been! Although the SNP welcomes progress on bringing forward legislation on the pensions dashboard, the Bill falls short in a number of areas. We have discussed the 1950s women: the Government have a responsibility to address the hardship visited on hundreds of thousands of those women. It must be addressed in this legislation. It simply cannot go on any longer Moreover, the Scottish National party has consistently called for the establishment of an independent pensions and savings commission to deal with policy gaps in delivering dignity in retirement. If the Prime Minister and his Government are really interested in delivering on preparation for later life, they need to get real. Not everyone has a Tory trust fund to fall back on. We need robust and responsive policy to deal with the crisis in pensions saving that we simply cannot wait for. I therefore plead with the Government: do not mess this up; establish the commission and use the opportunity to deliver a pensions Bill that actually delivers fairness for older people, rather than uncertainty, complexity and hardship The Government have said that as part of their efforts they will bring forward a new environment Bill to set legally binding targets to reduce the use of plastics, restore biodiversity, improve water quality and cut air pollution. We on the SNP Benches say about time. The Government might at last have woken up to the reality of the climate crisis, but the devil will be in the detail. Already, the United Kingdom Government are lagging behind the Scottish Government in their commitment to ending the climate crisis. The SNP Scottish Government already have more robust targets in place, so I say to the UK Government that if they are ready to face the reality that our world demands action now, then they should follow the lead of the SNP Scottish Government Members across the House know that the single market has been achieved by removing barriers to trade and having a single set of trade rules across all member states.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: Government Operations
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We still won a majority of seats in the 2017 election. We still have a very strong mandate to speak on behalf of the people of Scotland. It was the second best result in our party’s history here.
Debate on the Address — House of Commons, 2019-10-14
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Perhaps the hon. Gentleman can explain why that argument then does not pertain to membership of the European Union. As I have explained, if Scotland were an independent member of the European Union it would have its own voice at the top table where decisions are being made. What is happening in this House is that those of us who are Scottish MPs are actively excluded from decision making processes. If the UK partnership is so strong, why is the European Union not such a good thing for the UK to be in?
Trans-Pacific Partnership — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: Foreign Trade
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The UK’s trade with Trans-Pacific Partnership countries amounts to 7.2% of the UK’s total trade, whereas trade with the EU amounts to 48.6%. Will the Secretary of State confirm that his Department’s priority is to secure our close economic and trading ties with the world’s largest single market before embarking on negotiations with the other trade blocs?
SMEs: Exports — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: Foreign Trade
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): There is a very close relationship between small and medium-sized manufacturers’ success in exporting and the viability of small and medium-sized road hauliers, many of whom are seriously concerned at the possibility of incurring substantial additional costs and facing additional bureaucracy if we cannot get an agreement that, for example, driving licences issued in the UK will be recognised in other countries when we leave the EU. What progress has been made in ensuring cast-iron guarantees that small road hauliers will not face any additional burdens in exporting to the EU after Brexit?
Year of Engineering — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: Education
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): One of the biggest barriers to women and girls entering careers in engineering and physics is the perceptions and expectations of parents. What work is the Minister doing during the Year of Engineering to encourage parents to look at the career options?
Domestic Abuse — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Scottish Government are providing essential training to around 14,000 police officers to help them to spot coercive control. What discussions has the Minister had with herself, in her role as Home Secretary, about the Home Office providing similar training for the police in England and Wales?
Hamed bin Haydara — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: International Affairs
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for bringing this issue to the House and to the Bahá’í community in the UK for raising it with me this week. As has been mentioned, the Bahá’í community in Yemen is small, but has faced disproportionate persecution by the Houthis, backed by Iran, which has included mass arrests, arbitrary detention, harassment and apparently now shutting down all the Bahá’í centres across the portion of Yemen controlled by the Houthis The sentencing to death of 52-year-old Hamed bin Haydara is an extremely worrying development, as he has been in detention since 2013. I imagine that others who are in detention at the moment will be extremely distressed at their prospects, given this development Noting the context of the wider discussion of the dire situation in Yemen, will the Minister tell the House what discussions he has been able to have with his counterparts in Iran, who are alleged to be driving this religious persecution? The Bahá’í community allege that it follows a similar pattern to the persecution of Bahá’ís that has gone on in Iran In the wider context of countries that choose to continue using the death penalty, what is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office doing to update its strategy on the abolition of the death penalty? What communications could the Minister have with President Hadi, who is in exile but still has a position of influence?
Defence — House of Commons, 2018-01-11
Topic: International Affairs
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is much more optimistic than me. I have seen just this week, on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, how the Government do this kind of thing. They take every opportunity to pull the wool over people’s eyes. He need only ask his colleagues the hon. Members for Moray and for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, as well as the rest of the Scottish Conservative intake. We need a proper SDSR that takes account of the fact that we will no longer be members of the European Union, and of the fact that we have had currency fluctuations and the devaluation of the pound. I am in favour of taking more time if we get a more considered outcome, but the cynic in me suggests that that is not what is at play.
Illegal Wildlife Trade — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Environment
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, rhino poaching in South Africa increased by 7,700% between 2007 and 2013. People in Broomhouse want to know what support the Secretary of State has offered his South African counterpart to help global campaigning to end this trade once and for all.
The Commonwealth — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Among the important issues of human rights, jobs, climate change, poverty, equality, security and so on that the summit will discuss, how much time does the Foreign Secretary expect the Commonwealth countries to devote to the colour of their passports?
EU Bilateral Relationships — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I take the opportunity to congratulate the Foreign Secretary on surviving yesterday’s Downing Street dither? It would appear that Toby Young is the only person to have lost his job The Foreign Affairs Committee was told that there were to be cuts to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s work in Asia, Africa and the Americas, as the Minister mentioned earlier. What impact does he believe that will have on his Department’s ambition for a global Britain?
EU Bilateral Relationships — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his response. It is good to hear that he does not believe the cuts elsewhere in the world will have an impact. However, with an increasing number of people thinking that the Government are handling their negotiations with the EU badly, and given that such a view is shared in many capitals around the world, does he agree that the appointment of a no-deal Minister is the latest sign of a state hurtling towards retreat and isolation?
Palestinian Communities — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Israeli Prime Minister’s party has just voted for the annexation of the west bank. The Israeli Attorney General has said that new laws must take into account the possibility of application to the occupied territories, and 46 Bedouin communities are still threatened with eviction. When will the UK’s approach change? When will it join other EU countries in calling for aid to compensate for the demolition of EU-funded structures and an end to trade with illegal settlements?
India: Diplomatic Relations — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Given that the Republic of India, a Commonwealth member, has now held my constituent from Dumbarton, Jagtar Singh Johal, in custody without charge for two months, will the Minister tell the House whether the Government’s approach to large Commonwealth states is nothing short of a Faustian pact in which we sacrifice our defence of due process to arbitrary detention on the altar of free-marketeerism?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: The “Fire and Fury” book about the Trump presidency has reheated some debunked claims about the role of British intelligence. Although the ordinary stance of the British Government is neither to confirm nor deny, given the highly unusual facts of this case will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity, as the intelligence chiefs have, to slay those myths?; UK humanitarian workers have told us that 10 hospitals in Syria have been directly targeted by Russian and Syrian forces over the past few weeks. These attacks go against the Geneva convention, but they have also left hundreds of children starving and in need of urgent humanitarian help. Will the Foreign Secretary indicate whether he intends to follow through on his previous pledge to donate British troops to UN peacekeeping forces? Will he ask President Putin to desist from doing such things? Will the Minister also ensure that the Geneva process is re-energised?; Can my right hon. Friend update the House on what role the Foreign Office played in ensuring the opening of the Yemeni seaport of Hodeidah?; It has been nine months since my constituent Kirsty Maxwell tragically fell to her death from a balcony in Benidorm and still the family do not know what happened to the clothes on her body when she died or the circumstances of her death. The Minister has been very helpful in trying to assist, but we are no further forward. Will he put more pressure on the Spanish authorities, and will he do a full-scale review of the support that families who have lost loved ones get?; When he was Foreign Secretary, William Hague described the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review as“a valuable mechanism for holding countries accountable for their human rights record.”—[Official Report, 15 April 2013; Vol. 561, c. 15WS.] Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the UN periodic review meeting on 23 January provides an opportunity to hold Israel to account for its treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military custody, and will he use the meeting to do so?; Following ministerial appointments since the general election, can the Foreign Secretary provide some reassurance to the House that the Department for International Development has not become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Foreign Office and that aid will continue to be the primary focus of DFID?; Research conducted by the International State Crime Initiative found examples of four of the six stages of genocide being carried out in Rakhine state against the Rohingya people. What assessment has the Foreign Secretary made of the potential for the other two stages—extermination and “symbolic enactment”—to occur?
Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In response to Kim Jong-un, President Trump, who is apparently "really smart" and a "stable genius" to boot, tweeted: "I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" What does President Trump have to say or tweet in order for any invitation to visit the UK, for any wedding or otherwise, to be withdrawn?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: The “Fire and Fury” book about the Trump presidency has reheated some debunked claims about the role of British intelligence. Although the ordinary stance of the British Government is neither to confirm nor deny, given the highly unusual facts of this case will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity, as the intelligence chiefs have, to slay those myths?; UK humanitarian workers have told us that 10 hospitals in Syria have been directly targeted by Russian and Syrian forces over the past few weeks. These attacks go against the Geneva convention, but they have also left hundreds of children starving and in need of urgent humanitarian help. Will the Foreign Secretary indicate whether he intends to follow through on his previous pledge to donate British troops to UN peacekeeping forces? Will he ask President Putin to desist from doing such things? Will the Minister also ensure that the Geneva process is re-energised?; Can my right hon. Friend update the House on what role the Foreign Office played in ensuring the opening of the Yemeni seaport of Hodeidah?; It has been nine months since my constituent Kirsty Maxwell tragically fell to her death from a balcony in Benidorm and still the family do not know what happened to the clothes on her body when she died or the circumstances of her death. The Minister has been very helpful in trying to assist, but we are no further forward. Will he put more pressure on the Spanish authorities, and will he do a full-scale review of the support that families who have lost loved ones get?; When he was Foreign Secretary, William Hague described the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review as“a valuable mechanism for holding countries accountable for their human rights record.”—[Official Report, 15 April 2013; Vol. 561, c. 15WS.] Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the UN periodic review meeting on 23 January provides an opportunity to hold Israel to account for its treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military custody, and will he use the meeting to do so?; Following ministerial appointments since the general election, can the Foreign Secretary provide some reassurance to the House that the Department for International Development has not become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Foreign Office and that aid will continue to be the primary focus of DFID?; Research conducted by the International State Crime Initiative found examples of four of the six stages of genocide being carried out in Rakhine state against the Rohingya people. What assessment has the Foreign Secretary made of the potential for the other two stages—extermination and “symbolic enactment”—to occur?
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The plight of the Rohingya people continues to shock, particularly as so many of them are unaccompanied children. What discussions has the Foreign Secretary had with his counterpart in Bangladesh to ensure these vulnerable children are protected from traffickers?
Parole Board and Victim Support — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Law and Crime
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I welcome the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State to his place, and I thank him for advance notice of the statement. I was pleased to hear him say that it is a priority for the Government that victims of rape and sexual assault have full confidence in the criminal justice system In Scotland, where these matters are devolved, we have put a huge amount of work into improving the prosecution of sex crimes, and Police Scotland works closely with the National Sex Crimes Unit—I was proud to be one of its first prosecutors nine years ago. In Scotland we have robust victim notification schemes. What has gone wrong with the notification scheme in this case is just one issue. There were also very serious failings from the outset in the way in which the police approached the investigation, and the House needs assurance that those serious police failings could never happen again. Can the Secretary of State give us that assurance It is concerning that, as Home Secretary, the Prime Minister intervened to support the police against victims who had successfully obtained findings in the lower courts that the police had been in breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 in the way they investigated them. I appreciate that, as the Lord Chancellor has said, those cases are currently sub judice, but can he give an undertaking that when the judgment is issued he will make a statement to the House about why the Government took the side of the police against the victims Worboys is going to be free later this month unless further charges are brought. We are all aware that there were many more Worboys victims than those in respect of whom there has been a prosecution. The Guardian has reported that the police say there is no live investigation, but it has also reported that the victims would like to see proceedings brought. Can the Lord Chancellor confirm whether any of those cases are still live? Will there be any further charges?
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As the Secretary of State says, the Bill is about existing trade. It will need a legislative consent motion from the Scottish Government, but the Scottish Government say that it is not fit for purpose in its current form. He is probably also aware that yesterday the Holyrood Finance and Constitution Committee, including three Tory MSPs, voted to withhold a legislative consent motion for the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. What will he and other Ministers do to ensure that both Bills are fit for purpose, so that they can get an LCM from Holyrood?
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-09
Topic: Government Operations
Hannah Mary Bardell (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Can the Secretary of State give us an idea of how much more resource HMRC will get so it can do that job of collecting data? Will the Government expand the number of HMRC offices, rather than reducing the number of offices, as he and his Government are currently doing?