argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Climate Change, the Environment and Global Development — House of Commons, 2019-07-10
Topic: Environment
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The hon. Gentleman wants to make a political point—that the private bank works better. This will be the big debate about climate change. Who will take the lead—the private or the public sector? I am not convinced that the private sector will deliver what we need to achieve the net zero target in 2050. I do not believe it will. Those will be our big political differences. I do not mean that everything needs to be nationalised, but we need a clear debate about what will be carried by the public sector and by the private sector. I believe that, to make the transition socially just, the public sector will have a very important role to play I am going to say something else that the Government side of the House will not like. If we are serious about the climate emergency, the most immediate thing we can do is stop Brexit. Climate change is a global problem and the fight against it requires co-ordinated international action. As our closest geographical neighbour, the EU is a good place to start. It has been a force for good in meeting the challenge of climate change. Through its institutions, we have learned how to negotiate and bring together separate national interests under a commonly shared vision The process is not easy and not perfect, but it is far preferable to going it alone. The EU has taken the lead on international climate change action: it has, for example, introduced projects such as emissions trading schemes and interconnectors between national grids. One initiative important for local councils was that of the European directives on biodegradable waste, without which this country would have done nothing about recycling This is why the European Union actually works: it makes national Governments take action when they would not do so on their own. EU directives have required member states to take decisive action even when national Governments would not have done. It has built environmental protections into its dealings with the rest of the world, putting key protections at the heart of its trade deals. Outside the EU, we will be weaker. We will have less clout, for example, against the United States, which might impose environmentally harmful terms on us as a condition of any new trade deal. While we are desperately looking for new trade deals, we might be victims of all that.
Climate Change, the Environment and Global Development — House of Commons, 2019-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is absolutely true that we should not be getting into the Brexit debate, but I believe in co-operation at every level, and the environment that has been created in this House in the past two years against the European Union is very damaging to international co-operation Our closest geographical neighbour is the European Union, and we should work very closely with it. That is why the best thing we can do if we are serious about climate action is to stop Brexit. History will not look kindly on us for leaving the European Union just at the moment when our moral responsibility is to protect our planet and work together. We should be placing ourselves at the heart of the European project, because the climate emergency demands it.
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Today, I went to an excellent cross-party briefing organised by the Cabinet Office on the subject of no deal—something that I would recommend that those who advocate no deal attend. It set out the extensive damage that no deal would do to the United Kingdom, so will the Prime Minister finally allow this House to pass a binding motion that rules out no deal?
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Labor
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I would like to take the Prime Minister to the beautiful, misty highlands. In particular, I would like to take her to the Glen Mhor hotel by Loch Ness, which, by the way, is one of the best places to see the Loch Ness monster. The Glen Mhor hotel is having enormous trouble hiring EU seasonal workers this year; they are not particularly encouraged to apply for jobs, because of where we are right now in our history and because the unemployment rate in Inverness is considerably lower than in the rest of the UK. We have a huge problem that is hitting the highland economy right now—even before we know what we are doing. How do the Government intend to tackle this massive issue?
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I voted against the Prime Minister’s deal twice; she voted against a people’s vote. I never thought I would contemplate voting for any Brexit deal, because I am a passionate believer in staying in the European Union, and the nearly 50% of people who voted to stay in the European Union would not expect me to do anything else. However, I am prepared to vote for her deal if she is prepared to support a people’s vote. Is that not a true compromise?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There is a sentiment in the House that we need somehow to compromise. Earlier, I said to the Prime Minister that it was previously unthinkable for me ever to vote for a Brexit deal. Why is it so unthinkable for Government Members to agree to support a people’s vote on whatever Brexit deal we come together for?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Would the hon. Gentleman extend that to listening to a mob of people who will apparently rebel if we ever do not deliver on this vote of the people? Nobody listens to the peaceful 1 million people and 5 million people who want to revoke article 50. They are not giving us death threats or mobbing us; they are just peaceful people. Yet we are worried about the keyboard warriors who threaten us from the security of their homes. Is that not also wrong?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I commend the right hon. Lady for the position she has adopted, which I know has come at some personal expense. Equally, I commend the hon. Member for Redcar (Anna Turley) Is the right hon. Lady as angry as I am that the advocates of hard Brexit—those who led the campaigns that were fined many tens of thousands of pounds for lying and cheating during the referendum—are very rarely here to defend their views but are quite happy to defend their views from the safety of a newspaper column?
Policing: Somerset — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Bath also falls under the Avon and Somerset constabulary. I do not share entirely the hon. Gentleman’s criticism of the police and crime commissioner. Bath experienced a problem when our police station was completely shut, but fortunately, we will get it back. Does he agree that it is important that it is open 24/7 because that is what makes people feel safe and looked after by the police?
Science Sector: International Collaboration — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Energy
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Even at the height of the cold war, there was a surprising level of collaboration between Russian and UK nuclear physicists. Will the Minister assure me that there will be similar collaboration when it comes to the skills that we have in the UK—particularly at Dounreay, in my constituency—in nuclear decommissioning, which is an industry that we could export and which could make a lot of money for the UK?
Cyclone Idai — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Environment
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on Britain’s help for those caught up in the cyclone disaster that is afflicting southern Africa.
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of people across Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe who have been affected by this terrible disaster. It reminds us of the huge need to focus on the fight against climate change. I welcome what the Minister says about how important that is, but the DFID departmental plan used to list climate change as a stand-alone strategic priority, and the current version does not. In this time of climate emergency, is that not a case of getting our priorities wrong? We should be increasing the urgency of the action we take to fight climate change, not downgrading it to a subheading.
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Foreign Trade
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is essential that the largest businesses, and indeed the trade associations that depend on them for information about the progress that is being made on the rollover trade deals, are kept fully informed. Can the Minister explain why the Department for International Trade stopped the roundtables with large businesses?
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Agriculture
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Has the Minister seen the call from the president of the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland today asking the Government to abandon their proposals for applied tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit? As he points out: "Without the maintenance of tariff protections, we would be in danger of opening up the UK to imported food which would be illegal to be produced here" In the 1970s the Minister’s predecessors in the Conservative Government then regarded our fishermen as expendable; it is beginning to look as if this current Government have taken the same attitude towards our farmers.
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Can the Minister tell me how many of the 17.4 million people who voted leave in 2016 voted for the Prime Minister’s deal and how many voted for no deal? If he cannot do so, is it not time that he and his Government stopped using the term "the will of the people" unless they are prepared to find out what the will of the people is by putting the deal back to the people with the option to remain?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am unsure whether the right hon. and learned Gentleman is aware that today is the International Day of Happiness. Does he agree that one way of making both sides of the Chamber happy might be to have a people’s vote on the Prime Minister’s deal that included the option of staying in the European Union? We can then all be happy, including him.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the right hon. Gentleman not find it extraordinary that the Government accuse the House of indulging in not making a decision over Brexit, when actually the blame should be placed clearly at the feet of the Conservative party?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I hear what my right hon. Friend says about the Brexit situation bringing people together from different parties to work together. Does he accept that it has brought people together up and down the country? In this country we now have one of the largest pro-European movements in Europe, and we will see that on the streets of London this Saturday.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Absolutely. I thank my right hon. Friend for that. We expect that this Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people will be coming into London on the people’s march. If we are sitting on Saturday, as the Speaker has indicated might be possible if the Government want us to sit then, I am sure we will able to sit here and listen carefully to those people’s chants of, "Stop Brexit." That is something I will welcome greatly.
Education — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Education
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I welcome the inclusion of mental health and wellbeing in the compulsory curriculum, but how it is taught—ensuring that teachers are properly trained and that the training is sufficiently resourced—will be critical. Does the Minister have an expectation of how many staff will be trained to teach mental health and wellbeing in schools?
Education — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Education
Norman Peter Lamb (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): This is a moment to celebrate. Many immensely powerful speeches have been made; I very much welcomed the speech of the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard). This is a really important moment for our whole Parliament to unite and say, "You can love whoever you want and be whoever you want, and that will be respected." On the question of withdrawal of children, in my book the child’s right must always dominate over the parents’ right. Surely children have the right to be informed about all the challenges that they will face as they grow up I applaud the Government for including mental health in the sex and relationships education curriculum—the culmination of years of campaigning by so many people. How it is taught will be incredibly important: teachers need to understand the sometimes complex causes of mental ill health and distress, including trauma and child sexual abuse or other violence in the home, and teach those issues sensitively. It is also important that they be given the resources, training and support to do so; I share the shadow Minister’s concern about whether the resources that the Government have allocated for that purpose will be sufficient I join the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Melanie Onn) in highlighting the importance of drug education. The organisation Volteface has raised concerns that certain key things have not been included in the curriculum, including "awareness of child criminal exploitation; harm reduction advice; understanding of hidden harm; where parental substance misuse can impact on a child; advice on decision-making during pressured situations" It also notes that the curriculum does not include education for sixth-formers, who are under particular pressure with respect to drugs, and that because there is no guidance about sustained, continued education, the requirement could be met by a one-off tick-box exercise that did not meet young people’s needs. I urge the Government to keep the policy closely under review and listen to the concerns of organisations such as Volteface, so that we get it right for young people.
Yemen — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: International Affairs
Joanne Kate Swinson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I very much echo the comments that others have made about the right hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire. He was one of the very best, most thoughtful and most dedicated Ministers, and his departure from the Front Bench is a loss to the Government and the country There has been a huge reluctance on the part of the Government to criticise the Saudi regime, even in the face of the most appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen, which the Minister described, and the appalling conflict. It seems unacceptable that we continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. I do not call that leadership. Instead of leveraging our influence from our trading relationship with Saudi Arabia, it seems that we are silenced by it. Does the Minister share my assessment that, after Brexit, we will be in a weaker position, not a stronger one, to criticise states with a bad human rights record?
Offensive Weapons Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I think the whole House is with the Minister in the determination to tackle knife crime and to try to prevent young people from getting into it, but can she tell the House what other mechanisms, orders or contracts the Government looked at before concluding that this was the right way forward? I have spoken to her privately about antisocial behaviour orders, which in the past did not work, whereas acceptable behaviour contracts, which worked with the young person, did work. Have the Government looked at those?
Offensive Weapons Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There I have sympathy with the Minister, and I want to propose an alternative which addresses that very point. However, she was beginning to suggest—I am not sure that she meant to—that a criminal test had to be passed, and that is not what is in the Bill. It is not a criminal test that must be passed; it is a civil test, which could then result in a criminal record. I think that the House should think very carefully before going down that road Let me say a little about the alternative model that I want the Minister to consider. I am proposing what I have called "anti-blade contracts". The idea is that a police officer, along with the parents or a carer, or possibly a youth officer, would sit down with a young person and require them to sign a contract saying that they should not carry a knife and that there would be consequences—for instance, fines or community sentences —if they were caught doing so. Crucially, however, linked with the public health or prevention approach would be positive elements. Young people could, for example, contact a named youth worker or police officer if they were concerned about their safety. There could also be a package of other support, which might involve access to youth services That is the way to change behaviour. That is the way to prevent a young person from ending up on the pathway to more crime. People who go to prison often see it as a college of crime, and we must try to avoid that. The approach that I am suggesting would do what the Minister wants: it would meet her objectives, but without the cost and without the potentially damaging impact that her orders would have.
Offensive Weapons Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Not in the first place. The idea—and this goes alongside the Government’s proposal—is not that every young person would be open to the process, but that it could be offered to young people who were thought to be in danger. I am not sure whether we would want it to be applied to every young person, although it could go further and be part of an educative process as well. Given the lack of resources in the police and youth services, I think that we should target those who are most at risk in the first instance. The crucial part of my argument is that I am putting forward something that is based on evidence. The evidence from the Home Office, in its reports on the difference between antisocial behaviour orders and acceptable behaviour contracts back in 2004, and the evidence from the National Audit Office in a 2006 report, suggested that ABCs were far more effective in changing young people’s behaviour, which is what we want to do. More important—or, at least, as important—was the fact that they were cheaper. They took less time. Orders that need to go to court require considerable police resources, and we do not have those resources. They also take up the time of magistrates, which is already rather stretched, so we are putting forward something that goes against the evidence from the past and that we know is going to be more expensive and more time consuming. This is an urgent problem, and our proposal based on evidence does not need even this place to legislate. We could get on with it; we could issue guidance. Why on earth are we doing this? The situation is far more urgent than the Government seem to think. The Minister’s proposal would take so much time and money when we know that is not available I implore the Minister: I am pleased that she has nodded from a sedentary position to indicate that she is prepared to meet me to discuss our proposal—
Leaving the EU: Farming Policy — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: Agriculture
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): NFU Scotland and other farming organisations north of the border are increasingly concerned at the lack of agreement between the UK Government and the Scottish Government to allow a Scottish schedule into the Agriculture Bill. Will the Minister meet me and a cross-party delegation, including the NFU and crofters organisations, to hear from them what the industry would want in that schedule?
Staff Bullying and Harassment: Cox Recommendations — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: What the timeframe is for the implementation of the recommendations made by Dame Laura Cox in her report on the bullying and harassment of House of Commons staff.
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Dame Laura made three fundamental recommendations. In response to the first, the Commission immediately terminated the Respect and Valuing Others policies. In response to the second, the Commission has been considering options for the investigation of non-recent cases of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct and expects to put a final proposal to the House before the summer recess. In response to the third, the Commission has agreed the establishment of a working group to consider how the process of complaints against MPs could be made fully independent, and we are in the process of agreeing the membership. Finally, the House service has appointed an independent director of cultural transformation, to translate Dame Laura’s wide recommendations into tangible, meaningful and lasting change.
Staff Bullying and Harassment: Cox Recommendations — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: Government Operations
Questions: What the timeframe is for the implementation of the recommendations made by Dame Laura Cox in her report on the bullying and harassment of House of Commons staff.
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. I can reassure him that the House of Commons Commission is considering these important recommendations at every meeting, but we have not made the progress that we should have done. These are complex issues, and we hope that the working group will be established soon, to process how to deal with complaints against MPs independently of Members of Parliament.
Refugees in Sri Lanka — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas Anthony Brake (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Minister will be aware that the Ahmadi community in the UK is very active, including delivering condolence cards to Christian churches here following the attack in Sri Lanka and raising lots of money for charity in the UK and abroad. If that community chooses to fundraise for the refugees in Sri Lanka would the Government be able to match, or indeed better, the sum it raises?
Acquired Brain Injury — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: Social Welfare
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Notwithstanding what I will say later, in casework I find that a surprisingly high number of disability living allowance claimants are having the mobility element carved away as they move to PIP, perhaps because, as the hon. Gentleman says, they have exaggerated their ability to get from A to B or to move into work.