argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Murray Burnham (Labour, Centre-left): Let me tell the Home Secretary why I repeated the question. Could not the public have legitimately expected the Home Secretary to answer a question about the biggest humanitarian crisis since the second world war? Her response reveals her fixed mind on this issue, which is simply not good enough because she is not responding to the unfolding nature of the crisis. Her position is flawed for one reason: she is trying, out of convenience, to draw a false distinction between refugees still in the region and those who have arrived in Europe, whom she describes as the wealthiest, fittest and strongest. I say to her: look at the TV pictures today; these people are not wealthy, fit or strong. They are desperate and they need our help. Is it not time to stop digging in, show some humanity and reach out a helping hand?
NHS: Financial Performance — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Other
Teresa Pearce (Labour, Centre-left): As far as I am aware, the Minister has not answered the question about the delay in issuing the report. If he cannot answer now, will he put a note in the Library and explain the reason for that delay?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Sadiq Aman Khan (Labour, Centre-left): As the Minister will be aware, there is a housing crisis in London. The cost of rent goes up each year and there are fewer and fewer homeowners in London. London does badly out of this scheme, which will be funded, as he is aware, by selling off family-sized social homes in London. In those circumstances, can he guarantee that the money raised from the right to buy sell-off in London will be ring-fenced to build genuinely affordable homes in London?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): May I pick up the point that has just been raised? I was very concerned that money raised from the right to buy in areas such as mine will leave the borough and possibly leave London altogether. The Minister has not really answered this point. It is vital that any money raised through right to buy is reinvested in the nearby area. We should therefore look at all schemes to include as much genuinely affordable housing as possible. For example, 900 homes are being built at 250 City Road in my constituency. The cheapest one-bed flat there is £865,000 so starter homes are simply not affordable there. Does the Minister agree that the only genuinely affordable homes at the 250 City Road scheme are likely to be those for social rent?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): New Charter Homes, a registered social landlord in the Tameside part of my constituency, has just announced 150 job losses. It says that this is a direct consequence of this Government’s right to buy and rent policies. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of those two announcements on registered social landlords’ business plans, and what support will the Minister give to housing associations such as New Charter to ensure that their financial stability is put on a firm footing for the future?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Karen Patricia Buck (Labour, Centre-left): Listening to the Minister, one would almost think he had not presided over a collapse in homeownership in this country during the past few years. In inner-London areas we face the prospect of losing up to three quarters of our social homes, which has led even the leader of Conservative Westminster Council to say that this is going to lead to the loss of a swathe of social housing. It is all very well for the Minister to say that he is going to replace in London, but people do not just live in a city—they live in communities, they live near their work and they live near their children’s schools. Will all replacement homes be built within the same local authority, where council housing and housing association properties have been sold off?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) said that the people who will buy their home will live in their home, but the evidence from the council housing right to buy shows that not to be the case, certainly not in London. What assessment has he made of how many of the homes to be sold under this policy are likely to become private rental properties—often at high rent and let to people in housing need who have no hope of owning their own home?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
James Fitzpatrick (Labour, Centre-left): I share the worries of many of my colleagues about replacement local provision. I assume that these sales will be under leasehold provision. The Minister knows that a number of us in the House have concerns about the weakness of the regulations covering people who own leasehold properties. Will he assure us that he will continue to look at leasehold reform as part of these proposals as well as separately?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): In my constituency, Cestria Community Housing and Derwentside Homes have been building new homes both for rent and for sale. The things that have skewed their business plans have been the cap on rents and this right-to-buy proposal. Would it not be easier if the Government were to underwrite some of the borrowings of those housing associations that want to build, such as the two that I have just mentioned?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Angela Rayner (Labour, Centre-left): The New Charter Group is a major social housing provider is my constituency. How can its housing associations support right to buy with no staff? As my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) said, a loss of 150 jobs has been announced today. Inevitably, that will mean poorer services for tenants and fewer homes built for local people. Will the Minister meet New Charter’s management and the union Unison, which represents the workers? What action will he take to protect our social housing for the sake of current and future tenants?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): Like the Minister’s rent and planning policies, this is all about the destruction of social rented housing, especially in high-cost housing areas. It is a piece of tawdry social engineering that exacerbates the housing crisis. Will he answer this question, which he has been asked several times and which he has refused to answer? Where council properties are being sold—we are talking about 50%, with more than 6,000 being sold in Hammersmith—will they be replaced like for like in the same borough so that people can move into those homes before the housing waiting lists get worse than they are at the moment?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Wesley Paul William Streeting (Labour, Centre-left): I am afraid that there could not be a wider gulf between the Minister’s responses this afternoon and the reality facing ordinary Londoners, who are finding it increasingly hard not just to own but to rent their own home. Since he has so far shown himself incapable of answering very simple and straightforward questions from my right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) and pretty much every other Member from London, let us give him another go. Will the Minister answer this question without obfuscation: will he guarantee that any home sold under the scheme will be replaced like for like in the locality from which it has been sold, such as a London borough? That is a straightforward question, so may we have a simple answer?
Superfast Broadband — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is not just an issue for rural communities? Even in the London Borough of Haringey, there is a massive gap in provision in the Alexandra Palace area, which is increasingly seeking to be a destination for leisure and so on.
Stormont — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. The hon. Gentleman was advised to take about 20 minutes, but he is now on 23 minutes. A lot of Members want to speak. If we do not get other Members in, we are going to kill the debate.
Stormont — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Anderson (Labour, Centre-left): I take on board what the right hon. Gentleman says, but, as I said earlier, this is not what I am saying; it is what was said to me by those who represent people on the ground in Northern Ireland. That is their view, and the view of the people who try—
Stormont — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Anderson (Labour, Centre-left): Well, what I said is the case The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which represents trade unions across the whole of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, took a motion to the European TUC, which represents 60 million workers across Europe. The ICTU is convinced that without the input of both Governments and the US Government there will be no movement forward in Northern Ireland. The congress supports fully the devolved Administration of Northern Ireland, wants the Government to be involved and to give a financial stimulus to ensure the continuation of the political institutions, and believes: "The austerity measures being imposed on the citizens of Northern Ireland by the…Government are a major impediment to the resolution of the political impasse." Despite all the progress, Northern Ireland remains a society emerging from conflict: "A society which has the lowest levels of any region in the UK of investment, educational attainment, and the highest levels of mental ill-health." The suicide rate is some 70% higher than in any other region, and poverty, the security spend and economic inactivity are all higher on any scale. The unions believe: "The failure to achieve a political resolution in the talks…will result in the fall of the political institutions and direct rule...by the Westminster Government", which is the last thing that anybody over there wants. That will be unforgivable. The unions believe it will take us back to where we were and will "result in the emergence from the shadows of the so called…para-military groups" While Members speak about the fact that one thing that led us to where we are now was what the police lead us to believe was the involvement of the IRA in the killing earlier this year, the unions believe that the failure to get the system up and running again will take us back to the full-blown impact of what we saw for far too many years I suggest that the people involved on behalf of the Government should sit down with the trade unions once in a while. I know that they are not very keen on talking to the trade unions on this side of the Irish Sea, but perhaps they might like to talk to the trade unions on the other side of it, which are genuinely committed to seeing the community go forward. Their track record shows that they have been there and shows their work with people on the ground, so the Government should ask for their view and work with them to try to make things go forward. At this moment, we are facing an impasse that will not be helped by having direct rule imposed in any shape or form.
Onshore Wind Power: Planning — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Housing
Ian Austin (Labour, Centre-left): In addition to this question, question after question on the Order Paper from the Nats queries the powers of the Scottish Parliament, yet the truth is this: they have missed the A&E waiting time in Scotland for six years; more than 6,000 children leave primary school unable to read properly; children from poor families get a particularly bad deal under devolution; and Scotland faces a housing crisis. When I visited Edinburgh a week or so ago, I was stunned at the level of rough sleeping in that city—it is much higher than in comparable cities. Should the Nats not be sorting out the things for which they are responsible instead of demanding all those other powers? They are not just the most centralising but the most useless—
Smith Commission — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, but Scotland’s First Minister has warned that the SNP Government may reject the Scotland Bill "if the accompanying fiscal framework" is not "fair to Scotland" It is clear that they are looking for any excuse for the fiscal framework to delay further powers for Scotland. Will the Secretary of State assure us that the fiscal framework will be agreed before the Scottish Parliament is dissolved in March, and can he explain why both he and the SNP are conspiring to make this agreement the tartan TTIP—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership—delivered behind closed doors with no public transparency? That raises the question of what they are trying to hide.
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Civil Rights
John Mann (Labour, Centre-left): Last week, 15 Scottish MPs attended a briefing by the all-party parliamentary group against anti-Semitism. Given the good will that clearly exists, will the Secretary of State talk to the Scottish Government about how the system of state-funded security in Jewish schools in England could be emulated in Glasgow?
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): As the Home Secretary has acknowledged, David Anderson called for prior judicial authorisation. He also said that the new law should comply with international human rights standards. Given the uncertainty over the future of the Human Rights Act, will the Home Secretary confirm that the Bill will comply with that Act, and with the European convention on human rights?
Policing — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Murray Burnham (Labour, Centre-left): If I may correct the Home Secretary, I conducted the 2007 spending review as Chief Secretary and a decision was taken to grow public spending at a lower rate than overall growth in the economy—a decision that the current Prime Minister and the current Chancellor described at the time as tough. The right hon. Lady needs to correct the record I want to ask the Home Secretary a direct question, and she cannot leave the debate today before she answers it. If she is saying that everything is fine, she now needs to tell the House at what level she thinks it is safe to cut the police before public safety is compromised. What is the percentage cut that she is prepared to make without compromising the safety of our constituents?
Policing — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Before I call the next speaker, I am going to have to lower the speaking limit to five minutes with immediate effect. I remind hon. Members, especially those hoping to catch my eye later on, that if they make a lot of interventions, they are eating into their own time. I hope that interventions will be kept to a minimum.
Policing — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. When I say I want short interventions, I do not mean, "Then carry on and make long interventions." [Interruption.] No, I decide whether it is short. I am sure, Mr Hoare, you can find something else to do rather than challenging the Chair. I am sure that is not your intention. I want to get everybody else in, and the only way I am going to do that is to have fewer interventions. I want to allow the right amount of time for the closing speeches.
Policing — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Public Lands
Lisa Eva Nandy (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I would be grateful for your advice. The House will be aware that last week a statutory instrument was passed upstairs in Committee that would allow surface-level drilling in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty for the purposes of what is commonly known as fracking. It is yet to be taken on the Floor of the House, but today the Government issued a consultation on this very subject on their departmental website, which at the very least causes considerable confusion, but at worst may supersede the statutory instrument itself. Have you received any indication from a member of the Treasury Bench or a Government Minister that they intend to make a statement on the subject to the House?
Tourism — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Public Lands
Questions: Given all the Government schemes to encourage tourism in Wales, does the Minister think it is fair that people who want to visit Wales are thumped with a toll of £6.50 on the Severn bridge? What will he do to stop that tax on tourism?
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): Next month Blaenavon world heritage site in my constituency will host the UNESCO world heritage youth summit. Will the Minister congratulate Blaenavon on that, and agree how important it is that we showcase our world heritage sites in Wales to the world?
Civil Service Jobs — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Austin (Labour, Centre-left): What discussions has the Minister had with the people in the civil service who are responsible for the provision of library services about the appalling decision to remove an exhibition about Israeli and Palestinian people playing football together? Does he think that the decision to remove the exhibition will bring people together and further knowledge, which is what libraries are supposed to be about?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Housing
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): I want to thank all those who took part in an enormous democratic exercise in this country, which concluded with me being elected as leader of the Labour party and Leader of the Opposition. We can be very proud of the numbers of people who engaged and took part in all those debates I have taken part in many events around the country and had conversations with many people about what they thought of this place, our Parliament, our democracy and our conduct within this place. Many told me that they thought Prime Minister’s question time was too theatrical, that Parliament was out of touch and too theatrical, and that they wanted things done differently, but above all they wanted their voice to be heard in Parliament. So I thought, in my first Prime Minister’s Question Time, I would do it in a slightly different way. I am sure the Prime Minister will absolutely welcome this, as he welcomed the idea in 2005, but something seems to have happened to his memory during that period. So I sent out an email to thousands of people and asked them what questions they would like to put to the Prime Minister and I received 40,000 replies There is not time to ask 40,000 questions today—our rules limit us to six—so I would like to start with the first one, which is about housing. Two-and-a-half thousand people emailed me about the housing crisis in this country. I ask one from a woman called Marie, who says, "What does the government intend to do about the chronic lack of affordable housing and the extortionate rents charged by some private sector landlords in this country?"
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Housing
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Prime Minister for that answer, and I thank him for his commitment that we are going to try and do Prime Minister’s Question Time in a more adult way than we have done it in the past The effects of Government policy on housing are obviously enormous, and the decision to cut, for example, 1% of the rent levels in councils and in housing associations without thinking about the funding issues that those authorities face is a serious one. I have a question from Steven, who works for a housing association. He says that the cut in rents will mean that the company that he works for will lose 150 jobs by next March because of the loss of funding for that housing association to carry on with its repairs. Down the line, that will mean worse conditions, worse maintenance, fewer people working there, and a greater problem for people living in those properties. Does the Prime Minister not think it is time to reconsider the question of the funding of the administration of housing, as well as, of course, the massive gap of 100,000 units a year between what is needed and what is being built?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Prime Minister for that, but it leads me neatly on to what happened yesterday, when the House sadly voted for proposals that will cost families who are affected by the change in tax credits £1,300 per year. That is absolutely shameful. I received more than 1,000 questions about tax credits. Paul, for example, asks this very heartfelt question: "Why is the government taking tax credits away from families? We need this money to survive and so our children don’t suffer. Paying rent and council tax on a low income doesn’t leave you much. Tax credits play a vital role and more is needed to stop us having to become reliant on food banks to survive."
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Home Secretary for her kind remarks. She and I were first elected together in ’97, served on our first Select Committee together, were first promoted at the same time and have shadowed each other for about seven years. I can only wish that her promotion prospects will be rather more successful than mine May I ask the Home Secretary about the crisis? I welcome the work that she has done in the last week alone since we debated this matter, but she has been asked repeatedly to go further in taking refugees from Greece, as well as from across Europe. Some 230,000 people have arrived in Greece this year alone. She has provided only 1,000 expert working days to help them. Does she really think that all those people, many of whom are Syrian refugees, should remain in Greece? Does she think that other countries nearby should offer to help and to take some of those refugees? If she thinks that other countries should offer to help, why shouldn’t Britain?
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): Last week I spent three days in Lebanon—a country that took more refugees in two days than Britain will accept in five years. In Beirut, Sidon and the Bekaa valley, I met people who were suffering neurological problems as a result of chemical weapons, disabled children who were unable to access any support and frail elderly people who had been deregistered by the United Nations because they had made the decision to travel back to Syria to seek medical help that they were unable to afford in Lebanon When the Home Secretary is looking at her resettlement programme, I ask her to consider people who have been deregistered as refugees by the United Nations, as well as those who are registered. An estimated 50,000 Syrian children who were born in Lebanon do not have birth certificates. Those stateless children are the most vulnerable of the refugee population. Great work is being done by charities such as Islamic Relief and by the United Nations, but the most vulnerable people are those who have been deregistered.
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Gisela Stuart (Labour, Centre-left): Birmingham City Council held an open meeting yesterday and made it clear that the city will welcome Syrian refugees. As the Home Secretary has recognised, those refugees will require long-term support, and to tell local authorities that they will receive funding only for 12 months is simply not sufficient. May I press her to make more long-term commitments and to allow local authorities to plan properly