argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: Social Welfare
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): Sadly, 1,500 children in York are growing up in a home where domestic abuse is a factor, according to the office of the Children’s Commissioner. Will the Minister give clear assurances today that victims can have the confidence that, if they Ask for ANI, they will be provided with more than a conversation, but with safeguarded housing, and wellbeing and psychological help for them and their children?
Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): We know that when it comes to domestic abuse, every contact counts. The Government’s new Ask for ANI scheme is a very welcome step towards enabling victims of domestic abuse to receive the support they need, but we need to do more. Will the Minister look again at including a statutory duty on public authorities to train frontline staff to recognise the signs of domestic abuse and to fund such training?
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): We now come to the Select Committee statement. Sarah Champion will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call Members to put questions on the subject of the statement, and I will call Sarah Champion to respond to those in turn. I call the Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: Government Operations
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. Unless that happens, the abuse will continue. It is the Government’s duty to do that. They are spending taxpayers’ money, and they need to be accountable for that.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Navendu Prabhat Mishra (Labour, Centre-left): This report from the International Development Committee is very important, and I would like to pay tribute to all the staff who have served the Committee and send my best wishes to Fergus Reid, the principal Clerk to the Committee, who is taking some time off. After a lot of fanfare, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative is a skeleton of its former self. Does my hon. Friend agree that, without the political will from the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the ability of the initiative to have a positive impact will continue to dwindle?
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his work on the Committee. At the moment only 0.3% of Government funding goes specifically to women and girls’ projects, so I share his concern that with a third now taken away from the aid budget they will be the ones really let down by this system. I urge the Government to stop that. They have to embed safeguarding in every aspect of their work and make sure they fund aid organisations to do the same. This is not a bolt-on. This is not additional. Safeguarding the most vulnerable people on the planet must be funded and must be core to everyone’s work.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my honourable neighbour. I agree. The best way to stop abuse and achieve value for money on aid projects is to involve local people in delivery and safeguarding, and in the building of and reporting on such projects. They know what they need best and we should be there to serve them.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Ruth Lorraine Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all the many years of work she has done on these important issues. Does she agree that Ministers must urgently set out what steps they are taking to work with local populations to dismantle imbalanced power dynamics, and what actions they are taking to ensure aid organisations do the same?
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend. What we need to see now is the Minister step up and outline how the Government are going to address the imbalance between recipients and aid workers which many seek to exploit, how we ensure all projects that receive UK funding are properly audited on their delivery and outcomes, and how they are looking actively to empower local communities so they can all reach their potential.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): May I take this moment, Madam Deputy Speaker, to pay tribute to the hon. Lady who is a member of the Committee? She fought to get the first two reports into sexual abuse in the aid sector off the ground and continues to fight for women’s rights around the world. I completely agree with her. The Government need to show zero tolerance. The most effective way to do that is by taking away the cash. There can be no safe space for sexual abuse within the aid sector and no taxpayers’ money spent on supporting it.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): Abusers are getting off the hook because aid organisations have put prosecuting them into the "too difficult" box, either because it happened overseas, or because it involved locally employed subcontractors. It is not too difficult, and we owe it to the survivors to do that. We can use the existing sex tourism Act, and we can work to support local justice systems to ensure that prosecutions take place. The Committee heard that sexual abusers are actively trying to get into the aid sector because they know that they can get away with the abuse there. We have to stamp it out.
Select Committee on International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Member is absolutely right. The inquiry found that there is so much discrimination, and the power imbalances that exist are not being challenged by the aid organisations. We found that there was very little effort to engage local populations in developing programmes or safeguarding routes. Methods to enable beneficiaries to report abuse tended to be in written form, or someone would telephone in. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one organisation had 22 different reporting mechanisms, and not one of them got used. Unless we build things in partnership with local people, and ask them what is the best way forward, whatever clever systems we put in place will not engage the local population and they will fail. We need aid organisations to be much more proactive about engaging with everybody who they are meant to be serving.
Emergency Services Network — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The new emergency services network, which is much needed to replace our outdated system, has become yet another embarrassment for the Home Office. Costs have spiralled to an eye-watering £10.3 billion, and constant delays mean that the project will not be finished for up to seven years. Local police forces, already under strain from cuts and covid, have to foot a large part of the bill, and their bill has just increased by £600 million. That would fund around 8,000 new police officers, yet when I asked the Minister about this in a parliamentary question, he said that the extra cost was "minimal" There is a pattern: £600 million is "minimal"; the catastrophic loss of 400,000 essential data records is brushed aside and still no answers given; and the Home Secretary breaks the ministerial code and we are all somehow to brush that aside as well. When will the Government accept that their incompetence is wasting taxpayers’ money, delaying vital work and putting the public at increased risk?
Violent Crime — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Law and Crime
Conor Patrick McGinn (Labour, Centre-left): Crime has not stopped because of covid-19. After a brief respite during the first lockdown, the Department’s own figures show that overall violent crime is rising, and that drug and firearms-related offences are back at previous levels. The Government received the findings of Sir Craig Mackey’s review into serious and organised crime last February and told the House in June that the recommendations were being considered, but, as of today, they still have not come forward with them. So can I ask what we are waiting for and what it is that Ministers have been doing for the last year?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Law and Crime
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): The Home Secretary must have seen the survey by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers of attacks on shop workers in 2020. Of the 2,700 surveyed, 88% had suffered verbal abuse, 61% had been threatened by a customer and 9% had been attacked. When will the Government bring forward legislation to protect shop workers, who are in the frontline in combating this virus by providing so much support to us?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Law and Crime
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): The Home Secretary will surely be aware that the new fixed rosters imposed on Border Force staff at Heathrow last month are simply not working. In fact, staff say they are shambolic and not covid-safe. Indeed, the Public and Commercial Services Union balloted for strike action as a last resort and got a 96% yes vote. Will the Home Secretary assure the House that she will advise management to return to the previous roster system and work constructively with the trade union to agree a package of covid-safe measures based around the previous arrangements?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Law and Crime
Graham Eric Stringer (Labour, Centre-left): We know that Greater Manchester police are in special measures and that the chief constable is on gardening leave. We know that victims of crime in Greater Manchester are at risk. We even know that police officers going out on calls are at risk, because they are not getting the information. The Mayor of Greater Manchester tells us that he is not getting the information from the police. I know that the Home Secretary has previously replied that she is not getting the information from Greater Manchester police. Can she tell the House when she expects to get the information from Greater Manchester police that will enable us to know if there is an improvement in the appalling situation?
Yemen — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: International Affairs
Lisa Eva Nandy (Labour, Centre-left): We are not a bystander to this conflict—UK arms, training and technical support sustains the war in Yemen and the worst humanitarian disaster in the world. More than 80% of Saudi’s arms imports come from the US and the UK. The US’s decision to end all support for offensive operations, including relevant arms sales, is welcome, but it leaves the UK dangerously out of step with our allies and increasingly isolated. What is worse is that the UK is the penholder for Yemen at the UN. We cannot be both peacemaker and arms dealer in this conflict It was the Foreign Secretary who said: "human rights will be at the forefront of our leadership this year"—[Official Report, 12 January 2021; Vol. 687, c. 178.] This is the first test since that statement just four weeks ago, and he has failed it. It is surprising, given the obvious panic in Downing Street about relations with the Biden Administration, that the Government were so reluctant to challenge President Trump’s decision to change the designation of the Houthis and are now determined to continue to be an outlier in arming Saudi Arabia. It puts us out of step with our US and EU allies, despite the compelling moral and diplomatic case to change course When the Foreign Secretary re-emerges, perhaps he could confirm that he will now take long overdue action to end arms sales and support to Saudi Arabia and explain what possible reason there could be for not doing so earlier. Can he tell us whether he spoke with Secretary Blinken about this announcement before it was made and whether the US Government have asked for UK support in this matter? Will he tell us what he will do to live up to our responsibilities to reinvigorate the peace process and help bring this appalling conflict to an end?
Yemen — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: International Affairs
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister accept that there is a serious and huge humanitarian disaster in Yemen at the present time: 80% of the population are in need of aid and, as others have pointed out, hundreds of thousands have died and many more are on the brink of starvation? Britain’s contribution over the last five years has been to sell to Saudi Arabia billions of pounds of arms and logistical equipment that have been used to bomb Yemen. Will he welcome the moves by Martin Griffiths to go to Iran to try to broker a regional peace agreement that will bring about a long-term peace, but will he also give a clear commitment that we will no longer supply any arms to Saudi Arabia so long as the war in Yemen goes on?
Yemen — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): For too long, Yemen has been the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, so what steps is the Minister taking to protect UK aid spending to Yemen from his Government’s cuts, and how is he encouraging the participation of women and girls in conflict resolution and peacekeeping in Yemen?
Yemen — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: International Affairs
Gillian Furniss (Labour, Centre-left): This year will mark the seventh anniversary of the start of the war in Yemen, which has led to the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. UNICEF has described Yemen as "a living hell". Last week, the US pledged to stop support for offensive Saudi operations in the country; does the Minister agree that it is now time for the UK to follow suit and commit to go that extra mile so that we can stop this horrific war?
Yemen — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: International Affairs
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): Yemen is the world’s gravest humanitarian emergency, with 80% of the Yemeni population reliant on humanitarian assistance and protection. If President Biden’s decision to end support for Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen was part of his pledge to restore US moral leadership, how would the Minister characterise the UK’s continuing support for and arming of Saudi Arabia —moral indifference, perhaps?
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister and Conservative Ministers made grand promises about how they would take back control of our fishing waters and how the fishing industry would prosper. The Leader of the House stood there recently, smiling and saying that "they are now British fish, and they are better and happier fish for it."—[Official Report, 14 January 2021; Vol. 687, c. 510.] The reality, however, is that our shellfish industry is on the verge of collapse and that, thanks to this Government, costly new red tape and bureaucracy are holding back British businesses and our economic recovery. Does the Secretary of State accept that no business, consumer or community should have to pay the price for this Government’s incompetence?
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): What compensation do the Government intend to provide to the shellfish industry and other fishing industries, and boats like the Kirkella, which I have mentioned many times and currently remains tied up in Hull unable to fish?
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (Labour, Centre-left): Our superb west country shellfish sector faces ruin because of the Government’s botched Brexit deal. The Secretary of State has said repeatedly that he does not want to water down UK food standards now that we have left the EU, so why not do what fellow non-EU fishing nation Norway does and agree to European food standards? That would solve these problems in one fell swoop.
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): Did the Secretary of State know, when the Prime Minister dumped his half-empty EU deal on us on Christmas eve, that it might mean export bans for fishermen from south Wales fishing in the Welsh sea for cockles, mussels and oysters? If he did, why did he not make arrangements for those products to be sold for British consumers, and in particular those in food need? Will he make such arrangements so that those fishermen can face a sustainable livelihood and not possible bankruptcy?
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Secretary of State have any idea of the devastating financial impact that the ban is going to have on historic cockling communities such as Penclawdd in Gower? What conversations has he been having with the Welsh Government to ensure that the fisheries disruption fund reaches Penclawdd?
Armed Forces Bill — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Government Operations
Stephanie Louise Peacock (Labour, Centre-left): I am incredibly grateful to the Minister for giving way. I welcome what he says, and we on the Labour Benches indeed support the covenant. On the issue of the postcode lottery, which is really important for my constituents in Barnsley, may I push him further and ask whether he will be introducing measurable national standards in the covenant so that there is not that postcode lottery?
Nightingale Courts — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): But there are huge delays in the justice system. Her Majesty’s justice chief inspectors report 53,000 cases waiting to come before Crown courts. In Cambridgeshire, housing associations tell me that when they file papers for community protection notices, they are frequently lost or not even opened. Will the Minister tell me exactly how many Nightingale courts are hearing criminal trials today, and how many will be by the end of 2021?
Nightingale Courts — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Lilian Rachel Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister already knows that Nottinghamshire’s police and crime commissioner, the chief constable and I are all extremely concerned about the delays in bringing serious criminal cases to trial and the failure to establish a Nightingale court in Nottinghamshire. I look forward to the discussion that he promised last week, but all Members will want to understand why progress is so slow. The Minister talked about 40 courts being open now and 60 by the end of March, but Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service said that 200 would be needed; what is preventing him from addressing that problem? How much investment has the Treasury earmarked for Nightingale courts?
Nightingale Courts — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
David Lindon Lammy (Labour, Centre-left): The Government’s answer to the question about the scale of the crisis in our justice system is that the backlog has been higher in the past, but the Minister knows that this is just a distraction. In 2010, Crown court cases took, on average, 391 days to complete. By 2019, the Government had closed half of the courts and had 27,000 fewer sitting days, meaning that each case took an average of 511 days. A total of 30% fewer cases were completed, but they took 75% longer. Each year that the Minister’s party is in government, justice for victims is further delayed. How can he be so complacent, announcing just 40 extra rooms? We have 20 Nightingale courts and the head of Her Majesty’s Courts Service said that we needed 200. When are we going to get them?
Court Backlog — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexandra Mary Davies-Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will I hope be aware that in the year ending March 2020, an astonishing 99% of rapes reported to the police in England and Wales resulted in no legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrators, and even the 1% of victims whose cases do proceed to the courts have to wait years for justice. What concrete steps is the Secretary of State taking to speed up the process and to address this appalling situation?
Court Backlog — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent reported her case of historical sexual abuse four years ago. The trial is listed for mid-2022, but with court delays, there is no certainty. Meanwhile, this traumatised victim cannot access therapy, as it might jeopardise the conduct of the trial. She is seriously unwell. What equality impact assessment has the Minister undertaken on the impact of court delays on victims of sexual and domestic crime, and will he look to expedite those cases?
Court Backlog — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): From all the evidence in Yorkshire and the north-east from judges, retired judges and senior barristers, I get the feeling that there are serious problems. Is it not the case that the Government are using covid as a fig leaf for the fact that our justice system was in terminal crisis before covid, and we must have a renewal of our justice system and investment in it? When are we going to see the royal commission on criminal justice up and working?
Court Backlog — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): It was revealed in a coroner’s court last week that in August 2019, an 18-year-old woman who was a victim of sexual assault was told that she would not get her day in court for 19 months. The day after, she lost her life to an overdose. The coroner said that the two events were linked. This was six months before covid landed on our shores. It is not covid that broke our system of justice—it is this Government who did it. Will the Minister offer an apology to that young woman’s family and to every single victim of assault and every single victim of crime in this country who is waiting month after month after month for justice?