argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Grenfell: Government Response — House of Commons, 2019-06-10
Topic: Housing
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for hosting Grenfell United in Speaker’s House this afternoon. It gave us all a very good opportunity to listen to the testimonies of those affected by this awful tragedy. My thoughts are also with those affected by the fire in Barking. This really highlights how much still needs to be done to ensure that people can trust that their homes are safe to live in. There are clearly echoes of Grenfell in the case of Barking; people had flagged time and again that there were issues with their property, but they were not listened to. What is the Minister going to do to ensure that those who raise similar concerns are actually listened to and that action is taken I have with me the parliamentary briefing produced by Grenfell United, whose demands are absolutely reasonable. The things that these people are asking for are not, by any manner of means, things the Government cannot deliver should they have the will to do so. Will the Minister look at the demand for: "A new, separate, ‘consumer protection’ regulator to protect tenants, to change the culture of social housing across the country", particularly as Scotland has had the Scottish Housing Regulator since 2011? In Scotland, the regulator provides a very useful means for tenants and residents to flag issues about their housing, to ensure that investigations take place and to see that action is taken, and this can make a real difference to people. If such a regulator had existed in England, it would have provided the means for residents to have their concerns heard Grenfell United also asks for: "Immediate removal of dangerous cladding…Improved fire safety regime…an extension of the Freedom of Information Act to cover TMOs and housing associations…Public Authority (Accountability) Bill…justice and change…For our community to be listened to." It is on that last request that I want to finish. Karim spoke movingly at the event in Speaker’s House earlier, saying, "We’re not going anywhere until people are safe in their homes and you treat them with respect." Both those things must be fulfilled for the people of Grenfell to feel as though any kind of resolution is going to come from this.
Ford in Bridgend — House of Commons, 2019-06-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I have a few more questions The Secretary of State said in his statement that Bridgend faces cost disadvantages compared with other Ford plants doing the same work. How long has this cost disadvantage issue been known about and what opportunities have the Government looked at to overcome that and to support the plant? What opportunities have been identified by the existing working group, formed in 2018, to plug the gap by the loss of the Jaguar Land Rover contract and how will the new taskforce build on that and identify the much bigger gap and challenge that needs to be overcome? What future investment will the UK Government make to ensure there are no further cost disadvantages to any companies located in this area? The Secretary of State also said they were already looking at opportunities for investment in the area, so can he give timescales for positive announcements on the opportunities that have been identified I understand why the Secretary of State gave assurances about the other Ford plant operations across the UK, but how robust are those assurances? Padding out his statement by mentioning a £28 million investment in Coventry, £800 million in UK-wide grants from the Advanced Propulsion Centre and £80 million for the electric revolution programme is of absolutely no comfort to the Bridgend workers. What we need to hear is that the right actions are being taken now, not platitudes.
National Insurance Contributions (Termination Awards and Sporting Testimonials) Bill — House of Commons, 2019-06-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kirsty Ann Blackman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As the Minister has said, we discussed this in Committee, as well as on Second Reading. As we have discussed it before and he knew this question was coming, can he tell us how many businesses use termination payments for their start-up and how many fewer will use it for their start-up as a result of these changes?
Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme — House of Commons, 2019-06-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The time that the Fife miners spent working in the pits has obviously had a greatly detrimental effect on their health. Is it not time that we had an immediate review? Time is of the essence and this is a wrong that we need to put right now.
Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill — House of Commons, 2019-07-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lisa Cameron (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Lady for making such an important speech. Does she agree that cruelty and a lack of empathy towards animals often translates into cruelty and a lack of empathy towards people? As a psychologist, I know that part of the psychopathy checklist we used to do with patients to measure sociopathy was animal cruelty.
Climate Change, the Environment and Global Development — House of Commons, 2019-07-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making an amazing speech, talking about young ambassadors. Will he join me in paying tribute to the children at Sunnyside Primary School in Craigend, who have led the way with their NaeStrawAtAw campaign? It is important to place on record our thanks to these young people, who have realised that generations before them have let them down. Even at the local level they are having a massive influence. Will he pay tribute to them?
Support for Veterans — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Although I certainly endorse the gratitude expressed for the support that many thousands of volunteers give to veterans, is it not time we accepted that it should not be left to charities to look after people who have been injured in the service of their nation? It is not charities that send people into war; it is Governments. What representations has the Secretary of State made to his colleague the Chancellor to ensure that health services, local authorities and other public bodies are adequately resourced, so that the welfare of veterans can be funded from the public purse, rather than relying on charity and volunteers?
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Following on from the question asked by the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Paula Sherriff), in the past week the Prime Minister has shown that there is not a word too harsh that she will not say it, that there is not a dog whistle too shrill that she will not blow it and that she is prepared to take the UK to the brink of catastrophe to get her own way. When she reflects on the past seven days, does she do so with a sense of pride or with a deep sense of regret and shame?
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In 2002, the then newly elected chairperson of the Conservative party said: "Twice we went to the country unchanged, unrepentant, just plain unattractive. And twice we got slaughtered." That chairperson is now the Prime Minister. Has the prospect of bringing her rotten deal back a third time made her reflect on those comments?
European Council — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Immigration
Thomas Sheppard (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On seven occasions the Prime Minister has referred to the result of the 2014 Scottish referendum and correctly observed that a majority of people voted to remain in the United Kingdom. She will know, however, that a great many of those people believed the promises made by her party and her Government that by doing so they would, first, retain their European citizenship and, secondly, that their views would be respected within the United Kingdom. Given how things have turned out, does she understand that many of those people are now reconsidering that decision?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter Wishart (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am very grateful to the putative Prime Minister—I say to him that he could not possibly do a worse job than what we have seen in the past few years. Has the right hon. Gentleman paid attention to the petition that has now been signed by 5.5 million people right across the UK, including over 10% of his constituency? Would he now concur that revocation—just ending this madness once and for all—remains a real-life possibility for this country?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman is being very generous in giving way. The Scottish National party will be delighted to support his amendment because if the House controls the process, it is likely that all the options can be considered, including revocation, which is the only thing that we can do unilaterally. I say that publicly now partly as a pitch for revocation to be on the options paper, but mainly to say that I rather lack the trust in the Government that they would include all the valid options if they were in control of the timetable.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The right hon. Lady knows the Conservative party much, much better than I do, and it shows. She makes a very valid point. The small, elitist group of Conservative MPs—all men, incidentally—who were invited to Chequers have failed, and failed spectacularly, on their pet, lifelong political project. I would not let that lot anywhere the TV remote in my house, never mind the most important decision that we have had to make for generations.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Immigration
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Free movement is of course a double-sided coin. The hon. Gentleman mentioned immigration, but there is also emigration. We have seen on the television some people who voted for Brexit and then decided to retire to Spain now ruing the day of their rash action when they followed some of the crasser tabloid newspapers. When we talk about freedom of movement, we must remember that we are talking about rights that the hon. Gentleman enjoys, which he is perhaps trying to take away from everybody else and himself.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Immigration
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I come from a nation that is positive about the benefits of immigration. Indeed, my constituents embrace immigrants in their communities. The hon. Gentleman makes a point about immigration about China and India, but he has not mentioned that those people are generally international students, who leave at the end of their degrees. Those students should be taken out of net migration figures.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Tonight’s is an important decision for the House, and let me commend Members from across the House who have given us the opportunity to have indicative votes on Wednesday. This House is seeking a way forward when the Government have failed to provide leadership. In the event that the House does come to a determination on Wednesday evening, what can we do to ensure that the Government and the Prime Minister listen to the determination of this House?
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Tonight’s vote is obviously about the House taking control due to a lack of leadership by the Government. In that vein, we have usually had a point of order or a statement from the Prime Minister after such votes. Have you had any indication of where the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House are hiding and of what the Leader of the House is planning to do about Government business on Wednesday, which needs to be rescheduled? We have not had a statement.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act — House of Commons, 2019-03-25
Topic: Other
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Given that, these days, extensions are in vogue, if the 24 hours of Wednesday are not enough to sort out what the mind of this House is—work that probably should have happened two and a half years ago—will it be possible to extend the work that should be happening on Wednesday into further days so that we do find out definitively what the heck they think in here?
Small Businesses — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): This morning I met Matt Dowling of the Freelancer Club, who adumbrated to me some of the terrible situations that freelancers have faced when trying to be paid, often being coaxed into working for nothing for things like experience. Will the Minister meet me and Mr Dowling to discuss how we might crack down on that?
Overseas Students: English Language Tests — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Immigration
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): One of my constituents, who had been in the UK since 2005, was detained in Dungavel for 10 days because the Home Office claimed she had overstayed and had used deception in her TOEIC test. Neither of those things was true. The first tier tribunal found in her favour; the Home Office appealed, and the appeal was thrown out. It appealed to the upper tier tribunal, but the appeal was then withdrawn. My constituent has been fighting the Home Office for five years. Will the Minister apologise to her and let her and her three-year-old daughter get on with their lives?
Overseas Students: English Language Tests — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Immigration
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am grateful to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) for securing this question, and I welcome the NAO’s investigation into this issue. I have no doubt that there was systematic cheating, but I seriously doubt the scale—the ETS figures show that only 3.5% of the people who sat the test did not cheat, which seems incredible. What assessment has been made of the number of people whose visas were revoked who are still in the UK, and what would the cost be of allowing them to sit a new English test?
Social Media and Health — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My tactic of wearing a dress so big I can hide a colleague behind it is working Will the Secretary of State look at the harm that celebrity endorsements on social media can do to young people? The Empowered Woman project in Scotland highlighted how Marnie Simpson of "Geordie Shore" had been plugging Thermosyn diet pills, which are marketed as "skinny caffeine". When I asked the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about that, he said that the UK Government were looking at "user-generated content, not necessarily commercial activities"—[Official Report, 8 April 2019; Vol. 658, c. 73.] Celebrity endorsement veers into the commercial area, however, and has a very significant effect on young people in terms of body image and eating disorders.
National Insurance Contributions (Termination Awards and Sporting Testimonials) Bill — House of Commons, 2019-04-30
Topic: Other
Kirsty Ann Blackman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The point I was making was not that there was necessarily a lack of consultation, but that we did not know how much consultation there had been, because the details are not in the explanatory notes, where they would often be. Normally, the explanatory notes will say a bit about the amount of consultation there has been, but they do not say anything at all. If that had been written down for us, and we had known how many consultation responses there had been, I would not have asked the question.
Cyclone Idai — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
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.
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It is World Water Day on Friday, but for people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, there is water everywhere but not a drop to drink. In the all-party parliamentary group on Malawi, which I chair, we have been following the effect of devastating floods that had already been hitting the country before the cyclone. The Minister might be aware that the Scottish Government have already made a donation to provide support for that, and civic society is responding as well. Specifically, what steps will her Department take to improve resilience in these countries? Because of climate change, such extreme weather events are becoming more common, so how can countries be supported before a disaster hits to ensure that there is resilience in the infrastructure?
Destitution Domestic Violence Concession (Eligibility) — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Other
Kirsty Ann Blackman (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I cannot imagine a more important way to spend my birthday, Mr Speaker Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Kirsty Blackman, Stuart C. McDonald, Jess Phillips, Dr Sarah Wollaston, Angela Crawley, Liz Saville-Roberts, Caroline Lucas, Stephen Kerr, Danielle Rowley, Gavin Newlands and Jo Swinson Kirsty Blackman accordingly presented the Bill Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 22 March, and to be printed ( Bill 361).
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Other
Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman as confused as I am? Given that we have had assurances from the Prime Minister and other Ministers that they know the will of the people and that the matter has been decided, if they are so sure, why are they so fearful of asking the people again?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We have heard repeatedly from across the Floor that the Government have to follow the democratic will of the people. Does my hon. Friend accept that the 2017 elections to this House and the 2016 elections to the Scottish Parliament also represented the democratic will of the people, that both the Scottish Parliament and SNP Members in this House have repeatedly and resoundingly called for the Government to listen to Scotland and that time and again they have failed to listen to either the Scottish Parliament or this House?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): That is a valid point. It is worth recalling that the only time in 25 years when the Conservatives have had a majority in this place was when they had stood on a manifesto to keep us in the single market and the customs union. As soon as they stood on a manifesto to take us out of the single market and the customs union, their majority vanished like snow off a dyke.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I agree with a great deal of what the hon. Lady has said. Perhaps the most telling phrase that she used was "no more playing games". This is indeed a game to many of these people. Far too often, when we are talking about the most serious threat that these islands have faced during peacetime in recorded history, we see smirks and joking on the Government Front Bench every time an Opposition Member speaks I find it incredible that the Secretary of State—perhaps he will now put down his phone—took the best part of half an hour to explain why the Prime Minister was justified in going against the clear will of the House yet again after last Thursday’s vote, and spent about half that time throwing eggs and tomatoes at the Opposition Front Bench. I agree with him to an extent—I do not think that the Labour Opposition’s position has been at all clear, and I do not think that they have been an effective Opposition—but there is no excuse for any Government to say, "We have not caused this disaster by being in government; someone else caused it by not being a good enough Opposition." If the Government cause a disaster, the Government, and no one else, are responsible for it.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Other
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Lady will recall that I put that point to the Secretary of State earlier, and he told us that the Prime Minister had put a copy of the letter in the Library at 12.10 pm. However, I have made an inquiry, and it appears that the letter was not published online by the Library until 1.30 pm. Does she agree with me that it is cynical in the extreme to put a copy of the letter in the Library when we are all in here for Prime Minister’s questions, and not to publish it online where we could look at it, until PMQs are over and the Prime Minister has left the House?
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (Changed to Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) Bill) — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Immigration
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): When talking about the disparity in numbers—there are more than 3 million European citizens here and approximately 1.5 million UK citizens there—is it not the case that the majority of EU citizens here are working and paying taxes and therefore are not covered by this system but are covered by the tax they already pay?
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (Changed to Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) Bill) — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman probably would not like me to get into the clearances of the 17th and 18th centuries when people were burnt out of their villages and put on boats, or when people were transported for criminal activities. There are all sorts of reasons why Scots have ended up all over the world, and they are not all about the weather.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (Changed to Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) Bill) — House of Commons, 2019-03-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): That is why I live there, right beside the sea, but that does not necessarily mean that somebody living in the vineyards of France will think, "You know what? The weather’s a bit boring here. I fancy somewhere with snow, sleet, hail and sunshine all in one day." It is a fact that the disparity is because of the number of pensioners. It is often described as if it is the EU somehow tricking the UK—it simply is not. We are obliged to pay for the pensioners from the UK who have settled in Europe. Indeed, we pay a fixed rate per head that is considerably lower than—just over half—what would be charged for a European citizen settling here.
Electoral Law — House of Commons, 2019-05-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the hon. Lady share my concern that electoral law was broken in the EU referendum, the close result of which must now be questioned? Given that the Tories in Scotland were fined £400 by the Electoral Commission over a £100,000 dark money donation in the weeks before the 2016 Holyrood election, does she not agree that penalties for breaking electoral law must be urgently reviewed to ensure that they are fit for purpose and genuinely deter those minded to cheat?