argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
Questions: Increases in the personal allowance and the national living wage, and the freeze to fuel duty, have helped my constituents with the cost of living. However, things are still tough and too many are just about managing. What further plans does my right hon. Friend have to continue to support my hardworking constituents?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. We need to make faster progress. If people could keep their questions brief, and if answers could focus, as constitutionally they must, on the policies of the Government, that would be the proper procedure in the House. The right hon. Lady is very experienced and I know she knows that extremely well.
NHS and Adult Social Care: Multi-year Funding Plan — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady knows, the problem with such hypothecated taxes is that if the revenues from them go down, the consequence is a reduction in support for our NHS or our social care services. That is why we believe in funding those services out of general taxation. We put an extra £6.3 billion into the health service at the Budget. We are looking at the longer-term settlement, but it is important to note that this is about not just the money we spend, but how we spend it.
PFI Contracts — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend highlights the cost and legacy of the PFI projects signed off under the last Labour Government. Hon. Members can be assured that we will use this approach wisely and selectively, in particular for the most complex infrastructure projects requiring a transfer of risk and the expertise of the private sector.
PFI Contracts — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The initial intention of PFI was to transfer risk, when appropriate, to the private sector, and to drive up innovation and quality in a very small number of selective cases. That was perverted under the last Labour Government by Gordon Brown.
Lifetime ISAs — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): I am of course happy to look at that case. Following my appearance at the Treasury Select Committee, I asked my officials to look at the guidance on the website, as I am anxious not to put misleading advice on there. The LISA is available for long-term savings. That was the scheme’s objective when it was set up.
Lifetime ISAs — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased the Minister just mentioned his appearance before the Select Committee, where we explored the issue of the 25% charge and the fact that a further 6% of capital can also be lost. Will he update us? He has talked to officials about looking at the website. Will he ensure that the Treasury website is fully compliant with Financial Conduct Authority rules applicable to firms in the private sector?
Lifetime ISAs — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): I am taking this up further, but I am concerned not to put a misleading flat-rate percentage on there, given that most savers who make an unauthorised withdrawal will pay a different amount according to their circumstances.
Lifetime ISAs — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have developed a range of savings products and incentives, or encouraged providers to do so, to reflect the range of needs. We have also raised the ISA allowance to £20,000 and introduced the personal savings allowance, meaning that 95% of people do not pay any tax on their savings income. It is important that we have that range of options for all age groups.
Productivity — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): It was of course this Government who one year ago created the Mayors across the UK, including in Greater Manchester, and several of them, including Andy Street, have had a great impact on their local economies. I have had conversations with the leader of the Cheshire and Warrington local enterprise partnership and the Minister responsible at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to take such matters forward.
Productivity — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: May I challenge the Government to maintain a strong emphasis on sound management of the public finances so we can invest in skills and apprenticeships to boost productivity and living standards?; The unique cross-border region of north Wales and Cheshire is one of the most dynamic economies in the United Kingdom. Will the Treasury—which has promised a north Wales growth deal in, I think, at least three Budgets, but has yet to deliver a penny—please stop marking our homework, and give us the freedom to invest in the economy that we believe in?
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): We have had numerous conversations with local partners in north Wales, and with the Welsh Government. I urge the hon. Gentleman to take the message to the Welsh Government, but they also need to engage with the UK Government to secure that important deal, which, as he says, will link the economy of north Wales with the north-west and the northern powerhouse to drive productivity.
New Technologies — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): Britain is becoming a world leader in technology businesses at the cutting edge of the fourth industrial revolution. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that our tax system remains competitive, to maximise the support that we give to our business entrepreneurs?
First-time Home Buyers — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): In the last Budget we abolished stamp duty for first-time buyers for the first £300,000 of a property’s value up to £500,000 in total. That has meant that 95% of first-time buyers have paid less stamp duty and a full 80% of first-time buyers have paid no stamp duty at all.
First-time Home Buyers — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Stephen James Metcalfe (Conservative, Centre-right): Last November the Chancellor announced an ambitious package to tackle the broken housing market. How many first-time buyers have benefited from that package, particularly in Essex, and where can people find further information about this so we can make hopefully impressive numbers even greater?
First-time Home Buyers — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): Some 69,000 individuals have already benefited from this vital tax relief and over 1 million will do so over the coming five years. We do not have disaggregated data specifically for Essex, but I can tell my hon. Friend that within the south-east 12,900 individuals have benefited from first-time buyer tax relief.
First-time Home Buyers — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Questions: My constituency tops the leader board for house building, building at the moment over three a day. Can the Minister give an assessment of how much my first-time buyers are saving because of the Government’s policies?
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): As I outlined to my hon. Friend the Member for South Basildon and East Thurrock (Stephen Metcalfe) who asked the preceding question, in the south-east 12,900 first-time buyers have benefited from this relief, of whom 9,000 purchased a property of a value of between £300,000 and £500,000 in total.
Tax Credits Overpayments — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): HMRC is doing a great deal, as I have already outlined to the hon. Gentleman, in terms of making sure that the correct information is provided. Overpayments do not solely emanate from HMRC; there is of course customer error and there can be negligence or a failure to report a change of circumstances. But I can assure the hon. Gentleman that HMRC is always sympathetic and careful in its approach to anybody in the kind of situation he described.
Economic Growth — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: Economic growth in Moray will get a huge boost when the Moray growth deal is agreed. It has the support of businesses and communities throughout my area, and I back it 100%. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss the Moray growth deal and the huge benefits that it will bring to my constituency?
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): We absolutely look forward to being able to make progress on the Moray growth deal, and I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. I know that the Exchequer Secretary, who is dealing with this matter, would also be pleased to meet him.
Economic Growth — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
Questions: Economic growth in Moray will get a huge boost when the Moray growth deal is agreed. It has the support of businesses and communities throughout my area, and I back it 100%. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss the Moray growth deal and the huge benefits that it will bring to my constituency?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) has question 21, which is not altogether dissimilar from the one with which we are dealing, but which will probably not be reached. If he wants to come in now, he can. If he does not, he need not do so. But he does, so he will.
Economic Growth — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Questions: Economic growth in Moray will get a huge boost when the Moray growth deal is agreed. It has the support of businesses and communities throughout my area, and I back it 100%. Will the Chancellor meet me to discuss the Moray growth deal and the huge benefits that it will bring to my constituency?; Thank you, Mr Speaker. With regard to important infrastructure projects such as the north-west relief road in Shrewsbury, will the Chancellor give me an assurance that when the land frees up housing capacity when the road is built, that will be taken into consideration when the schemes are apportioned funding?
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): Precisely, Mr Speaker. It is the economic growth generation potential of housing development that we will take into account when evaluating transport proposals. In relation to the specific project to which my hon. Friend refers, the Exchequer Secretary advises me that the Department for Transport is eagerly awaiting a business plan for the project from the relevant local authority.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: Much champagne, or, in the more discerning households, English or Welsh sparkling wine, was drunk at the weekend, so what is the Chancellor doing financially to help promote and expand this excellent domestic wine industry? Post Brexit, will he address the anomaly whereby fizz is taxed more than still wine, which has a higher alcohol volume?
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend represents some of the finest English sparkling wine vineyards, and I am pleased to say that some new ones have recently opened in Norfolk. We now have record exports of more than £100 million a year of our fantastic sparkling wine and we will continue to look at our policies to promote this brilliant product.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Housing
Questions: Much champagne, or, in the more discerning households, English or Welsh sparkling wine, was drunk at the weekend, so what is the Chancellor doing financially to help promote and expand this excellent domestic wine industry? Post Brexit, will he address the anomaly whereby fizz is taxed more than still wine, which has a higher alcohol volume?; Contrary to the out-of-touch outlook presented by the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), Eurostat figures show regional inequality in the UK, measured in output per hour, to be the worst in Europe. There is a massive disparity across England, with households in the south-east, the richest area of the UK, having more than double the wealth of those in the north-east, where my constituency is. When will the Treasury finally act to meaningfully tackle this ongoing injustice?; I have a constituent who, despite having ample equity in her home and never having been in arrears with her payments, is unable to extend her mortgage beyond the age of 75 because of Government rules. That means that she will have to sell the house that she loves. Will my hon. Friend look urgently at whether those rules are absolutely necessary?
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): Lenders are not restricted from extending mortgages beyond the age of 75, as long as the consumer can demonstrate affordability. Several lenders are currently looking into this issue. There is considerable merit in interest-only retirement mortgages.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Questions: Much champagne, or, in the more discerning households, English or Welsh sparkling wine, was drunk at the weekend, so what is the Chancellor doing financially to help promote and expand this excellent domestic wine industry? Post Brexit, will he address the anomaly whereby fizz is taxed more than still wine, which has a higher alcohol volume?; Contrary to the out-of-touch outlook presented by the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), Eurostat figures show regional inequality in the UK, measured in output per hour, to be the worst in Europe. There is a massive disparity across England, with households in the south-east, the richest area of the UK, having more than double the wealth of those in the north-east, where my constituency is. When will the Treasury finally act to meaningfully tackle this ongoing injustice?; I have a constituent who, despite having ample equity in her home and never having been in arrears with her payments, is unable to extend her mortgage beyond the age of 75 because of Government rules. That means that she will have to sell the house that she loves. Will my hon. Friend look urgently at whether those rules are absolutely necessary?; Some of my constituents have reported ongoing confusion about child benefit. Some who admit that they have claimed child benefit inadvertently have not been told of the money that they owe to HMRC until interest has accumulated for as long as five years. What more can HMRC do to communicate errors more quickly?; The Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Wick in my constituency has now closed, and a sad sight that is. Last week, we heard that the Homebase branch is also to close. The Chancellor may say that we have to accept change and live with it, but these are hammer blows for a community such as Wick, and I begin to wonder when we will see tumbleweed blowing down the street. Does the Chancellor agree that we should carry out some kind of assessment of the impact of such closures on the local economies of places like Wick and Caithness, before it is too late?
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a matter for banks to make commercial decisions on the basis of their assessments, and there are rules on how they inform the affected constituents. I am, though, very concerned about the situation in rural and sparsely populated areas. I shall visit Scotland over the summer recess to address some of the issues that the hon. Gentleman has raised.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I always richly enjoy the Secretary of State’s performances, almost as richly as he does himself. I hope, however, he will not take it amiss if I gently point out that to refer to the hon. Member for Brent North is in order, but to name him is not.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): For the benefit of those attending to our proceedings, the right hon. Gentleman says that the Secretary of State is very kind, but quite right, so there we are. We all feel a bit better informed.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): In my constituency, the badly thought through planning policy of the failing Labour council is failing properly to take into account the critical issue of air quality. How will today’s announcement improve my constituents’ lives, given that at the moment they are at the mercy of a failing Labour local authority?
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): The powers envisaged in the consultation will allow local authorities to act on everything, from unwise choices made about domestic heat generation to making sure that some of the diesel machinery involved in construction and for other purposes is appropriately licensed and controlled. I note that, following recent local election results, it seems that the leadership shown by my hon. Friend has been recognised by voters in his constituency, who have moved away from their previous allegiance.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): On secondary generators and other generators of emissions, we are giving local authorities and others powers to deal with the consequences of poor air quality as a result of their deployment More broadly, on hydrogen and other vehicles, the Department for Transport is neutral about future technologies but supportive of the investment required to ensure that a suitable range of technologies is available. One of the key features of the legislation being brought forward by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, which originated under the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), is to facilitate precisely the type of innovation that the hon. Gentleman alludes to.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Simon James Hoare (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend may seek to control what goes into them, but may I invite him to confirm that he has no intention of introducing a ban on wood-burning stoves? Manufacturers, retailers and users of them in the UK will be listening very carefully to what he has to say. Such stoves are an important part of domestic heating.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady for trying to present the issue in the way she did. The truth is that I cannot think of anyone in this House, apart from possibly my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings, who is cleaner—keener, rather—on investment. [Laughter.] He is very clean. Cleanliness is next to godliness. I do not think there is anyone in this House who is keener on moving towards ultra low emission vehicles than the Chancellor of the Exchequer. As Transport Secretary and in his current role, he has led efforts across the Government to make sure we are moving in the right direction. I do not think it is at all fair to criticise him or the Treasury in that regard.
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher James Skidmore (Conservative, Centre-right): The development of electric vehicle battery technology will be crucial to encouraging a supply side revolution in the uptake of electric vehicles, which would help to reduce emissions in urban areas. What progress has the Secretary of State made, jointly with the Department for Transport, in this area?
Transport Emissions: Urban Areas — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Well, I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman agrees, but he gives no evidence of disagreement. The emollient tone of the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) has served his purpose for now—[Interruption.] Order. The hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) chunters from a sedentary position that this is an explosive issue. I do not know whether it is—[Interruption.] Locally; well, that may well be so. Very good, honour is served.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Immigration
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (Conservative, Centre-right): The short answer, as I said earlier to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton), is yes. It is difficult to explain to constituents who would like to believe that the answer to everything happening abroad lies here, but it does not. We will do everything we can, and are doing so, not only in this case but in the cases of other dual nationals. We will not know how successful that is until the happy day when she and others are released.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Immigration
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (Conservative, Centre-right): They are certainly offered all the same support, but the blunt fact is that not all states treat dual nationals the same: some recognise dual nationality and allow access to the UK authorities, others do not accept it and treat the dual national solely as a national of their own state. In those circumstances, they do not believe they are required to give access. I can assure the hon. Lady, however, that in each and every case the UK Government make exactly the same representations seeking access, because we believe that dual nationality means what it says: dual nationality, not sole nationality.[Official Report, 4 June 2018, Vol. 642, c. 1MC.]
Social Justice Commission — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Before we proceed with the main business of the day, I remind the House that we will interrupt the debate at 2.30 pm, or possibly a few seconds before, to hold a one-minute silence to remember the terror attack in Manchester on 22 May 2017.
Serious Violence Strategy — House of Commons, 2018-05-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely support our forcing these outlets to take this material down where we can. I met Google and YouTube this morning to discuss exactly that subject. The challenge around the world on videos and YouTube stuff is not on cases where a clear crime is involved, such as bomb-making manuals or child abuse; it is where companies—often based abroad—decide that our version of incitement or extremism is not their version of it. That is where we have to look at all alternatives. That is what the announcement at the weekend on the consultation by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was about. We have to have a proper collective discussion and ask, "Where do we start and stop? How do we draw a line about what is freedom of speech, what is incitement and what is violent extremism?" That is not as straightforward as people say. However, 98% of violent extremism on those internet platforms is being taken down within 24 hours and some of it is being taken down within two hours. We are pushing for this to happen even quicker, through using artificial intelligence and machine learning to recognise those issues. We want these companies to put more of their resources into that, to make sure these things are taken down. I also want them to report this content when they take it down so that our police and agencies can do something about it.