argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Counter-Daesh Update — House of Commons, 2019-02-11
Topic: Defense
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): As many contributors to this discussion have mentioned, the Kurds have been doing the dirty work for us on the ground in northern Syria against Daesh, yet, in the words of one defence analyst, they face potential slaughter at the hands of the Turkish military. What are the British Government doing to avoid this gross betrayal, to protect the Kurds from Turkish aggression and to allow the Kurds to finish the job in the last stronghold of Daesh in Deir ez-Zor province in north-east Syria?
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-09-03
Topic: Health
Margaret Ritchie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I take this opportunity to thank the Minister for his explanation of the SI. It is good that local authorities are given local powers to deal with local situations where there have been spikes of Covid. However, to assist with these mitigating measures, I would like to ask him a few questions Can he tell your Lordships’ House what progress has been made on global vaccine development? I believe that people will feel safe only when a vaccine becomes available. What preparations have been made for a possible second spike of Covid? Will those preparations take the form of local lockdowns and directions to be given by councils in relation to premises, and what staff and funding resources will be devoted to such an outbreak? Is there an available supply of PPE and ventilators, and are care homes now fully equipped to deal with emergencies such as a further possible spike of Covid Also, what assessments have been made of the track and trace programme? If applicable, will those results be made available, and how will they instruct government on the allocation of medical, care and nursing staff resources, as well as the ready need for financial resources?
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right about that. I will go on to say why this debate is happening today, and that is one of the reasons. This issue has not gone away, and even more colleagues are now aware of it Since the Archer report there has been some positive recognition by the state of its responsibility. Over the years, efforts have been made for financial provision, but a complex and incomplete patchwork has been the result. Some people have been left behind—those bereaved and dependants in particular. Treatments for the severest infections have improved markedly, which has, in general, of course, been good news, but they also bring their own ironic consequences in giving longer life to those with originally no expectation of it and not always a quality of life for which we would all hope Efforts by the state to redeem itself have been hampered by a chronic inability to admit the past, to ensure that all the material was available for public scrutiny, and to give an opportunity to family members to ask the question that any one of us would need to ask: why and how has my loved one died? Its evasion of a public inquiry, the loss of key papers, the slow drawing out of what paperwork there was, and the failure to submit to questioning have left a mark of suspicion that lasts to this day Before I turn to the why-now question, let me dwell a moment on the scale of this tragedy. One of the most moving speeches heard in this or any other Session of Parliament was when the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) read out, unforgettably, the names of the Liverpool 96. He did so to let the world know that behind the tragic statistics that the 96 had become were people with names, lives and hopes. Consider this: for me to do the same would mean that I would be reading out nearly 1,800 names. We will hear some of their stories today, but I ask the House to reflect on the scale of this. In terms of death toll, this is the 15th biggest peacetime disaster in British history in which the black death, at 3.5 million, is the worst. The awful Aberfan, the name of which we all know, is but the 142nd, with 144 lives lost. Contaminated blood has killed 12 times more.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-28
Topic: Culture
Andrew Colin Renfrew (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I certainly support the intention behind the amendment. My noble friend the Minister may well say in his reply that some of these issues are already covered by the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003. It is certainly the case that it is illegal to sell in this country cultural objects that were illegally exported from their country of origin after 2003. However, there are many new dimensions and my noble friend is right to draw attention to them. The scale on which terrorism is being funded through the sale of such artefacts gives cause for concern. I am not sure that many artefacts of this kind are being sold in this country now, but many will be in transit. As they may well be sold in the future they could still command a good price in the market I draw attention to one point. Proposed new subsection (2)(c) would require the examination of, "the possibility of placing a strict liability on United Kingdom auction houses in respect of the provenance of any cultural artefacts they sell" This is not the occasion for a long debate on these matters. Some of them were raised in amendments during the passage of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, although they were not carried. They placed an onus on auction houses in particular to be more transparent about vendors because auction houses are not obliged to declare for whom they sell such objects and somebody selling privately on the open market is not obliged to declare from where the objects came. There is a real problem. Indeed, there have been cases recently where auction houses have offered for sale objects which, it turned out, did not have a respectable provenance and had emerged on the market by shady means. It is therefore time to place an onus on the auction houses to check the provenance of the artefacts and to be assured that they left their country of origin legally after 2003, which would comply with the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act. However, there is at present no onus on auction houses to be clear about the source of their objects. That is a glaring loophole, and that is why I support the amendment.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
James Gerald Douglas Howarth (Conservative, Centre-right): Like other colleagues, I pay tribute to the work that my right hon. Friend has done on this. I do not have any constituents who are affected, but I have served in this House, along with him, since 1983, and I feel that this is business that neither the House nor successive Governments have properly resolved. Does he agree that as this blood was provided by the national health service—by the state—it is therefore the responsibility of the state to sort out the affliction that has affected these people over decades?
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (Conservative, Centre-right): I personally think that it is. That process will be informed by what the all-party group has spoken of, and its members will speak today. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon, I am not sure that I fully share the conclusions of the all-party group’s report with regard to the MacFarlane Trust. There is a great deal of detail in the report. As I was not responsible for compiling it, I can be lavish in my praise of the effort that went into it. A lot of hard work was done by a lot of people connected with the offices of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North and my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley, and I am grateful for that. On the basis of information contained in the report and other information that we have, I do not believe that the MacFarlane Trust is saveable or capable of reform. I and others have seen a copy of a letter to the Secretary of State from two former trustees that is quite damning of its leadership, and one from some 68 beneficiaries that is equally uncompromising It would be unfair to go into more detail now. It may be that the trust has an impossible role. However, there should be no doubt that a body set up to support beneficiaries and those who have been victims of what happened is anything other than on their side—not an arm of Government, nor seen to be, and prepared to take on the Government to argue for the funds it needs without fearing a conflict of interest. The Department of Health has contributed to the situation by structuring too cosy a relationship, possibly in its own interests, and that has to stop.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend has worked very hard on this issue, as has the all-party group on haemophilia and contaminated blood. I attended a public meeting yesterday with survivors and their families, and there was a very strong feeling that they have just had enough. They have been through a series of betrayals and disappointments at the hands of those who were supposed to help them, including trusts, departments and the Government. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is our last chance to get this right for those people who have to suffer so very much?
Amendment of the Law — House of Commons, 2015-03-23
Topic: Health
Ronnie Campbell (Labour, Centre-left): It nearly ended up in a scandal. The Government opened up the mineworkers’ pension scheme again so that people could bring their money out of the schemes they had been conned into joining. A lot of miners lost a lot of money, so the warning is there. As has been mentioned in many speeches today, the Government must be very careful that they do not fool the people I want to mention the national health service, because 65% of new contracts in the NHS have gone to private companies. I do not know what will happen if the Tories are elected at the next election, but I can tell Members one thing: in five years 65% of contracts in the NHS have become private and that is a disaster waiting to happen. I think that the Tories are waiting for 100% private contracts in the national health service, so that it is totally privatised. The Labour party is prepared to put in at least 5,000 more doctors and 20,000 more nurses, and I hope that that is a reality and that we can afford to pay for it I have to mention the banks, as they cost the taxpayers of this country a lot of money over five years. It is time that we started taking a lot more money off the banks than we are taking now. They owe the taxpayers of this country big time and we should increase the levy and say that they should pay the money back. We should not have bailed them out in the first place.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I do agree. The hon. Gentleman will know that there were people who underwent treatment for hepatitis C, but somehow the NHS has lost their records. That affects their applications. As the hon. Gentleman says, some way must be found to support people in this complex process One of my constituents tells me that new treatments for curing genotype 1 hepatitis C have been approved, but access seems to be granted only on "compassionate grounds". Apparently, that excludes that constituent. She describes it as a "painful irony" that the problems that led to the NHS providing contaminated blood in the first place are now denying a survivor the appropriate treatment. I hope the Minister will look into this case, so that rather than having to prove compassionate grounds it can be dealt with as an entitlement The tragedy of this is deeply upsetting, and we must step up to tackle its legacy. The Penrose inquiry is expected to report soon, and its findings will, I am sure, be considered carefully by the Government. We are all pleased that these steps are being taken and that there has been progress, but this has not yet led to closure. That is necessary for the survivors, and it is necessary for the survivors and their families to have the support and dignity that they deserve. It is incumbent on our generation to sort this out, and this is the place to do it.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-06-24
Topic: Health
Norman Warner (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I, too, support this amendment. I listened carefully to some of the ideas about what such a bond might be used for and hope that there would not be a narrow set of functions and services for which this kind of fundraising could be used. To some extent I am following up on the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan. In particular, some of the needs of children and young people in many of these areas require a lot more support than they currently get. Even some health facilities might be the kind of thing, particularly on the preventative health side, that these bonds could be used for. It is very important that the Government give serious attention to this and also to using these bonds to leverage other funding sources for some of the projects that might be available. I hope that, if we go down this path, the uses to which these bonds might be put would be not drawn narrowly but spread over all the functions devolved to a combined authority.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Chloe Rebecca Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that point. It speaks directly about an issue I am coming on to. Anne has told me that she faced that problem, along with others such as getting a benefits processing centre to understand how the Skipton Fund works and the fact that she and others like her are fatally ill. She would like to see the "passporting" of prescriptions, which connects with what my hon. Friend just said My second constituent is a haemophiliac, and he was infected with hepatitis C in 1978 from an operation on arthritis. He realised the result in the 1990s. I am sorry to say that he had been part of Skipton stage 1 until last year, but he was then diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, which he had feared for many years. He, too, has been treated with interferon, a "truly awful drug", and he is hoping for a new generation of drugs in a couple of years’ time. My constituent has lived in fear of his disease worsening and of passing it on inadvertently to his wife and children. At first, he was told "not to worry, as Hep C was like flu" He explained: "Later they said that was wrong and it would probably kill him one day—unless…something else got him first." He told me: "It’s funny how as you clock on a bit you get told you don’t need to worry as something else will kill you first. One does begin to fear this thing that’s going to get you first!" He has been angered by the distinction drawn between stages 1 and 2 of hepatitis C in the lingo of the fund. The APPG’s report backs his view, and indeed my other constituent, Anne, agrees in the sense that many sufferers sadly progress from stage 1 to stage 2 My second constituent would like three things: a full judicial inquiry; improved administration by the Skipton Fund; and better compensation, which he believes to be poor for the death and suffering caused in comparison with payments that other victims of other tragedies have received. He is hugely cynical that any Government will do something about this "hidden scandal", which, as he calmly says, "is a great pity for an awful lot of people." Let me come to my own views. I think the APPG’s report is a strong piece of work which holds many sensible recommendations that I would back. As I said, I would back the holding of a public inquiry, as this is one of the last remaining great scandals for which culpability ought to be clear, acknowledged and apologised for. I back the motion and pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt) and all the others who have made today possible I add one comparison drawn from Anne’s comments, and this speaks to what my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) challenged me on.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Defense
Chloe Rebecca Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): Added, quite right We honour our military with a covenant. For the sacrifices they make for us— facing danger, injury and death—we give our respect, our support and fair treatment. We acknowledge a moral obligation. This Government should be congratulated on aiming to ensure that no disadvantage is suffered in gaining public services, and they acknowledge that there can be a case for special treatment in certain cases In no way do I try to cheapen either of those situations—the need for a military covenant or the needs of the people whom we are talking about today—but it is clear to me as a constituency MP that my constituent Anne seeks much the same as the sort of help that I have tried to get for veterans: doctors to act on the wider effects of their illness; getting the benefits system to see what they are suffering; and getting public services in general to join the dots of what they know I know it is controversial in the military covenant to emphasise preferential treatment, but in the case of Anne, who has wanted drugs and a new liver against the might of the NICE guidelines, when her appalling, sapping illness was no fault of her own, I think that she, too, and many like her, should receive respect, support and fair treatment. I see a moral obligation and every moral argument for doing as she asks. Perhaps the Government might consider having a covenant for contaminated blood.
Illicit Arms Trade (Africa) — House of Commons, 2015-11-16
Topic: Defense
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for giving way and indicating before the debate that he would be willing to do so, and I congratulate him on securing a very important debate. He will be aware that there was a debate in Westminster Hall recently on the legal arms trade. It was well attended. In that debate, the point was made that the arms trade is always a choice, not a necessity. It stands to reason that many weapons traded illegally must have had a legitimate point of origin or point of manufacture. Does he agree that the Government must continue to work towards their commitments in the arms trade treaty and encourage their global counterparts, especially in Africa, to do likewise?
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend said that this was an example of gross negligence by the state. In addition to what the Penrose inquiry will show that is specific to the contaminated blood issue, does he agree this is also an opportunity for us to set some guidelines and rules for those occasions when there are failures by the state health service on how it will deal with compensation so that we avoid a patchwork of problems similar to those that affected our constituents?
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-07-24
Topic: Health
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for the way in which he introduced these regulations, not least for his commitment that we will have more real-time consideration of legislation. We need to put an end to this regulation retrospection Has he seen the global research that came out this week, strongly suggesting that—tragically—lockdown has had no positive impact on mortality rates? To this extent, we need to be smarter going forward. It seems that there is no purpose in even considering another major lockdown in future. We need different ways to deal with this crisis. Obesity seems a significant piece of this jigsaw. What more will the Government do to tackle obesity Finally, I associate myself wholeheartedly and full-throatedly with the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. Disabled people have suffered at the extreme jaw in this Covid crisis. Imagine a blind person locked down in a flat, not even able to look out of the window for something to do. I ask my noble friend to go back to the department, consider all policies concerning Covid and ensure that they do not fall disproportionately on disabled people. Can he push to ensure that we have a national disability strategy across all government policy?
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-06-24
Topic: Health
Jeremy Hugh Beecham (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, although my political interest in social services goes back more than 40 years to the days when I was chairman of the social services committee in Newcastle—the four most productive years in my fairly long political life, which is rather a sad comment on the rest of it—I will confine myself to only one question. I have been a member of the health scrutiny committee in Newcastle since its inception, and I am not clear about the role, which is a statutory role, of the health scrutiny committee in the context of devolution. We will be debating later the question of overview and scrutiny within the combined authority, but I wonder how that will fit alongside what I take will be the continuing statutory responsibility of social services authorities at any rate to have an overview and scrutiny committee to deal specifically with health, well-being and social care.
Contaminated Blood — House of Commons, 2015-01-15
Topic: Health
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): That is exactly my view, and for that reason I wrote to the Secretary of State for Health, drawing attention to the matter. I received a reply dated 12 January from the Minister who will reply to this debate. Of course she was sympathetic in the terms that she used, but the important part of her letter was the conclusion, which was that "this issue is being looked at very seriously, and…an announcement will be made to affected individuals and MPs once work has been concluded." My simple question to the Minister is, when will that work be concluded, and will she and the Prime Minister undertake to get this work concluded, on behalf of my constituent and many others, before this Parliament comes to an end? Otherwise, we are back to square one—a cycle which I am sure has been repeated over and over again Finally, I said that I would mention the other point about how the best treatment is not always available. I understand from Lesley, whom I have not met yet but whom I believe to be present with her husband today, and whom I hope to meet after the debate, that there are problems with the fact that many people suffering from infection are offered the older interferon and ribavirin-based treatment, and that not everybody can tolerate that, particularly as it takes a long time to clear the system, and particularly if they are people who are at a later stage of their life If the Minister cannot answer today, will she perhaps write to me later about the situation of patients in that position? Kinder and more effective treatments are available, but are not always sanctioned for reasons of cost either by NICE or by individual health trusts. I wish to give others the opportunity to speak, but once again I thank my constituent for her bravery in allowing me to tell her story and attribute it to her, and I thank the House for its indulgence in allowing me to contribute to the debate at such a late stage.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-06-24
Topic: Health
Keith Bradley (Labour, Centre-left): I have a question on that point, so as to be absolutely clear. The Minister said that any of those functions will be debated in both Houses. Is she confirming that any proposals around the devolution of health and social care will be subject to scrutiny in both Houses of this Parliament?