argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Foreign Trade
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): On the question of money, I am glad to clarify that we are open to discussions on the level of support. I articulated earlier what we have been telling investors today. I am also glad to have the opportunity to set out what we have been doing about anti-dumping in Brussels. Thirty-seven anti-dumping measures have been taken—15 against China—and another nine areas are being looked at. As a result, as I said in the Statement, rebar imports from China have gone down by 99 percent, wire rod by 90 per cent and there has been a similar effect in other areas. The noble Lord is talking about tariff policy more broadly—the so-called lesser duty rule. In general—I have dealt with trade pretty well all my life—that rule gives the right balance between industry, industry users and, ultimately, consumers. There is a wish in some protectionist member states to use the opportunity to change that fundamental principle which ensures that users and consumers benefit as well industry. However, changing that rule could have ramifications in other areas, from candles to screws to shoes—there has been a lot of debate on anti-dumping of shoes. We need good anti-dumping measures. We are working with the Commission on those and trying to improve the logistics so that we can have more success with anti-dumping. Above all, we need to move with speed.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Environment
David Arthur Russell Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to the question posed by my noble friend Lord Lawson, is it still the case that German steel-making electricity costs are 40% below those in the United Kingdom? If that is the case, and if it arises from differences in climate change and carbon reduction policies, are we not obliged under Section 2(2) and (4) and Section 6(2) of the Climate Change Act to take account of that? In failing to make the necessary amendments to the Climate Change Act, are we not in breach of that Act? Should not action be taken to correct the situation urgently?
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Energy
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): My noble friend is a great expert in this area and I hesitate to make assertions. It is clear that we have been moving latterly to change our approach to make sure that our climate change obligations are met and that we help the energy-intensive industries, especially steel, which is such a strategic industry, at the same time. I shall certainly look into the points that he has raised and perhaps talk to him further.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Energy
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot agree with that. We have done a lot to change the rules on procurement and on emissions, as we have already discussed. The last Labour Government did nothing other than reduce the number of jobs in the steel industry under their stewardship. There are deep-seated forces at work here. Chinese surplus capacity is several times EU output at 35% of global production. Of course the points mentioned by the noble Lord matter, but so do these big global factors. That is why we are trying to do all we can for Port Talbot, day and night.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Energy
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my noble friend for his question and for writing to me about the role of the mutual, which I have passed on to the Ministers and officials responsible for this challenging area. We should be looking not only at opportunities for support but at the supply chain, and into the uses for steel at the higher end as well as the more-volume end of production.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Energy
Matthew Ridley (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, could my noble friend remind the House which party was in power when the Climate Change Act 2008 that was referred to by my noble friend Lord Howell and which was responsible for the high energy costs mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Hain, was passed?
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Energy
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): As my noble friend knows well, the legislation was passed largely under a Labour Government. As I have already set out in reply to my noble friend Lord Lawson, we see things differently. It has had quite a serious impact and there are a number of things that we are doing, most importantly the change announced in the Autumn Statement that we will exempt energy-intensive industries from renewables policy costs. These are difficult issues and arguably the balance has not been quite right, but we are moving to change it.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Labor
Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Lord is right. We always need to look at the wider costs, especially in such difficult areas of public policy. That is one of the reasons we have said that we will look at things like co-investment and further support. Of course, if people are out of work the benefits costs and the broader social costs to families in not having a working member and the consequent effect on their children and so on can be devastating. That is why a succession of Governments—I do not think that this is a party point—have sought to do really good work where there are closures. That has happened right across the UK, most recently in places like Redcar where the task forces have been working really well in very difficult circumstances.
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Bruce Forsyth (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, what are we to make of what is going on when for the second Forth crossing, which is a £1 billion project, some 95% of the steel had to be imported from China, or when Germany is a major exporter to the UK? Is not the truth of the matter that the European Union’s rules on state aid and its rules on trade have shackled the hands of whichever Government are in power and that no Government will be able to deal with this matter while still in membership of the European Union?
Update on the UK Steel Industry — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Foreign Trade
Lilian Pauline Neville-Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): I have already explained that we changed the procurement rules with the approval of the EU and I think that should help us to get a better result on something like the Forth Bridge. I agree with the noble Lord that that is not a happy state of affairs. We made it clear that we plan to do what is necessary in the current crisis and ensure that the state aid rules are complied with but which need not stop us doing the right thing. I have a different conclusion from the noble Lord. On trading and anti-dumping, working together with 27 other member states can be helpful because our production of steel is now quite small in global terms on a percentage basis.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Natalie Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my noble friend Lady Gardner for Amendment 15, and the noble Lord for his comments. As I explained in my opening remarks, we have considered the issues raised in Committee and by the DPRRC concerning banning order offences. This is why we are moving an amendment that regulations prescribing banning order offences will now be subject to the affirmative procedure and therefore cannot be brought into law until both Houses of Parliament have debated them. In effect, this would mean that Clause 13 could not become operational until after your Lordships had approved the regulations. As we also said in Committee, we will consult on the proposed banning order offences before the regulations are laid in Parliament I hope that, with these assurances, my noble friend will not press her amendment and I commend the government amendments in this group.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Natalie Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): As I mentioned, we believe that although it does not have statutory force, in practice it will be taken into account by a court or tribunal where it is relevant. Therefore, we do not believe that that further step is necessary.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I apologise to the House, and in particular to the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, with whom I have had the pleasure of discussing the issue, for arriving slightly late. I was actually delayed on the District line; I hope that it was not by some underground development in South Kensington, where we were held I was at one point tempted to sign the noble Lord’s amendment because, like my noble friend, I think that he is very much on to something. Before my noble friend on the Front Bench was a Minister, and over several years, there have been talks between local authorities, particularly in London, and the department. There have been various efforts—my noble friend Lord Selsdon was trying to get something moving for a time—to propel a response from the Government. Time and again, we are told that Article 4 directions are the answer. We spoke a little about Article 4 directions last night. I marvel to see my noble friend here on the Front Bench after her efforts after midnight last night. Article 4 directions are not the whole answer here. It is the strong view of local authority leaders in London, across party, that there needs to be a statutory response here. The fact is that in many cases one is dealing with extremely wealthy people who will stop at nothing to push through. It is nothing to them to spend thousands of hours and tens and hundreds and millions of pounds in pushing these things. Frankly, communities need defence here and I think some statutory response is needed at the end of the day. I look forward to hearing what my noble friend has to say and I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, on and thank him for bringing this issue before Parliament.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Election of Mayor with Police and Crime Commissioner Functions) Order 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
John Dawson Eccles (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I make a short intervention to welcome the Tees Valley order. I first went to work in Stockton-on-Tees over 60 years ago and have lived in the north-east of England ever since. I noted that the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, constantly referred to Teesside. He is absolutely right to do so, and I hope none of your Lordships who go to the north-east and visit the area from Darlington down to Middlesbrough expects to be in a valley. It is not a valley: the Tees falls under 200 feet from Darlington, which is about 20 miles inland, to the mouth at Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. I very much hope that one day the mayor, whose creation I fully support, will promote a change back to the name of Teesside instead of the mistaken appellation of "Valley" I have one other regret, which is that County Durham has gone north instead of staying where it should be. My 60-something years there tells me that the three places named in the order—Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees—always look towards the city of Durham. Indeed, Durham University is now split because there is a college in Stockton which is part of the university. This is a matter of regret because there is a big problem with identities in what I call Teesside. The history and the identities of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton particularly are very different. Middlesbrough was, in 1820, a hermit’s chapel on the banks of the Tees: there was nothing else there at all at that time other than a ring of villages down to the south. Beyond Stockton-on-Tees, the tidal river goes up to Yarm, the heart of the wool trade, and so on. I will not go on about this, but the historic identities of these five places are very different from each other. That will present a huge challenge to the mayor in terms of how to provide the leadership to bring this combined authority together Ab initio, I worked in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton, to name but three places. I remember somebody called Darlington Jack, who was a very good worker and worked in Stockton-on-Tees at the same place as me. The Stockton-on-Tees lads came to me one day and said, "I think it’s time you got rid of Darlington Jack, he doesn’t come from here". I hope that this authority is a great success, but it will be a tremendous challenge to the mayor and his staff to create the identity that means it will really pull together.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Election of Mayor with Police and Crime Commissioner Functions) Order 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate. I shall open my remarks by reflecting the words of the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, about the process of devolution being iterative and evolutionary over time. Those were very sensible words. I shall address some of the issues that were brought up that I did not address in my opening remarks Several points were made about referendums for different types of mayors being held under different processes. It is probably quite important to distinguish between the different provisions at different times. It is quite misleading to link referendums about whether there should be an elected mayor for a local authority area and the proposed combined authority mayors. The latter mayors are very different from local authority mayors—that is probably one reason Greater Manchester saw fit to have one. They have wholly different and novel roles and are closely interconnected with the devolution of new, wide-ranging powers for areas The noble Lord, Lord Beecham, asked how much agreement there was from other departments in doing these deals and implementing them. The departments concerned have all signed off the deals, which have been collectively agreed by Ministers. The implementation process is both local and across Whitehall, led by a director-general and a cross-Whitehall group involving all departments involved in the specific deals. The noble Lord, Lord Shipley, asked about impact assessments. I hope it comforts him that when we confer functions on the combined authority to be exercised by the mayor, there will be, where appropriate, a regulatory impact assessment. This will be done in future orders that will be considered by this House The noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, talked about Durham moving north, which was interesting, and the identity in Teesside. The naming of the combined authority was a matter for the local area. The Government have recognised the historic boundaries but this combined authority is about strengthened, joined-up working and building on strong relationships across boundaries, recognising local identities The noble Lord, Lord Beecham, talked about the certainty of funding, particularly in relation to HS3. The Government have committed to HS3 and the Chancellor announced in last week’s Budget that £60 million will be available to bring forward HS3 between Leeds and Manchester, reducing journey times towards 30 minutes, which will increase the jobs market for people in both Leeds and Manchester and improve links between the north’s other major cities. The Government are absolutely committed to this.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): My noble friend is absolutely right to point out that the United Kingdom has a unique set of international relationships, whether through its position on the Security Council, in the Commonwealth or in the "Five Eyes" that I have talked about. A crucial part of these relationships is of course with Europe. The sharing of information within Europe must go on. It is absolutely integral to our ongoing security. We are not, for example, part of the Schengen area, but that does not stop our signing up for the Schengen information system and these are crucial data for us. It is important that we maintain the strongest possible links because this is a global problem and it requires us all to work together internationally and within this country.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the noble Lord was Home Secretary at the time of the 7/7 attacks and therefore knows absolutely what must be going on and the vital part played by our international networks in tracking people down and keeping others safe. He is right to ask about what specific help has been given. The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, also asked about that. The type of help we have given the Belgians includes CCTV analysis, forensic device investigation, bomb scene management, exploiting social media and body recovery On the Europol counterterrorism point, I do not know specific numbers. I know there are some 800 foreign fighters who have returned to the UK. We have made it clear that anyone returning can expect to be the subject of interest to the authorities and to be contacted by them. Where it can be shown that they have been engaging in criminal acts abroad, they will be—and have been—prosecuted and that will continue to be the case.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): First and foremost, and particularly at times such as this, the prime responsibility of any Government is the safety and security of their citizens and their borders. This has to be our top priority. It transcends and takes over from any other factor of domestic debate. It just does not counter it. As I have outlined, there are some major international relationships that are very important to us in sharing information. Among these are those we enjoy with our European partners. We believe these ought to be strengthened and deepened at every opportunity.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick Cormack (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, my noble friend said that the Prime Minister attended a meeting of COBRA this morning. Bearing in mind the tremendous importance of sharing information, is there not a case for a European equivalent? Nobody should attempt to bring these desperately serious issues into the European referendum debate. However, should we not recognise that, if there is a change on 23 June, although it is crucial that co-operation should continue, its context would be altered?
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): We have the Prevent and the Channel programmes, but we also have them in the very helpful context of the counterextremism strategy, which was published at the end of last year. That will probably lead fairly shortly to some legislation coming through this House, which will flesh out some of the points that the noble Baroness raised. But I return to the point that some of the most effective means of combating this distortion and perversion of a great faith in this country come from within the communities themselves.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): That is absolutely correct. Of course, that is one of the prime drivers behind the investigatory powers legislation—but the noble Lord will notice that, when we talk about the global fight against terror, the sophistication of the Daesh communications, with the use of social media as a way of communicating, is a completely new challenge for the security services. That is why we are putting the resources into GCHQ. Because Daesh is based in Syria, we need to make sure that we take the fight to it and destroy its capabilities there before it has the opportunity to destroy our way of life here.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Viscount is right to refer to the Border Force. I can speak only for the people whom I meet, who have the highest professionalism and resolve. It has changed over the past few years. The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 referred to that, saying that there was a case for better intelligence-led security. That is where we need to strengthen up—on the connections between the National Crime Agency and between the police and Special Branch and the security agencies. Receiving that signal and human intelligence is also very important. We cannot hope to have border posts in every cove and field across the country, as the noble Viscount suggested. Therefore, we have to rely on intelligence and on partnership with the communities as well.
Brussels Terrorist Attacks — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, that is also one of the reasons why we have in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act the ability to seize passports, which are the property not of the individual but of the state that issues them. So we can seize those passports. We need more information on identity. On the point that the noble Lord makes about having two passports, we have changed the passport form to make sure that people can declare when that is the case. We have in place exit checks. All that is working in the general direction in which the noble Lord wants us to go.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
John Gummer (Conservative, Centre-right): I am so pleased that I tempted the noble Lord to intervene at that stage, because I can now tell him that I tried to change the law on that when I was the Minister, and who opposed me? Every blooming local authority—they were the ones who demanded to keep this power and said that it was so important. So I want us to come back to what the Government are asking. This is entirely relevant. I am glad that it is amusing to the noble Lord, but I believe it to be central to the amendment. The Government propose that we give the Secretary of State the power to see whether there are alternative ways in which to handle something that, in the noble Lord’s words, is in many ways bust. That is what he says, but if it is bust, would not it be a good idea to see whether there are ways of unbusting it? This is one of the suggestions What do we get? Not a series of suggestions about how we might refine it, improve it, make the tests rather better or come forward with various suggestions about how the various pilots might be carried through. Instead, we get an onslaught on the basis that the only people who can do this are local authorities or public bodies. The Government have produced something which is worth trying. If it does not work, we have not done anything bad. If it does work, we have learned something. The worst thing in politics is to say that we cannot do something because we have not done it before, that we cannot do something because it will not work or that we cannot do something because we do not want to try. This is the moment when we ought to say that we may be a very old House and many of us in it may be very old, but at least we are young enough to recognise that it would be a good thing to have a go at something different.