argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Wilson Doctrine — House of Commons, 2015-10-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I am grateful for that clarification, Mr Speaker. I will therefore simply suggest that it would be helpful if the Home Secretary were to intervene on me to clarify that she will definitely include in that Bill the kind of principle that many of us have been describing tonight. I appreciate that she is still thinking about whether this should involve independent judicial approval, as I would suggest, a triple lock or some other mechanism. We would, however, like to hear a firm indication, as a result of this debate, that this issue will be properly addressed and that the hole that has been left as a result of the Wilson doctrine not being properly enforced will be filled by a measure in the new legislation All the Members who have spoken in the debate have agreed that this kind of legislation should extend to the devolved legislatures and Assemblies, and to the European Parliament. We do not yet live in a surveillance state, and MPs have a right to expect that their communications, and those of the individuals they have been democratically elected to represent, should not be routinely surveilled or intercepted.
Psychoactive Substances Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-10-19
Topic: Other
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The way that the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) has been carrying on in the House is completely unacceptable. He has launched into an unfounded attack—[Interruption.] Will you just be quiet? CRI has nothing to do with the Green party, and it is out of order to make such accusations with absolutely no evidence. To blame that on Brighton and the Green party is simply wrong.
Immigration Bill — House of Commons, 2015-12-01
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Does the Minister not accept that the definition of a family is drawn incredibly tightly and is very cruel, for example to those with siblings or children over the age of 18? He says that extending the criteria would not be efficient or effective, but it would actually be one of the most effective ways of granting refugee status to more people. Such people will not put great pressure on our services because they will largely be looked after by their families.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-02
Topic: Housing
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Given that the Bill fails to include any legal commitment to replace social homes that are sold under right to buy on a one-to-one basis, does the right hon. Gentleman accept that selling off valuable council homes to fund the extension of right to buy means that we are losing two social homes to rent in return for just one social home to buy? That is an overall loss.
Calais — House of Commons, 2015-07-14
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): There are more refugees today than at any time since the second world war because of so much violence and turmoil in the world. Support in the region is welcome, but it is not enough. Will the Home Secretary acknowledge that the Government’s refusal to accept some kind of EU refugee quota system is unfair and irresponsible? In the past, she has said that Britain has a proud tradition of standing up for refugees: now is the time to prove it by supporting such a measure.
ISIL in Syria — House of Commons, 2015-12-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): The number of ground troops is, as my right hon. Friend says, unknown, and their composition is also unknown, but what we do know is that they are, by definition, opposition fighters: they are anti-Assad. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Prime Minister still has a question to answer about how we can work with them to retake ground from Daesh without becoming drawn into a wider conflict with Russia, given that they are on the other side?
Immigration Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-13
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Does the Home Secretary not recognise that this is a nasty, punitive Bill that will inevitably risk yet more racism and discrimination and undermine the social cohesion that she says she cares about? At the very least, will she guarantee full financial compensation to anyone whose livelihood is undermined by action taken by immigration officers that later turns out to have been falsely and wrongly taken?
Immigration Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-13
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that international student numbers should be removed entirely from net migration figures, because otherwise we risk losing key international talent as well as undermining many local economies, such as Brighton’s, that depend on them to a great deal?
Climate Change and Flooding — House of Commons, 2015-12-15
Topic: Public Lands
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): May I invite the Secretary of State to return to the question asked by the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) about maintenance grants, and the amount that will be spent on maintaining existing flood defences? Does she accept that there is a shortfall of £2.5 billion between that amount and what the Environment Agency says is needed, and, if so, is she going to fill the gap?
Climate Change Agreement — House of Commons, 2015-12-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): In all the acres of media coverage of the Paris agreement, George Monbiot sums it up best: "By comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle. By comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster." I welcome the inclusion of the 1.5° goal, but it is meaningless without policies to deliver it—in particular, keeping the vast majority of fossil fuels in the ground. Will the Secretary of State tell us how the Government’s recently agreed duty to "maximise" the economic recovery of oil and gas is anything other than completely incompatible with what she has just signed up to in Paris?
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (Statutory Requirement) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-01-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time I am delighted to have the opportunity at least to start speaking in support of my Bill to give children an entitlement to personal, social, health and economic education, including sex and relationship education. Although I completely support the Bill that preceded mine, there is an irony that has not gone unnoticed: Members have spent many hours debating a wholly uncontroversial Bill, while my Bill is about tackling discrimination and bullying around lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. It is a great shame that there is not more time to debate it My Bill has strong cross-party support from across the House from Members who have long shown commitment to and concern about the issue, including the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) and the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion); I pay tribute to both for their ongoing cross-party work on this issue. The Bill has such strong cross-party support because people are calling for it from all quarters. It is backed by 87% of parents, 88% of teachers and 85% of business leaders. YouGov and the PSHE Association found that 90% of parents believe that schools should teach pupils about mental health and emotional wellbeing Support also comes from two royal societies, five Select Committee Chairs—three of whom, I note, are Conservatives—five teaching unions, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Public Health England, the Children’s Commissioner, the chief medical officer, the national police lead for preventing child sexual exploitation, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Barnardo’s, Stonewall, the End Violence against Women Coalition, Girlguiding, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and many, many more.
Green Investment Bank — House of Commons, 2017-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I thank the Minister for his reply, but it gives very little reassurance, given that everybody knows who the preferred bidder is. The preferred bidder, Macquarie, has a very, very worrying and dubious track record. I am putting this question today with support from across the House This week, we heard that the Green Investment Bank stands on the brink not just of being flogged off but broken up, with its green purposes discarded. Founded in 2012, the GIB has been widely recognised as a true success story, kick-starting truly innovative low-carbon projects across the UK, yet the preferred bidder—Macquarie—not only has a dismal and terrible environmental record but an appalling track record of asset stripping. So why have the Government given preferred bidder status to this company? What assessment have the Government made of Macquarie’s record, given that in 2005 the board of the London stock exchange deemed Macquarie unfit to conduct a takeover Furthermore, research this week uncovered changes to the GIB’s corporate structure. Between 22 November and 1 December, 10 new companies were incorporated and registered to the GIB’s London offices. The changes suggest that Macquarie is planning to fundamentally hollow out the GIB. Why have the 10 new companies been set up? Will the Minister confirm whether the changes made at the end of last year were made at the behest of Macquarie? Why are the Government setting up a structure to invite in a property asset stripper? If the GIB has been restructured in such a way as to allow it to be stripped of its assets, how can the Government guarantee that the special share, supposedly introduced to protect the future of the GIB, will have the intended effect? Is this not exactly the wrong time to be selling off the GIB, given that the Government have decided to embark on a new industrial strategy, which must, to be in accord with our own climate change commitments, have low-carbon projects at its core? Finally, will the Minister admit that this selling off could lead to the bank being fatally undermined as an enduring institution? Will he stop the killing off of the Green Investment Bank? Will he halt the sale process with immediate effect?
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that as well as having an environment policy, we need to make sure that it is enforceable? It is no good just moving it across, if we cannot bring enforcement to bear. Does he also agree with me that the European Investment Bank is a crucial issue, because it is a massive investor in renewable energy in this country? We need to know where we stand on that.
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I will not give way, because there is no time Many in the EU want us to conclude the divorce element, which comes with a potential bill of €60 billion, before discussing a trade deal. We must not forget that this is a negotiation. Article 50 covers only administrative Brexit, not the legal or trade aspects. If, after two years, we do not even have a basic divorce deal, it is possible that tempers will fray and patience dwindle, and the prospect of starting negotiations on trade deals in such circumstances is unlikely—to put it mildly The 27 other countries are likely to want the divorce settlement agreed via the courts, so trade negotiations may not be possible even if the political will is there. For all of those reasons, we need these transitional arrangements in place. I did not give way to Members, because I wished to allow time for others to speak. Let me just reiterate how frustrating it is that, in a debate of this importance, we are having to rattle through it at a ridiculous rate.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Now that the Brexit negotiations are going so well that the Secretary of State has taken to calling his counterpart silly, will he publish the impact assessments his Department has overseen in relation to 50 sectors of the economy, or is he afraid that if he were to publish them, that might just make him look a bit silly, particularly if the leak is true from the Department of Health, which foresees a potential shortfall of 40,000 nurses by 2026?
Election of Speaker — House of Commons, 2017-06-13
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): May I associate myself and my party with the comments made by the Prime Minister and others about the atrocities in Manchester and London Bridge? Our hearts go out to all those who were affected by them I am delighted to congratulate you, Mr Speaker-Elect, on your well-deserved re-election. When you were last re-elected in May 2015, you said that you would like to be immortalised on your tombstone as the Back Bencher’s champion. As the Member of this House with perhaps the least chance of ever becoming a Front Bencher, I think I can say that you have that ambition safely in the bag. May I say that you are also a champion of the smaller parties in this House, for which we are very grateful, and a pioneer when it comes to the urgent issue of parliamentary reform? That, too, is much appreciated I congratulate the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) on becoming Father of the House, and I echo the well said words about the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) in her role as Mother of the House, and particularly her role in getting more women elected. I echo the comments of others about the pleasure that we have in seeing a record number of women represented in this place. At the same time, I note that 32% remains some way off 50%. Slow progress is better than no progress, but we still think there is some way to go. Who knows, perhaps we will not have to wait a full five years before having a chance to improve on 32% of the House being women and on our still shameful rating of 38th in the world when it comes to women in Parliament. I look forward to improvements in diversity right across the House Adjournment Resolved, That this House do now adjourn until tomorrow at twenty minutes to Three o’clock. —(Guy Opperman.)
Housing White Paper — House of Commons, 2017-02-07
Topic: Housing
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): In Brighton and Hove alone there are 26,000 people on the housing waiting list, so why will the Secretary of State not lift the borrowing cap so that councils can start building again? He keeps talking about supply, and here he has a very practical way of doing it. Building on the green belt has risen fivefold in the past five years. How is he going to protect the green belt?
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-08
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Will the hon. Gentleman accept that free movement has massively benefited our economy, both economically and socially? While Governments may have failed to ensure that those benefits have been shared equally, we should not sacrifice our economy to anti-immigration ideology. Securing the continued free movement of people should therefore be a priority in the UK negotiations.
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I do wish that the hon. Gentleman would inform himself before making his points. We already know from the White Paper that the Government have said that it will be possible for plenty of these measures to be reformed in secondary legislation. In other words, it will not be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The hon. Gentleman may not care about his own economic, social and environmental rights, but Opposition Members have constituents who do care. We are trying to do our job properly; it is a pity that the hon. Gentleman is not.
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-08
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I certainly pay tribute to the role that Labour has played in those rights. Does the hon. Lady agree, though, that the EU does actually take us further in some respects—for example, on equal pay for work of equal value? Would she also agree that the real risk here is that when that EU legislation becomes UK domestic legislation, it can be unpicked through secondary legislation, and what we have heard is absolutely no reassurance on that?
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-08
Topic: Immigration
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Fareham (Suella Fernandes), not least because I would like to disagree with several of the points she made—I am sure she will not find that surprising. She says that she finds the Prime Minister’s attitude to EU nationals "appropriate". I find it deeply inappropriate, and so do the EU nationals themselves, who simply want certainty about their future in this country. The Prime Minister’s refusal to guarantee that now, when she has the ability to do so, is cruel and, frankly, immoral. We are talking about people’s lives, which are not commodities to be traded in some wider bargain. The Prime Minister could and should guarantee to people who have made their lives here in good faith that of course they can stay. The idea that it is appropriate to do otherwise is out of order.
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-02-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I am not going to pick out any one particular party for filibustering. I am afraid that it is an epidemic that affects this whole place, and I would love to see it end. I do, however, want to talk about precisely that kind of evidence that the Environmental Audit Committee heard One almost believes that it is precisely the complexity demonstrated when evidence is given about the environmental impacts of Brexit that explains why Conservative Members do not want to hear about it. Such complexity underlines to them the fact that this Brexit process is not going to be done and dusted in two years. The idea that we will have a whole new trade agreement in two years is cloud cuckoo land; anybody with any knowledge of this issue would certainly say that now.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-09-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): In view of the limited time, I will focus on just three aspects of this deeply dangerous and undemocratic Bill. First, I wish to add my voice to the many on both sides of the House expressing enormous concern about how the Bill allows the Government an unprecedented power grab. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) on his masterclass about how this undermines our sovereignty and represents a wholesale shift of power from elected representatives in Parliament to Ministers and civil servants acting without the encumbrance of accountability or democratic scrutiny Regardless of one’s views about Brexit, the Bill is a constitutional outrage. The rank hypocrisy that these proposals to undermine parliamentary sovereignty are being led by precisely those Members who sold the leave argument last year on the supposedly noble ideal of restoring exactly that sovereignty is breathtaking, even by the standards of Government Members. That is why measures to circumscribe those powers are so vital, including measures based on proposals, such as those of the Hansard Society, to establish a sift and scrutiny system for delegated legislation in general. The current processes are already manifestly failing Secondly, I want to highlight concerns about the Bill’s impact on environmental protection, and, in particular, about the governance gap—the Bill’s failure to provide for the proper enforcement of environmental laws and standards post-Brexit. So far, there has been no evidence that Ministers recognise the scale of the challenge. Research conducted by the House of Commons has identified more than 1,100 pieces of EU environmental legislation that are the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, yet the issue did not appear in the Prime Minister’s Lancaster House speech, has not appeared in the Secretary of State’s statements so far, and certainly does not appear in the Bill Cutting and pasting laws from the EU’s statute book into the UK’s is simply not enough, because laws are only as effective as the mechanisms that implement and enforce them in practice. In the absence of mechanisms to replace the monitoring and enforcement roles of the European Commission and the European Court of Justice, we will effectively be left with zombie legislation—it may be on the statute book, but it will not be enforceable. There needs to be positive action to create a new Government system including proper implementation, compliance and enforcement. When the Government argue that judicial review can adequately provide the sole mechanism for civil society to challenge the application of environmental law, it shows how little they understand the limitations of JR. It is far too limited in scope and remit, and in terms of access, remedies and sanctions.
Immigration: Indefinite Detention — House of Commons, 2017-03-06
Topic: Immigration
Questions: If she will make it her policy to (a) end indefinite detention for immigration purposes and (b) introduce a maximum time limit of 28 days for such detention.
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Numerous reports suggest that the Government are using indefinite detention. I commend to the Minister a report by Women for Refugee Women that sets out practical alternatives to detention as a routine part of asylum policy. I would like to see the reality for myself, yet my application to visit Yarl’s Wood as a party leader appears to have been blocked. Can he tell me the status of my application, which was first made in November and has, I understand, been referred to his office? When can I expect to get clearance?
Early Parliamentary General Election — House of Commons, 2017-04-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that if this election is, as the Prime Minister says, about a more secure future for the country—if it is an election of such national significance—there should be, as a matter of urgency, a change in the law to give Britain’s 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds a say in what will be very much their future on 8 June?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I want to press the Secretary of State a little further on funding for local authorities. Most of them do not have vast reserves but are struggling with 40% funding cuts. There is still not sufficient clarity on exactly where and when the Government will step forward with funding. It is needed not only for places that need sprinklers and to get rid of cladding but, crucially, for rehousing. Will he say exactly what the national Government will fund?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Lucas (Green Party, Left): I very much support the new clause, but does the hon. Gentleman share my incredulity at the fact that the Government have not simply said, "Yes, of course we need to inform businesses and regulators about how retained EU law will be reinterpreted during the transition"? It is very odd that they have not recognised that this very basic and self-evident thing needs to be done.