argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
TOEIC English Language Tests — House of Commons, 2022-02-09
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is pretty clear that today’s urgent question—I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) on obtaining it—will not be the last word on this matter. I wonder whether, when we return to this in the fullness of time, the Minister’s answers will look quite as robust as the delivery with which he offers them to the House today. Instead of doubling down on the history of the Home Office’s dealings with ETS, would it not have been better to bring in somebody independent of the Home Office to restore a bit of trust in the system, which is so manifestly lacking?
Police Grant Report — House of Commons, 2022-02-09
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Minister’s debate with the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) comes to the heart of how the Government go about this. The money that is given to the police and crime commissioners is £796 million, I think, as long as the full flexibility of the precept option is taken up. Does that not undermine the whole purpose of the accountability of police and crime commissioners?
Police Grant Report — House of Commons, 2022-02-09
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The purpose of the precept is to give flexibility and accountability to the police and crime commissioners. Effectively, under this settlement the police and crime commissioners have to be accountable for decisions made by the Minister.
Future Funding — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: Education
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I associate myself with the remarks made by the Minister for School Standards, the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) about the late Member for Birmingham, Erdington We now know that £2.7 billion was spent on personal protective equipment that cannot be used, and that £4.3 billion of the money that was stolen during covid through the furlough scheme and other schemes is being written off by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Does the Minister share my concern about the difference that that cash could have made in meeting the target of more than £15 billion that the Government’s own tsar reckoned was needed to catch up on the days that our children have lost in school? Will she call for a review of this?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: Social Welfare
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There is no word in the English language for a parent who has lost a child. There is no equivalent of "widow" or "orphan" for that particular horror. It is a loss that is literally beyond words; a loss that hundreds and thousands of parents have tragically experienced during this pandemic. Many had to bury their children alone; many could not be there with them at the end. Meanwhile, No. 10 partied. Does the Prime Minister understand? Does he care about the enormous hurt his actions have caused to bereaved families across our country? Will he finally accept that the only decent thing he can do now is to resign?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: Government Operations
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have read the report in full, and I think this is the most striking sentence: "There were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times." My constituents have been writing to me while the Prime Minister has been speaking to say that he should resign, but they also want to know the full facts. Once the Met has concluded, why could he not then publish the full, unredacted report?
Sue Gray Report — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: Law and Crime
Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Prime Minister has inadvertently referred to this as "the" Gray report when, if he had read as far as the front cover, he would see that it is called an "update". It is because it is an update that it makes public trust in the Met’s investigation even more important. The public must know that the Met will investigate without fear or favour, so can the Prime Minister confirm that, not at any single stage, has anybody in No. 10 or the Cabinet Office sought to influence the Met’s decision on delaying its initial investigation, or was the delay the result of its own incompetence?
Russia: Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: International Affairs
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): We cannot sanction what we cannot see, and while I welcome this statement, I would like some clarity on whether this new legislation will finally include a register of beneficial owners for overseas entities. The Foreign Secretary will know that many of these oligarchs hide their money, particularly in UK property. The press release from the FCDO says that it is going to leave Russia "nowhere to hide", so is that loophole finally going to be closed?
Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-31
Topic: Technology
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I, too, will keep my comments brief. The Liberal Democrats have been supportive of this Bill from the start, since its Second Reading. We very much welcome the opportunity and, indeed, the new vehicle to get funding into science and technology in this country I join the hon. Members for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn) and for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah), however, in saying that the absolute priority must be to ensure that that investment stays in this country and benefits the people, including the investors, those who may benefit from employment and, indeed, every single one of us who seeks to benefit from the new innovation for which this money may well pay. A couple of weeks ago I visited my former employers at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, where I saw for myself the incredible work that is taking place on battery technology and hydrogen technology. There is so much potential for the future, but this country has traditionally been really bad at converting that incredible R&D skill into entrepreneurism and innovation and at building sustainable businesses. That is why I think it is so important that we support the Lords amendment, and it is certainly why we will vote against the Government’s motion Question put, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 1.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Energy
Questions: The biggest factor driving up our fuel bills and cost of living is the sky-rocketing international price of gas, which is currently dancing to a tune set in Moscow. Does the Prime Minister agree that Labour’s short-term proposals to shift the burden from bill payers to taxpayers will not address the fundamental underlying problem at all, and that the crisis demands structural reforms to the energy price cap, rather than just resetting it to later this year, as well as energy self-sufficiency to uncouple us from Russian gas?; The London Borough of Bromley has achieved the fastest and most significant improvement in children’s services of any local authority in England. Much of the credit is due to its exceptional chief executive, Mr Ade Adetosoye. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Mr Adetosoye on his appointment as a Commander of the British Empire in the new year honours list, and congratulate the Conservative majority on the council on delivering the only debt-free council in London?
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Happy new year, Mr Speaker! I am sure the Prime Minister will want to join me and my Liberal Democrat colleagues in welcoming my hon. Friend the new Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) People’s already high heating bills are about to jump by more than 50%, with average energy bills rising by nearly £700 a year. Gas price rises will push millions more families into fuel poverty, when we know many are already afraid even to open their heating bills. Does the Prime Minister accept that he could be doing much more than he is to prevent millions of people from going hungry and cold this year while he remains—for now at least—in the warmth and comfort of No. 10?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Education
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Parents, teachers and pupils are incredibly nervous that due to the unprecedented spike in covid numbers children might once again face hundreds of thousands of hours of lost learning. The reality is that due to staff shortages many of our schools are at breaking point, and an entire generation has already lost years of learning they might never get back. So will the Prime Minister do the right thing and properly fund a catch-up programme, starting by providing every parent with a £30 catch-up voucher for every day their child misses school? This Government are not only letting down millions of children, but, by short-changing them, are damaging the future of our country.
UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): When we compare the original economic impact assessment of the Australia deal, which was released back in the summer, with the Government’s impact assessment published last month, we see that there has been a 1,000% increase in the estimated boost to UK GDP, but the small print makes it clear that that is because the Government have changed the economic model they are using to analyse the deal to one that produces a higher estimate of GDP. Can the Trade Secretary present any justification for this change, or is it simply a case of cooking the books?
UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Agriculture
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am passionate about free trade, and so are the farmers in Cumbria and so, I assume, are the farmers in Northumberland. No free trade is really free if it is not fair. When it comes to animal welfare, this deal clearly is not fair. I wonder whether the Secretary of State truly comprehends the astonishing difference in terms of animal welfare standards between farming, and livestock farming in particular, in her own community and in mine compared with Australia. There are staggering and astonishing differences in scale—the fact that we have close husbandry in this country and vast areas and no husbandry in Australia. Moreover, there is the lack of humane standards in abattoirs and also when it comes to the transportation of livestock. Surely this deal undermines our farmers, undermines the standards that we hold dear and throws our agriculture under a bus in order to get a cheap deal. How will she reply to her own farmers who will be as shocked and appalled as I am by much of this deal?
Downing Street Garden Event — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Assaults on police officers in 2020-21 in England and Wales saw a 20% increase to over 25,000. I personally know of police officers who have been spat at, pushed, shoved and punched while doing their job, which includes enforcing the covid regulations, so I think police officers up and down the country will be appalled to hear that the Prime Minister and Downing Street staff were allegedly partying while they were doing their job during the worst of the pandemic. Given that all the evidence suggests that the party took place and that the Prime Minister was present, does the Paymaster General agree that the Prime Minister should write a letter of apology to every one of the police officers assaulted while enforcing covid regulations?
Downing Street Garden Event — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Government Operations
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): We have heard today some reminders of what so many people in this country were going through in May 2020. One of the things that helped to keep us all together was the belief that we were all in it together and that the Government understood and supported what we were going through. Will the Paymaster General tell us whether the Prime Minister appreciates that my constituents and, I am sure, constituents elsewhere in the country now feel let down, betrayed and treated with contempt by this Prime Minister and his Government? Will he tell us when the Prime Minister will show some respect for the House and come here and answer the questions we all have for him?
Downing Street Garden Event — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Law and Crime
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Given the immense sacrifices of the British people, surely the Paymaster General must understand not just their fury, but their deep hurt. My constituent Jane Nicholson emailed this morning to say that "my mother died without us at her side in Hampton Care Home on Saturday March 28th. The home was locked down on the Monday before. I had to conduct a mobile phone call from the car park through the window to her on that Monday...she did not live to receive our next scheduled Skype call on Saturday…We followed all guidelines to protect everyone involved and are traumatised as a result, but we acted responsibly and have continued to do so. Downing Street should have done the same." She also says: "No one is above the law." What does the Paymaster General have to say to Jane?
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): It is an honour to speak in today’s debate, even though it is a very frustrating one. I cannot get my head around the fact that Government Members seem more offended by the Labour party trying to take control of the Order Paper than the cost-of-living crisis facing this country. That is not coming down the line; it is here and it is now. We have inflation at its record highest level in the last 10 years, a stealth tax that the Government introduced by freezing the tax threshold and a hike in national insurance, all of which are making a bad situation worse. Let us not start reheating pointless Brexit arguments; let us try to deal with the issue The Liberal Democrats believe that cutting VAT is a blunt instrument, so in principle, we would prefer to see targeted measures, doubling the warm home discount and the winter allowance. That is what we need, but we will support the Labour party today because it wants address the issues that people in our constituencies care about: how they will heat their homes, feed their children and keep themselves warm if they are elderly. That is what they care about, not debates that happened two years ago or, for that matter, Scottish independence. They care about how they pay their bills now, so we will support the motion Will the Government please stop speaking to us all as though we are not aware of what is going on in the country? Perhaps they are not aware—perhaps they are detached from it—but we Liberal Democrat Members are very aware of the problems that our constituents face due to the cost of living, inflation and energy prices going up, and the economic impact of the pandemic on our local businesses and independent traders, who provide vital income not just to our local communities, but to the people who work for them Two years ago, the Chancellor promised us that he would do whatever it took to fix the economy. It is a crying shame that he and the rest of the Government are apparently not prepared to do whatever it takes to help the people of this country through an economic crisis and a cost-of-living crisis that is hitting them hard.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I can think of examples of families I know personally where the budgeting is so tight that just a pound or two either way gets them into a bad situation. If the fuel bill, or the diesel bill for the car, goes up, they spend less money shopping, and that in turn hits wee businesses in Aberdeen South, in the highlands or wherever. It is a vicious spiral in the wrong direction.
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that increasingly, the view that we need a permanent base-load for energy supply is outdated thinking, and that most modern thinking around the idea of energy supply all day, every day is that we do not need the idea of base-loads anymore?
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As a lifelong anti-nuclear power campaigner, I could not fail to speak in this debate or to represent the views of the many Bath constituents who have written to me over the last weeks and months about voting and speaking against this Bill. We need to get to net zero by 2050 at the latest, but do we need nuclear power to get there, and is nuclear energy a fair deal for our consumers? While nuclear power is not a carbon fuel, it is enormously expensive, costing twice as much as generation from renewables. In answer to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood), I believe that we just need to roll out renewable energy. We have the capacity. Britain is a country surrounded by sea, and there is a lot of wind further out. Projects such as floating wind are out there—I speak to that industry a lot. If only the Government had the political will to make that renewable energy revolution happen.
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As I said, there is the potential for offshore wind, particularly further out where the wind blows all the time—the right hon. Member needs only to talk to the industry about that—if only the Government were prepared to invest much more in that and not just rely on the small projects that we currently have Yes, we doubled our offshore wind capacity thanks to the Liberal Democrats in government—some time ago now—but there is still no level playing field for the renewable energy sector. We speak of this again and again. If only the Government were prepared to set a regulatory level playing field, we could see a lot more renewable energy to cover our energy costs Let me repeat that while nuclear power is not a carbon fuel, it is enormously expensive, costing twice as much as generation from renewables, and in the end that cost will fall on the consumer. We have seen the disasters of that in recent weeks. Quite apart from the long-term costs of decommissioning, disposal and storage of waste, nuclear is an unusual technology that sees costs rise instead of fall over time. In other words, it has a high need for Government subsidy The Government say that the Bill is about saving consumers money by removing barriers to private investment in the nuclear sector, but that is misleading. Their proposed regulated asset base funding model provides no protection for consumers; instead, evidence shows that costs under this model for abandoned nuclear power stations have still been passed on to consumers Let us look at what happened in the United States, where a version of the regulated asset base model—early cost recovery—was introduced more than 10 years ago. As in Britain, ECR was sold to policy makers as a way of lowering the cost of capital, thereby making nuclear power more competitive with other sources of generation. However, the lower capital cost was not a true saving. The nuclear renaissance’s 2009 peak consisted of applications to build 31 units pending at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Of those, 29 have been cancelled, and despite expenditure exceeding $20 billion, no new US nuclear plants have gone into service. In South Carolina, ratepayers are having to pay $2.3 billion for a cancelled nuclear plant. While US electricity customers are exposed to paying more than $10 billion for cancelled nuclear plants and another $13.5 billion in cost overruns, no reactors have come online as a result of the US shift to early cost recovery. Florida and South Carolina have repealed the laws allowing early cost recovery, and no states have enacted such laws in the last decade, so why on earth are the Tory Government introducing a failed financial model from the US In contrast, the cost of renewables is falling globally. Renewables are significantly undercutting fossil fuels as the cheapest form of energy as the cost of renewable technologies falls. According to the International Energy Agency, the world’s best solar power schemes offer the "cheapest…electricity in history."
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I will not give way again Renewable energy is the future, and we in the UK are ideally placed to take advantage of the wind and wave power all around us. When UK tidal wave projects were cancelled in the past, that was always on a cost basis. Why do we not look at those projects again? They are truly renewable and truly the future. We could be an exporter of renewables. Onshore wind is now the cheapest form of electricity generation in the UK—
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am not speaking on behalf of Germany, because Germany is in a very different position from that of Britain. It is more or less landlocked, it does not have sea, and it does not have wind in the same way. Britain has a massive opportunity to invest in new renewable energy that no other country has apart from Greece, which is doing so.
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Energy
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): We talk again and again in this House about Britain being a global leader. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that Britain could be a global leader in renewable energy? We are not making the most of the areas in which we could be a global leader, which are renewable energy from tidal, wave and offshore and onshore wind power.
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2022-01-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Minister will be aware that proper community policing is vital for preventing crime and saving lives, yet across London, since the Prime Minister was Mayor, we have seen community policing slashed, and in Richmond borough, in particular, we see our officers routinely extracted to other events. Yet in the same period knife crime has doubled. He will be aware that in September there was the fatal and brutal stabbing of an 18-year-old Afghan refugee and college student in Twickenham. So when will we see a boost to community policing in the Twickenham constituency and across Richmond borough, as this Government have promised us so many extra police officer numbers since 2019?