argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady for her question. If she writes to me with the specific details, I will be more than happy to help her. However, I am very clear that no previous Government have done more than we have for armed forces communities. We are absolutely determined to get to the root causes of veterans’ suicide, and if the hon. Lady writes to me with the particular case, I will of course reach out and see what we can do.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): On Saturday, I joined my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton) and for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon) for a shift at our city’s mass vaccination centre. Overseeing the volunteers were brave ex-servicemen and women from RE:ACT, who are providing vital support, enabling our NHS heroes to get jabs into arms. Will my hon. Friend join me in thanking local veterans from Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke, and all those involved in RE:ACT, for once again stepping up to serve the nation and protect the people of our United Kingdom?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): I of course pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituents from RE:ACT, and to Richard Sharp, who set up RE:ACT. I think that every vaccination centre in the UK has veterans serving again in what is a national effort to defeat coronavirus. I pay tribute to them, I thank them for their work, and I urge them to keep going.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
Felicia Jane Beatrix Drummond (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the improvements to the service justice system that are part of the new Armed Forces Bill. Many serving personnel have been put off complaining by the existing system, and the time it takes to proceed with their complaint. Can the Minister confirm that both current and new complaints will be dealt with in a more timely manner, to not only help the mental health of the complainant but improve military operational effectiveness?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): There are a number of measures related to service justice in the Armed Forces Bill, which was introduced last Monday. Those measures are particularly focused on improving the experience of those who use the system and make service complaints, making that system more transparent, with more integrity and more resilience to challenge. My hon. Friend will be delighted to hear that the Bill will have its Second Reading next Monday. There is some really good stuff in there; I urge her to have a look at it, and I am more than happy to engage with her further on the issues.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a point, which is that first, we, as the United Kingdom armed forces, are here to help, and will do whatever is needed to help any one of the four nations of the United Kingdom. The amazing thing about the United Kingdom—the most successful political union in history—is that we are here to help each other seamlessly. An 80-year-old in need of a vaccine in London has the same need as an 80-year-old in Caithness. Our armed forces are all of our armed forces, and we will not be playing petty nationalist politics when it comes to defeating this evil virus.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Mark Rory Logan (Conservative, Centre-right): On behalf of everyone in Bolton, I would also like to wish Sir Tom a speedy recovery. I was heartened to hear that many soldiers have been deployed to set up 80 new covid-19 vaccine centres for NHS Scotland. Can my hon. Friend confirm how many have now opened as a result of this military support?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): We are very proud of the fact that military planners and advisers are embedded in so many Departments of the Scottish Government, just as they are down here in Whitehall with the UK Government, helping to make sure that the response of the Scottish Government is properly resourced with military expertise and planning horsepower. At present, 70 vaccination centres have been identified in Scotland as a result of the support from the United Kingdom’s armed forces, with 11 of those now open.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Simon James Jupp (Conservative, Centre-right): Our impressive vaccination programme has been bolstered by the extraordinary efforts of our armed forces. The Royal Marines’ commando training centre in Lympstone in East Devon is playing a vital part in this national effort, with Dr Ross Hemingway and Diane Young volunteering at vaccination centres in Exmouth and Westpoint. Will my hon. Friend explain the steps that have been taken to train non-medical personnel to vaccinate?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): We have many team medics, who are trained in advanced first aid and are well used to injecting morphine with some urgency on the battlefield. We are looking at how we might train them to be part of the vaccination process. There are 275 of them currently undertaking training, and clearly, the more of them we can make available, the better we will be able to support the NHS in vaccine delivery.
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-03-10
Topic: Defense
Stephen Pelham Pound (Labour, Centre-left): I will speak very briefly. Not for the first time, the right hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Mr Donaldson) has made a very pertinent and relevant point. As someone from west London who was close to the Harrods bombing, the Town House bombing and the BBC bombing—I am also aware of what happened in Guildford, Birmingham and Warrington—I would be the first person to agree with his point that there is no territorial definition of victimhood I thank the Minister—the hon. and gallant Gentleman —for his comments. Everyone in the House must associate themselves with his words—there can be no equivalence. We hear that loudly from this side of the House and from that side of the House, and I think it is also said across the nation. We must support our armed forces—that is absolutely right—and we must endorse and support the armed forces covenant. I think of the work of the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and many other people who have done so much work in that area Above all, we must never ever forget, in everything that we do in relation to this subject, that victims must be at the heart of our deliberations. Victims are the people we must consider above all. We have to work with those who are physically and psychologically scarred by their horrors I will not speak for long, because I must give other Members a chance to speak, but I want to support and endorse the comments made the Minister—the hon. and, if I may say so, gallant Gentleman.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Defense
John Luther Mercer (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department has worked hard to put our arms around veterans across the community, working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to make sure that our homeless veterans are looked after. We have commissioned studies from King’s College to look at the specific impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on veterans. We are committed to making sure that we do our duty by those who serve, and I am confident that we will do so.
Covid Security at UK Borders — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Johanna Peta Churchill (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome today’s debate on a matter that is rightly of huge public interest. As the hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) said, we have had a challenging time, but I know that everybody across the House will be cheered by the news of the vaccines, and the number rolled out over the weekend—nearly 1 million, at 931,204—is quite staggering. As of today, over 9.2 million people have now received the jab, and every elderly care home resident in England has been offered the vaccine. The roll-out will accelerate in the coming months, and with the combined news that the UK today has secured another 40 million extra doses of the Valneva vaccine, in addition to the 60 million we already had on order—taking our national total to over 400 million vaccine doses—we know that, with each jab, we have clearly moved that step closer to the more normal life that people crave. It is our strong vaccine portfolio that offers great hope not only to the people of this country, but across the world, because unless we are all safe, no one is safe As hon. Members recognise, however, the challenges posed by covid-19 are still here today and we must continue to make the difficult decisions to protect the whole population. There is no question but that new variants pose new threats—threats that we must overcome to protect the progress of the vaccine programme and, of course, to protect the sacrifices that everybody has been making for many months now. It has meant that we have had to take tough action at our borders, which we have done. Earlier in the pandemic, border restrictions were about stopping the onward transmission of infections from countries with higher infection rates, but the new variants from abroad pose a different and new set of risks, and we do not yet have a full picture of those risks Of particular concern is a risk of having a variant that escapes the vaccine. We have a high degree of confidence in the vaccines, and confidence that the vaccine will work against the variant that was first identified in the UK, but we have also begun studies on the variants that were first identified in South Africa and Brazil in four laboratories. We will continue to work with our scientists and the UK vaccines taskforce to understand how quickly a new vaccine could be rolled out if needed We have also launched our new variant assessment platform, working in partnership with the World Health Organisation, which offers genomic expertise— something we lead in—to help other countries across the world, because, as I have said, we are only safe when everyone is safe. Much of what the hon. Member for Torfaen suggested sounded a little like he wanted to shut down against the entire world. Only a few months back, he, the hon. Members for Oldham West and Royton (Jim McMahon) and for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) and the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) asked us when we were going to lessen quarantine. We have to have a flexible programme, where we build a response.
Covid Security at UK Borders — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Richard John Holden (Conservative, Centre-right): Everyone in this House, I hope, is clear that we have one common aim: to get the virus under control, and in doing so get back to normal as quickly as possible and save as many lives as we can. For every quarter of a million vaccinations, about 1,000 lives are saved. Every day sooner that we get the economy back open saves us about £1 billion, and crucially jobs and businesses will be saved up and down the country We achieve that by doing two things. First, we must vaccinate the people—the most vulnerable first—and drive down the number of deaths and hospitalisations. Secondly, we must control the movement of people and stop the virus spreading. We have done a huge amount in the UK to limit the spread, and I know that many people are very frustrated by some of the restrictions, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We also have to control the spread from elsewhere. I welcome the measures to ensure that those from red flag countries stay in hotels, but in truth they are just building on what is already in place. For many months, anyone from any country has had to quarantine. Now, given the new variants, it seems sensible that those from the most at-risk countries need to quarantine in hotels. What irks me is the way the Opposition are behaving. The Leader of the Opposition, when in the shadow Cabinet of the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), said at the Dispatch Box: "Why would we want to be outside the European Medicines Agency"?—[Official Report, 31 January 2017; Vol. 620, c. 827.] It was a rhetorical question from a learned Member used to rhetoric in the courtroom. Why indeed? Last year, the shadow Europe Minister, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), suggested that opting out of the European vaccine system would be akin to acting like "dumb and dumber". The Leader of the Opposition posed too clever by half, seemingly unanswerable questions, but now we have a clear answer. Out there in the country they can see why. Britain avoided a bumbling, bureaucratic living nightmare of an EU scheme. Britain’s vaccination rates are four or five times the EU average. Now the Leader of the Opposition pretends he never wanted to be in any EU vaccine scheme, but the public will decide on the facts Today, the shadow Home Secretary comes here to attack the Government, yet he said in a Labour press release on 7 June last year that we must have a "more targeted approach that allows the blunt tool of 14-day quarantine to be lifted" Today, Labour Members have tried to say that it is not hard enough, and that that has always been their position. It is like Labour is trying to conduct a thought experiment with the British people. Schrödinger’s cat has become Starmer’s policy. The British people deserve straight answers at a time of national crisis. That is what they are getting from the Government, and it is a shame that Her Majesty’s Opposition keep flip-flopping all over the place.
Covid Security at UK Borders — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the great pleasures of recent weeks has been to see lines of people queueing up outside in Market Harborough and up in Oadby to get their vaccines against the coronavirus. It has been an inspirational effort, involving everyone from Britain’s amazing scientists to NHS workers—the doctors and nurses who are rolling out the fastest vaccination programme anywhere in Europe. We have now managed to vaccinate more than France, Spain and Italy put together. It is a fantastic effort, where we really are among the world-leaders With that inspirational background in mind, and that success that is bringing us closer every day to getting back to normal—[Inaudible.] Of course there must be support for people in the transport sector who are badly affected by this, and I welcome the fact that somewhere between £2.5 billion and £3 billion of aid has been given to the air transport sector alone, but we are right to tighten the borders to protect the effort we have made on vaccinations It is right that we are bringing in the new 10-day quarantine, with the option to go to five if people—[Inaudible.] I welcome the extra policing—[Inaudible.] I encourage Ministers, in all the different things they are doing, to get things in place and stand ready to go further as appropriate—[Inaudible.] I think that the red list and the hotel quarantine is an excellent idea, and I commend what Ministers are doing there. We are learning from the—[Inaudible.] All have had in common strong health borders, so it is great to see that Ministers will stand ready and will, I am sure, add to that list and tighten that regime further if necessary It is also very good to be bringing in the new requirement that people have to have a negative test within three days of travelling to the UK. Again, let us bring that in —it is an excellent measure—and stand ready to tighten the nut further if necessary. That could perhaps be through, in countries where it is possible, adding a lateral flow test or doing other things to add to the health border Overall, I congratulate Ministers on the decisive steps they are taking. I think it is good to be bringing in these health borders as Britain, now leading the world in vaccinations, tries to get back to normal in a safe way, protecting lives. We have seen today the new South African variant arriving in the UK. That is a warning to us all and shows just why these measures are so desperately needed. I support what Ministers are doing, and I stand ready to support them as they go further and tighten the nut.
Covid Security at UK Borders — House of Commons, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health
Mohammad Saqib Bhatti (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituency is home to Birmingham airport and there is nothing that I would love more than for people to be able to go on holiday, for things to return to normal, and for the airport to be the bustling economic heart of the region that it was before covid. However, that is not the reality that we are in Throughout the pandemic, the health of our country has been at the heart of the Government’s decision making. During the last 12 months, in my view, the Government have taken robust action. I speak of the Government restricting travel from a list of countries in February. In March, the Prime Minister told people to stay at home and to travel only for essential purposes. In May, we experienced further measures, which included a 14-day period of self-isolation for those who travelled back to the UK, passenger locator forms and fines for those who broke the rules. In July, we saw travel corridors introduced, which were kept under constant review. In short, our approach evolved as the scientific data and the global understanding of the pandemic evolved As we continue to move forward towards vaccinating the entire British public, we must take difficult decisions that require tough measures. That is why the latest measures of restrictions were announced, and I support them. It can only be a positive step forward that the police have increased checks to ensure that travellers are complying with self-isolation rules, but the UK continues to refuse entry from a number of countries subject to the travel ban and has introduced of a managed isolation process for those who cannot be refused entry to the UK. This new process, which uses hotels, will require individuals to self-isolate for 10 days. I welcome these new measures, as I believe that they will go a long way to securing the public health of our country As we approach the final days of this pandemic, we must continue to be vigilant against the new strains and rising infection rates. The news of over 9.2 million people having received their first vaccine is extremely encouraging. We simply cannot allow the progress of our world-leading vaccination programme to be hindered. I am sure, however, that Ministers have taken these decisions after much wrangling and it has ultimately been in our national interest. In my view, the Government have taken the right decisions at the right time. Protecting our people and preserving our aviation industry has been paramount, and I will continue to work with the Government as we embark on our path to recovery.
Covid-19 Vaccine Access — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines through multilateral collaboration. We are combining our diplomatic influencing, development expertise, and money to tackle covid-19 and secure vaccines. The UK is a founding member, and one of the largest donors to the COVAX advance market commitment. We have committed £548 million to this international initiative for global equitable access, which through match funding has encouraged other donors to commit an additional $1 billion.
Covid-19 Vaccine Access — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point and I am sure that that is why he will agree with me that the COVAX AMC is such an important tool and facility for us to help developing countries. This particular facility will support access to covid-19 vaccinations for up to 92 developing countries. This will contribute to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021 and the vaccination of 500 million people. Let me be clear, Mr Speaker: the UK is at the forefront of multilateral efforts to ensure equitable global access through the COVAX facility.
Covid-19 Vaccine Access — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): When it comes to vaccines, we have been very clear that we support equitable access. This is a global pandemic. This is a virus that respects no boundaries and no barriers. That is why we are working and leading the way at the forefront of multilateral efforts to ensure we get equitable access through this really important COVAX facility.
Covid-19 Vaccine Access — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): I think this goes to the heart of this particular question today. Our commitment will support access to covid-19 vaccines for up to 92 developing countries by contributing to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021. That is only possible through the COVAX AMC facility, which we have been leading on from the front with our big commitment of £548 million to that facility and the encouragement of others to step up to the mark and reach the $1 billion target, too.
Covid-19 Vaccine Access — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a global pandemic and I commend the work of the Government in the vaccination programme that we have. I look to my constituency and the tremendous work that Walsall Manor Hospital and the Oak Park centre are doing. Alongside that, let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are absolutely committed to equitable access. The global Gavi summit that we held earlier last year was just one example of the leading part that the UK Government are taking when it comes to the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.
Science and Technology: International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Nigel Adams (Conservative, Centre-right): Scientific advances funded by the UK have helped drive reductions in extreme poverty, declines in childhood mortality and increases in life expectancy across the developing world. Our investments, including in affordable rapid diagnostic tests for covid-19 and the world’s first child-friendly antimalarial drug, are delivering benefit to hundreds of millions. We will continue to leverage UK and global scientific excellence and invest in cutting-edge technology and research to provide solutions to critical development challenges.
Science and Technology: International Development — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: Health
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are doing extremely well in rolling out the vaccine in the UK. The AstraZeneca vaccine in particular is potentially deployable in developing countries. Will the Minister say at what point we will pass vaccines that we have ordered that greatly surpass the need of our population to COVAX? Does he agree that it is vital that, in advance of that, we do everything in our power to develop healthcare infrastructure in developing countries, without which a credible vaccine roll-out is just not possible?