argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): You will notice, Dame Rosie, that it is a very uncommon mistake I have made, in that case. I take the scolding in good grace. Thank you, indeed Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to ask his colleagues why they voted five times on the Trade Bill and the Agriculture Bill against protecting these standards. We know—the Scottish public know—what this is all about. They are not daft; they see this. They see that this grubby attempt to make sure that we can get a deal—any deal as long as it is not with the EU—is the reason these things are being sacrificed This Tory UK Government do not care about the views of the experts that we have quoted here today or of the groups that are concerned about these issues. They do not want to hear those views. They simply want to oversee the biggest power grab in the history of devolution Clause 48 reserves state aid. We know that state aid provisions will mirror those of the World Trade Organisation, making an already diminished deal option with the EU even more difficult. Incidentally, Tory claims about the constraints imposed by EU state aid rules are inevitably always exaggerated. Automatic approvals applied to nearly 95% of state aid last year, and this year the EU acted swiftly to sign off on a raft of Government help to aid industry during the pandemic.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Agriculture
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It beggars belief that this kind of intervention attacking EU procedures is being made when the Bill will directly give powers not only to the UK Government to overrule devolution, but to the Secretary of State himself to overrule essentially anything that he wants to. I will return to that point in a moment. The Bill directly undermines the Scottish Parliament’s ability to protect Scottish farmers’ livelihoods. Cheaper meat will drive out quality production. The ability to choose the highest standards in environmental protection and in building control and the ability to keep our NHS and water in public hands will all be affected. The UK Government want private companies to be given a guaranteed right to trade unhindered in Scotland. The UK Government claim that there are exclusions from the principles of non-discrimination, but that is absolutely blown out of the water by the fact that the Secretary of State will retain "a power to alter these exclusions." The hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) wants a backdoor deal. Well, there is one for him; he can do it in the Cabinet Room.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Government Operations
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman discussed the situation in the 1950s and ’60s, and I know that he likes to dwell on that era. I note that he conveniently airbrushed Margaret Thatcher out of the demise of the coal industry in Scotland. For his information, we have trust ports in Scotland, too. Does he get the irony of arguing about another body’s interference in an elected Parliament’s ability to make decisions while he is making this argument? That is exactly what is happening to the Scottish Parliament through the Bill.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: International Affairs
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman makes a point about international law being talked about among his constituents, but can he assure me that the international law of UNCLOS—the United Nations convention on the law of the sea—will be adhered to, despite his Government’s apparent intention to breach international law around this agreement?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Education
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman talks about standards, but he started his speech this afternoon by saying that this was not a race to the bottom. How does he respond to the concerns of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, a professional organisation underpinned by law, which is now looking at having to accept teachers from other parts of the UK who do not reach the professional standards required to teach in Scotland?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Education
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is mischaracterising the attempts by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan) to point out that qualification standards in Scotland are higher than those required in English schools. I can tell him right now that free schools, which are so popular with his Government, are allowed to employ teachers without qualified-teacher status. That is not the case in Scotland. What is his answer to that?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Government Operations
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Of course, it is not a single power. The effect would be felt across many of the devolved powers. If the hon. Gentleman would care to have a look at page 12 of the explanatory notes, he will see that it is explained quite clearly in the paragraph entitled "Constitutional embedding and devolved competence": "the Bill’s provisions create a new limit on the effect of legislation made in exercise of devolved legislative or executive competence."
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Agriculture
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there already exist wide regulatory differences between the four nations of the UK? When I sat on the Committees considering both iterations of the Agriculture Bill, we heard from the National Farmers Unions, and they always wanted any changes to regulations or to approaches in the different nations to be agreed, not imposed, as is happening with this Bill.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Government Operations
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Further to that point, does my hon. Friend not find it extraordinary that, if the Government are so carefully minded to protect the different regulations of the nations of the UK, there is no mechanism in the Bill for negotiating or agreeing minimum standards?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): No, I need to get on The Government say that the Bill creates an internal market based on the principles of the EU single market, but there is a considerable gap between the principles enshrined in EU law and those proposed in the Bill, as I have just demonstrated. Perhaps the Government think it is in Scotland’s best interest for them to take away those controls, because they know best. I, personally, do not expect to be able to change that centuries-old colonial attitude, but it might be worth remembering that there are policies started in Scotland that have subsequently been adopted by the rest of the UK.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: International Affairs
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is talking a lot about this family of nations and how we are all going to come to some sort of agreement, but can he answer the question about there being no internal mechanism within the Bill whereby minimum requirements or an agreed harmonisation of standards could take place?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Education
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If the hon. Gentleman is perfectly happy for our separate legal systems to mean that someone has to be qualified in the given jurisdiction, is he not uncomfortable with the idea that teachers who learn to teach, or who do not get a teaching qualification, in one country can move to another country and teach there? If he is perfectly happy with that, may I talk about—and will he go to the Home Secretary on this—all the teachers I know who have come to this country from other countries across the world, are not allowed to transfer their qualifications and are therefore not allowed to work? If he is happy to provide support on that, I will perhaps think about what he has to say.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Foreign Trade
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I also rise to speak to amendment 89 and the other amendments listed in my name and the names of my colleagues Part 1 of the Bill introduces two key trade mechanisms within the UK for the first time: mutual recognition and non-discrimination. The hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) tries to make these sound benign, but that just shows his lack of ability to see what they look like from any of the devolved nations. Non-discrimination, which is covered in clauses 5 and 6, would affect labelling regarding the source of produce. It would therefore remove the ability for consumers to reduce their food miles or to support local producers if they choose to, and could be used to undermine or challenge protected geographical indicators or the Scottish brand—as in Scotch whisky and Scotch beef. Despite their long tradition and international recognition as Scottish products, we already see the promotion of British whisky and British haggis, of all things Clauses 2 and 3 cover mutual recognition, which creates a powerful deregulatory pressure, because if any UK nation has lower standards or regulations, the other three must just shut up and accept such goods. As England is the largest nation and economically the most powerful, it is assumed that its standards will dominate, particularly as the Secretary of State has the power to change the Bill on a whim if he wishes. Although clause 3(9) says that the Secretary of State "must consult" the devolved nations, I am afraid that the last four years have shown just how worthless and meaningless such a phrase is Clause 3(4) lists the aspects of a product that could come under mutual recognition, including its characteristics, performance standards, packaging and labelling, and certification There is even a catch-all line for "anything not falling within paragraphs (a) to (f)" Basically, every single aspect of commercial goods could be challenged under this legislation The Government claim, as indeed do many on the Conservative Benches, that the Bill is needed to maintain trade throughout the UK, yet previously trade continued without any problems, despite the variations in the four nations’ regulations. All three devolved Governments have been working to agree common frameworks to ensure that there are no obstacles to trade but also that the devolved powers and different priorities of the four nations are respected.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: International Affairs
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that there has been about a year’s worth of work on agreeing common frameworks to deal with difference? The hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) talked about having a consensus. Would that not be a more successful approach than one country bullying the other three?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Agriculture
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Why, then, will the Government refuse to protect those standards in legislation? We have had an Agriculture Bill and a Trade Bill, so there was plenty of opportunity to put in writing the commitment not to go below the levels that we currently have.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Education
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman says that there is no evidence at all that the Government will lower standards, but there is nothing to stop them doing so in the legislation. It is all very well their telling each other, chatting in the corridors and saying to us, "No, don’t worry, we won’t do that". They have to put it in the legislation, otherwise how are we supposed to be clear that we will not have to lower standards against our will?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-22
Topic: Government Operations
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I echo the importance of public procurement remaining a devolved power. The Government contracted Amazon to deliver and collect home tests for covid without bothering to think through the fact that Amazon does not deliver to huge swathes of the Scottish highlands and islands. That kind of ignorance is the reason we need devolution.
EU Trade Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Tomorrow is the day the Prime Minister has set as the deadline for a trade deal with the EU. So far, the devolved Administrations have been left out of the loop or deliberately kept in the dark on some details. Does the Secretary of State believe that withholding key information and detail at such a stage as this shows respect or disrespect to the devolved Administrations?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Yesterday, the founder of BrewDog warned that "the end of the Job Retention Scheme will lead to a tsunami of unemployment" BrewDog is just one of thousands of businesses across Scotland and the United Kingdom demanding that the Tory Government U-turn on their reckless plans to scrap the furlough scheme. There are just two weeks left to save people’s jobs and livelihoods, so in the next fortnight the Prime Minister has two choices: extend the full furlough scheme or inflict a tsunami of unemployment on our people this winter. Which is he going to choose?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My goodness. That really does show that the Prime Minister does not get it. Universal credit— is that really what the Prime Minister is saying to those that could be saved? People do not want to hear the boasting and the excuses that we get; they want action. These half-measures do not cover it. Thousands have already lost their jobs. The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that we have the highest rate of redundancies since 2009. We are heading towards a Tory winter of mass unemployment created by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. We know what the Prime Minister’s Tory colleagues are saying: the Prime Minister’s next job could be on the Back Benches; he just does not know it yet. If the Prime Minister will not U-turn on his plans to scrap furlough, does he realise that he will never—not ever—be forgiven for the damage that he is just about to cause to people up and down Scotland?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Social Welfare
Allan Hopkins Dorans (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister has been asked this question before by my SNP colleagues and others but they have never received a direct response. I therefore ask the Prime Minister again: will he confirm that the temporary £20 universal credit uplift will be made permanent after April next year and that those who are currently excluded from the uplift will be included?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Energy
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My lovely 88-year-old constituent Mary feels foolish for falling for it. She is talking about being mis-sold green deal products by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd, a Government-approved company, in 2013. She is talking about being saddled with a 25-year loan that she must live to 106 to pay off. At the speed with which the complaints are being dealt with by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, I will be 106 by the time we get any kind of resolution. Will the Prime Minister please commit to investigating why Mary, who is watching now, and hundreds of others are waiting years to be compensated for something that happened not because they were foolish, but because they were victims of mis-selling?
Covid-19 Economic Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Labor
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): That was a wonderful addition to try to be a nice Parliamentary Private Secretary, but I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman clearly has absolutely no idea about the £40 million package put forward by the Scottish Government for the hospitality sector. Perhaps when he is sitting on the south coast of England dreaming up these lovely interventions to please his Whips, he would do well to read the full briefing paper The leaders of businesses across the UK agree that ending the furlough and job retention scheme is a very irresponsible and reckless decision, so to avoid mass redundancies, the UK Government must extend the furlough scheme in full. With the huge rise in covid-19 that we have seen so far with the second wave, and with the winter months approaching, now is not the time to be taking chances on job losses.
Covid-19 Economic Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Labor
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Is that not exactly right? One way or the other, the Government are going to have to pay for this. They are going to have to meet the costs, and they can either do that by extending job support schemes by looking at really imaginative, creative, long-term support such as universal incomes, or through universal credit and all the social consequences that come from long-term unemployment and taking us back to the Thatcherite 1980s.
Covid-19 Economic Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend, but I have to say that I did give the UK Government a degree of praise at the beginning of the pandemic, because it did seem that they were moving in a way that perhaps was not part of traditional Tory ideology, with a lot more state intervention and a lot more Government support. I think there were quite a few of us in this House who, while we would disagree enormously on the politics, welcomed the fact that the Chancellor was willing to be innovative and try new things One thing I would say is that nobody prepares us for a global pandemic. Politicians and people in this House have seen recessions and people have seen wars, but nobody prepares us for a pandemic. Yes, there has to be a degree of flexibility on the part of all of us in this House, but the thing I am most concerned about is that the British Government seem to have moved away from those creative, innovative solutions they had at the beginning of the year. We now find ourselves in the midst of a second wave, and all of a sudden that dynamism and creativity the Chancellor has been credited with seems to have gone away, because of the pressure that comes from people on the 1922 committee. I do not think that people on the whole are going to forgive that.
Covid-19 Economic Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am not sure that the official Opposition are proposing multiple circuit breaks, to be fair to them, but it is not my job to defend the policy of the Labour party. However, what I will defend is the approach of the SNP Scottish Government, who are trying to do this in a balanced way, but we would like to see a lot more financial flexibility to do that. It would help if the UK Government gave us those financial powers. That is what I would say to the hon. Gentleman on that I want to come on to that very point, and highlight the work that the Scottish Government have done in supporting business during the second wave of the pandemic. The Scottish Government’s total package for businesses is over £2.3 billion. That is more than the consequentials received from the UK Government. As I mentioned to the hon. Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall), the Scottish Government are making an additional £40 million available to support businesses that will be affected by the new measures, and will work with affected sectors in the coming days. I am in no doubt of that. My city of Glasgow is one of those that have been under local lockdown restrictions, and the restaurants and bars in my constituency have had to shut down, but we have recognised when we have asked them to shut down, which is a way of trying to reduce the spread of the virus, that support must be coming The Scottish Government will continue to discuss with businesses how the support package we have offered can mitigate some or all of the employer’s contribution to the UK job retention scheme. We have put in place a £230 million "restart the economy" capital stimulus package to help stimulate the economy following the pandemic. We have announced details of a £38 million package of support for innovative early stage businesses. We have committed £2.2 million of funding to the Music Venue Trust, which will provide stability to grassroots music venues over the coming months What all this should highlight is that the UK Government’s financial plans have been and continue to be inadequate—excluding the self-employed, freelancers and artists; prematurely ending the furlough scheme; and refusing to make permanent the £20 increase in universal credit. Where we have had the power, the Scottish Government have spent £6.5 billion on tackling covid—above the Barnett consequentials—and they are doing all they can and all within their powers to support businesses across Scotland That is the issue at hand. There is only so much that the Scottish Government can do when the vast majority of Scotland’s tax and spending decisions are taken here in Westminster. The fact is that the Government cancelling the UK Budget simply demonstrates that Scotland remains an afterthought for the Tories. I would be more than happy to give way to the Chancellor if he can stand up and give some sort of clarity to Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance about what budget we are supposed to set when the Government have just gone ahead in this way.
Covid-19 Economic Support Package — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend not think the Chancellor’s intervention was rather peculiar? The Chancellor is, of course, absolutely right that the Scottish Government can set a Budget, notwithstanding that it would be blind, but, depending on the Chancellor’s decisions, it may lead to subsequent in-year cuts or in-year changes. I am sure this Chancellor would not tolerate it if someone else was setting part of his Budget.
Electricity Generation: Local Suppliers — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Government Operations
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is being very generous with his time. As we hear from the interventions, there are local groups and bodies around the country that are desperate to have these opportunities. Partick Community Council in my constituency, which is a very concentrated urban area, is keen to find out how it can innovate and use the abilities being proposed.
Electricity Generation: Local Suppliers — House of Commons, 2020-10-14
Topic: Energy
David Michael Doogan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I do not want to anticipate where the hon. Gentleman is going with this list, but one of the key opportunities that a right to local supply would present to our communities right across these islands is to allow for more entrepreneurial councils to generate electricity locally for communities, as the chief executive of Angus Council has suggested. Does he agree with that ambition?