argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israeli Settlements — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, congratulate the Members who have brought this motion to the House, given how important the issue is These are fitful times. As we move into the centenary year of the Balfour declaration, it is chilling to see the President of the United States openly promote those with hideous anti-Semitic views or in France to watch the rise of a presidential candidate whose party has for decades traded in the despicable sewers of anti-Jewish sentiment. That makes it all the more important for us in Britain to uphold our principles, and to speak out in a clear voice when our allies threaten them The departure from our steadfast commitment to a peaceful two-state solution in recent months has sent dangerous signals to the rest of the world. As the United Nations Human Rights Council found, while fenced areas of settlements cover only 3% of the west bank, in reality 43% of the territory is allocated to local and regional settlement councils. If that control is legalised, legitimised and expanded, it represents one of the most grievous blows to the prospects for peace for decades. It was therefore astonishing when our Prime Minister chose to use a balanced speech by the outgoing United States Secretary of State to signal a divergence from the position of our closest ally Senator Kerry spoke of a Government "more committed to settlements" than any previous Government, and of the systematic consolidation of control over the west bank that is leading towards the inevitability of one state and the near extinction of the prospects for peace. The outgoing Obama Administration reacted with understandable shock to the criticism, which stemmed not from the Foreign Office but from the Prime Minister herself. They said: "We are surprised by the UK Prime Minister’s office statement given that Secretary Kerry’s remarks…were in line with the UK’s own long-standing policy and its vote at the United Nations" I have no doubt that that criticism, and the warm embrace of a new President in the United States who is determined to support existing settlements, emboldened the Israeli Government, who have announced, for the first time in decades, thousands of new buildings in the occupied territories. Our absence from the European Council in Malta, when the decision was taken to postpone a scheduled summit in late February with the Prime Minister of Israel, underscored our diminishing influence There can rarely have been a time in the post-war world when our moral voice has been quite so weak. I urge the Government not to jettison our historic role and credibility as a partner of peace for the sake of a quick trade deal. I urge the Minister to do what the Prime Minister could not, and condemn the land regularisation legislation that seeks to legitimise the illegitimate and will do untold damage in the long search for peace.
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israeli Settlements — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
James Fitzpatrick (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful for being called to speak briefly, and I am pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh) In opening the debate, the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) made most of the points that needed to be made about the settlements, and those who spoke after him added significantly to what he had said, from both perspectives of the conflict. I have received nearly 100 emails from constituents asking me to support the debate. On their behalf, I thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving me the opportunity to do so, and also thank the sponsors for securing the debate Like other Members who have spoken, I want to see a two-state solution, but that seems more remote than ever. I look forward to hearing the Minister not only outline—or rather repeat—the UK Government’s support for peace, but, more importantly, to explain how the Government intend to contribute to the task of helping to bring the two sides together. As has been said by the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) and others, face-to-face talks are the only way forward Settlement building by the Israeli Government seems totally contrary to any peace process. Briefing circulated by the Britain-Palestine all-party parliamentary group, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden), states: "The influx of settlers into the West Bank and East Jerusalem significantly increases tension in the region" That includes "Violence perpetrated by and against settlers. Freedom of movement restrictions on the Palestinian population. Detention and prosecution of Palestinian adults and children in military courts. House demolitions. Land expropriation. Restrictions on agricultural and other economic activity." All those matters have been referred to during today’s debate These decisions by the Israeli Government not only do not help the desperate situation in the area, but, in my opinion, make it worse. However, I recognise the provocation, and it is important to emphasise that that provocation is not one-sided As has been said, 2017 is a very significant year historically. It is the anniversary of the Balfour declaration, the UN partition and the 1967 war, among other events. Is it too much to hope that history will bear down on those involved to restart talks? I do not overestimate our role, but the UK is a significant player, both historically and diplomatically, as was eloquently articulated by the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone). I look forward to hearing both the Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) outline how it can best play its part As we have heard from every Member who has spoken so far, we all want peace, but, as many have observed, it seems very far away, and, in my view, the settlement building is not helping.
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israeli Settlements — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Lyn Carol Brown (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, but I will stand According to the United Nations, a quarter of households in the occupied territories have insecure access to food, and an estimated 1 million are in need of health and nutrition assistance. The UN estimates that, overall, 2 million people in the occupied territories will need some form of humanitarian help in 2017. It summarises the situation as "a systematic denial of Palestinian rights", and "a man-made humanitarian crisis that has gone on for far too long" The Government have confirmed that in the past year, 1,010 Palestinian homes and other buildings have been destroyed, dismantled or confiscated in area C and east Jerusalem—the highest figure in east Jerusalem since 2000—leaving 1,476 people, including 696 children, displaced and vulnerable. I am sure we all agree that those figures are very disturbing, and speak to the pain and trauma of many families. As well as dismantling Palestinian homes, the Israeli authorities demolished 274 "humanitarian structures": tents, shelters, and buildings housing the homeless. The UN said that that situation was unprecedented; it is unprecedented, but it is also intolerable and inhumane This disregard for human rights does not just apply in Gaza and the west bank. Recently, I asked a series of parliamentary questions about the Bedouin communities in Israel, and in particular the village of Umm al-Hiran near Hura. It appears that a forced demolition is taking place at this village—something condemned as "a blatant and ugly episode of discrimination mirroring Israel’s unlawful settlements." As we have heard, the Israeli Parliament passed a law that legalised 4,000 Israeli settlement buildings, in direct contravention both of international law and previous decisions of the Israeli courts. The Minister knows that the new US President has expressed strong support for Israel, even going so far as to suggest that UN resolution 2334—a clear and straightforward reaffirmation of international principles—would not have been passed if it had been put forward after his inauguration Does the Minister think that Israel’s recent acceleration of its illegal settlement policies is in any way linked to the change of US President? Is there now geopolitical cover for settlement expansion, provided by the US? If so, what can the Minister do about it To date, the Government’s response has been to express concern. They have "expressed concern" for a long time about the continuing settlement policy. In answer to my questions about the forced demolition of Bedouin homes, they were "concerned by recent reports of violence", and just this week they expressed their official "concern" about the land regularisation Bill that passed through the Israeli Parliament.
Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israeli Settlements — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): I should like to thank the Backbench Business Committee for scheduling this debate. I visited the west bank and Jerusalem in January, and I should like to draw the House’s attention to what will soon appear in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: the support of the Britain Palestine Communication Centre, the President’s office and the Palestinian Mission. Every Palestinian we met—Palestinian Authority members, elected city leaders, political activists and young people—subscribed to the two-state solution and wanted help in ensuring that it is achieved. I saw, as did other colleagues, the settlements marching across the hills over expropriated land, usually illegally. I saw the diverted roads, which Palestinians are not allowed to use, and I saw the march of the fence and the wall through old fields. I saw the occupation and destruction of the old city of Hebron, and the closed businesses there. Yes, the settlements are the issue of today, but if we want to address stone throwing and other violence by Palestinian children, we need only to look at the daily incidents of brutalisation to which they and their families have been subjected for decades We visited the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which provided us with accurate, factual information showing that 43% of the west bank is out of bounds to Palestinians. Its maps show a Swiss cheese of disjointed areas of Palestinian land, with the Palestinians effectively excluded from the rest, even if they have historical ownership over it. Hours after meeting our Prime Minister recently, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu returned to Israel to vote on a law that allows the Israeli state to seize land privately owned by Palestinians on the west bank and to grant Jewish settlements exclusive use of the properties there. The decision on 24 January did indeed order 40 or 50 families to be moved from the Amona outpost, but in the same week, approval was given for 2,500 new dwellings on the west bank and 566 new settlement houses in East Jerusalem, taking over thousands of acres of Palestinian land The recent legislation imposed Israeli law on Palestinian inhabitants of the west bank, which is not sovereign Israeli territory. The Palestinians living there are not citizens of Israel and do not have the right to vote, but the Israelis living there do. Israeli civil law applies to settlers, affording them all sorts of legal protections, rights and benefits not enjoyed by their Palestinian neighbours, who are subject to Israeli military law. Palestinians should not be made to go through the indignity of negotiating over territory that should be theirs in a future state. This should be an international negotiation in which our Government should play a major part.
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Education
John Mann (Labour, Centre-left): A major scandal is emerging of private companies running 16-to-18 football and other sports academies funded by the Department for Education. For example, a company called Gemeg, which operates in my area, is behind a football academy serving Worksop Town football club. We and the public were told that the company was run by Doncaster College, but when it collapsed, we found that it had been run by the College of West Anglia, which is 100 miles away. West Anglia claims that the operation took place for five months in Nottingham, but I can find no evidence that anyone ever went to Nottingham for five months. That involves 23 different students, and what I do know is that zero qualified in English and zero qualified in maths, and that the FA’s safeguarding policies in schools were being breached. I make this offer to the FA. We in my area, with the local authority, the schools and the local FA, can provide best practice in safeguarding in football. At present, the systems at the grassroots are shambolic and must be overhauled Let me put in a word in defence for the FA. It was the FA that took action on Anelka and the quenelle. It is the FA that has taken action on racism. It is not the FA that is responsible for football clubs not employing black and Asian coaches. It is the premier league clubs, the Football League clubs, and the league clubs in other structures that is failing to do so. The FA actually has been training people up. It is the FA’s work that has led to the huge development of women’s football The insidious power not least of the Premier League, but also of the other professional clubs, in running the FA for their own purposes is a fundamental weakness. We should not forget people such as Jack Tarr in my area, who drew up the fixtures that made sure that Bassetlaw has more kids playing football in schools than anywhere else in Britain. We are asking the FA and the Government to give us some of this resource. If only the equivalent of the taxpayers’ bill for policing just one premier league fixture of major consequence could be put into facilities in my area. Some 600 people watched Retford versus Worksop last Saturday, but neither club owns its own ground and neither club can get investment to develop its facilities. Give us the chance to do that. These problems run deep in football, where the money runs very thick On safeguarding, we should use the money as leverage. We should use it as leverage on diversity and on bringing women and girls into football. We are delivering the youths; give us the chance to develop the sport. That is the real challenge for the FA. Of course its structure is outdated, but let us have some of that money from the professional game and clubs into the grassroots.
Changes to funding for 3 and 4 year olds in Walsall South — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Education
Valerie Carol Marian Vaz (Labour, Centre-left): A petition in similar terms has been signed by 65 people The petition states: The petition of residents of the UK, Declares that the Government’s consultation paper (Early Years Funding: changes to funding for 3 and 4 year olds 11/08/16) outlined proposals that will leave nursery schools financially nonviable, forcing them to close; notes that this funding will not cover basic costs, let alone staffing with qualified teachers; and further notes that state nursery schools have very good outcomes with regard to closing the achievement gap and supporting children with special needs, and that state nursery schools are legally required to employ highly-qualified staff, who are proven to give young children the best opportunities for academic achievement and enabling social mobility The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge the Government to recognise the school status of State nursery schools and fund them accordingly And the petitioners remain, etc [P002011]
UK Science — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): Page 98 of the Government’s industrial strategy talks about the importance of long-term institutions. Many of those who work in the science-based industries in Wirral and elsewhere feel that the single market is a long-term institution that has served them well. Has the Minister asked the Prime Minister to change course and keep our country in the single market?
Small Business Growth — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Labor
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Small businesses in Doncaster have expressed concern to me about how they can access apprenticeship schemes. Will the Minister work with the Department for Education and draw up a regional analysis—especially for Yorkshire and the Humber—of how small businesses can access those schemes effectively, particularly in the light of the apprenticeship levy?
Energy Infrastructure — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Energy
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): The country needs 21st century systems such as smart metering. Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the roll-out, and will he have a word with the energy companies to stop them blaming the Government for smart metering being part of the hike in energy prices that is ripping off the consumer?
Energy Infrastructure — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Energy
Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister mentioned the capacity market. I am sure he will agree that the prime purpose of that market has been to procure new infrastructure capacity. Will he tell me how many new gas-fired power stations have been procured with the £3.4 billion that has been spent so far on the capacity market? What plans does he have to improve that number?
Gig Economy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Labor
Jessica Rose Phillips (Labour, Centre-left): The number of freelancing moms has increased by 79% since 2008. Although I welcome the Government’s announcement that they will consult further in the summer on fairer maternity pay for self-employed moms, this was recommended 13 months ago. Why has it taken the Government so long to act on this crucial issue for these women when it took a stroke of a pen to increase their taxes?
Gig Economy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Labor
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Minister begin to understand the sense of grievance on the part of the growing army of the self-employed who are reluctant conscripts to self-employment in the gig economy? They work in a twilight world of insecurity without basic rights, but they will now have to pay more in tax although there was not one measure in the Budget to put the burden on the shoulders of those truly responsible: the Ubers of this world.
Industrial Strategy: West Midlands — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Transportation
Robert Howard Marris (Labour, Centre-left): In passing, may I say that it was the black country that was the birthplace of the industrial revolution, not Coalbrookdale? However, on transport spending, which is key to the industrial strategy for the west midlands, when does the Secretary of State expect to persuade his colleague the Secretary of State for Transport to spend as much per capita in the west midlands as in London?
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Secretary of State share my concern that the implementation of an industrial strategy led by the big players will focus solely on the big players? What is he doing to ensure that the small and medium-sized enterprises in those sectors, which are often the engine rooms, get their fair say and their fair share?
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Education
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): Cyber-security is one of the most important sectors for this country’s growth, but the UK has the highest skills gap in cyber-security in the world. Does the Secretary of State think that the Government’s current commitment to educate 1% of our students in cyber-security by 2021 is anywhere near good enough?
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: I welcome the £90 million that the Chancellor has given in the Budget for PhD places. Has the Secretary of State determined how they will be distributed and whether the academically excellent area of Cambridgeshire will benefit from this funding?; The aerospace sector is of vital importance to the economy in the north-west of England. In December, I was delighted to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick ahead of its £50 million expansion of its Pendle site. How can the Government’s industrial strategy help to further the growth of our aerospace sector?
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): The BEIS Committee’s recent report stated that the industrial strategy Green Paper "provides little clarity on how…sectoral deals will work in practice", and that it appears to lack "political will", falling short of "providing a clear framework for decision making in the long term." Is it lack of clarity or lack of political will that has led to a bespoke Brexit deal for certain manufacturers while leaving others, and indeed other industries, in a state of uncertainty?
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: I welcome the £90 million that the Chancellor has given in the Budget for PhD places. Has the Secretary of State determined how they will be distributed and whether the academically excellent area of Cambridgeshire will benefit from this funding?; The aerospace sector is of vital importance to the economy in the north-west of England. In December, I was delighted to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick ahead of its £50 million expansion of its Pendle site. How can the Government’s industrial strategy help to further the growth of our aerospace sector?
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): Oh, the Secretary of State is cheeky! He might want to refer to the report, because it also states that the White Paper on exiting the EU failed to meaningfully refer to an industrial strategy "and reinforces a lack of coordination between the Government’s major challenge and its principal plank of business policy." Given that last week’s Budget failed to mention Brexit or the industrial strategy, does the Secretary of State agree with the recent Foreign Affairs Committee report that the Government have provided "no evidence" of industrial contingency planning in the event of no deal? If that is so, what is his no deal plan?
Renewable Energy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Energy
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): We have heard a lot about the importance of small business this morning. There are 44,000 small businesses that have their own solar microgenerators. Currently, they are exempt from business rates, but from 1 April they face an 800% increase in business rates, which is clearly damaging for them and for the solar industry. I hope that that is not deliberate, so will the Minister meet the Chancellor to see what can be done to relieve the situation?