argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Free Trade Promotion — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): One thing that free trade depends on is investment. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to promote outward direct investment by the UK to help those countries with which we would like to engage in greater free trade?
Free Trade Promotion — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Mark Prisk (Conservative, Centre-right): Those who advocate protectionism often claim that free trade means a free-for-all. It is not. May I urge the Secretary of State to make it clear that free trade means trading within the rule of law, with clear remedies to the benefit of everyone?
Free Trade Promotion — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): The WTO and the rules-based system is under attack, it has to be said, today. If the WTO did not exist we would have to invent it. There is a need for a rules-based system, otherwise we would have a free-for-all. The alternative to a rules-based system is a deals-based system, which might be fine for some of the biggest economies but would not help many of the smaller developing economies. It is our moral duty to ensure that there is fair play across trade.
Foreign Direct Investment — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): To ensure that we continue to be a global leader in attracting foreign direct investment, the Department for International Trade has launched a new FDI strategy that will deliver new ways to target support for those projects that create the most value for investors and national wealth. I am pleased to say that 2016-17 was a record year for FDI projects landing in the UK, showing that the fundamentals of the UK economy are strong.
Foreign Direct Investment — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): We regularly ask our investors why they put money in the UK and the answers are very similar. They say that the British legal system provides certainty and predictability. We have a skilled workforce. We have a good, predictable regulatory system and a low-taxation economy. We speak English. We have some of the best universities and some of the best access to tech, and we are in a good time zone for global trading. None of those, incidentally, depends on our membership of the European Union.
Leaving the EU: Third-country Trade Deals — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Leaving the EU means, for the first time in over 40 years, we will from next March be able to sign and ratify new trade deals. We are currently party to about 40 international trade agreements and are committed to securing continuity of those agreements. We have also established 14 trade working groups in major markets to explore the best ways of developing new trade and investment relationships post Brexit.
Leaving the EU: Third-country Trade Deals — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Stephen William Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. He will know, as I do, that international regulatory standards are what fuel international trade. For the continuation of those deals and opportunities, does he agree that regulatory alignment will be necessary to secure the best British deals post Brexit?
Leaving the EU: Third-country Trade Deals — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: Ministers have said that trade with Commonwealth countries will be important after Brexit and the Minister will be aware that currently our trading arrangements with many African and Caribbean Commonwealth countries are by virtue of the Cotonou agreement, which is due to be renegotiated during the transition period. Will the Minister say what trade arrangements he expects we will have with those countries once the new agreement with the EU takes effect?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): As I say, up to the end of 2020, the UK will remain party to those agreements as they stand. We are also putting in significant efforts to make sure that the substance of those agreements rolls over beyond that. That is why we have signed memorandums of understanding with, for example, the South African Development Community—the South African customs area—CARIFORUM and the eastern and southern African economic partnership agreement group. That is work that is making good progress.
Leaving the EU: Preferential Market Access — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that the UK maintains preferential market access to those countries with which it currently has such access as a member of the EU after leaving the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are committed to securing continuity of existing EU trade agreements and other preferential arrangements as we leave the EU. The draft withdrawal agreement confirms EU international agreements continue to apply to the UK during the implementation period. We are working to ensure continuity of those arrangements after that.
Leaving the EU: Preferential Market Access — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that the UK maintains preferential market access to those countries with which it currently has such access as a member of the EU after leaving the EU.
Stephen Daniel Double (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister agree that one of the big opportunities from leaving the EU is that we can negotiate trade deals that best suit the UK, rather than being tied into the other 27 member states?
Leaving the EU: Preferential Market Access — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that the UK maintains preferential market access to those countries with which it currently has such access as a member of the EU after leaving the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very important point. That is why we have these 14 trade working groups with major markets around the world. We are in active discussions with those counterparts and we have the benefit, from March next year, of the ability to negotiate, sign and ratify trade agreements with them.
Leaving the EU: Preferential Market Access — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What steps he is taking to ensure that the UK maintains preferential market access to those countries with which it currently has such access as a member of the EU after leaving the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): We had significant exchanges on this during the Trade Bill Committee and the scrutiny arrangements are enshrined in that Bill, which I note again that the hon. Gentleman voted against. He will also know that these agreements have already been scrutinised in this House under existing EU scrutiny procedures, and there are precise arrangements set out in the Bill for how we go forward from here.
Commonwealth Countries: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department continues to work with the 24 Commonwealth countries that are part of the EU’s economic partnership agreements or other preferential arrangements to ensure that there is no disruption to our existing trade. We also have regular discussions with Australia and New Zealand on our future bilateral trading relationships through our trade working groups. With Canada, we already have an agreement in place in CETA—the comprehensive economic and trade agreement—which will form the basis of a UK-Canada agreement once we have left the European Union.
Commonwealth Countries: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Robert William Henry Seely (Conservative, Centre-right): That is good news. Firms in my constituency such as GKN-Melrose, Vestas and BAE Systems export across the Commonwealth and the wider world. Is my right hon. Friend confident that post Brexit, we will be able to continue and grow that trade?
Commonwealth Countries: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): Very confident. I pay tribute to the companies such as BAE and GKN that he mentions in his constituency, which are exemplary exporters. We intend to have an open and comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union. We intend to take advantage of the fact that the International Monetary Fund says that 90% of the global trade increase will be outside Europe in the next 10 to 15 years, and we have a new export strategy to support all exporters, including the ones that he mentions in his constituency.
Commonwealth Countries: Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the main problems with India, of course, is the tariff that it applies on whisky. We have been involved in a trade review with India for some months now, and part of the process is to look at the areas where we require liberalisation to bring our two economies close enough to be able to consider a free trade agreement. The high tariff applied on Scotch whisky by India is one of the impediments, and we continue to urge them to reduce that.
EU Free Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: If he will take steps to ensure that the UK has third-party membership of current EU free trade agreements to maintain compliance with rules of origin requirements after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Since the draft withdrawal agreement confirms that international agreements continue to apply to the UK during the implementation period, common rules of origin will remain until the end of 2020. We are keen, of course, to avoid disruption to supply chains, so we are working to secure continuity after this.
EU Free Trade Agreements — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: If he will take steps to ensure that the UK has third-party membership of current EU free trade agreements to maintain compliance with rules of origin requirements after the UK leaves the EU.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the hon. Lady is referring to the EU’s current set of more than 40 agreements with more than 70 counterparts. That is a matter for active discussions. We are obviously trying to secure the best possible deal for UK motor manufacturers, not only those involved with the finished product but those who provide the components, as part of our talks with third parties.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): My Department is responsible for foreign and outward direct investment, for establishing an independent trade policy, and for export promotion. I am delighted to announce that my Department recently appointed John Mahon as our new director general for exports; he will oversee the delivery of the Government’s export strategy. Later today, my fellow Ministers and I will be in Stirling for the third meeting of the Board of Trade.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Rachel Helen Maclean (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Department’s focus on international trade. I am delighted to hear that the Redditch eastern gateway is included in a project and strategy that the Secretary of State will announce today. Will he update the House on what he will do to bring much-needed international investment into Redditch?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): Later today I shall outline a project to attract £30 billion of foreign direct investment to the United Kingdom. Many projects, such as the one mentioned by my hon. Friend, are not necessarily visible to global investors, but our new website will ensure that we can attract more investment in middle-sized opportunities, which will genuinely help to bring prosperity to constituencies such as my hon. Friend’s.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: In 2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?; I hope that the Secretary of State enjoyed his recent visit to Aberdeen, which is probably the most productive part of Scotland, let alone the United Kingdom. Does he agree that the oil and gas industry is a deserving recipient of the export finance that is boosting that valuable sector?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I did indeed enjoy my visit to Aberdeen, where I was able to chair a roundtable of companies from across the oil and gas industries as well as meeting senior figures from the Wood Group. Representatives of UK Export Finance were present at both meetings, and, as my hon. Friend will know, we are more than happy for UKEF facilities to be made available to the sector.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: In 2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?; I hope that the Secretary of State enjoyed his recent visit to Aberdeen, which is probably the most productive part of Scotland, let alone the United Kingdom. Does he agree that the oil and gas industry is a deserving recipient of the export finance that is boosting that valuable sector?; Given the uncertainty over the future customs arrangements between this country and the rest of Europe, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that training is provided for the additional customs officials who will be needed to deal with the probable extra workload?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): That is not, in fact, the duty of the Department. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is responsible for customs in the United Kingdom. None the less, HMRC has received extra funds from the Treasury to ensure that preparations are made for Brexit.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: In 2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?; I hope that the Secretary of State enjoyed his recent visit to Aberdeen, which is probably the most productive part of Scotland, let alone the United Kingdom. Does he agree that the oil and gas industry is a deserving recipient of the export finance that is boosting that valuable sector?; Given the uncertainty over the future customs arrangements between this country and the rest of Europe, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that training is provided for the additional customs officials who will be needed to deal with the probable extra workload?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): It was my pleasure to address the hon. Gentleman’s all-party group on India only last week, and we have a huge success story. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has talked about the trade audit—the trade review—that we have done with India. I can also report that bilateral trade has increased by 15% over the last year, and we remain the largest G20 investor in India, with British companies currently employing around 788,000 people in India.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: In 2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?; I hope that the Secretary of State enjoyed his recent visit to Aberdeen, which is probably the most productive part of Scotland, let alone the United Kingdom. Does he agree that the oil and gas industry is a deserving recipient of the export finance that is boosting that valuable sector?; Given the uncertainty over the future customs arrangements between this country and the rest of Europe, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that training is provided for the additional customs officials who will be needed to deal with the probable extra workload?
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State to my constituency last week where he could see that, from food and drink to oil and gas, Aberdeen is best placed to take on the opportunities of Brexit. I thank my right hon. Friend’s Department for promoting Aberdeen’s £150 million Queen’s Square project this afternoon. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the benefits to Scotland of extending the high potential opportunity scheme, and does it not show that Scotland is better off in the United Kingdom?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: In 2017, Britain sold £216 million worth of military contracts and supplies to Israel and £571 million worth to Turkey. The disproportionate use of deadly force by those nations against Palestinian and Kurdish citizens has been rightly condemned. Does the Minister agree that the UK needs a transparent and human rights-oriented arms trade to ensure that this country does not enable brutal attacks to be made on civilians?; I hope that the Secretary of State enjoyed his recent visit to Aberdeen, which is probably the most productive part of Scotland, let alone the United Kingdom. Does he agree that the oil and gas industry is a deserving recipient of the export finance that is boosting that valuable sector?; Given the uncertainty over the future customs arrangements between this country and the rest of Europe, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that training is provided for the additional customs officials who will be needed to deal with the probable extra workload?
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the benefits of having a UK-wide Department is that we are able to use economies of scale to lever international investment into the whole of the United Kingdom. My hon. Friend will be aware that a number of projects in Scotland are being highlighted today during our visit to Stirling, and it is much better to have a UK-wide Department able to bring investment to all parts of the United Kingdom than to have it broken up and fragmented.
STEM Careers — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Education
Victoria Grace Ford (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister to her new responsibilities and thank her for her commitment to women studying science and maths. In Britain the percentage of women doing engineering is the worst in Europe: fewer than one in five of those studying physics A-level are female. I am going straight from here to the Institute of Physics. Will the Minister back up the Government’s words with action: break the deadlock and support prizes and grants for girls studying physics?
STEM Careers — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Education
Penelope Mary Mordaunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly do that. My hon. Friend can take that message very strongly to the meeting she is about to attend, and I thank her for the work she is doing to promote these careers and qualifications to girls. We fund the Stimulating Physics Network, which provides schools with the means to improve progression to physics A-level. The network provides activities specifically to increase the proportion of girls taking physics A-level.
Gender Pay Gap: Action Plans — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Labor
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted that 10,212 employers have now reported their gender pay gap, as of 9 o’clock this morning. That is 95% of eligible employers. Of course, reporting is just the first step, and it is important that employers now take action to close the gender pay gap in their businesses and organisations. Many have already published action plans, and we are working to support employers to take action to close those gaps.
Freelance Workers: Shared Parental Leave — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: If she will discuss with Cabinet colleagues the potential benefits for women of bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce shared parental leave for freelance workers.
Andrew James Griffiths (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has raised this issue with me in the House before with his usual tenacity and clarity. Family leave and pay entitlements focus on supporting employed parents, because they do not generally have as much flexibility or autonomy in taking time off. However, we are not ruling out further support for self-employed parents, but that must be considered carefully in the wider context of tax, benefits and rights over the long term.
Freelance Workers: Shared Parental Leave — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: If she will discuss with Cabinet colleagues the potential benefits for women of bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce shared parental leave for freelance workers.
Andrew James Griffiths (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly understand the hon. Gentleman’s impatience, but progress is being made. He will know that a self-employed mother who wants to return to work without using her full maternity allowance entitlement can now convert that into 37 weeks of shared parental leave and pay for the employed father or partner. The hon. Gentleman can rest assured that we are considering the matter with great interest, and I will try to update him as soon as possible.
Freelance Workers: Shared Parental Leave — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Social Welfare
Questions: If she will discuss with Cabinet colleagues the potential benefits for women of bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce shared parental leave for freelance workers.
Andrew James Griffiths (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend. I assure him that Alice’s arrival into the world has certainly given me a greater understanding of the joy that comes from parenthood. The "Share the joy" campaign is a Government initiative to promote the benefits of shared parental leave, because we want more parents to enjoy that time with their newborn baby. My hon. Friend can rest assured that we will continue to promote shared parental leave to get more parents to enjoy it.
Business: Representation of Women — House of Commons, 2018-05-17
Topic: Labor
Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed. We have a scheme for exactly that. At the moment, we are looking at how best to spend that money, and I have a particular focus on teachers and social care workers to see if we can encourage them back into their professions. There is a much bigger challenge here for the private sector to make sure that women who have taken a break for caring reasons are encouraged back into the workforce, because we know that financial independence is a critical factor in making sure women have successful lives.