argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka achieved an historic opportunity for justice for the victims of grave human rights abuses in that country? Will his Department continue to scrutinise the implementation of that resolution?; Turkey is currently hosting 2.5 million refugees, including 2.2 million Syrians, and organisations based in Turkey are struggling to alleviate the rank poverty and conditions affecting those refugees. Does the Secretary of State agree that the UK should play its part in helping to co-ordinate a new response to take appropriate action to help those affected?; Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the best way of bringing a long-term solution to the migration crisis is to work with our partners to ensure good governance and economic growth in the middle east?; Since September there has been a worrying resurgence in intercommunal fighting in the Central African Republic after the reported beheading of a young Muslim taxi driver. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced, and there is now genuine concern that the conflict will descend into genocide, and worse. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House that the British Government are providing political and humanitarian support to the President of the Central African Republic?; Will the Foreign Secretary outline how many ISIL fighters remain in Iraq, and what would be required to remove that murderous organisation from that country?
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Foreign Secretary update the House on the case of Karl Andree and what representations have been made since the cancellation of the Saudi prison contract last week; and perhaps also on the case of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, about whom the Leader of the Opposition has again written to the Prime Minister?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka achieved an historic opportunity for justice for the victims of grave human rights abuses in that country? Will his Department continue to scrutinise the implementation of that resolution?; Turkey is currently hosting 2.5 million refugees, including 2.2 million Syrians, and organisations based in Turkey are struggling to alleviate the rank poverty and conditions affecting those refugees. Does the Secretary of State agree that the UK should play its part in helping to co-ordinate a new response to take appropriate action to help those affected?; Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the best way of bringing a long-term solution to the migration crisis is to work with our partners to ensure good governance and economic growth in the middle east?; Since September there has been a worrying resurgence in intercommunal fighting in the Central African Republic after the reported beheading of a young Muslim taxi driver. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced, and there is now genuine concern that the conflict will descend into genocide, and worse. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House that the British Government are providing political and humanitarian support to the President of the Central African Republic?; Will the Foreign Secretary outline how many ISIL fighters remain in Iraq, and what would be required to remove that murderous organisation from that country?; What representations have been made by Ministers to the Government of China and to the Chinese ambassador in London on the human rights situation there, particularly with regard to the recent arrest and detention of a substantial number of lawyers and rights campaigners?
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): Vice is an online news service based in Shoreditch. Recently, three of its journalists were arrested in Turkey. Thanks partly to the intervention of the Foreign Office, the two British citizens were released from jail, but Mohammed Rasool, an Iraqi citizen, is still in jail 50 days later. Will the Foreign Secretary undertake to take this matter up with the Turkish Government, and, generally, the press freedom needed in that country?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka achieved an historic opportunity for justice for the victims of grave human rights abuses in that country? Will his Department continue to scrutinise the implementation of that resolution?; Turkey is currently hosting 2.5 million refugees, including 2.2 million Syrians, and organisations based in Turkey are struggling to alleviate the rank poverty and conditions affecting those refugees. Does the Secretary of State agree that the UK should play its part in helping to co-ordinate a new response to take appropriate action to help those affected?; Does the Foreign Secretary agree that the best way of bringing a long-term solution to the migration crisis is to work with our partners to ensure good governance and economic growth in the middle east?; Since September there has been a worrying resurgence in intercommunal fighting in the Central African Republic after the reported beheading of a young Muslim taxi driver. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced, and there is now genuine concern that the conflict will descend into genocide, and worse. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House that the British Government are providing political and humanitarian support to the President of the Central African Republic?; Will the Foreign Secretary outline how many ISIL fighters remain in Iraq, and what would be required to remove that murderous organisation from that country?; What representations have been made by Ministers to the Government of China and to the Chinese ambassador in London on the human rights situation there, particularly with regard to the recent arrest and detention of a substantial number of lawyers and rights campaigners?
Mark Phillip Hendrick (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Foreign Secretary give us his assessment of the current strength, effectiveness and numbers of the Free Syrian Army, a subject on which he has been very quiet recently? We want to get rid of ISIL and Assad, but there has been no mention of the FSA.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Iain David Wright (Labour, Centre-left): Caparo Industries’ entering administration is another major blow for the steel industry on top of the blow after blow it has sustained daily. That will be particularly felt in Hartlepool, where 200 people are employed by the company, which pumps millions of pounds into the local economy. Yesterday, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise launched the metals strategy with the vision of increasing gross value added by 50% and making the steel industry the principal supplier to the UK’s infrastructure projects by 2030. What is the Secretary of State doing to bridge the gap between the short-term existential threat to the industry, with companies, skills and jobs dropping like ninepins day after day, and that long-term vision? Frankly, if he does not take urgent action now—within days—there will not be a British steel industry left by the end of the year, let alone 2030.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for his warm words of support for the steelworkers and their families in my constituency who are coming to grips with this dreadful news today. However, we have been having warm words from this Government for more than four years while we have been saying that action is needed. We need action from the Government now on business rates, on energy costs, as the hon. Member for Warrington South (David Mowat) has just pointed out, and on Chinese dumping. Will the Secretary of State act? By requesting urgent action, I mean action before Christmas.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State has referred on a number of occasions to the state aid situation. I do not understand why, as a BIS official admitted at the steel summit on Friday, this was not a top priority for UK state aid clearance with the European Commission. The official also admitted that it would not make any difference now because we were so close to getting a decision. Why was it not at the top of our priorities, and why does the Secretary of State not get on a train to Brussels and stand over officials until they approve it and get the money out to the industry that needs it?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): One of the many insults the Redcar workforce have had to endure recently is the theft of their pension payments. Following action by the Community union, I understand that the issue of missing employee pension contributions is being tackled. What are the Government doing to ensure that the workers receive the missing employer contributions, and will the Secretary of State promise me here today that this will not be yet another entitlement that is disgracefully pinched from the £80 million support package, like the redundancy payments?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Foreign Trade
Andrew Joseph McDonald (Labour, Centre-left): It is good to see the Secretary of State here on this occasion. Has he initiated an anti-dumping investigation pursuant to the World Trade Organisation agreement, and if so, what stage is it at? If he has not, why not, and when is he going to start to stand up for Britain?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Foreign Trade
Tristram Hunt (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome today’s announcement of the £100 million Chinese investment by SinoFortone in the London Paramount theme park, but our Chinese partners need to know that this country is more than just a theme park. We need a steel industry and a manufacturing strategy. Will the Secretary of State explain what talks he is having this week with visiting Chinese officials on dumping, on state aid and on environmental regulation? When will he stand up for Britain?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Foreign Trade
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): As a former steelworker of 31 years’ standing, may I say that Chinese dumping and Government neglect are killing the British steel industry while the Government are simultaneously gifting future nuclear jobs to China? Is not the posture of this Government towards China today that of a supplicant fawning spaniel licking the hand that beats it?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Dennis Edward Skinner (Labour, Centre-left): Is not the Minister one of the people who, at the general election a few months ago, campaigned as a representative of the workers? Well, now he has got a job and he has to prove that. The closures are spreading like wildfire across the United Kingdom. It started at Redcar and we thought it was a little disturbance, but over the past 10 days more and more closures have been forecast. He is now in the Government, and it is his job either to stop this carnage or to give way to someone who can make a fist of it.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stephen Nathan Kinnock (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will be aware that the hard closure of the Redcar steelworks will cost hundreds of millions of pounds to secure the assets that are there, and the continued bad news on closures will cost hundreds of millions of pounds more, potentially running into billions. Has he shared this information with the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Does the Chancellor understand the impact this will have on his much vaunted deficit reduction plans?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to move, That this House calls on the Government to reverse its decision to cut tax credits, which is due to come into effect in April 2016 Today’s debate is incredibly important, but it is a shame that we have to hold it at all. It is deeply disappointing for the 3 million families across the UK who are set to lose an average of £1,300 from April that the Government have not taken the opportunity to step back, do the right thing and rethink these unfair proposals. The Conservatives omitted to mention these unfair proposals in their manifesto. Indeed, given another chance today to stop the changes—in the Welfare Reform and Work Public Bill Committee—they chose to vote against doing so Last night, we heard the latest arguments in favour of the cuts, which are already backfiring. The Government are seeking to make this a binary choice between cutting the incomes of the working poor and funding nurses, when in fact many of those in receipt of tax credits are our nurses, teaching assistants, care workers, civil servants and so many others who work day and night to keep our public services and our economy moving.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will make some more progress and then give way These cuts will also hit the self-employed and those who run our local businesses. It is bizarre for the Government to take £1,300 off each family by highlighting how much more they have already taken in tax credits. Today, it has become even clearer that the Government have chosen to balance the books on the backs of the poor. The Chancellor has made this a debate about taking from the non-working poor or from the working poor, rather than a choice recognising that, in tough economic times, it is fairer that those who have more should contribute more.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): The £1,300 that my hon. Friend cites is of course an average. Many working people in my constituency will get clobbered by a lot more than £1,300 a year. Is not the really serious point that only in April the Prime Minister said on TV—in the studios—that he would not cut tax credits?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): Perhaps the hon. Gentleman needs to talk to the Prime Minister about why he said on "Question Time" during the election that he would not cut tax credits. That is a conversation for him to have with the Prime Minister.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp) talks about the Conservative manifesto, but the manifesto cannot have outlined that 689,000 carers might be affected. Those who care 35 hours a week and then try to work 16 hours on the national minimum wage will be hit. What do Conservative Members have to say about that?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend makes her point incredibly well. It is those who are working so hard to support us in every sphere—in our public services and the economy—who will be hit the hardest by this move. I hope that the Government will change their mind today. I will make some more progress before I take further interventions The Chancellor says that he wants a low-welfare, low-tax, high-wage economy—this may come as a surprise, but of course we all do—but what he says and what he does are two different things.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will give way in a moment The Chancellor decides to cut tax credits at the same time as cutting income tax and inheritance tax for some of the wealthiest in our society. His failure to grow wages in the last Parliament not only led to a drop in living standards, but meant that tax receipts were lower than they would otherwise have been. In addition, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies has highlighted, welfare spending was virtually unchanged during the last Parliament because of the growth in tax credit payments and the explosion in housing benefit payments caused by his low-wage economy. Indeed, the number of people earning less than the living wage has risen by 45% since 2009. The Government may seek to hide what they are doing and to make this a debate about the Labour party, but it is a debate about the quality of life for millions of families who are working hard to make ends meet.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): Perhaps the hon. Gentleman has not read any blogs or listened to any media in the last two days. We have been on the media repeatedly and have explained very clearly that we would do that through long-term growth, making sure that we invest in high skills and increased—[Interruption.]
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will give way in a moment if I can make some more progress It is shocking that the Government continue to avoid telling the truth about these changes, including the Prime Minister, to whom I wrote last week, asking him to clarify his comments that after all the Government’s changes a family where one earner is on the minimum wage will be £2,400 better off. He is yet to be clear about how he reached that conclusion, how many families will gain in the way he suggests or what assessment he makes of the analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Resolution Foundation, Barnardo’s and so many others who are against these changes The Chancellor chose either not to perform or not to publish an impact assessment of these changes for the Commons—a move that was criticised in no uncertain terms by the Social Security Advisory Committee. There are only two ways to interpret that: the Government either do not want to know or do not want to tell.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She highlights, too, the impact of the Government’s appalling administrative processes on our constituents. They are left trying to make ends meet and having to go to food banks. More than 60% of the use of food banks is due to issues with benefits and benefits administration.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will make a little more progress first It is worth reminding hon. Members exactly what the Government propose to do with these changes. First, they will effectively halve the threshold at which claimants start to see their tax credits award tapered away, from £6,420 a year to £3,850. Secondly, they will increase the rate at which the award is tapered away to zero. That means that for every pound that is earned above the threshold, their award will be tapered away by 48p. Previously, the rate was 41p. House of Commons figures show that a family with two children and two parents who earn the minimum wage will see a fall in their income of more than £1,800 next year. By the end of the Parliament, that family will lose a devastating £7,700.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Conservative party claims to be there for the workers, but it is going against everything that hard-working families are doing to make ends meet. It is time for the Government to rethink what they are doing and stand up for those they pretended to stand up for at the time of the election.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will give way in a moment A family with one earner on the minimum wage will be more than £1,500 worse off next year and almost £7,000 worse off over the Parliament The claim that we have heard most is that working families should not be concerned because the minimum wage will see significant increases in the next few years. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies has made abundantly clear, the claim that those increases will close the gap is arithmetically impossible. Paul Johnson, the director of the IFS, summed it up: "The key fact is that the increase in the minimum wage simply cannot provide full compensation for the majority of losses that will be experienced by tax credit recipients" He said: "Unequivocally, tax credit recipients in work will be made worse off by the measures in the budget on average."
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): There are 4,200 working families in my constituency who will be affected. Given that the Prime Minister said before the election that he would not cut tax credits, does my hon. Friend think that this House and the other place would be right to vote down the proposals?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I hope that Government Members will make that decision today The IFS has found that, as a result of all the tax and benefit changes in the summer Budget, by 2020, households with incomes in the second, third and fourth deciles will be worse off by £1,250, £860 and £530 respectively. Indeed, the Resolution Foundation’s recent report showed that the changes are likely to result in 200,000 more children being pushed into poverty at a time when the Welfare and Work Bill is effectively erasing Labour’s Child Poverty Act 2010, the duty in it to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and the measures to monitor child poverty. Perhaps a Government Member would like to ask their own Front Benchers a question about that.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): Perhaps the hon. Gentleman should ask what will happen to the 4,500 working families in his constituency who are set to see an average cut in their household income of more than £1,300. What impact will that have on whether they can keep their home, put food on the table or afford clothes for their children? I suspect that he will have a lot to answer for in his constituency A million single parents who are in work are set to be £1,000 a year worse off and 1.5 million married women will be £600 poorer.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will in a moment These cuts will also hit the self-employed who are on tax credits. Since 2010, self-employment has grown at twice the rate of overall employment. We know that, on average, self-employed people earn 40% to 50% less than those who are in regular employment.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): I will in a moment This weekend, The Observer included the case of somebody in Manchester who is self-employed. He expects his tax credits to be reduced to virtually nothing from next April. I hope that in his response, the Exchequer Secretary will be straight about what these changes mean for the self-employed.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): That is absolutely incredible. We have answered that point in the media and in articles, and I do not need to keep going over that ground. The hon. Gentleman might want to respond to the 3,000 families in his constituency who will be hit by these changes, and say how he will reply to institutions that have done hard research into these matters. The Government have chosen to carry out no impact assessment for what has been described as an "array of statistics". This debate is about people’s lives, and the hon. Gentleman should stand up for his constituents, just as Labour Members will do when voting in the Lobby tonight—[Interruption.]