argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady obviously did not listen to my previous answer. Let me remind her that the warm home discount already supports 2.2 million people to the tune of £140 a week. Pensioners are supported with £300 through the winter fuel payment, and there are cold weather payments for 4 million people. The Opposition now have the effrontery, having campaigned to remain in the European Union—and she did too, did she not? [Hon. Members: "Yes!"] Oh yes, she campaigned to remain in the EU. [Interruption.] Oh yes she did—and they now have the barefaced cheek to come to this House of Commons and say that they want to cut VAT on fuel—[Interruption]—and so did the shadow Foreign Secretary—when everyone knows full well that that would be absolutely impossible if we were to do what Labour would do, go back into the EU and remain aligned with the EU single market. That is the objective of the Labour party. It cannot be trusted on Brexit, and it cannot be trusted on the economy.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The biggest factor driving up our fuel bills and cost of living is the sky-rocketing international price of gas, which is currently dancing to a tune set in Moscow. Does the Prime Minister agree that Labour’s short-term proposals to shift the burden from bill payers to taxpayers will not address the fundamental underlying problem at all, and that the crisis demands structural reforms to the energy price cap, rather than just resetting it to later this year, as well as energy self-sufficiency to uncouple us from Russian gas?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I find that criticism hard to take from the humble crofter, if I may say so—with whom, I stress, I normally have very good relations off the pitch. What we are doing is helping families up and down the country with the taper rate, ensuring that a single mother with two kids gets £1,200 more on universal credit, £1,000 more as a result of the increase to the living wage. The crucial thing I am trying to get over this afternoon is that we, unlike virtually any other European economy, have been able to keep going and keep people in work. We now have more people in work than there were before the pandemic began. That is because of the balanced and proportionate approach we have taken, and the right hon. Gentleman’s support would be welcome and deserved.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The biggest factor driving up our fuel bills and cost of living is the sky-rocketing international price of gas, which is currently dancing to a tune set in Moscow. Does the Prime Minister agree that Labour’s short-term proposals to shift the burden from bill payers to taxpayers will not address the fundamental underlying problem at all, and that the crisis demands structural reforms to the energy price cap, rather than just resetting it to later this year, as well as energy self-sufficiency to uncouple us from Russian gas?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is talking, I am afraid, total nonsense. This Government are absolutely determined, as I have said throughout this pandemic, to look after particularly the poorest and the neediest. That is what the Chancellor did: all his packages were extremely progressive in their effect. When I came in to office, we ensured that we uprated the local housing allowance, because I understand the importance of that allowance for families on low incomes. We are supporting vulnerable renters. That is why we are putting money into local authorities to help families up and down the country who are facing tough times. The right hon. Gentleman’s fundamental point is wrong. He is just wrong about what is happening in this country. If we look at the statistics, we see that economic inequality is down in this country. Income inequality is down and poverty is down, and I will tell you why—because we get people in to work. We get people in to jobs. That is our answer.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Other
Questions: The biggest factor driving up our fuel bills and cost of living is the sky-rocketing international price of gas, which is currently dancing to a tune set in Moscow. Does the Prime Minister agree that Labour’s short-term proposals to shift the burden from bill payers to taxpayers will not address the fundamental underlying problem at all, and that the crisis demands structural reforms to the energy price cap, rather than just resetting it to later this year, as well as energy self-sufficiency to uncouple us from Russian gas?; The London Borough of Bromley has achieved the fastest and most significant improvement in children’s services of any local authority in England. Much of the credit is due to its exceptional chief executive, Mr Ade Adetosoye. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Mr Adetosoye on his appointment as a Commander of the British Empire in the new year honours list, and congratulate the Conservative majority on the council on delivering the only debt-free council in London?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot believe that Hillingdon is not included in that list, but it is no surprise to me that Bromley runs such a tight ship; I have been familiar with Bromley over many years and my hon. Friend and I have campaigned there together. I commend particularly Ade Adetosoye CBE on his achievement.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my right hon. Friend for resisting calls from the Labour party and others for more restrictions before Christmas, and also for the changes that he has announced today. Omicron is less serious than previous variants. We will see new variants appear in future, and the likelihood is that they will continue to be less serious. It is not in the national interest to partially or wholly shut down sectors of our economy every time we see a new variant. Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to inform the House whether and how the Government will change their approach when new variants arise?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Other
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady. I think I speak for everybody here when I say what we want to see is the House getting back to normal business as fast as possible, and to that end I suggest that everybody follows the guidelines and gets boosted.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK Government have supported Wales, and the UK as a whole, throughout the pandemic to the tune of billions and billions of pounds. We supply the vaccines, we supply the testing kits, and furlough will continue to do everything to support the whole of the UK.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the ongoing support, financial and otherwise, for our hospitality sector, particularly in cases where it is a critical lifeline, even still. Of course, the best thing we can do for them is to take away all restrictions that remain in place, but we also have to recognise that there may be an opposite scenario where new restrictions are considered in the future. To that end, can my right hon. Friend confirm that weddings and funerals would be exempt from any further restrictions?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am afraid the hon. Gentleman is talking total nonsense. There was no manufacturing capability at all for lateral flow tests in this country, but we now have the largest single manufacturing plant for LFTs in Europe. Let me repeat that, because I do not think the Opposition knew this. The UK has the largest manufacturing plant for LFTs in Europe—
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I really do not think that the Opposition Front Benchers, or indeed any of them, have the faintest idea about what is going on. They have six or seven different positions on lockdown. They came to the statement this afternoon not even knowing that this country has the largest lateral flow manufacturing facility in Europe—they did not know it.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that the hon. Lady is pro-lockdown, but I do not think that that is the right way forward. We are taking a balanced and proportionate approach, and that is what this country is going to do.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have given significant support to businesses throughout the pandemic, and we keep that under review. What would not be good for businesses would be to release people back to the workplace too soon so that they infect everybody else who is there.
Education: Return in January — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it proportionate to test asymptomatic children, and then, when they are negative, to mask them up anyway? Will my right hon. Friend publish the study to which he referred during his statement about those schools that had lower absences during the autumn?
Education: Return in January — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you. The House is very grateful to the Secretary of State. We now come to the next item of business—she said slowly, in order to allow a dignified exchange of personnel while keeping social distancing. I think we have achieved that now.
UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): This agreement has a very detailed SPS chapter, and I would be very happy to sit down with the hon. Gentleman and ask the officials to talk him through it in more detail and reassure him accordingly.
UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Immigration
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): I will ask the team to write to my hon. Friend about the technical detail, because I do not have those figures to hand. However, really importantly, beyond the question of the opportunities that under-35s on a three-year visa have, being free to choose what they want to do when they go and work in Australia, that shift from a two-year visa to a four-year visa for executives and managers who want to work in any number of sectors—and, indeed, for their families to be able to work in Australia as well—is a huge opportunity for our workforce to go and enjoy Australian opportunities, and also to bring UK expertise to our great friend and ally.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): Can I perhaps reinforce my right hon. and learned Friend’s point? He may have noted from the statistics released by the Judicial Appointments Commission that there has been a particular shortfall in appointments to the district bench and the circuit bench in recent rounds. Those are precisely the people for whom the ability to access a full pension is important. As my right hon. and learned Friend said, the high-earning silk who goes into the High Court may be able to deal with a lesser amount of pension, but the people I am talking about, who are the workforce, particularly in the criminal and family courts—the senior juniors, the senior solicitors—will be under the most pressure if they are not able to get the 20 years’ full pension. That will be most difficult for them.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-01-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks. He has just said that the Government will legislate as possible; this is the opportunity to legislate. Of course, there might be a BDS Bill at some point later in the Parliament—we do not know; there will always be pressures on the legislative timeframe—but even if there were, this is the appropriate Bill to handle the situation, because the issue arose in the 2013 Act, to which this Bill is essentially the successor. I do not expect my hon. Friend to make a commitment here at the Dispatch Box—it is clearly something that we will all have to consider in the weeks ahead—but this is the moment at which to make the amendment, should the Government wish to do so in this Parliament.
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): In addition to our £400 billion package, including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT discounts and the rent moratorium, we are providing a further £1 billion for hospitality businesses and an extra £100 million in discretionary grants—a lifeline for many small businesses.
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Gagan Mohindra (Conservative, Centre-right): Great British pubs are the heart of our community, especially in rural constituencies such as mine. I recently hosted a roundtable with several pubs in South West Hertfordshire, at which they expressed their concerns about the next few months after a tough December. Will the Minister confirm that he will do all he can to encourage people to return to their local pub? Will he commend publicans for their hard work making their businesses covid-safe, indoors and out?
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for his support for our pubs. It is important that we save our pubs one pint at a time; they play a crucial role in our high streets, our communities and our wellbeing. I am working, through the hospitality recovery strategy, to champion pubs at the heart of our communities, many of which have been supporting the vulnerable during the pandemic. We will showcase the value of the excellent work of pub landlords to make venues covid-secure, including with good ventilation.
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his reference to that aptly named nightclub in Brighton. Clearly, opening nightclubs is a big challenge because of ventilation, but they are eligible for discretionary grants: councils have £100 million for discretionary grants to support them.
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): The café and restaurant owners I met in Basingstoke before Christmas saw their bookings plummet in the key pre-Christmas weeks, so they will really welcome the extra support that the Minister speaks about. The newly recognised personal care sector—hair and beauty—was similarly hit. Will he support that sector as well: the hairdressers, barbers and beauty businesses that make up our high streets?
Hospitality Sector: Covid-19 Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government continue to be the Government and the party for businesses, and that includes the hard-pressed hospitality sector, which is such a crucial part of the ecosystem of our high streets, our cities, and our coastal and rural areas. The Secretary of State and I spoke to hospitality sector representatives of all kinds within hours of the announcement of the move to plan B ahead of Christmas, and we will continue to support them as best we can.
Science and Innovation: Levelling Up — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Whiteside Gray (Conservative, Centre-right): That truly iconic British-built scientific research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough—built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead—came up the Thames just before Christmas, at the time of COP26. Does the Minister agree that she is the epitome of all that is best about British science, and that the British Antarctic Survey, through its work in both the Antarctic and the Arctic, leads the world in research on climate change in particular, and in so many other areas of science?
Science and Innovation: Levelling Up — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
George William Freeman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right, and he is also a powerful envoy for the Government in terms of our polar science. The royal research ship Sir David Attenborough is something of which all of us in the House can be proud. It is an incredible platform, and it embodies the very best of British leadership in science and innovation, with international scientists working on global challenges.
Flood Recovery Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Public Lands
Questions: What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the adequacy of business and community flood recovery support funding.
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The flood recovery framework is in place to determine where communities and businesses need support from central Government in severe flood events. The guidance has recently been reviewed and refreshed, to learn from previous years. The framework includes the business recovery grant, which BEIS administers as part of a Government core package of support for communities and businesses.
Flood Recovery Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Public Lands
Questions: What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the adequacy of business and community flood recovery support funding.
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The Flood Re scheme does not include businesses, as the hon. Lady says, and there are no plans to extend eligibility because that market operates differently from the household insurance market. The scheme is bespoke. I appreciate that SMEs are disproportionately affected compared with bigger businesses, but I suggest that the hon. Lady engages directly on this with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Flood Recovery Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the adequacy of business and community flood recovery support funding.
Daniel Robert Kawczynski (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Minister look at the opportunities to manage Britain’s longest river, the River Severn? We believe that, if an holistic solution were found to managing Britain’s longest river, there would be a gross value added uplift in the west midlands of more than £150 billion. These figures are being presented to DEFRA. Will he and his Department also take an interest and work with me, as chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on the River Severn Partnership, on trying to find a solution to managing Britain’s longest river?
Flood Recovery Support — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Public Lands
Questions: What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure the adequacy of business and community flood recovery support funding.
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important not to wait until flooding happens, as we have heard, but to manage it actively. Organisations such as Living With Water in the constituency of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) have done very good things in proactively tackling flooding Again, I suggest that my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) works with DEFRA. I am happy to see what more I can do in that regard.
Night-time Economy — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): BEIS and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport sponsor the hospitality and entertainment sectors, both of which support the night-time economy. Alongside the £400 billion package of grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT discounts and rent moratoriums, we are providing £1 billion-worth of grants and £100 million-worth of discretionary grants.
Night-time Economy — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
David Anthony Evennett (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome all the support the Government have given to businesses and all the work the Minister has done personally in this area. However, hospitality and the night-time economy in Bexleyheath town centre still face real challenges with staffing as well as finance. Will my hon. Friend continue to meet representatives of these sectors to take their views on board and see what more can be done, particularly on staffing?
Night-time Economy — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): We are trying make sure that the cities can open in full. That is a return to work, a return for students, a return to domestic travel, and a return to international travel. All those people contribute to that ecosystem of hospitality, and indeed the night-time economy, so cities have a particular view that we need to approach. We will continue to flex and work with businesses as they open up fully to pay down their debt and to trade as normally as possible to ensure that the hospitality sector—the night-time economy—can thrive in Newcastle.
Off-grid Homes: Emissions — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to reassure my hon. Friend that if we look back at where we were this time last year, we came out with the heat and buildings strategy, which directly answered this question, and also a very generous comprehensive spending review settlement.
Off-grid Homes: Emissions — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that is a complete misrepresentation of all the work that the Government have done to help customers. There are the winter fuel payments, as the hon Gentleman well knows, and £300 for 8 million pensioners is worth £2 billion. We have the warm home discount, we have cold weather payments. We have a full range of measures that will help off-grid customers in a difficult time.
Life Sciences — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter Alexander Gibson (Conservative, Centre-right): Central Park in my constituency is furthering Darlington’s ingenious spirit as it drives forward UK life sciences, with firms on our golden mile creating and developing the medicines of the future, as the Secretary of State knows from his recent visit. Will my hon. Friend outline what steps his Department is taking to ensure that firms in Darlington use local talent in the pursuit of further scientific breakthroughs?