argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): I will vote for the Bill, as the choice is stark and clear. The important question is: what do we do after Friday? That is when the real work will begin. Gaps have already been identified, including the situation with services, especially legal and financial services; the travel position of our huge cultural and arts sector, particularly our world-leading music industry; and the rules of origin for manufacturing, not least the motor industry, whose revival has driven the midlands engine I want to focus not on our relations with our neighbours but on how the British state will actually respond. The EU, imperfect as it is, has had to carry a considerable amount of the weight of our own errors. The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. This applies both to doctrine, with the stubborn refusal of the civil service and Governments to behave as others do to benefit our industry and our people, and to chronic inefficiency and incompetency in implementation. The Prime Minister talked about free ports. Perhaps he should focus on getting his Transport Secretary to sort out the gridlock at our existing ports There has been a lot of talk today about fish, but as an MP whose constituency is probably as far as you can get from the sea, I want to focus on industry. The Prime Minister talked about state aid, regional policy and our great biomedical industry. It was not the EU but NHS bureaucracy that insisted on buying vaccines from abroad, which is why we have only limited capacity and have to import them. It is only now that we are belatedly recognising that and building a new plant. However, it will be not in the north-east, which was the alternative site for it, but in the overheated Oxfordshire area. Oxford scientists have performed magnificently, but we must break this obsession with the south and back the midlands, the north, the west, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland It was not the EU that forced us to produce only 1% of personal protective equipment in the UK before the covid crisis, which led to shortages, eye-watering costs and endless scandals. It was not the EU that forced the Government to build the new Navy ships abroad or to use trains from Germany rather than Derby, buses from China rather than Ballymena or Falkirk, and police cars for the north-west from Korea rather than Ellesmere Port. It was our own misguided authorities In conclusion, from Monday, whether it is from ministerial offices, Whitehall, town halls or quangos, from boardroom to shop floor the message must be clear: "Back Britain or back off. Shape up or ship out." Only that way can we make Britain great again.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Before the Secretary of State replies, may I remind Members who are not in the Chamber that they should have the same dress code even though they are virtual? It is only fair that we treat each other with the same respect.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Tulip Rizwana Siddiq (Labour, Centre-left): Yesterday, the Government announced that 1,500 armed forces personnel are being deployed to help secondary schools and colleges roll out mass testing. I am sure the Secretary of State is aware that there are over 3,000 secondary schools and colleges in England. This means that schools will get the support of less than half a soldier each. Could I ask the Secretary of State what specific tasks those armed forces will be carrying out, and if the Government will commit to giving overstretched headteachers and school staff more resources for the huge operation that they are expected to carry out?
Business of the House (Today) — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. It is not really a matter for the Chair, but Members on the Treasury Bench will have heard his points, and if the Secretary of State wishes to make any further clarification, I am sure that he will do so.
Private Members’ Bills — House of Commons, 2020-12-30
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): What I would say is that we cannot continue the debate, as the decision has already been taken. Your comments have certainly been put on the record. I think the debate will continue in the future, but it will not continue tonight I would just like to put on the record my thanks to all the staff of the House of Commons. They have worked since Boxing Day in order that today’s sitting could happen, and I cannot thank them enough. Thanks to the House passing the motion, they are going to get the break that they deserve—they have been working for the full week. I just want to say thank you to the Members who have given them that right to their holiday, because without the staff of the House we would not be sitting here. It really, really is appreciated—thanks for that. All the best for the new year.
Covid-19: Effect on Business — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): In a letter to the Prime Minister, the BBPA said that the so-called support for pubs and brewers in the winter plan was met with "utter dismay and incredulity" among publicans. Many hostelry businesses crucial to life in Nottingham and across the country are not going to survive the winter with what is currently on offer. When is the Minister going to come forward with proper support?
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): Of the £5 billion of new online spend because of the pandemic, 40% has gone to one website, Amazon. Many small businesses are afraid that they will not make it through the winter because of a lack of Government support, and they have Brexit and climate and technological change to deal with too. So I want to ask the Minister this: what is the plan for small businesses to survive covid and build back smarter and greener? I am talking not about vague promises, but about firm commitments to help businesses invest in new technologies, as Make UK has called for, or to target procurement to support net zero businesses, as the Institution of Civil Engineers proposes. Or are the Government just going to let business down again?
Covid-19: Hospitality — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): Many plumbers, electricians and other self-employed people, including sole traders, have been left out of Government support. What can the Minister say to people who have worked hard all their lives and paid their taxes, and have seen their businesses collapse through no fault of their own? This includes the hospitality sector. Can the Government commit to providing further support, as local publicans in my area say that the tiny grant they got does not even get close to covering their overheads?
Covid-19: Support for Business — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): It is essential that the local restrictions support grant is available promptly to businesses and is not subject to a prolonged application process. In anticipation of some areas—hopefully my own in the north-east—moving into tier 2 this week, will the Secretary of State ensure that grants are paid quickly to businesses, including the retrospective grants, particularly to pubs?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Housing
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): Rate relief for hospitality venues is welcome, but many are racking up huge rent debts while they are closed and getting only a third of the support they got earlier in the year. Have the Government had any discussions about a model of sharing the rental debt burden among tenants, landlords, banks and the Government, because without more help, many of these businesses will close?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward Samuel Miliband (Labour, Centre-left): Businesses face a double whammy from the ongoing economic crisis and potential Brexit disruption. They want the Business Secretary to stand up for them. Some 61% of the country will be in tier 3 from tomorrow, and the situation for many pubs, restaurants and bars is catastrophic, as this morning’s record redundancy figures show. Will the Secretary of State now finally recognise what he has been told repeatedly by Members across the House—and again today—and by industry that support for the hospitality sector is hopelessly inadequate if many of these businesses are to survive through the winter?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): Many freelancers and self-employed people have had little or no financial support. They do not qualify for furlough, for the self-employed scheme or for business grants. With billions of pounds being returned in tax relief for business rates by the major retailers, why are Ministers not using that money, as the retailers are suggesting, to support those hundreds of thousands of people who have had little or no financial support so far?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): May I just say thank you to the Secretary of State for completing the list? In order to allow the safe exit of hon. Members participating in this item of business and the safe arrival of those participating in the next, I am suspending the House for three minutes.
Personal Statement — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Other
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): Mr Speaker, I am utterly mortified by the events of last week when my heckling interrupted proceedings during Prime Minister’s questions and when I challenged the authority of the Chair. I entered into an altercation with the Chair and I did not treat the Chair with due respect. That is unacceptable. I apologise unreservedly to the House and to you personally, Mr Speaker. I really wish none of this had ever occurred and I fully accept that my conduct was unacceptable.
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the legislation as far as it goes, and agree with the Secretary of State that it is landmark legislation, rather like the Gambling Act 2005, which was put through the House by the previous Labour Government. I remind him that it was largely the things that were not covered by that legislation that came back to be the most challenging issues to confront us all. Given that, let me ask the Secretary of State about the scope of the legislation: will it cover online harms such as the targeted advertising of gambling at young people, gambling through social media or even loot boxes in online gaming, whereby young people are asked to pay for boxes of which they do not know the content?
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Darren Paul Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I want to ask the Secretary of State two questions on the issue of how we understand what is harmful but perhaps legal. First, will Ofcom be given the powers that it already has for other regulated sectors to demand access to information about how a service is being used and what content is on it? Secondly, why has the Secretary of State abandoned age verification?
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Margaret Eve Hodge (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, welcome this statement. In the past two months, Community Security Trust has identified 90,000 posts mentioning me. Most were hostile, antisemitic, misogynistic and ageist. Many were anonymous and, through disinformation, aimed to undermine my credibility and so silence me. I would ask the Secretary of State to think again. Does he not agree that anonymity on social media can no longer be universally protected, although it should be protected for groups such as whistleblowers and victims of domestic violence? Will he not agree that where users post illegal content or harmful abuse, social media companies should be required to collect and pass on information on the identity of the user to regulatory bodies and to the police?
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): As the Secretary of State will be aware, Wikipedia, while not a social network, is edited by its users. It includes highly dangerous instructional information on suicide generated by those users. How will that be covered by the forthcoming legislation, and how will he deal with the international aspect of preventing harm online?
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Online activity is really important to extremists of all kinds in furthering their aims. Fake news—disinformation—is the currency of authoritarian forces, undermining our democracy; and on their business models, currently tech companies profit from that. What action would the Bill take to defend our democratic values if it was on the statute book now? How would it solve this threat?
Online Harms Consultation — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): The Select Committee on Home Affairs has spent many years being deeply frustrated by the weak responses of social media companies to our urging them to take action against hateful extremism and online child abuse, so I welcome the measures the Secretary of State has announced. The Government response states that "the regulator will have the power to require companies to use automated technology…to identify illegal child sexual exploitation and abuse content or activity on their services, including, where proportionate, on private channels." Will he confirm that that means major platforms will need to use this automated technology on the end-to-end encrypted private channels? What proportionality test is he applying here, given that child sexual abuse is clearly so abhorrent and wrong in all circumstances? When will it ever be disproportionate to pursue this?
Virginity Testing (Prohibition) — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that point of order. As I understand it, Ministers may well have the power to change the Christmas regulations without coming back to the House. They have taken that power. Obviously, he has expressed a point of view that it would be desirable if they were to come back, but as I understand it, they do have the power to vary them if they feel it is appropriate. If I find that that is in any way incorrect, I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that I will inform him about any difference there might be from what I have said already.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Before I call the Minister, I should tell right hon. and hon. Members that, as they will see, we have one hour for this debate and a fair number of speakers, so it is likely that I will have to put a time limit on Back-Bench speeches of about four minutes After Clause 10 Further exclusions from market access principles
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): This is what is going to happen. This debate has to finish at 3.10. I want to bring in the Minister at 3.06 to wind up. A lot of hon. and right hon. Members have been sitting in the Chamber from the beginning of the debate. If others come in and intervene, it does take time from those who have been trying to participate and have put their names down to participate. Before I bring in the SNP spokesperson, I have to say that I will now have to reduce the time limit to three minutes and, with that, I still may not get everybody in, so if colleagues want to take fewer than three minutes, I am sure that it would be appreciated by others.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-15
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): In order to observe social distancing, the Reasons Committee will meet in Committee Room 12 In order to allow the safe exit of hon. Members participating in this item of business and the safe arrival of those participating in the next, I am suspending the House for three minutes.
Speaker’s Statement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): I remind colleagues that a deferred Division will take place today. Members should be aware that the timings have reverted to being between 11.30 am and 2 pm, though deferred Divisions will continue to take place in the Members’ Library. Members will cast their votes by placing a completed Division slip in one of the ballot boxes provided. If a Member has a proxy vote in operation, they must not vote in person in the deferred Division. The nominated proxy should vote on their behalf. I remind colleagues of the importance of social distancing during the deferred Division and ask them to pick up a Division slip from the Vote Office and fill it in before they reach the Library, if possible. The result will be announced in the Chamber at a convenient moment after the Division is over.
Victims of Domestic Abuse: Free Travel — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for her response. She will know that domestic abuse services have, sadly, seen a real surge in demand during the lockdown. Rail to refuge schemes, including the GWR scheme that serves my constituency, have helped more than 800 people to flee domestic abuse through the use of a free rail ticket. Can the Minister commit to funding these schemes in the future, because they are really important to people who need to get away?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Civil Rights
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): The gender pay gap is still sitting at around 15%. At the current rate of progress, more than 8 million women working today will retire before they see equal pay. This sends a message to women that this Government are happy to turn back the clock on women’s equal pay. I am going to ask the Minister a straightforward question, yes or no: will she restart gender pay gap reporting in April next year?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Civil Rights
Bellavia Janet Ribeiro-Addy (Labour, Centre-left): The EHRC report on the hostile environment released today shows just how bad the situation has been over the years. It is clear that the EHRC does not have the capacity to launch an inquiry into every piece of legislation that has had its equality compliance questioned. Will the Minister explain what steps are being taken to ensure that future legislation is not labelled as complying with the public sector duty when it so clearly does not?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Keir Starmer (Labour, Centre-left): I did not really hear an answer there, so why don’t we go through these commitments in turn, starting with bullying and harassment? The now former independent adviser on ministerial standards concluded that the Home Secretary’s behaviour was, in his words, "in breach of the Ministerial Code", and, he said, "can be described as bullying", which means: "intimidating or insulting behaviour that makes an individual feel uncomfortable, frightened, less respected or put down." What message does the Prime Minister think it sends that the independent adviser on standards has resigned but the Home Secretary is still in post?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Keir Starmer (Labour, Centre-left): No one is knocking the private sector; the Government are knocking the taxpayer, and that is not trivial. So I think it is a clean sweep: bullying, harassment, leaking, wasting public money and obvious conflicts of interest. It is the same old story: one rule for the British public and another for the Prime Minister and his friends. Just look at the contrast between his attitude to spraying public money at contracts that do not deliver and his attitude to pay rises for the key workers who kept the country going during this pandemic. If you have a hotline to Ministers, you get a blank cheque, but if you are on the frontline tackling covid, you are picking up the bill. Will the Prime Minister finally get his priorities right, stop wasting taxpayers’ money and give police officers, firefighters, care workers and other key workers the pay rise they so obviously deserve?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Housing
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 November. When 72 Londoners burnt to death at Grenfell because of a cladding defect we all said, "Never again" but for hundreds of thousands the living nightmare of waking watch and the non-existent EWS1 form continues. So will the Prime Minister commit that no leaseholder anywhere should foot the bill for what is no fault of their own and make good on the 2017 Communities and Local Government Secretary’s promise to end this neo-feudal absurdity of a tenure once and for all?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): BioYorkshire will place York at the heart of the global bioscience economy. It will cut carbon by 2,800 kilotons, create 4,000 green-collar jobs, upskill 25,000 workers and return £5 billion to the Treasury. The Government are supportive but are delaying investment until at least the devolution deal. Unemployment in York is soaring. We need this investment now. Will the Prime Minister start the recovery by investing in BioYorkshire?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): I think you have managed to answer the question, Prime Minister. I am very pleased that the House of Commons has been able to help to deliver an improvement to the sound and vision from No. 10 today, but we would like our kit back this afternoon, Prime Minister! [Laughter.] In order to allow the safe exit of hon. Members participating in this item of business and the safe arrival of those participating in the next, I am suspending the House for three minutes.
Spending Review 2020 and OBR Forecast — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Public Lands
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): On 26 February, I asked the Prime Minister to offer additional support to Wales over and above the devolved settlement in the face of unprecedented flooding caused by Storm Dennis. The Prime Minister gave an assurance that funding would be "passported" to Wales. Nine months later, with winter approaching, that funding still has not been delivered. What discussions has the Chancellor had about that, and when does he think the Government will be able to deliver on the Prime Minister’s promises to Welsh communities?
Spending Review 2020 and OBR Forecast — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Mixed Topics
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): A few months ago, the Conservative party was clapping public sector workers. Now it is cutting the pay of millions. This crisis should not be paid for on the backs of the working class, but it is. Over 2 million people are now paid less than the minimum wage—up fivefold. Sick pay is so low that people are forced to choose between their health and putting food on the table, and millions of people’s benefits—largely sick and disabled people—will rise by just 37p a week. Instead of forcing millions into poverty, will the Chancellor impose a windfall tax on those who have made super-profits from this crisis?