argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Margaret Eve Hodge (Labour, Centre-left): I completely concur with the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s succinct remarks. People have said to me that the areas in which we have intervened—we do intervene with huge reluctance—are moral issues. I cannot think of another issue that is more moral than trying to intervene to prevent the traffic in corrupt money and illicit finance across the world.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): We should bear it in mind that the sanctions regime imposed by the United States of America ends up being far more aggressive, meaning it is far more difficult for Russian oligarchs to hide their money there. In fact, that has now had a significant impact on Oleg Deripaska’s holdings in this country.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Law and Crime
Helen Catherine Goodman (Labour, Centre-left): I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. I took so many interventions on overseas territories that I forgot to comment on new clauses 1 and 19. We think that both are very sensible, given the explosion in SLPs in recent years and the complete failure to act on what has happened in the past year. New clause 19 is particularly powerful because it would mean that these people were within the ambit of the anti-money laundering legislation for the banking system.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Law and Crime
Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (Labour, Centre-left): As the hon. Gentleman rightly said, I first raised concerns about Legatum and Mr Chandler back in November. Does he agree that the information that he has just put in the public domain, combined with the growing concern about corruption, money laundering and the sale of passports in Malta, where Chandler has just acquired citizenship, demands urgent investigation by the UK authorities now?
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Liam Dominic Byrne (Labour, Centre-left): That is absolutely what I am proposing, and my reason is this country’s national security. Let me give the hon. and learned Gentleman a simple example. Back in November 2017, my right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw) raised the issue of some significant agents of influence in this country: the Chandler brothers, who happen to run an important think-tank that has enjoyed unrivalled access to Ministers during one of this country’s most important national debates. The risk—I put it no stronger than that—that we are running is that that support is financed from sources that derive from the Russian Federation, and it may therefore be part of the panoply of active measures that have been drawn together since the re-election of President Putin in 2012. He has made no secret of that. He set it out in a state of the union address to the Russian people in 2013. Some call it the Gerasimov doctrine, but, whatever it is called, we saw the sharp edge of that sword on the streets of Salisbury just a few weeks ago I want to give the House an example of how this influence can unfold in an innocent country like ours that has perhaps been a little inattentive to some of the risks that have been growing over the past few years. As the hon. Member for Isle of Man has mentioned—[Interruption.] As the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr Seely) has mentioned—he would have a different kind of specialism if he were the hon. Member for Isle of Man—the individuals to whom he referred are men of influence who help to finance an important think-tank I note with interest that the think-tank is financed by the Legatum Institute, which is registered in the Cayman Islands—registration number FC028686, for those who take an interest in these things—but why should these brothers be of such interest to us? Well, we know that Christopher Chandler and his chief executive, Mark Stoleson, have both taken Maltese passports through the passport-selling operation Henley & Partners. They both publicly accept that they hold accounts at the Iranian-Maltese bank Pilatus, the assets of which were frozen and its chairman arrested at the behest of the FBI in March. Both Pilatus and Henley & Partners were the subject of investigations by the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was assassinated late last year The hon. Member for Isle of Wight has referred to more. Richard Chandler’s file contains the additional statement: "Richard Chandler and his brother Christopher play an important role in the capital of the companies Lukoil and Gazprom (linked to longstanding…Russian figures who could be linked to organised crime)." Furthermore, they maintain relations with an individual, a Chechen mafia figure, who was "expelled from Monaco". They are connected with money laundering. These allegations are made in the file.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): I shall be brief, Mr Speaker. Several hon. Members have spoken about the dangers of our legislation meaning that dodgy money will leave the overseas territories and go to some other kind of territory. First, that will probably be a good thing for each of those territories. Secondly, and far more importantly, all too often the way we have run our affairs in this country, and how our overseas territories have run theirs, has meant we have been a magnet for that money. For a series of different reasons, rich people who have stolen money from their own people like having it squirreled away here or in our overseas territories or, as is normally the case, in a mixture of the two. That is because they like to send their children to our expensive schools; because they like to go shopping in the UK; because, ironically enough, they like to enforce their contracts in law in British courts; and because they know that the whole system of financial and land registration in this country is relatively weak. That is why I warmly welcome the changes we are going to bring about.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Liam Dominic Byrne (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that the next big international opportunity to make progress on this issue is the G20 in November? If we are to help to lead the argument, we must have the moral credibility of having taken action ourselves.
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): I completely agree, and that is also why I agree with the kind of approach that the hon. Member for Isle of Wight tried to enjoin on the whole House—not only on those from different political backgrounds, but also on all the different silos, including defence, foreign policy, work and pensions and the Treasury—to try to make sure that we have a united, coherent, consistent and, to use a valleys word, "tidy" approach towards the Russians. That was not "a valet’s word", but a valleys word—[Laughter.]
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): I agree; I do not think that there is a single Member of this House who does not have profound respect for the people of Russia and for the country of Russia, and for what it has given to us culturally and in so many other ways over the centuries. But what a pain it is to us to see a country that was reaching out for liberty suddenly find itself crushed under the heel again. It is a country that should be one of the great advancing economies of today, but it is in stagnation, with barely 1% growth. That is why all of us, from all parts of this House, have campaigned to take a robust attitude to Russia Finally, the Russian ambassador tweeted the other day that he wants to meet the all-party group for Russia, which I chair. He is not answering his phone—I am not sure whether he is busy on something else—but we will have him next Wednesday afternoon at 2.30 pm if anyone wants to hear his view of things.
Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Bill (Money) — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Law and Crime
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): I shall not be opposing the motion. As the hon. Member for Lewes (Maria Caulfield) and the Minister know, the Opposition did not oppose the Bill on Second Reading. However, we do challenge the careless attitude that the Government have displayed towards it and wider issues of prison reform. Prisons are in a worse condition now than they were under the Victorians. They are home to a dangerous level of violence and abuse, and are in nothing less than a state of emergency The Bill received its Second Reading on 1 December last year—it had cross-party support and passed without a vote—and Members on both sides of the House recognised the need to take steps on its explicit purpose of degrading prisoners’ ability to use mobile phones in prison. They also recognised the importance of its underlying purpose of restricting the supply of drugs to prisons and tackling the growing violence within them. Yet it is only now, five months later, that a money resolution is being considered We might be dealing with a private Member’s Bill, but if the Government were serious about tackling the use of mobile phones, and the supply of drugs and the dangers they pose, they would be acting quicker. They should be bringing these measures to the House in a Bill of their own, not relying on Back Benchers or delaying the Bill, thereby putting the safety of prisoners and prison staff at risk. The Government control time in the House, so there is no reason for delay when they have support. What has taken the Minister so long to reach the point at which the Bill can go into Committee? The Labour party is anxious to get on with reform because every delayed day is another day of violence. Will the Minister assure us now that there will be no undue delays, and tell us whether he has plans for a broader reform Bill?
Shop Direct (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Labor
Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is always a pleasure to see you in the Chair I am pleased to have been able to secure this very important debate on a matter that affects so many of my constituents and their families. Working at Shop Direct has been, for many families, a generational thing in that fathers, mothers, sons and daughters are employed across its sites. I am delighted to have here my hon. Friends the Members for Oldham West and Royton (Jim McMahon), for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) and for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes), whose constituents have also been affected by the announcement of the closure of Shop Direct in Manchester By way of background, Mr Deputy Speaker—because I can see you are waiting with bated breath to find out more about what has happened—on 11 April, Shop Direct announced its decision to pull out of all its Greater Manchester sites, including Shaw in my constituency, with a total loss of almost 2,000 jobs. The Shop Direct distribution centre in Shaw currently employs 750 Shop Direct employees, with 636 agency employees. In total, the move affects 1,177 permanent staff and 815 agency workers. This has been devastating news for the Shop Direct staff and their families. Although the closure will not take place until 2020, the anticipated redundancies will have a dreadful effect on local communities, including, as I say, Shaw in my constituency.
Shop Direct (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Labor
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): I want to ask my hon. Friend about the Little Hulton employees. Unemployment in Little Hulton is double the national average. As she has already said, no consideration has been shown for the loyalty of the staff there, many of whom have worked for the firm for decades. When we had the meeting with our friend the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, there was a clear expectation that staff would remain in place for two years—across two Christmas seasons—and not take their redundancy until the end of that period. In a difficult place for unemployment, employment chances may come up during that period, and I really think that redundancy packages should be offered to staff earlier. Does she agree?
Shop Direct (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Labor
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): During the speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), I said that the company seems to expect that employees will stay for two years and across two Christmases, and not get their redundancy till the end, when they could all land on the unemployment market at the same time. Surely, it makes sense for redundancy packages to be spread across the two-year period, so that if job vacancies arise, my constituents and my hon. Friend’s constituents will be able to take advantage of them. Otherwise, in a ward such as Little Hulton, where unemployment is twice the national average, it will be pretty hard in the end.
Shop Direct (Greater Manchester) — House of Commons, 2018-05-01
Topic: Labor
Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (Labour, Centre-left): My specific point about Shop Direct is that we need BEIS support—Government support—to ensure that, if it does ultimately leave the sites in Greater Manchester, alternative employment will be brought in. Just saying that it is the responsibility of the employees to reskill and retrain is not good enough.
Yemen: Humanitarian Access — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Nicholas Desmond John Smith (Labour, Centre-left): Cholera is currently a massive problem in Yemen, so getting medicines in is, of course, crucial. Hodeidah port is still only open on a month by month basis, so what is the Department doing to keep it permanently open?
Yemen: Humanitarian Access — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Daniel Joseph Carden (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister’s Department assured the public at the start of March, following the Secretary of State’s trip to the region in December, that humanitarian access in Yemen had been restored. However, fuel imports are estimated to be just 30% of what is needed, with food imports at just 9%. Bombing of port areas also continues. Why did the Secretary of State sign a £100 million aid partnership with Saudi Arabia in March, without insisting on full, permanent aid access in Yemen?
Women and Children’s Education — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Transportation
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Minister agree that one of the most disruptive things in a family’s education is when a member of that family is killed by the greatest epidemic of our times—unnecessary, preventable road deaths, which kill 1.3 million people a year on our planet?
Technology: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Environment
Ian Colin Lucas (Labour, Centre-left): Wales and Lesotho share the precious asset of water. Will the Minister support my initiative to bring together Welsh Water— the not-for-profit water company in Wales—and the Government of Lesotho to work on providing technological solutions to the problems that we share?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): It was under a Tory Government, and she was Home Secretary at that time, and that is what is causing such pain and such stress to a whole generation. On Monday, the Home Secretary told the House: "I am concerned that the Home Office has become too concerned with policy and strategy and sometimes loses sight of the individual."—[Official Report, 16 April 2018; Vol. 639, c. 28.] Who does the Prime Minister think is to blame for that—the current Home Secretary or her predecessor?
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Social Welfare
Tracy Lynn Brabin (Labour, Centre-left): I was very pleased to hear the Minister talk about shared parental leave as a potential way of closing the gender pay gap. However, the number of dads and partners who are taking it seems to have stalled at 2%. A recent survey by the Campaign for Parental Pay Equality has shown that 80% of the self-employed and freelancers would take it if they were offered it. Opening it up to freelancers could mean that it is an engine for change to drive through the cultural change that we need in our society. With that in mind, would the Minister support my "selfieleave" Bill—the Shared Parental Leave and Pay (Extension) Bill—which would extend it to freelancers? Will she work with me to persuade the Chancellor that in the autumn, this small and inexpensive tweak would mean that the burden of childcare does not fall on the shoulders only of women?
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Labor
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): It is all very well to go after big businesses, top FTSE companies and boardrooms, but there is a much greater number of women in social care, catering and hospitality who feel isolated because they rely on agencies. Will the Government focus their attention more on that end of the scale and end the scandal of zero-hours contracts, which hit women so hard in those sectors?
Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Christina Elizabeth Rees (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) for applying for the urgent question and you, Mr Speaker, for granting it The UK Government’s challenge to the legality of the emergency Brexit Bills passed by the devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales rightly merits consideration in this House. Crucial policy areas currently dealt with in Brussels, such as agriculture, food labelling and air quality, are affected. They will have a great impact on people’s lives in the years ahead On those EU powers in devolved areas, there has been widespread concern for some time that Brexit legislation affecting the devolved Governments will be used as an opportunity for a power grab by the UK Government I ask the Attorney General to answer a number of questions. First, can he confirm the estimated legal costs of the challenge being brought by the UK Government? Secondly, will he confirm, even at this stage, whether a flexible approach can still be taken to finding a settlement that would resolve the matter? Crucially, does he agree that protecting our devolution settlement is vital and that, on UK-wide matters such as these, reaching solutions by consensus is the better way by far of resolving things? Finally, will he commit to withdrawing his referral to the Supreme Court if the hoped-for consensus is achieved through the Joint Ministerial Committee?
Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): This is a shambolic mess entirely of the Government’s making. They could have accepted amendments in this place or tabled amendments in the other place, but they did not. They could have attempted to find consensus on a cross-party basis, but they did not The Attorney General mischaracterised what the Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly said. She said that the Bill was within the Assembly’s competence. Even UKIP Assembly Members voted for it—Neil Hamilton said that it did not in any way block the Brexit process.
Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Agriculture
Susan Elan Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister says he is hopeful. The Minister says he is heartened. Why can the Minister not actually be helpful and recognise that in Wales we now have a reserved powers model? We know perfectly well that agriculture, for instance, is to be decided in Wales. Why on earth can he not recognise that and why are the Government seeking to pick a fight with the Welsh people? Why do they not just get on and recognise it?
Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Government Operations
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): The blame for this mess lies squarely with the UK Government and the Secretary of State for Scotland for rushing legislation through this place without proper amendment, as I and other Opposition colleagues warned. As the party that delivered devolution in Scotland and Wales, we are deeply concerned about this. If the UK Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court is successful and devolution is therefore not presumed, what actions will the UK Government take to ensure that the Scottish Parliament’s powers are protected and enhanced?
Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Law and Crime
Mathew Richard Allen Rodda (Labour, Centre-left): I join colleagues in congratulating hon. Members from both sides of the House who have made knowledgeable contributions in this interesting debate. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Mole Valley (Sir Paul Beresford) for his deeply personal, moving and thoughtful contribution As my hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State alluded to earlier, Labour supports this uncontroversial Bill. We agree that the growing misuse of lasers is a problem that needs to be dealt with swiftly. Owing to the sheer number of laser attacks on aircraft and other vehicles in recent years, along with the growing power of laser pointers, we support legislative steps to make it a strict liability offence to shine a laser into the eyes of pilots and drivers when in control of vehicles. It is important to place on record the fact that although attacks on aircraft are by far the most common form of laser attack, incidents on railways and on shipping vessels have been reported I would also reaffirm our thanks to Labour colleagues in the other place who worked hard on this Bill by tightening up its language and definitions, as well as by gaining clarifications and important concessions from Ministers. There was a heated debate among Members of the other place about whether horse-drawn carriages and submarines should have been covered by the Bill—we thank them for that. Some of our learned Labour colleagues in the other place were more than qualified to speak about this topic, as one is a former airline pilot and another the president of the British Airline Pilots Association. I pay particular tribute to them for their work on this issue, and we thank the Government for the technical amendments that they tabled in response to the concessions that we won I reiterate the point that our colleagues in the other place made about enforcement. We have over 21,000 fewer police officers compared with in 2010. We will raise further questions in Committee about whether the law will be enforced effectively by what I must say are already stretched police forces We support the Bill because of the concessions won by Labour peers in the House of Lords. We welcome steps to combat the growing problem of laser misuse and to protect the safety of pilots, drivers and passengers. We look forward to our deliberations in Committee.
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2018-04-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): As the Secretary of State knows, Teesside is a powerhouse for industry, but in my constituency unemployment is still double the national average, and across the north-east of England it is considerably higher than the national average. Does he not agree that still more needs to be done to ensure that we balance industrial strategy in favour of those areas where there is high unemployment, and a lack of skills as well?