argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): I entered the record books for Parliament when I said that while no one was allowed to indulge in the floccinaucinihilipilification of our own judges, one was allowed to do so under Standing Orders and "Erskine May" for foreign judges. That is a freedom that this House is entitled to.
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not entirely sure about the counting ability of Liberal Democrats, but it is always a right of members of the public to lobby MPs when the House is sitting. It is one we should be very proud of.
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman heckles, elegantly and loudly as always, saying that today is Tuesday— I know today is Tuesday, and it will be followed by Wednesday and a European Council on Thursday and Friday. Things will be decided at that Council that will allow us to decide whether we need to meet on Saturday.
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is correct to mention heckling going on. Obviously, I will not allow heckling. I did not recognise heckling there—a statement of the obvious, yes, but not quite heckling. If it gets any worse, it will be heckling and I will have to stop it.
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): I thought that in my previous answer, I was pointing out the blindingly obvious to one hon. Member. I shall now do so to a right hon. Member: the Act sets the 19th as the deadline for certain things and votes to take place. Saturday is the 19th. Otherwise, consequences follow from that Act. It seems to me extraordinarily obvious.
Business Statement — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I should point out that this is a very narrow business statement, and technically, I should have allowed questions relating only specifically to that, but I hope that the Lord President of the Council will forgive me for having allowed slightly wider questioning. I appreciate that there is concern about a Saturday sitting and that Members had genuine questions to ask him, which he has answered with his usual courtesy.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Lady for her point of order. As I said, I allowed considerable leniency in the business statement and questioning thereafter, because I recognise that Members have genuine questions to ask. She did not really ask a question of the Chair. She made a very reasonable, genuine point of debate, which I am sure she will be able to make again and again as time goes on—possibly even on Saturday.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Mark James Harper (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have perused the Act very carefully. It is very clear that it reflects the events of the European Council on Thursday and Friday, and then sets out a number of things that have to take place, consequent or otherwise on a decision of this House. Given the dates of the European Council, those decisions can take place only on Saturday.
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Immigration
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): We are, of course introducing an immigration Bill, which will focus on a points-based system to ensure that people who come here have the skills that the country requires. Let me also say to the hon. Gentleman that he calls himself a Liberal Democrat, but his policy is illiberal and anti-democratic.
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point, and as he will have seen in the Queen’s Speech and indeed the speech the Prime Minister made yesterday, environmental issues are very much at the top of the Government’s agenda Talking about the opportunities we have, in January our country will host Governments from across Africa here in London for the UK-Africa investment summit. The summit will bring together businesses, Governments and international institutions to encourage investment in Africa. This will also create opportunities for the City of London.
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): Perhaps the hon. Gentleman did not listen to me when I talked about the fact that we were doubling our commitment in terms of international climate finance. An enormous amount of work is going on in this area, and more will be set out. I would have thought that these are the areas he should be praising the Government on. This is somewhere where we have a joint and common endeavour. I wish that Opposition Members would occasionally be positive about what the Government are doing and what we are achieving in the developing world to help the poorest people across the globe It is not just on climate change and education that global Britain is leading the way. The senseless injustice of preventable deaths must end. Last week in Lyon, I announced more details of our pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. AIDS is the biggest killer of women aged 15 to 49 globally. Our commitment to tackle these deadly diseases is a vital part of this Conservative Government’s decision to ramp up efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborn babies and children in the poorest parts of the world by 2030. We are investing in British expertise, and we work with the international community to ensure that, wherever somebody is born, they have access to the vital health services they need. That must include sexual and reproductive health and rights for women. That is why, at the UN General Assembly, I announced a package that will help 20 million women and girls to gain access to family planning each a year up to 2025.
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Hugo Swire (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased to hear what my right hon. Friend says he is doing for women and girls around the world. Can he confirm that the Government will also be looking at spending more and raising the profile of female genital mutilation, both here and abroad, and also of female education, particularly at primary level?
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I did not hear the word, but if the word used was that which has just been put to me, it was tasteless. [Interruption.] I know that the right hon. Member for East Devon (Sir Hugo Swire) means well, but I am not sure that I regard him as a great arbiter on these important matters, although he may be starting to negotiate the learning curve. I am sure he is well intentioned and trying his best.
Britain’s Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alok Kumar Sharma (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an incredibly important point. That major humanitarian crisis has been caused by the military in Myanmar. We have announced further funds of about £87 million to provide food, healthcare and shelter, and that support will help to reach over 1 million refugees but also, importantly, host community members. Of course I commend the Bangladesh Government for the support that they are providing for relocations, but we are very clear that we agree with the assessment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that conditions are not yet in place to allow safe and sustainable returns to Rakhine state.
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I am extremely grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for giving way, but what he knows, and the country knows, is that he had the opportunity many weeks ago, with all his colleagues, to vote for a general election today, on 15 October. They did not take that opportunity, so I am afraid that none of this presentation that he is making stacks up.
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
Victoria Mary Boswell Prentis (Conservative, Centre-right): In the spirit of positivity, I wish to probe the right hon. and learned Gentleman slightly further on the point he has just made. Is his position now that he would accept some of the level playing field points that were made in the cross-party talks if they were in the political declaration or is that no longer the Labour party position? Is he committed to a second referendum in all circumstances?
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anne Margaret Main (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry for missing the very beginning of the debate, but I had a meeting with the aviation Minister I want to go back to the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s point about the proposed deal being very bad for workers’ rights and so on. I completely accept that that is Labour’s point of view and that the Labour party thinks there should be a referendum on the deal. If it were put to a referendum and the public voted for the deal—even though Labour Members feel that it is not the deal they would like—and then there were to be a Labour Government, would they implement that deal? There will be a huge amount of legislation with any deal, and it is important to know that a Labour Government would deliver the deal even if they disagreed with it.
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (Conservative, Centre-right): Colleagues of the hon. Gentleman in the SNP were at the Holy See with parliamentarians from across the House at the canonisation of Cardinal Newman, one of our great British saints. Will he assure me of his support as we take forward the work on freedom of religion and belief so that we can work together around the world in promoting that basic fundamental value?
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Jonathan George Caladine Lord (Conservative, Centre-right): We have had a voter ID pilot in Woking for the last couple of years. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the scaremongering about these successful pilots, and about what I am sure will be a successful roll-out, is just so much piffle and nonsense?
Britain's Place in the World — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Anne Margaret Main (Conservative, Centre-right): On the democracy index, does my hon. Gentleman share my concern about how negative it is to pledge a referendum and then just ask for another referendum, not having delivered on the first? Why should people participate in democratic processes when they are ignored?
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. No one can accuse him of failing to take his opportunities when they present themselves. I cannot give him an immediate assurance that an urgent question application which has not yet been made, and which therefore manifestly I have not seen, will be acceded to by the Chair. However, the hon. Gentleman was present and correct when the Minister for Europe and the Americas, who has just beetled out of the Chamber—perfectly properly, I hasten to add—referred en passant to my enthusiasm for urgent questions. Whether the Minister did so with any great enthusiasm himself, I leave observers to decide for themselves. If the Minister does not approve of my granting of urgent questions, he is perfectly welcome to his opinion, which will not cause me any loss of sleep. But it is certainly the case that I very much favour the urgent question as an instrument of scrutiny, and indeed, very often, of Back-Bench opportunity. So if the hon. Gentleman submits an urgent question—or if the hon. Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns), the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, does so—it will be carefully considered. He is clearly not planning to do so at the moment, but we are where we are.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Oh yes, of course. There is a vacancy. Far be it for me to accuse the hon. Gentleman of being a procedural pedant, because the Chair is in favour of procedural pedantry. He is not; but he was a distinguished, indeed illustrious, Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, who regularly had confetti showered upon him by Members in all parts of the House If the matter comes to me, I will consider it. Let us leave it at that.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): In broad terms I agree with the thrust of what the right hon. Gentleman has just said. There are two routes to this House meeting on Saturday. One is a motion before the House and approved by the House, which specifies that the House shall sit on Saturday, and it would be expected to indicate the period of the intended sitting. The alternative route would be the method of recall under the relevant Standing Order, whereby a Minister of the Crown asks the Speaker to facilitate—to agree to—the said recall. My understanding as of now, and I speak with some knowledge of contacts had, is that the Government are more inclined to the former route than the latter. It is, however, also the case that the Government’s thinking is potentially contingent upon, and therefore liable to be influenced by, the development of events over the next 48 or even 72 hours. The former route, in terms of the convenience both of Members and of the staff of this House, would be preferable, and I am very sensitive both to the needs of Members and to those of staff, and I undertake to the right hon. Gentleman and to colleagues more widely to remain alert and use my best endeavours to try to ensure that the House is in no way disadvantaged. I hope that that is helpful to colleagues.
TV Licences for the over 75s — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): It is excellent to see the Home Secretary in her place. Whether she was in place at the point at which the point of order was being raised, I do not know, but she is being briefed about it. People observing our proceedings will be pleased to see that no sooner is a matter of concern aired in the Chamber than the relevant Minister—in this case, the Home Secretary—beetles into the Chamber to be briefed all about it. This is very encouraging. Thank you.
Unregulated Accommodation: 16 to 17-year-olds — House of Commons, 2019-10-15
Topic: Housing
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): I completely agree; that is another reason for more regulatory oversight, which I will call for. Perhaps this issue needs to come up in planning policy as well Central Bedfordshire sends very few of its own children out of the area. As a Bedfordshire Member of Parliament, I am simply not prepared to accept this wholly unacceptable diversion of police resources caused by other local authorities acting irresponsibly and using provision that no local authority in Bedfordshire would put its own children in It is not as if this provision is cheap, either. A typical cost per child in these unregulated homes is around £800 per week, which is £42,000 per child per year. Some unregulated provision will cost considerably more than that, and it is completely unacceptable that taxpayers are paying such enormous amounts of money to private businesses, some of which do an appalling job and are more interested in making money than in looking after vulnerable children Given that several members of staff that I spoke to when I visited some of these homes told me that they needed no training whatsoever to undertake this work, I suspect that rates of pay are low and significant profits are being generated for the directors of these companies. Who is overseeing value for money for taxpayers, who are having to fork out these enormous amounts per child for such poor quality provision, which in turn is placing a huge burden on other parts of the public sector such as the police?
Financial Capability: Prisoners and Prison Leavers — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point about releases on Fridays. It is something that I have been looking at, but whether a prisoner is released on Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday or Monday, it is important that they have accommodation and support.
Prisons: Staffing Levels — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Resume your seat, Minister. I am sorry, but these exchanges are very protracted. I know lawyers like to expatiate, but the answers are just too long, with people reading out great screeds. That is not what the House wants.
Judiciary: Independence — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that everybody—whichever part of Government or our country they might come from—will probably be aware of my public pronouncements about this matter. I will keep saying it again and again and again, as long as it is necessary to do so.
Judiciary: Independence — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I read the transcript of what Lord Pentland said with great interest. Of course, that matter is subject to appeal, and it would be wrong of me to speak about it in detail, but those comments are noted.
Judiciary: Independence — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope that Members in this House and elsewhere feel that I have discharged my duties under my oath, and I will continue to do that. I will take whatever step I deem necessary to make sure that I am true to that oath, and to the rule of law.
Reforming Probation — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): We are working hard to ensure that we succeed in Wales. As the right hon. Lady mentioned, it is the first of our operations. I met representatives of Napo, GMB and Unison at the end of last month to discuss that very issue, and we are working hard to ensure that matters are in place by the end of the year.
Prison Leavers: Accommodation — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Housing
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady that finding accommodation for prisoners at the end of their sentence is vital. That is why we have already started pilots to help offenders released from three prisons—Bristol, Pentonville and Leeds—to secure and maintain accommodation, with £6.4 million from the Government’s rough sleeping strategy.
Prison Leavers: Accommodation — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes an interesting point. I would like to assure her that we do liaise with MHCLG. In fact, on Thursday I am going with my counterpart from MHCLG to visit one of the pilots in Leeds, and I will raise that point with him.
Prison Leavers: Accommodation — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Housing
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree very much with my experienced right hon. Friend, from whom I learned so much as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. He is absolutely right about accommodation. We are looking at the pilots. We are also trying to expand the approved premises estate by an extra 200 beds. Accommodation is a critical matter, and we are looking hard into it.
Automatic Release from Prison on Licence — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Lady, who I know has written to me. I repeat my pledge to get on with legislating on that issue as soon as possible. We have, we hope, a new Session coming. I am not going to pre-judge what might be said then, but I think there will be an opportunity for us to right this wrong.
Support for Victims of Crime in Court — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member for Ashfield (Gloria De Piero) is leaving the House voluntarily at the next election to the very considerable detriment to Ashfield and to the House, so it would be discourteous of me not to hear her.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Housing
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): What I will say is that we are working on a housing repossession pilot. We are investing £5 million in early intervention services. I take a great interest in the work of law centres, and I want to do more to help them.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Public Lands
Questions: A recent freedom of information request of mental health trusts showed that they had spent millions of pounds on legal representation and inquests. In the same year, 2017-18, just £118,000 was available to families for legal aid. Do the Government agree that such inequality of representation means that justice is extremely hard to achieve?; The number of civil legal aid providers has fallen by a third since 2013. In February, the Government announced, under the legal support plan, a review of criminal legal aid providers. Will the Government today announce a similar review of civil legal aid provision to look at the levels of remuneration and how we can ensure capacity in all areas of the country?;   People in Lincoln are waiting on average 59 weeks for their personal independence payment appeal to be heard. It has gone up buy 10 weeks in the last seven months. The Government have created a hostile environment for disabled people. The mandatory reconsideration process is causing distress, illness and hardship. Will the Secretary of State take urgent action to reduce the PIP appeal waiting time and provide accessible and financial support mechanisms for those going through the process?; There is growing concern about the explosion in violence in prisons directed against prison officers. Does the Minister understand or even agree with the assessment of the Prison Officers Association that the Government are breaching their responsibilities under health and safety legislation by wilfully exposing hard-pressed prison staff to assaults? The number is running at 10,000 a year, which is over 28 a day on average.
Robert William Henry Seely (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for recently discussing the important Camp Hill site on the Island with me. Will the Ministry of Justice now develop, with me and Isle of Wight Council, a considered position in a timely way so that we can get a public interest outcome?
US Troop Withdrawal from Northern Syria — House of Commons, 2019-10-08
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The right hon. Gentleman speaks with very considerable authority on these matters, and that was part of the rationale for granting him his urgent question. He rather gently pointed out to me that it was his first urgent question, so I granted him some latitude, because I think the House wanted to hear from him, but other colleagues cannot expect comparable latitude. Two minutes does not mean four minutes.