argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Bangladesh — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Education
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The United Nations convention on the rights of the child states that every child has the right to an education, but that is simply not the case for many thousands of Rohingya children in camps in Bangladesh. What conversations has the Secretary of State had with her counterparts to ensure that adequate educational facilities and opportunities are available to Rohingya children?
Global Warming — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Environment
Christopher Murray Alexander Law (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Last Friday, on the same day that 1.4 million children went on climate strike across the world, more than 1,000 people were killed in Mozambique and Zimbabwe during Cyclone Idai. Does the Minister agree that young people and those living in the developing world are the least responsible yet will bear the brunt of the climate crisis? If so, does she agree that the UK Government must make climate justice a key part of their climate change strategy?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Wishart (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I totally associate myself with everything the Prime Minister has said. We will never allow hate to succeed and we stand in solidarity with the victims of Cyclone Idai The Prime Minister’s deal lies in tatters, her Cabinet is in open revolt, she presides over the biggest constitutional crisis this nation has experienced, and where leadership is required, she has once again cravenly caved in to her hard Brexiteers and will now only seek a short extension to article 50, contrary to the expressed will of this House. When will she develop a backbone and stand up to those who would take this nation to disaster? As one of her Ministers said this morning, referencing another feeble Prime Minister: "Weak, weak, weak."
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Will the Prime Minister welcome Oil & Gas UK’s report today predicting £200 billion of new investment in the sector, supported by this Government’s fiscal policy in direct contrast to the SNP’s failure to stimulate the Scottish economy?;   The announcement this week of the closure of Coes of Lowestoft, following on from those of Beales, Argos and Body Shop, highlights the challenges facing the high street in Lowestoft. To address these, Waveney District Council is submitting an expression of interest to the future high streets fund, which I anticipate will be heavily over-subscribed. I acknowledge the various initiatives the Government have put forward, but can the Prime Minister assure me that a co-ordinated, sustained and properly resourced approach, working with councils, will be pursued to revitalise our town centres, which are vital to local communities and economies?
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I associate myself with the Prime Minister’s remarks about the outrage that we all feel at what happened in Christchurch, New Zealand? We must work collectively to drive hate out of our societies across the globe. Our thoughts are also very much with the people of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. We must do all that we can to support those communities All our constituents will be looking on at the crisis and chaos that we are in. We need to reflect on the fact that we are a week away from the intended day for leaving the European Union, and on the responsibilities that we all have. Six days ago, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: "In the absence of a deal, seeking such a short and, critically, one-off extension would be downright reckless".—[Official Report, 14 March 2019; Vol. 656, c. 566.] Does the Prime Minister agree with her de facto deputy? Does she agree that her actions this morning are "downright reckless"?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Will the Prime Minister welcome Oil & Gas UK’s report today predicting £200 billion of new investment in the sector, supported by this Government’s fiscal policy in direct contrast to the SNP’s failure to stimulate the Scottish economy?;   The announcement this week of the closure of Coes of Lowestoft, following on from those of Beales, Argos and Body Shop, highlights the challenges facing the high street in Lowestoft. To address these, Waveney District Council is submitting an expression of interest to the future high streets fund, which I anticipate will be heavily over-subscribed. I acknowledge the various initiatives the Government have put forward, but can the Prime Minister assure me that a co-ordinated, sustained and properly resourced approach, working with councils, will be pursued to revitalise our town centres, which are vital to local communities and economies?
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We need to reflect on the fact that the Prime Minister’s deal had the biggest defeat in parliamentary history. She brought it back, and it had the fourth biggest defeat in parliamentary history. Her deal has failed, and the House has voted against no deal. Once again, the Prime Minister is acting in her own interest, not the interest of the whole United Kingdom The Prime Minister has failed, this place has failed, and Scotland is watching. The only way forward now is to take the decision back to the people. Will the Prime Minister give the people a say in such a referendum? The people of Scotland deserve a choice on the future, and if Westminster fails, Scotland will act.
Cyclone Idai — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on Britain’s help for those caught up in the cyclone disaster that is afflicting southern Africa.
Christopher Murray Alexander Law (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The UN has described cyclone Idai as possibly the worst-ever disaster to strike the south hemisphere. I have visited the area and know it quite well, and it does not bear thinking about what it used to look like compared with where it is now. Although the damage and death such cyclones bring with them seem incomprehensible, this is just the beginning of the impact of increasingly extreme weather Last year, the International Development Committee heard from Dr Alison Doig, who noted that the UN framework for combating climate change has three pillars for averting such disasters or dealing with their impact: mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage. Does the Minister agree that loss and damage of property is a huge consequence of climate change? If so, why do the UK Government allocate official development assistance spending only to mitigation and adaptation? We can no longer pretend that such events are freak accidents, because their frequency will only ever increase. Does the Minister therefore agree that we are living through a climate crisis? If so, why has that not been made a much more urgent Government priority Finally, on the behalf of the SNP, I express my shock and sympathy with all the families in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe who have been affected.
Cyclone Idai — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on Britain’s help for those caught up in the cyclone disaster that is afflicting southern Africa.
Hannah Mary Bardell (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I welcome what the Minister has said. As she knows, I chair the all-party parliamentary group on deaths abroad and consular services. Of course the focus right now is on humanitarian aid, but can she say a bit about what she can do to support constituents like mine—I have a small Malawian community in my constituency—who have family or friends there and want to travel back, and British nationals who are caught up in this horrendous disaster? What work will be done with local communities? We all have local church groups and community groups who will want to fundraise and support the people of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. What will be done to ensure that grassroots community organisations in our constituencies can contribute to support?
EU Withdrawal Joint Committee: Oversight — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I commend the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) for submitting this question. I share some of his concerns, although after listening to his horror story about all the evils in the way this Joint Committee will operate, I have to say that 90% of it applies to the workings of the British Cabinet and 99% of it applies to the way international trade deals will be negotiated on our behalf without our knowledge or consent in the great new world that he seeks to achieve after Brexit On accountability and openness, I appreciate that parts of the agreement would insist on confidentiality in some circumstances, but will the Minister give an assurance that the UK Government will publish and lay before Parliament as much about the workings of the Committee as is permitted under the agreement as soon as possible Everyone now knows that it was a mistake to exclude the devolved Administrations and other people with potential skills from the Brexit negotiations. Everyone knows that it was a mistake not to ask for views and support from across the House much earlier in the process. Will the Minister therefore answer the question that he did not answer when the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook) asked it, and give an undertaking that the UK delegation to this vital and exceptionally powerful Committee will properly reflect the political and social diversity of these nations? Will he also undertake that, particularly when it is looking at items within the devolved competences of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Governments of those nations will be properly represented as part of the negotiating team and not simply left in a side meeting to be told what has been decided on our behalf afterwards?
EU Withdrawal Joint Committee: Oversight — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As has already been drawn to the Minister’s attention, under article 174, if the arbitration panel above the Joint Committee cannot agree on a matter of law, it has to be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Does not that confirm that the Prime Minister has been prepared to relax at least one of her red lines to enable binding rulings from the CJEU to be accepted after we have left the EU? Does not that show that it is possible for her to relax other red lines to try to get us out of the mess that we are currently in?
EU Withdrawal Joint Committee: Oversight — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) for securing the question and for the concern that he shows for unelected bureaucrats because, of course, we sit in a Parliament where more than half of parliamentarians are unelected bureaucrats. Will the Minister possibly tell us what role the fully elected European Parliament will play in this Committee?
EU Withdrawal Joint Committee: Oversight — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Government Operations
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Scrutiny is always welcome, but I have to say that I believe this urgent question is driven less by urgency and more by a desire on behalf of the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) to continue his deeply unattractive and frankly tin pot tyrant-like attacks on civil servants. Will the Minister deprecate those attacks on civil servants? Will he clarify, in terms of the oversight of the Committee, what the enhanced role for the devolved nations, which the Prime Minister promised at the Dispatch Box just a few weeks ago, looks like?
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Save for what one Conservative MP referred to as the headbanger wing of the Conservative party, everybody thinks that Brexit is a bad idea—businesses, medical personnel, universities. Parliament voted to rule out no deal because it represents a colossal political failure. The hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron) talked about what concerns people. I will tell him what concerns people: a decade of Westminster austerity hitting schools, the NHS and other public services. We are spending £4.2 billion on a no deal, including millions for ferries. No one voted to leave on 29 March. No one voted for a no deal. Will the Minister take no deal off the table and invest the money in hard-pressed public services?
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If Macron, like de Gaulle before him, says "Non" to the Prime Minister’s request for an extension, we will not get one, because there must be unanimity. Does the Minister agree that in those circumstances—as a matter of fact—the only way to avoid no deal would be to revoke article 50, which the House could do, because, contrary to what the Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng), suggested yesterday, the House has not as yet voted on a motion to revoke it?
No-deal EU Exit Preparations — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): This has been a classic display of what over-promotion looks like, in front of the entire House this afternoon—[Interruption.] No, I will not "come on". This stuff from the Minister has been grimly depressing. Can he confirm that my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) was 100% spot on when she said that if the Council does not grant the extension, and if Parliament does not pass meaningful vote 3—assuming that you would allow it to come back before next Friday, Mr Speaker—revocation is the only way to stop no deal?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We live in interesting times, if I can put it that way; we are in a constitutional crisis. We are aware that the Prime Minister is going off to Brussels tomorrow, and out of that we will learn whether we are going to have an extension to article 50. We need to reflect on the fact that we are a week away from the intended departure date from the European Union. The threat of no deal from the Government is very real, and we ought to be aware of the consequences. The Government have told us about the threat to the supply of medicines, to food supplies and to public order. These are serious matters, and given that we have very few days left, I have today written to the Prime Minister and demanded that, in the circumstances, this House should convene on Saturday so that we can plot a way ahead. We need to use the opportunities granted to us in these few days that are left, and we might indeed need to use the opportunity to revoke article 50 if the Government are serious about taking us forward on a no-deal scenario. Mr Speaker, I ask your forbearance, and I ask what opportunities you can suggest that are open to us to ensure that, in these times of crisis, we have the opportunities that we had at the time of the Suez crisis—the last disaster visited upon us by this Government—to ensure that we can stand up for our constituents and protect our people from the catastrophe of no deal.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State might be wise to be aware of the fact that the Prime Minister’s letter to Donald Tusk was not released until after Prime Minister’s questions had started, and it was not released to this House but to journalists. Is that not the case?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State’s favourite outcome is the acceptance of the Prime Minister’s deal. If that cannot happen, what is his second preference? It does not sound like he is very much in favour of extension. The only two sovereign, independent choices to be made are no deal or revocation of article 50. Which one would he go for: over the cliff or turn back?
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am grateful for the chance to speak in this debate, and I commend the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) for having secured it Despite the Secretary of State’s protestations—I can understand why, out of loyalty to his Prime Minister, he has to make them—the Prime Minister’s deal is finished. She will not get that deal through next week. She will not get any changes to it this week, this month or even this year. She is now acting like a motorist who brings a car back to the garage week after week and then runs to the press expressing her frustration at the mechanic for refusing to take a decision to give an MOT when it is perfectly obvious that she is driving a clapped-out old banger that should have been consigned to the scrapheap weeks before. An extra coat of paint on this deal will not make it road worthy; it should be scrapped, and if there is to be any attempt at a deal, it has to be a deal reached on the basis of consensus and engagement with the whole House, including the 90% who do not agree with the Prime Minister’s vision The options are a significant extension, not just for a few weeks or a couple of months; the complete revocation of article 50, which would give a future Government the option of trying again; and crashing out with no deal. It was very noticeable today at Prime Minister’s questions that the Prime Minister repeatedly went through a litany of options that she was refusing to take forward because the House had voted them down. None were voted down by anything like the same calamitous margin as the option she is now determined to bring back for the third time, in flagrant violation of the traditions of the House, which—remember—was supposed to get sovereignty returned to it by this whole Brexit fiasco. Given that the Prime Minister has failed twice to get her deal through the House, surely it is well past time that she and her Government accepted it is not Parliament that is out of step but the Government.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I pursue the intervention from the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Heidi Allen)? It seems that there are also rumours on Twitter that the Prime Minister is talking about a general election. Surely it would be the height of irresponsibility to leave the United Kingdom in the furnace of economic meltdown to run a general election without first revoking article 50. If the Prime Minister is calling a general election, she must write a letter to Brussels to get article 50 revoked before she can hold any general election. Anything else would be utterly irresponsible. There is no time: a letter must be written first.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It might well be irresponsible, reckless and thoroughly irrational, but that does not mean that this Prime Minister will necessarily rule it out Within the last three or four days—the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) made this point very well earlier—we have received a clear message from the Government. They plainly intended the House to believe that we would be voting for a long extension if the agreement were not accepted The Prime Minister has whipped herself to vote against a motion that she herself tabled and presumably supported at the time when she tabled it. The Secretary of State—although he tried to say that this was not what he had done—has commended a motion and later voted against it. As two Members have pointed out, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the Government, has said that asking for a short, one-off extension would be reckless, a few days before the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government, went off and asked for a short, one-off, reckless extension The Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng), who is present, told us that there had been many votes in the House against Scottish National party amendments for revocation. There have not; there have not been any. He told that the presidential rules for the Joint Committee under the withdrawal agreement did not provide for delegations. Rule 3 of annex VIII refers explicitly to delegations, so the Minister was wrong again. The same Minister told my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry) that during the transition period we would still be in the European Union. That was a clear statement from the Dispatch Box, and it was absolute nonsense We have reached a point at which the House can no longer take at face value anything said by Ministers at that Dispatch Box. One of the most ancient and surely most sacred traditions of this House is that when a Minister speaks at the Dispatch Box, their word can be taken as being correct. That no longer applies, not through any ill will on behalf of individual Ministers but because far too often a Minister says something that was true today and different Ministers say something tomorrow that makes it cease to be true. This is no way to run a Government and no way to run a Parliament.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the right hon. Lady for giving yet another example. It is becoming increasingly clear that when Ministers come to the Dispatch Box to defend their Government’s handling of Brexit, they will say what they think needs to be said, and if it happens to coincide with the truth that is useful, but if it does not, someone has to come back afterwards and correct it. How can we expect European negotiators to have any faith in what British Government representatives are saying when time and again it is abundantly clear that we cannot take at true face value anything Ministers say from the Dispatch Box? We have a system of government and Parliament that depends entirely on being able to trust what Ministers are saying, and Ministers are simply not bothering to check the facts before they declare them in some circumstances.
Article 50 Extension — House of Commons, 2019-03-20
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): That is part of the crisis of democracy, but it is certainly not the only part of our democracy that is in crisis The Government claim to be working to respect the will of Parliament and the will of the people, although it has been made perfectly clear that the people are not allowed to change their minds. The about-turn from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s speech to the Prime Minister’s actions, both on behalf of the Government, tell us that five days is enough time to allow 100% of the Cabinet to change their minds but almost three years is not enough time to allow 3% of the population of these islands to change their minds, because it only needs 3% of the population to change their minds to get a different result in another referendum. The Government think there has been a significant shift in public opinion; that is why they do not want to allow the public to have another say. If they were confident that leave would win another fair, uncheated referendum they would not be running away from it so quickly.