argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is a rightly proud champion of her businesses in central London. Obviously, what is happening not just to our capital city but to all our city centres is incredibly sad. We all want to see them springing back to life and vibrancy. Hopefully, the measures that we have announced today will provide some support and breathing space to help them get through a difficult period until they can get back on their feet and do exactly what we want them to do, which is return to where they were—bustling and welcoming us all back into their shops and restaurants.
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Ben Spencer (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for the provisions announced today, which I very much welcome. My constituency is partly in tier 1 and partly in tier 2, and I especially welcome the support for tier 2 areas, but also across the board into tier 1. Many constituents who work in the wedding and events sector, or across its supply chains, have contacted me with difficulties due to restrictions, uncertainty and a drop in trade. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that today’s announcement will also support the events sector and, crucially, those working across its supply chain?
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kieran John Mullan (Conservative, Centre-right): On behalf of the Hop Pole pub in Wistaston, Hickory’s Smokehouse in Shavington, Pillory House in Nantwich, Giovanni’s in Crewe and Eight Farmers in Leighton, all of whom have been telling about the difficulties that they have been facing, I thank the Chancellor for the support measures that he has announced today, which will have a huge impact on their ability to get through this troubling time. Will he confirm when the support will be available and whether it will be backdated for those of us who have been in tier 2 for some time?
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): If we are ending on this note, my hon. Friend has made me exceptionally hungry to hear that roll-call of great-sounding restaurants, which I hope I have a chance to visit with him. I can gladly give him that reassurance. We will be backdating the tier 2 grant support to the time that those restrictions were put in place, and I hope that will be of benefit to all the restaurants that he mentioned and many more small businesses in his constituency Royal Assent
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for that question. That is something that should happen right now. We want to make sure that things do not happen separately in Government, and I have been very keen to ensure that there is no silo working. A frequent problem is that different Departments do different things, and they often duplicate information and work, so we have been at great pains to make sure that that does not happen I share every single thing that I do with Ministers across Departments. We have a group of Ministers who look at equalities in the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education, and we feed into that group everything that we learn. The findings from the race disparity unit and ONS research are fed in as those Ministers make policy, whether in health or otherwise. We do not want this to be a separate Government project that requires new oversight; we all have to work together, and that is how I plan to do it.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The reason I have asked that we mandate recording is that that was one of the gaps identified. We did not get a full picture of what was going on, and we need to have a full picture. As my hon. Friend rightly says, everything we are doing will help the whole population. We are not segregating people on the basis of this disease. Mandating ethnicity data will not just help ethnic minority populations; it will help everybody.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government rightly take very seriously the outcomes for those with disabilities. The largest disparities were by age for both males and females, done by gender. However, there is a wider strand of work that the hon. Lady references, where this will be looked into. We cannot allow any part of the population to feel that they have been forgotten; they have not. I can assure her that we are taking this seriously, not just in the equality hub but in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will know that my constituency is home to a wide variety of people from different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, particularly from the Indian subcontinent. Very sadly, we have seen many deaths, particularly among people from the Indian subcontinent. One of the reasons suggested for this is one of the virtues of that community—namely, that they often have grandparents, parents and children living in the same household, where the grandparents look after the children when they come home from school, and the parents go to work and commute, particularly into central London. In those instances, many people seem to have been infected with the disease and very sadly died. Will my hon. Friend look at this particular issue to see whether it is that mixing of people that is causing so many problems among our ethnic minority friends?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Housing
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right. Household composition was definitely one of the things that we looked at; it was identified as a factor, and we are looking further into its significance. In the interim, the Government have provided a range of guidance to support those who are living in multigenerational housing, alongside detailed advice to employers and key workers on how they can protect themselves. We will continue to ensure that our guidance is clear, enables people to protect themselves adequately and includes guidance for those who are shielding. To support this, we have given councils an additional £1.6 billion of the covid budget fund to help them to protect and support people during this national emergency. As I always say, the Government will do everything that we can, but we cannot do everything, which why we need people to know how they can protect themselves.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): That is an interesting suggestion. I believe that information like that exists. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the issue further, to understand exactly what it is that he is looking for and see if we can do something to produce information like that.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The reason we suspended gender pay gap reporting is that it was right in the middle of the pandemic and we wanted to reduce burdens on businesses that were facing an unprecedented situation. We were not going to put any additional burdens on them. Companies that are able to do so can continue to carry out their gender pay gap reporting, but I remind the hon. Gentleman that this review is about those who are affected most disproportionately medically, and at the moment that is actually men, not women.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Steven John Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the appointment of independent experts on covid-19 and ethnicity, such as Wycombe resident Dr Raghib Ali. What main risk factors has my hon. Friend identified, working with them, to explain why BAME communities are so disproportionately affected? Will she take steps to make those risks more apparent to the individuals affected?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): No, I do not recognise that statement. In fact, I have had meetings with Dr Nagpaul, and we have had many discussions about further recommendations that he has given directly to me, which we have taken forward.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The approach that the Government Equalities Office is taking is that support has to be given in the round. We are not isolated as individuals and we are certainly not segregating. On gender, for example, in the work we have been looking at in this report, it is men who are disproportionately impacted medically. Economically, depending on the sector they work in, it is women who are disproportionately impacted. We need to look at helping everybody. What we are not able to do is say—in fact, it might contravene the Equality 2010 Act—that we will give specific help to women, but not to men or to specific groups based on protected characteristics. We need to provide support to people based on need and that is what we will continue to do.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Virginia Ann Crosbie (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for her statement and congratulate her on the further support for community champions, who are vital at this exceptional time. Can she share further details as to why the measures are not targeted specifically at ethnic minorities and what that means for my constituents in Wales?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend is a real champion for communities in Ynys Môn, particularly with her hidden heroes campaign. I thank her for her hard work on that and on behalf of her constituency. The current evidence is showing that there is a range of factors, which I have mentioned already, particularly occupational exposure and co-morbidities. These factors affect the whole population, regardless of race, and we need to protect the whole population. But I am also keen that we do not stigmatise ethnic minorities or make it seem as though they are carriers of the disease. Targeting specific things and saying, "This is just for black people. This is just for Asian people" will create division and stigmatise, and it will not necessarily go to the people who need it most. That is the message I would send to her colleagues in Wales. This is what we have found. We hope that they agree with us and accept this as the way to go. It is about targeting the whole population, knowing what the vulnerabilities are, and not stigmatising groups.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that issue. As he will remember, I mentioned that 95% of ethnic minority workers have had risk assessments—we have spoken about that at several points during oral questions in the House. That is the issue that they have been trying to tackle. It is important that risk factors are taken into account before people are deployed in various sectors. We know that ethnic minorities are over-represented in lower-paid parts of the NHS, and we will be tackling that structural issue. But risk assessments are the key thing to ensure that people understand their risk and that is how we will deal with that.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are providing money to those people who have to self-isolate. On the broader issue of people from ethnic minority backgrounds working in lower-paid employment, this is one of the things that we dealt with as part of the employer risk guidance, which we repeatedly gave in July and September.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): May I say what a fantastic job the Minister is doing in tackling some of the most difficult issues head on? I pay tribute to her for her courage and I thank her for participating in the trial at Guy’s and St Thomas’s. It is abhorrent that any Member of the House should do anything to discourage participation in any such trial. Does the Minister agree that it is the duty of every Member of the House to work with our communities, as leaders, in encouraging participation in such an important trial?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with my hon. Friend and, as I said to the hon. Member for West Ham (Ms Brown), this is not something that should be a cause for division in the House. We should be working together on this. I did not write the letter just to Conservative colleagues; I wrote it to all colleagues, and I hope that people will take up the notices in it and share them across their communities.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Thomas Patrick Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I recently had the honour of becoming the ambassador for BSC Multicultural Services in Ipswich, which as well as supporting our large and thriving Bangladeshi community, supports people from over 50 other nationalities. Throughout the covid-19 pandemic, it has provided invaluable work giving food parcels to the most needy from those communities, but right now its finances are under strain ever so slightly. I was wondering if the Minister could give both me and the other leaders of the group some reassurance about potential financial assistance to them.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ben Spencer (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend and welcome this incredibly important ongoing work. Does she agree with me about the importance of using science to determine individual risk as a way to help people make informed decisions about their lives and their work?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, absolutely; it has to be evidence-led. Everything that we are doing in the Equality Hub is evidence-led. We have a real focus on data, to ensure that we base our decisions on what is actually happening and do not take them for reasons of politics or other things that are not science-based. I completely agree with my hon. Friend; I do not think there was anything to disagree with in what he said.
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for her statement and for answering 39 questions over an hour. I also thank the technicians, as many of the questions were virtual. Thank you very much Virtual participation in proceedings concluded (Order, 4 June).
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): As previously announced, discussions are under way. We want to proceed in consultation with and working with the local areas. With the parliamentary recess next week, we will find a way to ensure that colleagues are appraised of the situation, preferably in advance of any announcement.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): The last speaker from the Back Benches will be Greg Smith. I know that many Members who have waited to speak this afternoon will be disappointed, as quite a large number have not been called. I must point out that all the people who have not been called are those who have spoken many times in recent weeks. I am sure that a little arithmetic will show that with the number of Members there are, 650, and with the amount of time that we have to debate every day, which is eight hours, it is actually not possible for most Members of Parliament to make more than one speech in a week or several speeches in a month. It is not possible and it is not normal.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I am going to stop the Minister. I let her do it once; she called the hon. Member for Twickenham "you" and now she is calling the hon. Member for Rhondda "you". Please call him "the hon. Gentleman".
Down Syndrome Awareness Month — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): When I was born in 1949, the life expectancy of someone with Down’s syndrome was 12 years. The life expectancy now, we hope, is somewhere in the 60s or 70s. I am sure the Minister will agree that we have to find a way to employ these people properly, and not just because, as some people would say, they are disabled; in my view, they are not.
Childcare: Parental Access — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Victoria Grace Ford (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important question. We know that families want to be able to access affordable out-of-school childcare, and that is particularly important during the school summer holidays, so our manifesto commitment is to establish a new £1 billion fund from next year to help to create more accessible childcare, including before school, after school and in the summer school holidays. As with all future commitments, this is dependent on the outcome of the spending review, and I hope to be able to update the House with further details following the spending review.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises such an important point about the importance of having the right provision in Cornwall for her constituents. When I visited her constituency, I saw how she was campaigning so hard to get the very best for all her constituents. I would be very happy to meet her to discuss this further and to discuss how best to ensure that we deliver the brilliant provision she is always rightly fighting for.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in what he says, and I know that local leaders across the country will listen to him. I hope they will accept our offer and go into tier 3 where necessary.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kate Elizabeth Kniveton (Conservative, Centre-right): Pubs throughout Burton and Uttoxeter will appreciate the support available to them through the job support scheme in the event of a local lockdown, but will my right hon. Friend consider the impact on breweries, which will not be eligible for the support but will have no pubs to sell to?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Philip Andrew Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the many reasons why the Prime Minister has proved himself such a formidable and popular politician over so many years has been his resolute belief in the common sense of the British people. Instead of a constant blizzard of arbitrary rules that will serve only to collapse the economy and destroy businesses and jobs, will he remind people of what is important—social distancing and washing hands, and the groups most at risk, including the elderly and people with health conditions—and once again put his trust in the British people to act responsibly? After all, believing that individuals make better decisions for themselves, their families and their communities than the state can make for them is surely at the heart of what it means to be a Conservative.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Bernard Christison Jenkin (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my right hon. Friend aware that, although the case rate remains relatively low in Essex, the number of cases is doubling every 10 days? Is it not better to bring in decisive measures that will suppress the curve before it climbs, rather than wait until after, provided those measures are effective and there is economic support, particularly for the hospitality sector?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jane Fiona Catherine Stevenson (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to work at a local level, but I hope he will understand my disappointment that Wolverhampton has been lumped into a tier 2 system, despite the protestations of all three MPs and the local council. My fantastic pubs and restaurants have done everything asked of them, and now, because they are in tier 2, they face no financial support at all and a devastating effect on their viability. Will he urgently look at that?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Other
Sarah Elizabeth Dines (Conservative, Centre-right): We are seeing a very unwelcome trend from the Labour party, which backs the Government’s sensible measures one week, only to flip flop and change its mind the next week. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me and several constituents from Derbyshire Dales who say that what they want to see is this House working together on sensible policies rather than political point scoring?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Graham Stuart Brady (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister has said there will be a four-week sunset for areas with the highest restrictions. What reassurance can he give to areas in tiers 1 and 2, some of which have had additional restrictions already for two and a half months, that this will not become a permanent state?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): We keep all these things under constant review, and nothing could be more attractive to the Government than moving the whole country out of the present restrictions that we are in as fast as possible. That requires us all to follow the guidance.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Housing
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I must respectfully take issue with the right hon. Gentleman’s characterisation of the scheme, which remains internationally competitive. In France, it is 60% for some, 70% for others. In Germany, it is about the same. In Italy, they have an 80% provision, but there is a serious cap—a very low cap—-in Ireland; it is down at 60%. This is a highly competitive scheme, and it is one that I think is generous by international comparisons. On his point about evictions, nobody wants to see anybody evicted because of the hardship they have suffered because of coronavirus, and that is why we have extended the period in which landlords are prevented from conducting such evictions by a further six months.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Anthony Edward Timpson (Conservative, Centre-right): The decision to place Cheshire in tier 2, and the additional restrictions that that will entail, will inevitably impact on families and businesses across Eddisbury, not least the already decimated wedding industry and its existing supply chain. Will my right hon. Friend look again at what further targeted support can be made available for that industry, which will struggle to remain viable through another six months of effectively being closed?