argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK Exports: Germany, Italy and Ireland — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): It is good to have an argument about statistics, but actually the UK exports to the EU in February of £11.6 billion were only just below the monthly average for the whole of 2020, which was obviously very impacted by the pandemic, of £12 billion. I would caution against using statistics in this way—we need to see the bigger picture—but I refer the hon. Member back to what the ONS said. On the help we are providing for exporters, we have various Government helplines, the Brexit business taskforce, Brexit SME support and various measures in place specifically to support the agricultural sector and the Scottish seafood sector.
UK Exports: Germany, Italy and Ireland — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member will know that there is of course a financial services memorandum of understanding between the UK and the EU, and we are acutely aware of the importance of the financial services sector, not least to my constituency as well. Many, I have to say, were surprised when the SNP voted for no deal on 30 December, especially after Nicola Sturgeon called it "unthinkable". However, I have to say that I was not as surprised, because over the years I have seen the SNP vote against every single UK or EU trade deal, so the idea that it was going to vote in favour of a trade deal between the two of them was, frankly, highly unlikely. The SNP is anti-business, anti-jobs and against Scotland’s best interests.
Trading Relationship with Tunisia — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his work as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Tunisia and Libya. There is great merit in strengthening the trading relationship with Tunisia. Our trade deal entered into force at the beginning of this year and it provides a platform to deepen trade and investment. As he knows, we are already supporting businesses such as Unilever, AstraZeneca and Vodafone, who already operate in Tunisia, and we look forward to backing British businesses to do even more.
Trading Relationship with Tunisia — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Damien Moore (Conservative, Centre-right): Tunisia is a leading exporter of olive oil and wants to export more to the UK, but minimum quota requirements based on the last two years are making this difficult. Will my hon. Friend look into this so that trade is made easy with Tunisia, which is eager to build an even stronger trading partnership with the UK?
Trading Relationship with Tunisia — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): I am aware of this matter and am keen to make sure that businesses can make the most of our transition to trade agreements, so I will look into it. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend and my Tunisian counterpart to open up and promote opportunities for British and Tunisian businesses; more trade means more jobs.
Jobs in Teesside — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will be delighted that Teesside will benefit from one of eight new freeports, unlocking billions of pounds of private sector investment, and it will also help British businesses not just in his constituency but across the whole of the UK, including the 300,000 export-linked jobs in the north-east.
Jobs in Teesside — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jacob Young (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for her answer and for her support for Teesside exporters. From raw chemicals to plastics and steel, Teesside manufacturers rely on global trade, so I am grateful to her Department for the work it has done, alongside Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, to bring more jobs, including in her Department, to the Tees valley. Can she outline when we might start to see these DIT jobs coming to Teesside, and what is her message to the people of the Tees valley ahead of the important elections next month?
Jobs in Teesside — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My message is that Ben Houchen is doing a fantastic job, as is my hon. Friend. I am delighted that we are establishing a new trade hub in Darlington, which is only half an hour’s drive from my hon. Friend’s constituency. There are over 4,000 jobs in export-related industries in Redcar, including in the chemicals industry, and we will be doing even more to support them with the new Darlington trade hub.
Free Trade Agreements: Professional Business Services — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK is a world leader in professional business services and the second biggest exporter of PBS globally, with a trade surplus of £33 billion in 2018. To support this important and diverse sector, we are seeking ambitious FTA commitments in cross-cutting areas like mobility and digital, as well as tackling specific behind-the-border regulatory barriers such as recognition and professional qualifications.
Free Trade Agreements: Professional Business Services — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
James Sunderland (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister will forgive me for being a bit concerned about ongoing red tape in post-Brexit trade with the European Union. This is affecting businesses in Bracknell and beyond. Will he please outline what his Department is doing to support the Cabinet Office in resolving this?
Free Trade Agreements: Professional Business Services — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): DIT has very active participation in the current helplines for businesses facing issues in exporting to the EU. We participate, of course, in the Brexit business taskforce, we provide a DIT internationalisation fund for those looking to export, and we have 300 international trade advisers across the country and at posts right across the European Union. This is a whole-of-Government effort, and, as I said earlier, the data are starting to show encouraging signs of a recovery in our trade.
Free Trade Agreements: Professional Business Services — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Felicity Christiana Buchan (Conservative, Centre-right): Many of my Kensington constituents work in professional services, whether financial services, law, consulting or accountancy. These industries account for a huge amount of gross value added to our economy. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that the professional services sector will be at the forefront of our minds in negotiating future trade deals?
Trade Relationship with the Middle East — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the middle east and a clear ambition to deepen them. As my right hon. Friend knows, we are undertaking a joint trade and investment review with the Gulf Co-operation Council, with which total trade stood at over £33 billion in the year to September 2020. The Government have also signed trade agreements with Jordan and Lebanon, and just last month we entered into an agreement with the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi to provide £1 billion of investment into British life sciences.
Trade Relationship with the Middle East — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): Today is Yom Ha’atzmaut—Israeli independence day—so I hope that my hon. Friend will wish Israel happy independence day. The normalisation of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last year was a hugely positive step not only for regional peace but for commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges. Does my hon. Friend agree that the United Kingdom is well placed to support our ally Israel in developing ties in the region, and will he explore the opportunities that these new trade relationships could bring to our country?
Trade Relationship with the Middle East — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: International Affairs
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed I do join my right hon. Friend in wishing all Israelis a happy independence day. He is right to recognise the strong relationships that we have with the state of Israel. We welcome the normalisation of relations, which creates many opportunities for increased trade, tourism and cultural links as well. Britain is well placed to support Israel in this endeavour. Total trade between us was £4.9 billion in the year to September 2020, up from the previous year. We are building a framework for a new bilateral science partnership. In addition, the tech hub based in the British embassy in Tel Aviv continues to partner Israeli expertise with British companies, delivering significant benefits to the British economy.
Jobs in the North-west — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): Export activity helped support a further 472,000 jobs in the region through the consumption spending of export workers in the wider economy. In total, more than 1.1 million jobs—not a laughing matter, Mr Speaker—in the region are linked to exports in some way.
Jobs in the North-west — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Mark Rory Logan (Conservative, Centre-right): Napoleon said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers; I want to say that Bolton is a town of exporters. I recently hosted the parliamentary export programme in Bolton North East, seeking to help Bolton businesses such as Ajax Equipment and Velden Engineering to take advantage of new trading relations. Across Greater Manchester, foreign direct investment and foreign capital investment are worth £37 billion to the local economy. What actions is the Minister taking to put Bolton North East at the forefront of the global stage when it comes to research and development?
Jobs in the North-west — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): It is as much my hon. Friend as me who is putting Bolton North East at the forefront. He has joined colleagues as a member of the parliamentary export programme, and I congratulate him on hosting a recent event. He will have seen that we are working hard to help Bolton North East companies take advantage of new global opportunities and promoting a strong north-west R&D offer to international investors through the high potential opportunities programme in frontier sectors such as molecular diagnostics, lightweighting and sustainable packaging.
Future Trade Deals: Human Rights Clauses — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: International Affairs
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally. We are clear that more trade does not have to come at the expense of human rights. Although our approach to agreements will vary between partners, our strong economic relationships allow us to have open discussions on a range of issues, including human rights and responsibilities.
Future Trade Deals: Human Rights Clauses — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: International Affairs
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the hon. Lady has misquoted the Foreign Secretary in her account of what he said, but let me be absolutely clear that we will continue to encourage all states to uphold international human rights obligations. The UK has long supported the promotion of our values globally and remains absolutely committed to its international obligations. We are currently negotiating with Australia, New Zealand and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. They will all be important partners and they are all places that the UK will be engaging with when it comes to questions of maintenance and international support for global human rights.
Future Trade Deals: Human Rights Clauses — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: International Affairs
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, I will have to go back and see exactly what the Foreign Secretary said, but I think the hon. Gentleman’s interpretation of what he said is not quite right. Let us be absolutely clear. I ask him to have a look at the roll-over trade agreements we have already done with 66 countries and see if he can identify any diminution of human rights in the agreements we have already done.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): On 4 March, we struck a historic deal with the US Administration, heralding the end of the 16-year Airbus-Boeing dispute. The deal removes the 25% tariffs on some UK exports, such as Scotch whisky, cashmere and machinery. It paves the way for an even deeper trading relationship with one of our closest friends and allies. I continue to work with the US trade representative on the deal and on our broader trading relationship.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): As co-chair of the all-party group for Fairtrade, may I please ask the Secretary of State what steps her Department is taking to make sure that our trade policies help and support Fairtrade farmers and growers across the world?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend on his work on the all-party group. The UK is a long-standing supporter and champion of Fairtrade. We are opening up markets with developing countries such as Kenya and Ghana. We will shortly be launching our new general scheme of preferences, which will give more access to developing countries, helping them to grow through trade.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK is a country that follows the rules. We have very high standards in areas like the environment, animal welfare, food standards and intellectual property. It is in our interests to be in an agreement with high standards, so that we can ask the same of other countries and get access to their markets. That is the point of signing trade agreements.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight the importance of supporting SMEs precisely to get into that international business space. That is why we are developing a new export strategy. We have the developing Export Academy, with a range of toolkits and information to support small businesses. We have the internationalisation fund: £38 million of grants to help businesses to overcome any barriers to international trade. Last but not least, we have UK Export Finance, our award-winning credit agency, which has increasing numbers of staff not only across this United Kingdom, but across the world to make sure that SMEs, wherever they go, can be financed and supported to realise those opportunities, which are many.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): First, we are not removing the safeguards in June. When we were part of the EU, decisions about safeguards were made on an independent basis. Nobody on the Opposition side of the House complained about that then, but they seem to object to independent decisions being made when we are a sovereign nation, which I find utterly bizarre. And I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman’s pessimistic prognosis of the future of Welsh exports. We have massive opportunities for more beef exports, more lamb exports, more car exports and more aerospace exports, and that is what we are going to do through our new trade and investment hub in Cardiff. It is going to be driving those opportunities and I urge him to get behind it.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be delighted to engage with the local Indian community in Ipswich and across the country, because I think we have huge opportunities to expand our trade with India. It is currently £24 billion, but it could be so much more. We are currently working on an enhanced trade partnership with the Indian Government and I look forward to engaging with my hon. Friend and the people of Ipswich to make it happen.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): Since the announcement that Immingham and the Humber ports have been designated as a freeport and that their application scored high in every category, businesses from around my constituency have been contacting me to welcome the announcement. They see it as part of the Government’s global Britain policies. What plans does the Department have to ensure that they can benefit from the freeport and explore new markets?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Graham Charles Stuart (Conservative, Centre-right): Like my hon. Friend, I am celebrating the freeport, which will make a positive difference and from which businesses will be able to export all around the world. Our export academy, the new export strategy and other elements are all there to help them to make the most of it, as well as, of course, probably the most ambitious trade policy ever conducted by a major economy in history, which we are successfully prosecuting. If I may, Mr Speaker, I would also like to thank my hon. Friend for briefing me ahead of my visit to Serbia last week, prosecuting the case for British businesses, in his role as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to the western Balkans.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): The text, and a parliamentary report and explanatory memorandum, will of course come before Parliament in due course. We wish to utilise the agreement to strengthen the trade ties between our two countries. I look forward to the Labour party supporting our agenda to create more jobs in every part of this country and in Cameroon.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Imran Nasir Ahmad Khan (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been delighted to work with the excellent team at the Department of International Trade in setting up the parliamentary export programme in Wakefield, which several Wakefield businesses have joined. The programme has allowed them to learn the benefits of exporting under the free trade agreements that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and her excellent, dynamic team have signed thus far. With more free trade agreements to be ratified, including with blocs such as the CPTPP, can my right hon. Friend outline to the House what benefits these new agreements will bring to businesses in Wakefield and across West Yorkshire?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for promoting the trade agenda so effectively in Wakefield. He is quite right that free trade agreements have a crucial role to play in enabling the UK to seize international opportunities to support that economic vision. Joining CPTPP now will benefit businesses in a number of ways, including through ambitious rules supporting digital trade and reduced tariffs on UK exports, enabling us to build back better and building more opportunities for businesses, supporting jobs in constituencies such as Wakefield.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Labor
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend set out what progress her Department is making on meeting the 2.3% public sector apprenticeship target and when it will meet it, and also say what she is doing to encourage all the businesses that she speaks to about international trade to employ apprentices?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Education
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my right hon. Friend for his work to promote apprenticeships, first in the Government and then as Chair of the Education Committee. It is too early to have final figures for 2021, but we are confident of achieving the legislative target set, building on our previous performance. According to Cabinet Office statistics, DIT achieved 3.5% of its total workforce in England as apprenticeship starts in 2019-20, up from 1.1% the year before, easily clearing the target of 2.3%.
University Students: Compensation for Lost Teaching and Rent — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Education
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I will address the hon. Member’s first point regarding 17 May. She is correct to say that some students will have reached, or will be approaching, the end of their course. However, a great number will not, and it is important to give them the opportunity to get back, for the wider university experience as well In regard to monitoring the impact on students, we constantly do that, and have done so throughout the pandemic, and I will ensure that we continue to do so. On financial support, we have now given an additional £85 million, which is targeted at those most in need and getting the money into their pockets. On the impact of the pandemic, yes, we all know how challenging it has been and continues to be for students, and that is why students have had a disrupted year.
University Students: Compensation for Lost Teaching and Rent — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Education
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): In 2018, just 12.3% of the most disadvantaged pupils in England were accepted into higher education institutions. The Minister’s passion and mine is to ensure that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds attend higher education, but does she agree that the proposal by Hull University to drop the requirement for students to demonstrate a high-level proficiency in written and spoken English is entirely the wrong way to go about that? It is patronising and counterproductive. Is it not better for universities to work with schools and colleges to ensure that all pupils reach the required standards of literacy to secure places on quality degree courses and degree apprenticeships?
University Students: Compensation for Lost Teaching and Rent — House of Commons, 2021-04-15
Topic: Education
Michelle Emma May Elizabeth Donelan (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with my right hon. Friend; I am appalled by the decision of some universities to drop literacy standards in assessments—that is misguided and it is dumbing down standards. That will never help disadvantaged students. Instead, the answer is to lift up standards and provide high-quality education. I assure him that we will act on this, in line with our manifesto commitments on quality.