argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to follow on from the speech of my noble friend Lord Austin, who has been a great friend over the years, promoting cycling at a time when it was not quite as popular as it is now. He is very welcome in your Lordships’ House There has been a lot of talk from the Prime Minister and others about regaining our sovereignty, but I have to ask this question: whose sovereignty and what exactly do they mean? It is very easy for Ministers to sit here, at the end of 2020, and think that we are a sovereign island state, maybe even with an empire whose every move they can control, forgetting that they do not have one any more and that most of the Empire sought more relevant economic and cultural links long ago, and we are left alone. After 50 years of war and its aftermath, our involvement in Europe and with our neighbours, and the encouragement that we gave to widening the EU eastwards, was a major contributor to peace: the free movement of people for work, leisure and relationships, and the understanding of the different traditions, languages, local rules and customs has been a major contributor to peace. Of course, the Erasmus programme, about which many noble Lords have spoken, is an essential part of that, and I hope the Minister will come back with a positive answer when he responds I lived in Romania for several years in the 1970s, under the Communist regime, and it was not a happy place. There was no liberty and no freedom, and the issues that occurred then are not over yet—as we see when we look at what is happening in Ukraine and Belarus. I have a train-operating business colleague who sent me a photograph a few years ago of one of his freight trains with machine-gun holes all the way up the side. Just imagine trying to run a business when you have machine guns going past you all the time. I think the rest of Europe should be seen as our friends and trading partners—to which, of course, we export some 40% of our trade—and we should really encourage them. Therefore, the criticism of Europe as being bureaucratic is wrong. The people are not bureaucratic, but some of the processes needed to be, maybe to cope with 26 member states. Are our Government really right to criticise the EU for this when they produce just a framework Bill, which many speakers have said will dramatically increase the bureaucracy of trade with the EU, just as the interests of that mythical idea of sovereignty are lost My conclusion is that all the Government are doing is transferring sovereignty from what they believe was Europe to themselves, bypassing Parliament. For the reasons many other noble Lords gave, I will support the Bill, but through gritted teeth.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Brinley Davies (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I support the regret amendment, but with the greatest reluctance will vote for the Bill. Leaving the EU on the Tory Government’s terms—with or without this Bill—will produce immense economic and social damage to the UK. But the option of having no legislation to implement the Government’s deal would be worse. I have three substantive points First, it is clearly nonsense to suggest that the treaty means that we take back control, as the Brexiteers claim, particularly if we mean democratic control. The Bill creates a whole panoply of joint regulation and control between the UK Government and the European Commission, with the partnership council, 19 specialised committees and four working groups. These bodies will reach agreements at the European level, without parliamentary scrutiny, which will apply directly in British domestic law. So the UK Government will be subject to next to no democratic scrutiny or oversight of what they negotiate with the EU. There will be less democratic oversight than we had as a member of the European Union. What we will see are truly the horrors of unaccountable power, with laws being made by administrative diktat Secondly, of the many unknowns left open by the treaty I want to highlight the inadequate provision for mutual recognition of professional qualifications. What we have here is simply a framework, with the practice to be agreed through the joint partnership council along the lines of the CETA treaty. What this means in practice is unknown, but, judging by the slow progress of recognition under CETA itself, this means years of uncertainty. This will not only affect UK professionals, who will be at a competitive disadvantage, but will make matters worse for our hard-pressed health and education sectors, where EU nationals have provided essential support. It also poses an additional challenge for delivering the world-class academic research that underpins so much of the UK’s competitive advantage This undercooked and ill-thought-out Bill presents not the solutions we need but simply a long list of undecided but vital UK links that have provided great advantage to the UK, its economy and its standing in the world. Thirdly, and all too briefly, I must mention the failure to guarantee labour standards. We know that it is the Prime Minister’s ambition to weaken employment rights in a race to the bottom. This has not been forgotten and it is most certainly an issue to which we will return in future debates.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Joyce Gwendolen Quin (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I share the sadness of many in this debate as we reach the end of the road for our EU membership, of which I have been a strong supporter since well before being elected to the first directly elected European Parliament in 1979. Indeed, my support for the EU was strengthened when I was a Minister attending Council of Ministers meetings on justice and home affairs, agriculture and foreign and general affairs. In contradiction to the caricature of the bullying EU, I found it a forum where British interests could be defended and advanced, and where you could forge alliances and conclude beneficial agreements. It is a tragedy that we left when we had a number of special arrangements and had made a huge success of the internal market. Rather than being a victim of rules imposed on us, we were leading lights in forging those rules in many sectors of our economy This is a bad deal, exacerbated by being unnecessarily squeezed up against a self-imposed deadline, causing difficulties and uncertainties for business. It is certainly a worse deal than Theresa May’s deal, particularly because of the creation of a border down the Irish Sea. It represents a loss of freedom for our citizens to live, work and study in the EU. It fails on proper mutual recognition of qualifications, which may cause us to lose contracts as a result. It causes difficulties for musicians and freelancers in our vital creative sector. It even creates new restrictions within the UK, an example that I came across being the introduction now of rules for pet travel between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland where no rules previously existed. It does not surprise me that so many parties in Northern Ireland represented in our Houses of Parliament find the deal unpalatable This morning, I listened to the impressive speech made by my party leader, Keir Starmer, who not for the first time showed the qualities that I hope will make him Prime Minister in due course. It was clear that he knew the details of this deal better than the Prime Minister, who still will not admit that he was wrong to claim that there were no non-tariff barriers in the deal when there obviously are I am glad that Labour was united against no deal, and I am glad too that Keir Starmer pointed out that those voting against the deal do not actually want to win the vote, because it would lead to a no-deal outcome. However, I still believe that abstention is a credible course of action for people like me. This is the Government’s deal. As we have seen, they have the majority to get it through. Abstention is not walking away when it is accompanied by a clear statement of the reasons behind it, and it does not facilitate no deal but simply makes clear how poor this deal is. While I support my noble friend’s amendment to the Motion, I shall actively and deliberately abstain on any vote on the Bill itself.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Frank Ashcroft Judd (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it is with considerable sadness that I shall vote to support this Bill; the alternative is even worse. The Bill is further confirmation that we have turned our backs on a great European initiative. From the earliest days of the Coal and Steel Community, the driving vision has been political—of course, it has. Economic arrangements have never been a primary end in themselves; they were the practical means of building a peaceful, stable Europe in which the horrors of two world wars would never return In this context, I want to record my admiration for the statesmanlike fortitude and firmness of Monsieur Barnier, the President of the Commission and their colleagues, who largely refused to be provoked by the petulant and provocative way in which our media and, too often, our own Government performed. We owe our European friends great appreciation for the fact that there is in the end any deal at all, however thin the gruel We are the prototype of a highly interdependent nation. It is difficult to think of any major issue confronting the men, women and children of the United Kingdom, not least the coronavirus, which can be resolved by the UK alone. We desperately need international co-operation, starting with our European neighbours, on climate, health, security, law, education, human rights and much more, as well as on trade, finance and social policy, especially workers’ rights. It is essential from this moment onwards to make central to our foreign policy the rebuilding of our friendship and trust with our many European friends and a determination to recognise our interdependence and the indispensability of international co-operation to our mutual interests While we must of course seek to meet the frustrations and anxieties of too many of our fellow citizens, we must never do so by selling them short on the imperative of the international co-operation which is necessary to build a strong future in their own interests, let alone those of anybody else.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Mary Goudie (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the Brexit agreement is accompanied by 15 declarations, none of which are about human rights. The Government’s 34-page summary of the agreement repeatedly makes the point that the European Court of Justice at Luxembourg will have "no jurisdiction". It makes no mention of the fact that the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg will remain. The summary makes no mention of human rights, save by way of lip service in paragraph 175. Human rights are being pushed to the margins There is a land border between part of the UK and the EU in Ireland, and there is a land border between Scotland and England. If Brexit can work despite the land border in Ireland, does this not create a precedent that will be a gift to the SNP? Is the Prime Minister’s little England not only exiting the EU but provoking exits from the United Kingdom On Erasmus, specifically, we have already seen a welcome move to a united Ireland in relation to university students. Will Scotland and Wales be able to continue to participate? Will only English, and perhaps Welsh, students be the losers? I urge the Government to look at this again. This is a bad deal but no deal would be worse. We must now move forward.
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: Environment
Barbara Young (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I will vote to pass this appalling Bill only because the alternative of no deal is even worse. Let me expand on one of the many inadequacies of the trade and co-operation agreement in the Bill: the provisions for environmental protection and climate change. One of the great achievements of the EU for the UK, apart from helping to secure peace in Europe, was the major improvement in environmental protection that were secured for citizens right across the UK and Europe as we worked together with European partners in the collaborative way that the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, described so well. The quality of our air and water, our biodiversity and climate change impacts all span national boundaries. We can choose to leave the European Union, but we cannot choose to leave the European bioregion The Prime Minister’s letter of 24 December asserted that the agreement "delivers on our commitment to maintaining … environmental and climate standards" Surprise, surprise, the PM got that one wrong as well. The agreement certainly contains reciprocal commitments to high-level principles on environmental and climate change and on energy but alas, neither the agreement nor the Bill delivers adequate provisions for enforcing these commitments. Regression from European environmental standards will trigger any dispute mechanism only in situations where there is demonstrable impact on trade or an investment between the parties. We all know that previous trade agreements have shown how difficult that is to prove. Even if regression from standards sufficient to jeopardise trade was provable, an independent panel of experts would then be appointed to report on the alleged regressions. However, at his briefing yesterday, the Minister already confirmed that the findings of such expert panels would not be binding and the environmental principles in the agreement are "not an obligation". I am sure that the Minister will say that the agreement requires each party to ensure competent domestic enforcement authorities and effective administrative and judicial procedures to ensure environmental standards. However, the debates on the new office for environmental protection in the other place raise major doubts about its powers, resources and independence Yet again, the Prime Minister has given expansive assurances about what the agreement and this Bill deliver for environmental protection and climate change, but they have been revealed to be baseless in a very few days. Can the Minister tell us how the fine assurances on high-level environmental principles and non-regression will be assured? Will he let the Prime Minister know, or is this just another collective EU achievement that we will have needlessly thrown away?
European Union (Future Relationship) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-12-30
Topic: International Affairs
Dianne Hayter (Labour, Centre-left): I regret the tone of much of that response, which I think does not become the Minister and does not respond fairly to the debate he has heard tonight. I do not know what his history was of "47 tempestuous years" within the European Union, but I seem to recall that we started rather as a basket case economically and it was through the European Union that we grew. However, I am not going to rehearse that argument. I think he accused me of denying the referendum. He knows, not only because I gave him my European history today, that I am Welsh, and he knows how the Welsh voted. He knows jolly well, because he has heard all this, that I have never questioned the referendum and I never called for a second one. I think he knows that he was perhaps a little unwise in some of his words Our amendment is not as described by the Minister. My regret amendment goes along with giving this Bill a Second Reading, which we are going to vote for. It does four things, none of which—despite what the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, asserts—undermines the decision to take us out of the European Union. First, it starts by welcoming the deal as it has avoided a no-deal exit. That is what I think the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, called "worse than chaos." Secondly, it regrets that it leaves much to be desired, as was reflected in many of the speeches today. Thirdly, it asks the Government to work with Parliament—this is not delaying anything—to ensure the sort of transparency and accountability outlined by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and by my noble friend Lady Taylor, and with regard to secondary legislation, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and to answer the points made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge. I say that asking for accountability is not delaying anything. Fourthly, the amendment asks the Government to work speedily to set up the agreed parliamentary partnership assembly—an assembly agreed by the Prime Minister. We are asking for progress on that. This does not in any way deny that we should, as we will want to do, give the Bill a Second Reading. It simply asks the Government to work with Parliament on how we see the next stage. I wish to test the opinion of the House.
Procedure and Privileges Committee — House of Lords, 2020-12-14
Topic: Government Operations
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the report concerns two issues: the first is resetting the limits per Member for Oral Questions, topical Oral Questions, balloted debates and topical Questions for short debate; the second is a further temporary suspension of hereditary Peer by-elections. I shall deal with the issues in turn. This Session is almost a year old, and a number of Members have reached or are about to reach the limit on the number of Oral Questions and topical Oral Questions that they may table in a Session. Previously in long Sessions, the Procedure Committee has recommended and the House has agreed that the limits should be reset after a year has elapsed. The committee’s first recommendation, therefore, is that the limits should be reset from 1 January 2021. The committee also recommends that, from now on, the limits should be reset automatically on 1 January each year, and not at the start of the Session. That limit will apply regardless of prorogation, but will be reset at the start of each Parliament and run to the end of that calendar year. I hope that this change is agreed for the convenience of the House I turn to the further temporary suspension of hereditary Peer by-elections. The House will recall that, on 23 March, in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we agreed to suspend Standing Order 10(6), which states that by-elections must "take place within three months of a vacancy occurring." Then on 7 September the House agreed to further suspend by-elections until 31 December At its meeting on 1 December, the Procedure and Privileges Committee again considered this issue. The committee discussed the ongoing situation concerning the pandemic, the inability of some Members to attend the House and the suspension of other types of election. While it would be possible to hold a remote by-election, the committee decided, on division, that a further suspension was desirable. The committee will meet again on Wednesday 26 January and will consider this issue again and report to the House as soon as possible thereafter. The report from the committee explains this decision. Noble Lords will have noticed the second Motion in my name on today’s Order Paper, which gives effect to the committee’s decision. I beg to move Amendment to the Motion
Procedure and Privileges Committee — House of Lords, 2020-12-14
Topic: Government Operations
Philip Alexander Hunt (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, who is as earnest a reformer of your Lordships’ House as I am. Before coming on to the substantive argument, I have a couple of comments on what the noble Lord, Lord Mancroft, said First, I regret what he said about Public Health England. I point out to him that the people working for it have been working all hours and doing a tremendous job. They are officials; they are part of the Department of Health. We argued against this on the Health and Social Care Act 2012, but the Government insisted that they lose their independence and they were brought into the department. They are officials and cannot speak for themselves; the person accountable for their performance is none other than the Secretary of State. It is a great pity to hear such nonsense from some noble Lords opposite on the responsibilities and duties of public officials Secondly, the noble Lord referred to issues being rushed through this House. Of course hybrid working is not perfect and there must be some trade-offs, but this is a good opportunity to say how much I appreciate what has been done and how effective we have been. Members of the Commons tell me how they wish they could follow the way we have been able to do this On the substantive issue, surely the nub of my noble friend Lord Grocott’s argument is that, at the height of the many issues this country faces at the moment, the idea that we should waste time on these ludicrous by-elections is complete nonsense. Also, I would be very surprised if the Procedure Committee made any recommendation to your Lordships’ House that did not keep fully within the law. The decision to postpone these elections is very sensible The noble Baroness, Lady Meyer, referred to the House of Lords Act 1999, on which the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, was a leading actor for the Opposition and I was the Government Whip in the Lords. I think I sat through every minute of those riveting debates. The premise was very much that reform would soon follow. We saw what happened: first, my noble and learned friend Lord Irvine’s White Paper did not get very far; he and I served on a Joint Committee chaired by Jack Straw—if he remembers—which attempted to produce a consensus on a way forward, which did not make as much progress as we would have hoped; then the coalition Government attempted Lords reform. It is time to accept—I regret it as much as the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde—that reform is some way off We are in the process of trying to reduce the House. There has been general agreement on all sides that we should do it. Frankly, it would be a modest contribution to suspend the by-elections a little longer. The Procedure Committee has gained a reputation over the years for taking its time on difficult matters. I suggest it take a very long time indeed before it decides to allow these ridiculous by-elections to go ahead.