argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Julian Carlton Knight (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a very good point. I remember the fraud that took place way back when tax credits were launched. The fraudsters cotton on incredibly quickly, and they see the opportunities. They seem to be extremely flexible in that regard. Scam artists are very quick to move on any new opportunity. They cost the Government hundreds of millions of pounds by exploiting the green deal, and, before that, Labour's tax credits proved so vulnerable that the online portal set up to claim them is still closed a decade later We also need much clearer warnings for people. Despite the best of intentions, much of the advice on offer is too cautious, and contains too much room for doubt. There is too much reliance on caveat emptor. It would be much better to lay out some very clear rules, such as these. If a tradesman knocks on your door to say that you need surprise repairs, just say no. Thank him or her, and, if you are worried, call a reputable professional yourself. If someone tries to convince you that you have won a lottery that you did not enter, just say no: it cannot be made clear enough that that never happens. If someone tries to persuade you to make a risky investment with your pension, just say no: that precious investment has to look after you in your old age. If you want to invest, always take the time to seek proper, independent professional advice.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Before the hon. Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) responds to that intervention, let me point out that, while I appreciate that he is making some extremely important points and the House is very attentive, a great many other Members wish to speak, not just in the current debate but in the next. I am sure that he will conclude his speech very soon.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Before I call the co-sponsor of the motion, let me repeat that a great many Members wish to speak in both this debate and the next one. I must therefore impose a five-minute time limit on Back-Bench speeches. That does not apply to the next speaker, who is deemed to be the spokesman for her party.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sarah Louise Newton (Conservative, Centre-right): I wholeheartedly congratulate the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) and my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) on securing this important debate. I know they have a long-standing interest in tackling scamming, especially when vulnerable individuals are the intended victims. They have set out the wide range of harm that fraudsters and scammers can cause. I assure the House that tackling scams is a priority for this Government. Scams can have a devastating impact, particularly on the most vulnerable people in society. Mass marketing frauds can affect any one of us, at any time. We are more likely to be a victim of fraud than of any other crime, but when caught out we can sometimes feel ashamed or not want to admit we have been hoodwinked. That, however, can make it hard to get a full sense of the problem. It is really important that we do all we can to understand it and respond, which is why I welcome this debate We know that older people are more at risk. The National Trading Standards scams team says that the typical person it provides support to is 74 and living alone. That is why I welcome the work of Bournemouth University and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to investigate the impacts of scams on older people. Their report on financial scamming earlier this year set out clear recommendations for action by the Government, by charities and by private institutions such as banks. As much of the debate today is focusing on the report’s recommendations, and I will address them directly The first recommendation was for all agencies, including banks, to recognise their duty of care to those with dementia and to take measures to protect them. The second was to strengthen rules on data protection to reduce the risk of vulnerable people ending up on so-called suckers lists used by criminals to target their scams. The third was to introduce safeguards at banks and building societies to prevent those who feel at risk of scams from losing large amounts of money.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for the interest she has taken in this issue. I know from personal experience that it is difficult to get a bank to take action unless someone has already given power of attorney, as I said in an earlier intervention. When this happened to someone very close to me and I told the bank concerned that I needed to be tipped off if there were any unusual withdrawals, nothing really happened until a particularly alert cashier, on her own initiative, did that. After five years, I eventually got success: the fraudster was forced to repay all the money and to pay the costs of the case. Therefore, will the Minister do everything possible to persuade banks, if a power of attorney is not in place, to have procedures in place if a worried close relative asks them to monitor irregular or unusual withdrawals and let them know?
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sarah Louise Newton (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for raising that constituency case. It reflects the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull made that some banks have good procedures in place and some do not, and that some staff have been well trained and some have not. We need to ensure that every person working in the bank is as good as those identified by the Nationwide, which my hon. Friend mentioned. I will come on to address the wider point: what more banks and building societies can do to protect their vulnerable customers I am pleased to report that the Government, regulators and private companies are responding strongly to the recommendations that I have outlined. The Government have taken action more widely on nuisance calls, including a new requirement for all direct marketing callers to provide caller line identification. That came into effect on 16 May. The measure increases consumer choice, by making it easier for people to identify direct marketing calls and to choose whether to accept them. It will also increase the Information Commissioner’s Office’s ability to investigate such calls Members may also be aware that, in the Queen’s Speech on 18 May, the Government announced their intention to bring forward a Digital Economy Bill. Among other legislative changes, it will introduce a measure making it a requirement for the Information Commissioner to issue a statutory code of practice on direct marketing.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sarah Louise Newton (Conservative, Centre-right): As always, the Chairman of the Health Committee makes a powerful point, and I am sure those responsible for drafting these measures will take them into careful consideration, ensuring that the scope of the measures captures some of the very harmful behaviour of scammers and fraudsters and that there is sufficient deterrent to those considering undertaking these crimes from the regime of punishments put in place, including fines The overall aims of the new code of practice will be to support a reduction in the number of unwanted direct marketing calls and to make it easier for the Information Commissioner to take action against organisations in breach of the direct marketing rules Secondly, the Government-funded national trading standards scams team is working with the British Bankers Association, the Building Society Association and others to produce a new national banking protocol for doorstep crime and other scam issues discovered at branch level. The Financial Conduct Authority is building on this. Its ageing population strategy will consider how older consumers engage in financial services and make best use of the products and services they use. The FCA intends to release a regulatory strategy and recommendations by 2017.
Scamming: Vulnerable Individuals — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Justin Paul Tomlinson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend mentions trading standards services, and may I ask her to praise the work of both Poole and Dorset trading standards, which do such a good job in this area? However, they can only do their work if the victims come forward; that is the only way in which successful prosecutions can be secured. So I invite her to continue her work with trading standards and to highlight the important work they do to ensure we get prosecutions.
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): I praise my hon. Friend for securing this extremely important debate. I suspect that we will come back to this subject many times in the coming decades, if not centuries Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the important things that we in the House need to begin to think about is a change to patent law? The UK has the principle that the first to file secures the rights. On that point about SMEs, does he agree that "first to invent" is surely the best way for securing a patent? If there is a wait for the first to file, we give an advantage to large companies that can afford to file many patents.
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much take the point. There is only one way to think of this flat-pack car: it is the product of three years’ development by the former chief designer at McLaren. That is the only way one could get a vehicle that would meet the criteria set out by the hon. Gentleman. On the issue of linking to industry, he is right. One of the things that is interesting about catapults is that they have proved to be quite flexible. There is no reason why that flexibility, as they grow in number and extend themselves, cannot be used to create even closer links. As he knows, there is what Lord Willetts used to call a "valley of death" between research and development. The tie-in to employers in education and to businesses in development is vital to stop that problem I thank colleagues and congratulate them on the debate, which has been extremely wise and intelligent. The Government want to be at the forefront of the changes that are being discussed here—the dramatic transformations in the landscape of our industry and commerce. We want to lead this revolution—whether it be the third or the fourth—as we led the first, and we plan to do so through the new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the industrial strategy, which will be unveiled in the next few months.
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman mentioned the sale of ARM Holdings to SoftBank. Yesterday we saw the announcement of Micro Focus, a UK business, buying a significant business of Hewlett Packard. Does he think that we should be able to buy businesses internationally, but not be able to sell them internationally?
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Other
Lucy Allan (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has just claimed to be the representative of the birthplace of British industry, but I must confess that I am the representative of the birthplace of British industry. I hope that he will agree.
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): It is always a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Mak) on securing this very important debate and on his motion, which notes the importance of small and medium-sized businesses, the huge contribution they make and their expertise. The motion also calls on the Government to "continue introducing and supporting policies that keep the UK at the forefront of this revolution" I wish to add to that, as I think we will need policies that support small businesses and let them take advantage of these opportunities in the future I welcome the opportunities that this industrial revolution will bring, but I have niggling concerns. I will always be a champion in this Chamber for small business, having set up my own business in 1992 and then several technology businesses later on, with varying degrees of success. Business is a huge opportunity for this nation and for individuals, and it can transform the lives of people right across this land, whatever their background. There is also an opportunity for the consumer here, of course, as this technology revolution in particular is transforming the way in which consumers shop and travel, and how they can socialise. We need to look at how some of these channels will be dominated by huge businesses and at the potential opportunities—or even the lack of opportunities, which I am most concerned about—within their supply chains for small business Let me touch briefly on the pipes that we need. My hon. Friend the Member for Wells (James Heappey) talked about ensuring that the country has the right infrastructure, and this is about mobile phone communication—not just 4G but 5G—and our broadband. We do not want a sticking-plaster approach, because we need to get fibre not just to cabinets, but right through to premises. Only 2% of premises in the UK have a fibre-to-the-premises connection, which is the futureproof solution that we need. In Spain, the figure is 60%. I have welcomed the Government’s £1.7 billion investment in this area in the past, particularly for rural areas, as it has made life much easier for many of my constituents and businesses. Nevertheless, I fear that we will hit the same bottlenecks in five and 10 years’ time unless we step up our investment.
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is making a persuasive point. There will be a challenge to not only small businesses, but large businesses. After all, if someone can hail a cab for nothing at all, why would they own a car?
Fourth Industrial Revolution — House of Commons, 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): There are huge challenges ahead The situation is similar with Amazon, of course. Small businesses used to engage on the Amazon platform. A small business driver would pick up goods and take them to their destination; in future that will be done by autonomous vehicles and drones. Amazon will completely dominate the supply chain, so where is a small business opportunity there In previous industrial revolutions, opportunities were created for small businesses—people repaired the looms and sold clothes to the people who had new well-paid jobs. I must disagree with the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan), who said that people had not benefited from the industrial revolution. Clearly living standards today are much higher than before the industrial revolution. Nevertheless, future opportunities for small businesses are a concern.
Violence against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps she is taking to support grassroots women’s rights organisations which are working to tackle violence against women and girls in developing countries.
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to those involved in championing that campaign. There are more than 40 existing mechanisms through which funding is channelled to women’s rights organisations. I believe—rightly so—that we channel our funding in the right way to support the right objectives and outcomes for women and girls around the world.
Violence against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Immigration
Questions: What steps she is taking to support grassroots women’s rights organisations which are working to tackle violence against women and girls in developing countries.
Caroline Alice Spelman (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend to her place. Women refugees often suffer violence on their journeys to safety, and the practice of registering only the head of the family in asylum processes often leaves their needs neglected. Will the Secretary of State reassure the House that at the UN summit on refugees next week the voice of women refugees will get a proper hearing?
Violence against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Immigration
Questions: What steps she is taking to support grassroots women’s rights organisations which are working to tackle violence against women and girls in developing countries.
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for her very important and significant question. She is right to point out that there is a conference at the UN General Assembly next week specifically on refugees, on which our Prime Minister and President Obama will be leading. Those are the very issues and challenges that will be reflected in the summit, and Britain will lead the way in standing up for the rights of women refugees and doing the responsible thing for them.
Violence against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps she is taking to support grassroots women’s rights organisations which are working to tackle violence against women and girls in developing countries.
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady rightly highlights the abhorrent practice of FGM and that vulnerable girls are abused in that way. I am working with colleagues across Government on a strategy to ensure not just that we do more but that we end that practice and, importantly, bring the perpetrators of that abhorrent crime to justice.
Violence against Women and Girls — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps she is taking to support grassroots women’s rights organisations which are working to tackle violence against women and girls in developing countries.; An Independent Commission for Aid Impact report says that support for women’s rights organisations remains “a…neglected area in DfID’s programming”and recommends strengthening grassroots women’s rights organisations as a route to scaling up prevention of violence. Given the Government’s commitment under sustainable development goal 5 on women’s rights and girls’ empowerment, what steps will the Secretary of State take in her new role on the ICAI’s advice?
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): As I said in my opening remarks, I pay tribute to the work of my predecessor, who has led the way on women’s rights and rights for girls. The hon. Lady is right to point to the SDGs. DFID is doing a great deal. We recognise the critical role of women’s rights and the organisations that we partner and work with. We will continue to do exactly that.
Nepal Earthquake: Aid — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): On behalf of the Department, I express our great condolences on the impact of the earthquake. Some 700,000 people lost their homes and 9,000 people were killed. Specifically in relation to Dolakha, we have provided a great deal of support, including housing grants for 40,000 houses, and cooking equipment, blankets and tarpaulins for 7,000 people.
Nepal Earthquake: Aid — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the hon. Lady and to her constituent for the work he does. We need to understand the scale of this catastrophe. DFID is spending £100 million this year. Even so, with 700,000 people having lost their homes, the situation is extremely challenging. The response in Dolakha is led by USAID and the World Bank. I am very happy to sit down with the hon. Lady and her constituent to discuss our forthcoming work on roads, police stations and health clinics in Dolakha itself.
Aid Budget: Value for Money — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very important point. He will know of, and be familiar with, the regulations on procurement, but I want to assure him and the House that British firms and British small and medium-sized enterprises win a significant proportion of our work. In the last financial year, 74% of our supplier spend was with UK firms.
Aid Budget: Government Departments — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. These are extremely important matters affecting some of the most vulnerable people on the face of the planet. They really do deserve—[Interruption.] Order. They really do deserve a more attentive audience. It would show some respect to very vulnerable people if we listened to the questions and to Ministers’ answers.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Other
Questions: The sustainable development goals that were agreed in 2015 are crucial to ending poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change by 2030. What is the Secretary of State doing to implement those goals in the United Kingdom?; The Secretary of State’s predecessor kindly agreed to meet the Scottish Minister for International Development and Europe, Alasdair Allan. Will the new Secretary of State commit herself to an early meeting with him, and to positive engagement with devolved Administrations ?
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, I only just heard the question, but I think it was based on the need for positive dialogue with colleagues in the Scottish National party. If it was, absolutely: that is exactly what I shall be doing.
Prime Minister — House of Commons, 2016-09-14
Topic: Other
Questions: Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming the figures that show that unemployment in my constituency has halved since 2010 and, crucially, that youth unemployment has fallen by 12% in the last year alone? Will she promote the value of technical skills and of science and engineering in her push for all children to have a good education that enables them to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them?
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. May I just point out to the House that progress today at this Question Time session has been absurdly slow? I ask the House on behalf of our constituents to show some respect for those colleagues who want to question the Prime Minister, and I am determined to get down the list. I call Craig Williams.