argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Referendum: Civil Service Guidance — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Government Operations
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): Is this not constitutional gibberish, and utterly unworkable? The protestations that we hear from Ministers now would be much more impressive had they joined our Select Committee in condemning the politicisation of the civil service during the Scottish referendum campaign. The difference is that, whereas all Ministers agreed in the case of the Scottish referendum, in this case we have a disagreement, and a Department in which the "inners" can see the papers and the "outers" cannot. Is it not a fact that the only way of making this workable is for Ministers to resign and leave office until after 23 June?
EU Referendum: Civil Service Guidance — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Government Operations
Kelvin Peter Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): During the referendum on Scottish independence, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn), there was significant controversy over senior civil servants making public and clearly political, and politicised, statements. It is vital for the civil service to retain its private advisory role, and for civil servants not to make blatantly political public comments during the campaign before the EU referendum. Will the Minister confirm that that will be the case?
EU Referendum: Civil Service Guidance — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): I will be campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU, but I see no issue with all Ministers having access to the very strong arguments for Britain to remain in the EU—this is a matter of democracy. Is the Minister really suggesting that we could have a situation where a Secretary of State is denied access to key Government papers but his or her junior Ministers have access to that information?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Government Operations
Nia Rhiannon Griffith (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This morning the Secretary of State for Wales—I have made his office aware of my intention to raise this point of order—announced major changes to the timetable and content of the proposed Wales Bill; he has decided to jackknife the Bill and skid it to an undignified halt. Instead of coming to the House to inform right hon. and hon. Members and answer their questions about how he will proceed, he choose to make that significant announcement in front of a gathering of journalists in Cardiff, even suggesting on Twitter that hon. Members can wait until Thursday to question him. Did he give you any indication that he would be announcing this major change of policy today, Mr Speaker, and has he indicated that he will be making an oral statement to the House, as per paragraph 9.1 of the ministerial code?
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Macroeconomics
Catharine Letitia Hoey (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister may be coming on to this, but will he clarify very clearly and succinctly how this will affect Government spending? I do not mean the Government, but the Cabinet members who support staying in as opposed to those who do not. How will that work for them?
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): We seem to have focused on process for so much of today that I hope this will be the last time we do so I want to check some of the details of the statutory instrument with the Minister. It sets the date of the referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union. It also prescribes the length of the referendum period, the start of the period for applications to become a designated organisation, and the periods for the reporting of donations or regulated transactions. If would be good if the Minister nodded.
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): Labour has always said that as soon as the Government’s European negotiations are completed, they should get on with the referendum and end the uncertainty, which is bad for British jobs, growth, investment and working people.
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): Just a second We believe that the people of the UK are perfectly capable of making an important decision in early May and another important decision in late June, seven weeks later. It is patronising to suggest otherwise This country is safer, stronger and more prosperous in Europe and Labour is campaigning to stay in. Our membership of the EU brings jobs, growth and investment. It protects British workers and consumers, and helps to keep us safe.
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): The position of the Labour party is that it is for the people of the UK to make a decision on this, because the people of Scotland had a referendum and chose to stay as part of the UK.
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Pat Glass (Labour, Centre-left): People will have to make a decision on those issues, but they are not related to this statutory instrument. We accept that this great country would be able to make its way in the world outside the EU, but leaving would cost us dearly in all kinds of ways including jobs, our competitiveness in business, and the safety of our citizens from terrorism, crime, climate change and war. At a time of Russian expansionism and international terrorism from groups such as ISIS-Daesh, we do not believe that it is right to risk our safety and security as a nation. We want the UK to lead, not leave, Europe. We are the second biggest economy in the EU, and many of our partners such as Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and others want to work with us further to reform the EU, and they are looking to the UK to lead on that. Leaving the EU risks future peace in Europe, and Britain’s influence in the world In government, Labour passed the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and we supported the passage of the European Union Referendum Act 2015. We support this statutory instrument, and we will leave it to others to moan about the date of the referendum. We are getting on and putting our energy into winning the referendum and keeping Britain leading in Europe
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Catharine Letitia Hoey (Labour, Centre-left): I am sorry; I am not a Minister yet I know that the hon. Gentleman and I are on different sides, but I agree with him that this should be a positive campaign. May I return him to the issue of what I consider to be the hugely important letter that was signed by the First Ministers of the three home countries, all of whom had different views on the European Union? Does it not shame the Government that they showed so little respect—for respect is the word—by simply throwing that letter away and implying that it meant absolutely nothing?
Referendums — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Kelvin Peter Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): I have made the point many times, as have other hon. Members, that we have a gigantic trade deficit with the rest of the EU, and with Germany in particular. Germany is therefore not going to play games with us on trade, because it will only shoot itself in the foot by doing so.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I will be the first to work with Government Members, and I hope that by the time we have listened to the Business Secretary’s reply we will have something that we can all cheer The British Chambers of Commerce recently found that export growth continued to slow at the end of 2015, with manufacturers struggling in particular. In the words of a former Conservative Trade Minister, the Government’s own export target is "a big stretch". The Government have obviously been asleep at the wheel. Ahead of the Budget next month, the Government must acknowledge that on their watch domestic structural weaknesses in the UK economy have been allowed to persist and that they are now in danger of holding Britain back.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): Is my hon. Friend concerned that the Business Secretary will write letters supporting the need to deal with dumping and to increase tariffs, but, when it comes to reality rather than rhetoric, is part of a Government who are one of the ring leaders in the EU Council preventing any increase in tariffs?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Macroeconomics
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I am just getting the idea of a mixed rugby team out of my mind so that I can address the hon. Gentleman’s point. I think that it rather makes the point that the Government need to do more than just change technical criteria. They need to take a root-and-branch look at what is actually happening in our steel industry, and an industrial strategy would assist them in doing that. We need to do what we can to ensure that any blockages are removed so that we can give our steel communities the best chance to take maximum advantage of the procurement opportunities available in this country.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Energy
Andrew Joseph McDonald (Labour, Centre-left): On investment in steel, does my hon. Friend recognise that there is an opportunity to invest in a catapult centre in my constituency and in that of my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley)? That would be a major investment that would take steel forward. That opportunity ought to be embraced, but it is being dismissed out of hand—[Interruption.] The Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise says from a sedentary position that it is not, so I am glad that she is embracing the concept.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Macroeconomics
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend has anticipated a point that I plan to make later in my speech. I certainly hope that there will be some good news on the catapult centre in the Budget, because we would certainly support that.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): One of the first things we have to do is stop the tsunami of unfairly traded and dumped Chinese steel, which is preventing fair trade and competition in the market at the moment. The Opposition have had to drag this Government kicking and screaming to the House on no fewer than 12 occasions since 2014 to try to force them to turn their warm, sympathetic words on steel, which we all recognise they use, into effective action. Today, here we are doing so once again. The Opposition motion calls on the Government to stop using the European Union as an excuse for their own inaction. It asks them to support a more effective response to the dumping of Chinese steel, which threatens to decimate UK steel production. It calls on the Government to take tougher action to secure a level playing field for our industry.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: International Affairs
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Far be it from me to suggest that the Government should operate outside EU state aid rules; I simply do not think that they are being sufficiently inventive or creative with the rules as they are at the moment. Had they been more interested, perhaps we would not have had to drag them to the House 14 times to keep the pressure on.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ruth Smeeth (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that the issue affects not only the steel industry but ceramics? It will cost more than 2,500 jobs in my constituency, unless we send a clear message, as the Minister has said, that China does not meet the criteria for market economy status?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I am coming to that later in my remarks, but my hon. Friend is exactly right: all energy-intensive industries are affected, and ceramics is one of them. If they are accurate, I welcome the media reports from today’s European Union Competitiveness Council, which appears to have agreed that the Commission should accelerate anti-dumping action. I look forward to much more detail from the Secretary of State when he responds to the debate on what that will mean in practice. Until then, we must judge the Government on their actions to date Our motion calls on the Government to stop blocking reform of EU trade defence instruments, which would enable defensive tariffs to be imposed much more quickly and at a level that would actually prevent imports of unfairly traded steel products from China. The Government should support the scrapping of the lesser duty rule, which is preventing tariffs from being set at a level that will actually deal with the problem. After months of agitation and a massive increase in Chinese imports, especially to the UK, the European Union has finally set its tariff on a particular product—Chinese rebar—between 9.2% and 13%. Meanwhile, the USA has introduced defensive tariffs of 66%, and they were operating 45 days after the start of its investigation. To work, tariffs have to be high enough to deal with the problem—the EU tariffs are not It is important to make it crystal clear that we are objecting to blatant and unfair dumping, not to free trade, which the Opposition support.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The point is that this is not an example of free trade. China is in breach of World Trade Organisation rules, and it is exploiting export subsidies to such an extent that the Americans are looking at tariffs of more than 200% on Chinese steel. That is not unprecedented: back in 2004, the Bush Administration brought in similar tariffs of about 25% on European steel.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is exactly right: we have to distinguish between free trade, fair trade and unfair trade, and what we face with Chinese steel imports is clearly unfair. Dumping is unfair, and it is threatening the very existence of the UK steel industry. Everyone in the House knows that once steel facilities have gone, they cannot easily be put back. We have to protect our industry’s capacity to exist, and perhaps to do better in future, when world conditions have changed. If we do not bear that in mind, we will lose the lot, and we will regret it.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is setting out her stall very clearly. Does she not agree that it is particularly important that there is fair trade when a strategic foundation industry that is important to manufacturing, defence and other core activities is being challenged in this way?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Energy
Mark Richard Tami (Labour, Centre-left): Shotton steelworks, which produces "galv" and coated products, relies on Port Talbot for its supply of steel. Although Shotton is a profitable plant, if Port Talbot were to go, it would not be easy to find a good-quality supplier of steel at the drop of a hat.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): When the Secretary of State wrote to the Commission and said that it "should make full and timely use of the full range of EU trade policy instruments to tackle unfair trade, including anti subsidy measures, to ensure a global level playing field", did he mean that he was going to take action on behalf of our steel industry?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State specifically mentioned rebar. As he knows, that is a major product produced by Celsa in my constituency. It is a very high-quality product that has been used in Crossrail and many other projects. Does he expect that tariffs on rebar, specifically, will be higher against the unfairly traded Chinese steel—yes or no?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour, Centre-left): I realise that there will be a negotiation process. As somebody who has been involved in European negotiations in a different sphere, I know that it is perfectly within the Secretary of State’s gift to tell us what the UK’s negotiating position is. What should the tariffs on the different products be, and when is he arguing for them to be imposed?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): We are not calling for protectionism; we are calling for tariffs that prevent unfair trade. When the right hon. Gentleman talks about protectionism, it is important that he distinguishes between dumped and unfairly traded products—which must have high tariffs so that they can be blocked before they destroy our industry—and fairly traded products. We agree with him. We are not against free and fair trade
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): This crucial point is at the heart of this debate. Nobody is calling for punitive measures; we are asking for a level playing field. If we do not level the playing field when other countries, such as the US, are willing to put up their tariffs, this country will get a double dose of the dumping. The effect will be increased if we do not take action. We do not want a trade war; this is simply about levelling the playing field for the British industry.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): If what the Secretary of State says is true, why does the director general of Eurofer, Axel Eggart, state: "By blocking the lifting of the Lesser-Duty-Rule, these Member States"— including the UK— "deliberately deprive the European steel sector of the chance to receive effective and legitimate remedy against massive dumping" Why does the Secretary of State think that the representative of the entire steel industry in the European Union says that?
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): I appreciate what the Secretary of State has said about levelling the playing field; that is all the Opposition ask for. I want to take him back to the point about the lesser duty rule. The European Commission states that the dumping margin for rebar is 66%, but the lesser duty rule puts it at 9%. That has a huge impact. The Minister must acknowledge that 66% levels the playing field.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): The question of how the tariffs are calculated is intriguing. China is in such breach of the World Trade Organisation rules that the calculation has to be based on Turkey as a model. Whether the tariff is 20% or 30%, the figure of 66% is a guesstimate, and the true number is probably far larger. It would be interesting if the Secretary of State could have dialogue with his European counterparts about that. We are talking about a problem that is far larger than the calculations suggest, and there is no information available because China is in such breach of WTO rules.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Some of us want a proper relationship with the Chinese economy and concede that partnership in some things is very valuable. However, this is about the power of the Chinese economy, and even though my constituency does not depend on British steel, our leading agricultural chemical companies in the world, such as Syngenta, are being taken over—overnight it seems—by a Chinese conglomerate that is really the Chinese Government strategically plotting a course worldwide.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Foreign Trade
Iain David Wright (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right, and that point was mentioned earlier in the debate. This is about commodities in general, not just steel, and the enormous surplus capacity in other things such as phosphates is incredibly important. It is therefore vital that we have tougher EU action to ensure a level playing field, support scrapping the lesser duty rule, and carefully consider China’s market economic status. Given the Government’s rhetoric that they will be "unceasing" in their efforts and will "continue to do all it can" to safeguard UK steel, those steps are the very least one could expect The Committee’s report acknowledged the Minister’s success in changing the UK’s stance to vote in favour of the extension on wire rod, but lifting the lesser duty rule has been ruled out by the Government. In Committee earlier this month, the Secretary of State will recall that I asked whether he would change the UK Government’s position within the Commission on the lesser duty rule, to safeguard the British steel industry as much as possible. He replied that he would not, and he has repeated that tonight, stating that he needs to consider the "impact overall" on British industry and British jobs, particularly in terms of duties imposed Nobody would want a protectionist arms race to escalate throughout the economy, but the Minister and the Secretary of State must surely realise that the British steel industry—alongside many other European steel producers—faces an existential threat that is based on a grossly distorted and failing market. This is not about imposing additional duties or tariffs elsewhere on British manufacturing; it is a request, a plea, for a co-ordinated response. The UK steel industry is on its knees. This proud sector, which should be powering the future of British manufacturing, is pleading with the Government to help and to make sure that we have a sustainable future for the steel industry in this country.
UK Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-02-29
Topic: Energy
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman mentioned 2006, but in that period Corus was bought by Tata because of the economic signals, and it thought that it was a good purchase. Celsa in south Wales refitted the electric arc. Judging by the indicators, including energy prices, industry at that time thought that Britain was a good investment.