argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
State Pension: Cost of Living — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Guy Thomas Opperman (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have announced a £37 billion package of support to help people with the cost of living. The full basic state pension is now £2,300 a year higher than in 2010 and is supported by many other measures.
Universal Credit: Performers and Creative Workers — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Questions: If she will make an assessment of the impact of the universal credit minimum income floor on performers and creative workers with unpredictable and fluctuating earnings.
David Henry Rutley (Conservative, Centre-right): We recognise that earnings can fluctuate for all self-employed people, including performers and creative workers, and that it takes time to establish a business. That is why we offer a 12-month start-up period, giving claimants time and support to grow their earnings and reach their agreed minimum income floor before it is applied.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be aware of the £37 billion package that is going to households, £15 billion of which is being deployed this year. People will already have received some elements of that through council tax support, and I have outlined the cost of living payment support. I could add to that the lifting of the national living wage to £9.50 an hour and the reduction in the taper rate to 55% for people who are working and on universal credit. We are targeting support at the most challenged low-income households, and we will continue to do that. Meanwhile, we will continue to try to do what we can to grow the economy to help households, so that we can tackle inflation overall.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Immigration
Questions: Will my right hon. Friend outline how, thanks to the work incentives built into universal credit, some 11,600 Carshalton and Wallington residents—in working households, which is welcome—will receive a cost of living payment in the coming days, and will she set out what she is doing to ensure that even more people from Carshalton and Wallington can get into work?; I frequently get complaints from people in the agriculture sector that they cannot get the workers they need from the UK jobs market. What more can the Department do, perhaps working with educational facilities such as Duchy College in Cornwall, to get jobseekers into these important roles?
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am conscious that through the help—the visa schemes—being put forward for Ukrainian citizens and for Afghan resettlement, there is access to public funds. My right hon. Friend will be aware that people who arrive in the country illegally are given a payment via the Home Office, I think, of a very small amount of money to pay for the day-to-day, but they are not eligible directly for benefits.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: Will my right hon. Friend outline how, thanks to the work incentives built into universal credit, some 11,600 Carshalton and Wallington residents—in working households, which is welcome—will receive a cost of living payment in the coming days, and will she set out what she is doing to ensure that even more people from Carshalton and Wallington can get into work?; I frequently get complaints from people in the agriculture sector that they cannot get the workers they need from the UK jobs market. What more can the Department do, perhaps working with educational facilities such as Duchy College in Cornwall, to get jobseekers into these important roles?; One in five pensioners in the UK is living in poverty, 1.3 million retirees are undernourished and 25,000 people die each year because of cold weather. The situation is dire and is getting worse and worse by the day. What discussions will the Secretary of State have with her new colleague the Chancellor to reverse the cruel Government cuts to the state pension and provide the 5,360 women in Liverpool, West Derby who are affected by the changes to the women’s state pension age with the full restitution that they fully deserve?; Four in 10 of those who are refused a disability benefit do not appeal. Of those who do, two in three win their appeal, but it is months and months before they come before a tribunal. Are the Secretary of State and her team not ashamed of that? This is about poverty among tens of thousands of people.
Guy Thomas Opperman (Conservative, Centre-right): The uptake of pension credit is clearly to be applauded, and I sincerely hope that the hon. Lady was behind the pension credit day of action and is behind the messages that we are all trying to put out. That is not all, however. On Thursday we will make the £326 cost of living payment, which will drop £1 million in payments every single working day, and there will be a further £324 payment in the autumn. We are also providing the energy support grant of £400, which will go to every individual in the country, as well as the £300 winter fuel payment, the council tax rebate, and various other household support grants. All those are available to individuals up and down the country, and will also support pensioners.[Official Report, 14 July 2022, Vol. 718, c. 6MC.]
Ministers’ Severance Pay — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed, and I thank my right hon. Friend for confirming that she has already talked to the permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office and that she will not be receiving the payment.[Official Report, 20 July 2022, Vol. 718, c. 12MC.]
Ministers’ Severance Pay — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Other
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): That is an astonishing thing for the Liberal Democrats to put out. It is a straight, flat lie that they should know very well should not be put out by any political party. When the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) stands to ask a question, which is a perfectly reasonable thing for her to do, I sincerely hope she apologises and confirms that the Lib Dems will put out a clarification as large as the original piece.
Ministers’ Severance Pay — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): I recall that, during the Blair and Brown years, the Labour party decided it did not need to change the legislation. The legislation is as it is, there is a three-week period, and I think that is completely fair.
Ministers’ Severance Pay — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Other
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): Fortunately, I am going to make absolutely no comment about the fact that we have many, many wonderful candidates to be our next leader who, frankly, will knock the Labour party into a cocked hat when they are elected.
Ministers’ Severance Pay — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Other
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Absolutely, we do not use names, do we? I thank the hon. Gentleman for the question. It is very simple: this is a matter of statute law, it has been around since 1991, and all the different political parties have taken use of it. That is where we are.
Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Bill — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Campbell Bowie (Conservative, Centre-right): Although the hon. Gentleman is talking about how the Labour party likes to support working people, he is quite obviously abandoning all those working people who rely on the oil and gas industry for their employment, including the many thousands who live in my constituency. Given that he has had so many months to think about this, how many times have he and his shadow Cabinet colleagues actually met those in the oil industry to discuss this and see how it impacts on them?
Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Bill — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Craig Mackinlay (Conservative, Centre-right): I am saying very clearly that big companies can make investments anywhere they please in the world, perhaps with tax regimes that are more suitable to them and where they are not being taxed at 65%. I would rather that they were investing here and staying here than going abroad to invest, with all the potential consequential impacts on the environment and employment. It seems that the hon. Gentleman agrees with me.
Employment Agencies and Trade Unions — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. A great many Members wish to speak and, as the House will be aware, we have limited time—we have just over an hour left. I hope that they will be courteous to their colleagues by taking five minutes or less each.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 5 to 7 together Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Orders Nos. 118(6) and 18(1)(a), Plant Health That the draft Plant Health etc. (Miscellaneous Fees) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022, which were laid before this House on 6 June, be approved Regulatory Reform That the draft Legislative Reform (Provision of Information etc. Relating to Disabilities) Order 2022, which was laid before this House on 12 May, be approved Police That the draft Police Act 1996 (Amendment and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022, which were laid before this House on 9 June, be approved.—(Adam Holloway.) Question agreed to.
North Street, Keighley: Green Space — House of Commons, 2022-07-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Robert Lamont (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Yet again, he is demonstrating what a feisty campaigner he is for his constituents in Keighley and Ilkley. Although my constituency is, of course, some distance from Keighley, I do know the green space, and I understand the points that he is making. Does he agree that this is an example of the need for local authorities to listen and devolve decision making as close to the people as possible, so that they secure the best possible outcome that reflects the views of local residents?
SEND Review — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
William James Quince (Conservative, Centre-right): The special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision Green Paper aims to ensure that the right support is delivered in the right setting at the right time for all children and young people with SEND, including disabled children. To help to achieve that, it proposes nationally consistent SEND standards be set across education, health and care.
Children’s Social Care Services: Reform — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s question. Part of why I mentioned the Competition and Markets Authority review to make sure that the system is working properly is that it is something I am concerned about. I would focus on profiteering rather than profit, because I think people will want to go into this sector to help children, and I do not have a problem with their making a profit. It is excessive profiteering that I am certainly concerned about.
Children’s Social Care Services: Reform — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend asks an important question, and he will know that we are looking at how we help local authorities to commission and buy places much more efficiently with the regional care co-operatives. There is also the work of the MacAlister review, after which hopefully out-of-area placements will become a rarity, rather than where we are today.
Literature Taught in Schools — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas Anthony Fletcher (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that caution is needed with books that encourage a child to question their biological sex and to believe they were born in the wrong body because of gender nonconformity and not conforming to society’s stereotypes? Parents should be able to see what is being shared with children, whether in lessons or the school library.
Student Mental Health — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Dean Russell (Conservative, Centre-right): During Prime Minister’s questions recently, the whole House and the Prime Minister joined in wearing blue ribbons as part of the anti-bullying campaign for the Diana Award. This week I am writing to all schools in Watford to raise awareness of an anti-bullying roundtable I will be hosting for students and teachers to share their experiences of tackling bullying. Will my right hon. Friend share what other measures the Government are taking to tackle bullying and to support students’ mental health more broadly?
Colleges and Employers: Collaboration — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jerome Patrick Burke Mayhew (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government envisage as many as 600,000 heat pumps being installed every year, yet heating companies in my constituency are struggling to train or recruit sufficient staff for that growth sector. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is a real opportunity for further education colleges to collaborate with local businesses and provide that training?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): On 7 June, day two of Arriva’s bus strikes in Leeds, a group of year 10 pupils at the John Smeaton Academy in Leeds faced a dilemma. They had an exam, but their school bus was not running. What is more, they live in a hotel 4.2 miles from the school—that is because they are resettled Afghan refugees. They woke up very early and walked the 4.2 miles to school so that they could sit their exams. Those children are exemplary students. They are very welcome in Britain, and their example should inspire us all and shame those whose striking has jeopardised young people’s futures.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The Minister will know that I have been hugely concerned about the state of special educational needs and disabilities services in Birmingham for quite some time, and the recent damning report only confirms the fears of parents whose children are on long waiting lists for education, health and care plans, and concerns about staff being told that they are too busy to respond to emails. Will the Minister assure me and parents and children back home in Birmingham that he will be doing everything possible to ensure that SEND services, which look after our most vulnerable children, are improved in Birmingham?
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady again misses the point. The package is not just about the ratios. It is about looking at how we encourage and grow the childminder market, how we ensure the 1.2 million parents who are eligible to get tax-free childcare make that claim and, of course, how we support teachers, both in our brilliant maintained nurseries and across the system, to do much more for the children we want to see them deliver for.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for the terms in which he, broadly speaking, has addressed the UK’s recent diplomatic activity. I have just a couple of points to come back on. He talks about the UK breaking international treaties. I do not know what he is talking about there, but if he was talking about what we are doing in respect of the Northern Ireland protocol, that is not what is happening. We believe that our prior obligation, which I would have thought he supported, is to the balance of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. That is what we are supporting. He talks about the UK’s ability to win people over. It was striking in the conversations I had with leaders from around the world how few of them, if any, raised the issue of the Northern Ireland protocol, and how much people want to see common sense and no new barriers to trade. What the UK is doing is trying to reduce pointless barriers to trade and one would have thought that he supported that On the right hon. and learned Gentleman’s points about the UK’s contribution to NATO and to the new force model, and whether that is sustainable, I suggest that Opposition Members should talk to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about what the UK is producing and committing—it is colossal. We are the second biggest contributor to NATO and the second biggest contributor of overall support for the Ukrainians, providing £2.3 billion in military assistance alone. We are also ensuring that our armed forces are provided for for the future, with £24 billion in this spending review—the biggest uplift in defence spending since the cold war. Defence spending is now running at 2.3% of our national GDP, which is above the 2% target. That is felt around the room in NATO; people know what the UK is contributing and are extremely grateful. As for what the UK also contributes to NATO, under the new force model, we will contribute virtually all our naval forces. As the right hon. and learned Gentleman also knows, we are the only country to contribute our strategic independent nuclear deterrent to NATO. I still find it a sad reflection of the Labour party that, at this critical time, when Vladimir Putin is sadly using the language of nuclear blackmail, we are in a situation in which the principal Opposition party in this country still has eight Members on its Front Bench who voted to discard our independent nuclear deterrent, including the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy). Apart from that, I welcome the terms in which the Leader of the Opposition has responded.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a straightforward prediction based on what we are currently committed to spending under the AUKUS and future combat air system programmes. They are gigantic commitments, which I think are the right thing for the UK, and they will take us up to that threshold. Of course, much depends on the size of our GDP at the time and the growth in the economy. My right hon. Friend asks how we will pay for it: we will pay for it out of steady and sustained economic growth, as I said to the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey).
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The answer is that the UK is making massive investments in Commonwealth countries. In the G7, the partnership for global infrastructure and investment helps developing countries around the world to move forward and to make the leap ahead to green technology, and to take investment from the UK—and not perhaps from others who are busier in getting them to pay their debts.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Other
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that the First Minister has asked for another referendum, and I just point out that we had one in 2014. Right now the priorities of the country should be rebuilding after covid and taking us forward together as a united country, and that is what we want to do.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): The single most impactful thing that we could do now to bear down on the cost of living would be to encourage OPEC, in particular Saudi Arabia, to pump more oil. What will the Government do to encourage our partners, such as Saudi Arabia, to do that? The Saudi Arabian oil Minister recently said that the relationship between Saudi and Moscow is "as warm as the weather in Riyadh"— a provocative statement that was probably influenced by our continued negotiation with Iran on a nuclear deal. Could the United Kingdom Government take a lead on that?
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prime Minister has said that the world has seen the United Kingdom "stand up for what is right in Ukraine", and that is standing up for freedom, liberty and human rights. Tying that to the Commonwealth, the Prime Minister has said that some countries in the Commonwealth were concerned about the narrative of what Russia is doing in Ukraine, but at the same time, a number of those Commonwealth countries are listed in the "World Watch List 2022" for their record on freedom of religion or belief. Was there any discussion on that, because tomorrow the United Kingdom is hosting a ministerial on freedom of religion or belief? I had the pleasure to sign that off in my time as the Prime Minister’s special envoy, and now he is committed to this area. Was there any discussion on how we can advance freedom of religion or belief in the Commonwealth?
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): First, may I thank my hon. Friend very much for everything he did as envoy for freedom of religion or belief? It is at least partly thanks to his energy and efforts that we have a global conference in this city this week on freedom of belief around the world. I can tell him that one of the many things that unite the Commonwealth is a passionate determination to protect that freedom.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Member. We are doing everything we can to make sure that we restrict access to this country by Putin’s cronies or anybody who supports the invasion of Ukraine, and that is why we are reviewing the golden visa scheme.
CHOGM, G7 and NATO Summits — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. As he knows, the UK began the Ramstein process, where countries commit substantial sums as well as matériel to Ukraine. I am not aware of any logistical problems that we are facing so far. We are still seeing great progress in getting arms into Ukraine, but there is a lot more to do.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of her point of order and I can understand her concerns as she has voiced them today. They are clearly not the responsibility of the Chair, but she has put her concerns on the record and I am sure Ministers will have heard them. I hope a speedy resolution is forthcoming. I am asking the Treasury Whip to make sure. [Interruption.] He is doing that as I am speaking. Thank you very much.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-07-04
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of his point of order. The transfer of questions, as he says, is a matter for Ministers not the Chair. I appreciate that Members may be disappointed to lose their slot—in this case, slots—at Question Time if their oral question is transferred. Where questions relate to matters for which more than one Minister is responsible, or where responsibility is ambiguous, I expect Ministers to be very cautious about transferring oral questions. The Table Office is always able to provide advice to Members on these issues and I am sure that the Treasury Bench will again have heard what the hon. Member has had to say.