argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: As we are congratulating football teams, I am sure the House will want to join me in congratulating Hibernian football club, which has returned to the top league in Scotland.The Chancellor of the Exchequer has a brass neck when he talks about a stable and resilient economy. The growth in the money supply, which has been trending at around 6%, is mainly down to an increase in personal borrowing and credit card debt. When are we going to get fiscal measures that will stimulate the economy, rather than relying on the boom and bust we are seeing again?; The House may be aware that Plymouth Argyle were also promoted yesterday.I am the chairman of the all-party group on south-west rail. Last November, the peninsula rail taskforce published a report on the future of rail in the south-west. One key recommendation was for a resilient railway line through Dawlish. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that there is enough money in the kitty to deliver that?; Co-operatives and worker-owned businesses tend to be more resilient and are more productive. Does the Chancellor agree that regulation and law should not disadvantage their development? Will he consider redirecting tax incentives away from company executives and towards employees looking to buy their own workplace?; Given the large proposed increase in probate fees, and bearing in mind that deceased people’s bank accounts are frozen, will the Chancellor or the Chief Secretary look at allowing the fees to be paid after probate has been granted and the estate has been wound up?; We have heard today an awful lot about a stronger economy and the need to improve productivity. What discussions has the Chancellor had with his Cabinet colleagues about skills and education funding? There is concern that children in Blackburn are about to lose £284 per head under what the Government call a fairer funding formula.; Although the south-east is the financial powerhouse of the UK, it does none the less have some less prosperous areas such as the Isle of Wight. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach all corners and all islands of the United Kingdom?
Philip Hammond (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend regards the islands as particularly important, and I concur with him on that. The Government support continuing economic growth across the south-east, including all regions and islands. The Solent local enterprise partnership receives more than £180 million from the local growth fund, including funding for investment in local skills and business start-ups, with the Isle of Wight receiving about £15 million of investment in local infrastructure and skills.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: Labor
Questions: As we are congratulating football teams, I am sure the House will want to join me in congratulating Hibernian football club, which has returned to the top league in Scotland.The Chancellor of the Exchequer has a brass neck when he talks about a stable and resilient economy. The growth in the money supply, which has been trending at around 6%, is mainly down to an increase in personal borrowing and credit card debt. When are we going to get fiscal measures that will stimulate the economy, rather than relying on the boom and bust we are seeing again?; The House may be aware that Plymouth Argyle were also promoted yesterday.I am the chairman of the all-party group on south-west rail. Last November, the peninsula rail taskforce published a report on the future of rail in the south-west. One key recommendation was for a resilient railway line through Dawlish. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that there is enough money in the kitty to deliver that?; Co-operatives and worker-owned businesses tend to be more resilient and are more productive. Does the Chancellor agree that regulation and law should not disadvantage their development? Will he consider redirecting tax incentives away from company executives and towards employees looking to buy their own workplace?; Given the large proposed increase in probate fees, and bearing in mind that deceased people’s bank accounts are frozen, will the Chancellor or the Chief Secretary look at allowing the fees to be paid after probate has been granted and the estate has been wound up?; We have heard today an awful lot about a stronger economy and the need to improve productivity. What discussions has the Chancellor had with his Cabinet colleagues about skills and education funding? There is concern that children in Blackburn are about to lose £284 per head under what the Government call a fairer funding formula.; Although the south-east is the financial powerhouse of the UK, it does none the less have some less prosperous areas such as the Isle of Wight. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach all corners and all islands of the United Kingdom?; Britain’s coastal communities have enormous potential for sustainable economic growth in the trade, energy, fishing and tourism sectors. Much good work is being done, but I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend gave us an assurance that no stone will be left unturned to ensure that coastal Britain realises its full potential.; The taxpayer has benefited from the return to private ownership of Lloyds and UK Asset Resolution, but can my right hon. Friend provide an update on the sale of the Royal Bank of Scotland?
Jane Ellison (Conservative, Centre-right): I will look into the specific issue that the hon. Gentleman raises, but I want to make it very clear that HMRC investigates absolutely every report of national minimum wage violations. We take the matter very seriously, and we do enforce it.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am obviously disappointed that the shadow Foreign Secretary should choose to intrude into this very important consideration relatively separate issues of domestic political policy: we are trying to explain the position of the UK, and indeed the west, towards the Assad regime. And, by the way, we are having a televised debate now in case she had not noticed, and we should continue in that way. To answer the right hon. Lady’s serious point, we are engaged in trying to use the opportunity provided by American action to drive forward the political process. It is not easy, and I think in all honesty that she should reflect on her approach, because what we are trying to do requires a great degree of cross-party support. We want the Russians to face up to the real option before them. If they continue to back Assad, they will be backing a regime that—I hope Members heard what I said about the use of chemical weapons—has been proved beyond a shadow of doubt to have used chemical weapons that are banned under international law. I would like the Russians to accept that there is a deal. That could be that they have an improvement in their relations with the Americans, and work together with the rest of us to tackle the scourge of Daesh. In return, the Russians need to understand that they need to make a serious commitment to a political process. At the moment, they are not doing that. They need to make a proper commitment to a ceasefire, and at the moment they are not making that commitment. They need to stop their client using chemical weapons. They said that they would do that in 2013. Rather than simply parroting the lines of the Kremlin, the right hon. Lady should support the collective action of the west, not just the G7 but the like-minded countries—
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady has said, for instance, that the west is divided in its attitude towards sanctions. Let us be absolutely clear that all we are trying to do is to follow where the evidential trail leads—[Interruption.] If the OPCW finds that members of the Syrian armed forces have been responsible for that attack, I hope she will agree that they should face sanctions. If she were to oppose that, I would find it absolutely extraordinary. The United States has moved to impose sanctions on a further 300 people, and there has been a large measure of support from all western countries for doing exactly that Furthermore, it seems unclear from the right hon. Lady’s account whether she supports the American action at all. I wonder whether she could enlighten the House as to whether she is in favour of what the Americans did. For the first time in five years, the Trump White House has shown that the west is not prepared to sit by and watch while people are gassed with weapons that should have been banned—
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful, Mr Speaker It was far from clear to me, in listening to the right hon. Lady’s response, whether she actually supports what the United States has done. I would like some elucidation on that. As I have said, for the first time in five years, that action has shown that the west is willing to stand up to the use of these vile weapons. This has given us a political opportunity that we have hitherto not had, and I think that her best bet would be to support this Government and the efforts of western countries in trying to drive that forward and get the Russians to deliver a genuine political solution—[Interruption.]
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Nicholas Soames (Conservative, Centre-right): It is obviously right that a diplomatic joint approach in Syria is more important than unilateral action. Will the Foreign Secretary therefore commit to continuing to work closely with our American allies and other partners and friends to bring an end to this barbaric slaughter in Syria?
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his question. That is exactly what we are engaged in doing. I do not pretend to the House that it will be easy. We have been here before; we have seen the whole Kerry-Lavrov rigmarole that went on for months and months. However, this is an opportunity for Russia to recognise that it is supporting a regime that deserves the odium of the entire world. That is costing Russia friends and support around the world, but it now has a chance to go for a different approach, and that is what we are collectively urging it to do.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will know that the UK is already the second biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the region, so we have a record that we can be proud of. I return to what she had to say about the American strike. I am looking at faces that are familiar from previous statements on Syria; month after month I have come here to update the House on how that tragedy is unfolding, and I see people who have taken a passionate interest in this subject and have called repeatedly for us to do more. Finally, the United States has taken what we believe to be condign action—action that I think is entirely appropriate—but somehow it fails to find favour with the hon. Lady I think that what has happened is a good thing, but we should not overstate its importance from a military point of view. We have to recognise that this is a political opportunity, and it is an opportunity for the Russians to recognise the manner of regime that they are propping up. That is the message that we need to get over loud and clear, and unanimously As for North Korea, the hon. Lady makes a good point about the need to get rid of nuclear weapons. I think it would be foolish—I hope that she agrees—for the United States even to begin to think of getting rid of its nuclear weapons before we have a denuclearised North Korea.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Foreign Secretary for the detailed evidence he has presented to the House about the responsibility for the nerve agent attack in Syria. I commend him for giving the House that detail and, in doing so, I invite him to depersonalise his assessment of the Syrian regime simply around the personality of its President. We already have in place a mechanism by which that President will be held to account in future by the Syrian people if he wishes to seek their views under the International Syria Support Group conclusions of November 2015. That process has already been agreed on by 20 nations, and we should be relying on that and not using rhetoric that might make it more difficult to get into that process Finally, if I may ask my right hon. Friend about North Korea, I invite him to put pressure on the United States to try to dial down the public rhetoric. In some ways, North Korea is like an attention-seeking child who happens to belong to someone else—in this case, China. While the United States has proper responsibilities to the other nations in the area about their security, ratcheting up the rhetoric with North Korea is probably the wrong way of publicly dealing with it.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that we should be clear that our quarrel is not only with Bashar al-Assad, but with others in his regime. It will be possible to sketch out a route map to show how we can keep the institutions of Syrian government and yet get rid of the most murderous elements of the regime. We need to be getting that idea across clearly in the next weeks and months On North Korea, I am sure that my hon. Friend’s words on the need to avoid ratcheting up the rhetoric are wise—he speaks from experience—but I believe that the key lies mainly with China in this arena. It is very much in the interests of the Chinese and the Russians, who share a border with North Korea, to rein in Kim Jong-un and persuade him to abandon what I think is a path of self-destruction.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The crucial thing is for the Chinese and others to implement the current sanctions and to allow them to have a full economic impact. As the right hon. Gentleman may know, there has been some doubt in recent months about the full application of those sanctions. The people of North Korea are living in absolute misery, penury and servitude. The trouble is that they can probably continue to live in that state for a long time to come, unless their Government see sense. We must work with the Chinese to persuade them.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Hugo Swire (Conservative, Centre-right): Given the fact that the Chinese, in a most welcome manner but rather surprisingly, did support sanctions at the UN in 2013, the chances are that they will come to the UN Security Council meeting at the end of this month in a positive frame of mind. The Foreign Secretary is right that Russia shares a small border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council and is party to the six-party talks. In addition to having good discussions with his opposite number Wang Yi in China, will my right hon. Friend commit to talk to Sergey Lavrov and point out that this is another chance for Russia to rehabilitate its international reputation, which is extremely tarnished at the moment?
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has great expertise in this matter. It is perfectly true that the economic relationship is overwhelmingly between China and North Korea, but, as he says, Russia certainly has a role. Russia should not be permitted to hide endlessly behind China’s skirts, a point that Rex Tillerson made in Moscow on 12 April.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I well remember the right hon. Lady’s efforts in respect of Halabja, and she played a big part in hardening my heart against Saddam Hussein many years ago. She campaigned on the matter with great effect, and rightly so What we are doing today is supporting the OPCW’s expert fact-finding mission, and I have sketched out all we know about what happened on the morning of 4 April—the best evidence that we have so far—and I hope the House will believe that the evidence is very persuasive indeed. The fact-finding mission will now draw on a variety of sources, including samples from the victims, environmental samples, munition fragments, footage of the incident and its aftermath, and interviews with survivors, people who were first on the scene, medics and eye witnesses. The mission will be able to draw on signals intelligence, flight tracking, data analysis, meteorological information and other information that will be shared by us and other countries concerned Our experience is that such fact-finding missions are able to reach conclusions in very difficult circumstances and, going back to the point I made to the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry), we need such information to create the evidential trail to the individuals responsible. There is good evidence already, and we will use what we have, when and where possible, not only to impose sanctions but to pursue prosecutions for war crimes.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Eric Pickles (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend says that Russia’s position in Syria does not depend on Assad but that the Assad regime’s position in Syria is wholly dependent on Russia, and that Russia must accept its responsibility for the attack. If Russia’s reputation is to be rehabilitated, the first important step will be to help ease the Assad regime out of Syria.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. It is crucial to understand that the Russians, as they have freely admitted in the past, do not have any deep spiritual affinity with Bashar al-Assad. They do not love him but are wedded to him for the time being. I believe that, in the long term, there can be no future for Syria with Bashar al-Assad in power, and we have to find a way forward. What we want to do now is to reach out to the Russians, to get them to understand that point and to commit to a serious political process, and we should not abandon that goal.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and it is why we should acknowledge that the United States has changed the terms of trade in Syria. It is now up to us to make the most of this opportunity to get political change.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and for the tone with which he made it. One of the purposes of the American action the other day was, as it would have been in 2013, to demonstrate to President Assad that he cannot militarily subjugate all his people and, therefore, to give force to negotiations in which he will actually have to concede something. The difficult question is this: had the US Secretary of State asked my right hon. Friend for some sort of support that evening, what would have been his answer? Do he and the Government consider themselves bound by the decision of the House in August 2013 and David Cameron’s statement afterwards? If so, does he intend to return to the House to discuss the matter further? If not, what might the United Kingdom be able to do to demonstrate its force and resolve against such actions as those we saw from President Assad the other week?
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): As my right hon. Friend knows and as I said, we were not asked for specific support, but it is my belief—I stress that no such decision has yet been taken—that were such a request to be made in future and were it to be a reasonable request in pursuit of similar objectives, it would be very difficult for the United Kingdom to say no.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I repeat my condolences to the family of Miss Bladon. All I can say is that although we are offering consular assistance to her family, at the moment we are not changing our general advice about travel to Israel.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah James (Wollaston) (Conservative, Centre-right): Given the vile propaganda role of Asma al-Assad in propping up a murderous and barbaric war criminal, will the Foreign Secretary update the House as to what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary so that we can send a very clear message that such a role is incompatible with British citizenship?
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): We do not discuss individual citizenship cases, as I am sure my hon. Friend knows, although I understand the feelings she is expressing. What I can tell her is that Asma al-Assad, in common with her husband, is certainly on the sanctions list.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point and he is right to draw attention to the cardinal role of Turkey in this whole crisis. As he knows, Turkey has borne the brunt of the huge tide of refugees, and I agree very much with what he is saying about no-fly zones, which are strongly supported by Rex Tillerson and the US. However, they cannot be delivered without a ceasefire, which is why I return to this challenge we are making to the Russians: it is up to them not just to stop the barrel bombs that the hon. Gentleman mentions, but to deliver a real ceasefire.
Syria and North Korea — House of Commons, 2017-04-18
Topic: International Affairs
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): The Foreign Secretary rightly dealt at length with the chemical attack, but I was surprised he did not take the opportunity to condemn also the appalling attack on Shi’a civilians in which 126 were killed, including 68 children, when fleeing from Foah and Kefraya. This highlights the problem faced by Alawites, Shi’a and Christians in Syria: however much they detest Assad, as we all do, they rely on him to protect them. For too long in this House, we have tried to engage in regime change—in removing Saddam, Gaddafi and now Assad. We should concentrate on humanitarian work and on protecting minorities in the middle east.