argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I will add briefly to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. It relates to Amendment 7, to which I hope to return later, and concerns the problem of humanitarian assistance I do not want to elaborate just now, but there are concerns about people who offer humanitarian assistance in difficult areas such as Somalia, Syria and possibly Gaza. The way in which terrorism is defined in the Terrorism Act 2000 has a chilling effect on their activities, because of the risk that they might be caught up in what is thought to be a terrorist offence when they are actually trying to co-operate with the bodies there to provide humanitarian assistance. Of course, a prosecution—or a conviction—is a very different matter. However, the way that this measure is proposing to adopt in the fight against terrorism is a decision taken by a constable. It is a much easier thing to take at that stage The chilling effect of the threat of that kind of measure being taken against people who seek to provide humanitarian assistance may be quite considerable; it is difficult to assess at the moment. There is, however, considerable force in the point that the House should be able to look again at the way the measure is operating once we know what the effect is on those trying to carry out humanitarian efforts in these difficult areas.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Civil Rights
David Pannick (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee: these amendments raise a very important subject. For my part, I agree with paragraph 7.8 of the report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights that it is absolutely essential that the independent reviewer’s remit is extended to cover all terrorism legislation. I would be quite content to leave it to the independent reviewer to decide when it is appropriate to publish reports. It seems entirely unnecessary and inappropriate to require reports to be published annually.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Immigration
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I think there may be different types of transit. There are certainly some instances in an airport where you pass through and do not actually go through immigration control. You are simply passing from one airline service to another and you bypass the place where the police officer would be to seize your passport. Other people in transit may have to remain for a while, possibly because they want to see somebody or collect luggage. It may well be that the noble Lord is entirely right that in that situation, because you are confronted by a constable with the power, the power would be exercisable —so it may depend very much on the circumstances of the individual traveller.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Immigration
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): Does the Minister appreciate the difficulty our witness was talking about of having to deal with people he described as "gatekeepers"? There is a risk of misunderstanding where someone is trying to get through the gate, as it were, into these difficult areas and is being told what to do, as a condition of getting through to provide the assistance, by the so-called "gatekeeper", who may well be in a proscribed organisation. There is a considerable risk, so we are told, of being thought to be providing assistance to him because you are telling him what to do, whereas in fact what you are trying to do is to take the aid through to those who really need it. I appreciate the point that is being made, but I wonder whether the Minister will consult a little more carefully on this sensitive issue to see whether it is being accurately dealt with in sub-paragraph (10)(d) on page 27.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Civil Rights
David Pannick (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, in relation to the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, concerned with the giving of reasons, and in relation to the concern of the noble Lord, Lord Harris, I suggest that the answer is the one given by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, from paragraphs 230 to 233. The obligation in the Bill should surely be that there is a duty to give the gist of the reasons. No one would suggest that all detailed reasons must be given, but if someone is told that their passport is being taken away they should be told the essence of the reasons why if this power is to be acceptable and not criticised as obviously unfair. It may be necessary to write in an exception. There may be security reasons why not even the gist can be given. It is fundamental that if you exercise a power of this sort you give the gist of the reasons for doing so.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Other
David Pannick (Crossbench, Unknown): I am very grateful to the noble Lord, who has been very helpful. He referred, on several occasions, to the draft code of practice and to the consultation, which I understand will finish at the end of this month. The Bill comes back on Report only a week later. Are the Government going to be able to give the House their views on the consultation and what they are minded to do in relation to the code of practice at that stage? It is a very short period of time, but unless we know what the Government’s views are it is going to be very difficult to debate these issues.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Immigration
Ann Butler-Sloss (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I want to ask a rather practical question. The whole of Clause 2, together with the amendments, appears to deal with someone over whom the Government assume there will be some degree of control. I take the example of someone who has gone to Syria and comes back through Syria to the airport in Istanbul. He then seeks to fly back to England and is made the subject of a temporary exclusion order. What is to happen to that person in Istanbul? What are the Government of Turkey to do with this person? If you stop them at an airport outside the United Kingdom, is there not a very real danger that they will just go back into Syria or into Iraq? What I have not understood about this temporary exclusion order is what will happen to these people who are not able to come back to this country.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Civil Rights
David Pannick (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I too welcome these amendments, which introduce judicial control. The Government have listened to the Constitution Committee and the independent reviewer. They have also listened to the observations made from all sides of the other place and indeed here at Second Reading The noble Baroness, Lady Ludford, raised a concern about paragraph 3(2) in the proposed new schedule set out in government Amendment 44 and the reference to whether the decision is "obviously flawed". I draw her attention to the fact that its paragraph 5(1) states that: "In determining a reference under paragraph 3, the court must apply the principles applicable on an application for judicial review" So my understanding—I would welcome the Minister’s confirmation—is that when the court asks whether the decision itself is obviously flawed, it will apply the principles of judicial review. It will ask whether the decision has been made on a lawful and proportionate basis, for a proper purpose and other matters of that sort, although of course the court will not look at the merits of whether a lawful decision has been made There is one other matter to which I draw attention in the schedule being introduced by government Amendment 45. Paragraph 5 of the proposed new schedule expressly confirms that: "Nothing in paragraphs 2 to 4, or in rules of court … is to be read as requiring the relevant court to act in a manner inconsistent with Article 6 of the Human Rights Convention" That is very important indeed and I welcome the fact that the schedule expressly confirms that the court should comply with Article 6. I ask the Minister to tell me if I am wrong, but I am not aware of anything in the Bill which suggests that the courts, in exercising their judicial control powers, should be required to depart from our obligations under the human rights convention, and indeed the noble Lord, Lord Bates, has made a statement on the front page of the Bill under Section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998 that in his view the provisions of this Bill, "are compatible with the Convention rights" I hope that that will give some further reassurance to those who are concerned about these powers.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-20
Topic: Immigration
Raymond Jolliffe (Crossbench, Unknown): Before the Minister replies to that, can he include in his reply whether the Government have studied the experience of countries such as Denmark and Germany, which have working knowledge of how returns of such people can be satisfactorily dealt with?
Criminal Justice and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-21
Topic: Other
Harry Kenneth Woolf (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I will just indicate, first, that I am very much in agreement with those who have praised the Minister on the concession that he has obtained and, secondly, that I am very much in favour of, and support, the words of caution that have been said on the desirability of reconsidering this proposal.
Broadcast General Election Debates (Communications Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2015-01-21
Topic: Other
Michael Berkeley (Crossbench, Unknown): Before the Minister sits down, perhaps I may point out that he touched, almost inadvertently, on a rather important point. In mid-Wales, it is quite hard to catch political broadcasts or, indeed, anything else on the radio because of the terrain. The Minister cannot do much about that this evening, but I thought he might like to reassure your Lordships’ House that the sheer beauty of the terrain in mid-Wales more than made up for the damage it inflicted on his listening on his car journey.
Recall of MPs Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Dafydd Elystan-Morgan (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I respectfully suggest to the House that the suggestion and proposal made by the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, is an excellent one. I was thinking about the problem raised earlier by the noble Lord, Lord Martin, in that there were two principles that were diametrically opposed to each other. One was the principle of the innate secrecy of the ballot; the other was the principle of the innate public nature of the petition. The answer and the compromise may very well be in the sort of suggestion made by the noble Lord, Lord Hughes. What would be wrong in having two questions—yes or no? You would have a hybrid; it would be something of a ballot and something of a petition, but you would be free from many of the disadvantages that would attend a situation where the fact of having voted would mean that you had voted only one way.
Stormont House Agreement — House of Lords, 2015-01-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nuala O'Loan (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, thank you. I have four simple questions First, a number of cases are currently excluded under the Stormont House agreement from the work of the historical investigations unit. Those cases were previously investigated by the historic inquiries team. However, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has said that many of these investigations were most unsatisfactory. Can the British Government ensure that they will not be embarrassed in future because our Article 2 obligations are not being complied with Secondly, can the British Government and the Minister assure us that the Government will ensure that the historical investigations unit has access to all intelligence and information, particularly that held in this part of the United Kingdom by the security services, the Armed Forces and GCHQ Thirdly, what actions will the Government take to ensure that the historical investigations unit has the full legal powers that it needs Fourthly, does the £150 million have to provide for victims, or will they be provided for separately? On the matter of trauma services there is a massive unmet need in Northern Ireland: that is a costly and lengthy process.
Stormont House Agreement — House of Lords, 2015-01-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Anthony Elliott Bew (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, on the issue of the past, I welcome the Minister’s explanation that there will be careful monitoring of the results produced by this process. In the light of Mr Adams’ statement a mere three weeks or so ago that the IRA had no corporate memory and therefore could not, in the context of the Maíria Cahill case, contribute in any meaningful way to the work of historical recovery, it is slightly difficult to see how we can have, in the words of the Statement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a process which is "balanced, proportionate, transparent and accountable" One hundred and fifty million pounds is a lot of money. It is 20% of the amount allotted for the Northern Ireland Civil Service early retirement scheme. The taxpayer is entitled to reassurance that there will be careful monitoring of this process and that for this £150 million there will be something approaching a real, balanced process. This cost is proportionately far more than the historical aspects of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, which is reputed to be so highly expensive.
House of Lords — House of Lords, 2015-01-06
Topic: Other
Michael Berkeley (Crossbench, Unknown): I apologise for intervening but there is one question that the noble Baroness might be able to inform the House on. Did Mr Miliband consult the Labour reform group before saying he would like to see a senate in this House?
House of Lords — House of Lords, 2015-01-06
Topic: Other
Frederick Butler (Crossbench, Unknown): I suggest to the noble Lord that it is the primacy of the House of Commons that is the answer to that. The primacy of the House of Commons is because they are elected. This body can contribute its expertise without being elected.
Insurance Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-01-08
Topic: Other
Harry Kenneth Woolf (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, in accord with the approach adopted by the Minister throughout the discussions on this Bill, I would like to acknowledge the help that he gave, which was something that I and the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, were looking for.
Modern Slavery Bill — House of Lords, 2015-02-23
Topic: Other
John Kerr (Crossbench, Unknown): May I take the Minister back to what he said in answer to the arguments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, on Amendments 1 and 2? I may have misheard him, but was he saying that "circumstances" were identical with "characteristics" on his reading of the dictionary? It seems to me that one is by definition endogenous and the other exogenous. If I say that the noble Lord handles the debate very well "under the all the circumstances", I mean that around the House there is a huge degree of expertise and interest in this Bill, and he handles that very well. If I said, "under his characteristics", it would imply that I was casting some aspersion on the Minister, which is the last thing I would wish to do. Surely the argument that he advanced against the noble Baroness’s amendment does not hold water? Characteristics and circumstances are intrinsically different.
Modern Slavery Bill — House of Lords, 2015-02-23
Topic: Other
Ann Butler-Sloss (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, the noble Baroness may not be entirely right as the Minister was putting forward the government amendment. As it happens, the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, spoke to that amendment before it had formally been put forward. As I understand it, the noble Lord, Lord McColl, is now speaking to the government amendment, and I believe that he is entitled to do so.
Modern Slavery Bill — House of Lords, 2015-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Montagu (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, as a former council member of Anti-Slavery International and a former member of the Christian Aid board, I support my noble friend’s amendments because they link contemporary slavery in the UK with slavery in the rest of the world. We forget that it was not long ago that non-governmental organisations explained that there was slavery in this country—it was not something that was far away—so we are following that line. The amendments become obvious when you realise that so much slavery is indivisible and that traffickers, and indeed victims, of slavery respect no boundaries I was unable to be present on 8 December when my noble friend Lady Cox moved similar amendments in Committee, but I have read carefully her contribution and the Minister’s reply. That there is an international dimension to modern slavery almost goes without saying, except that it is not mentioned in the Bill. We are all aware of the direct overseas experience of slavery and trafficking that my noble friends Lady Cox and Lord Alton and the noble Lord, Lord Judd, bring to the House. In Committee, the Minister, at col. 1638, acknowledges that experience and says that we need to go further. But I ask him again: how can we go further? I am not sure whether the Minister has yet stated how the Home Office can go further, apart from referring to passages in the strategy document. My noble friend referred to the letter that we have received from the commissioner, which is of high quality and points out the country plans that he will be following. It strengthens these amendments to read those passages in the letter I was most grateful to the Minister for inviting us to meet the new commissioner a fortnight ago. In that conversation, it became clear that the commissioner is already closely in touch with foreign and UK embassies, and he sees this as an important part of his job. He will of course need adequate resources to cover this, as we have touched on elsewhere In practice, I do not think that the amendments commit the Government to very much. Apart from close regular liaison between the commissioner and embassies in the course of his work, all that is needed is annual reporting of relevant incidents by embassies and high commissions, rather in the way that this is done annually by the Foreign Office in the case of human rights. It is not an unreasonable request, and my noble friend has already described the more detailed arrangements for this. However, it is important to make the connection in the Bill. The Government are rightly taking all these issues very seriously, and the Minister has, again and again, shown his personal commitment—some of it, I have no doubt, from his experience in China when he was doing his MBA. Sensible changes have been proposed during the passage of the Bill. I suggest that this is one of them and I look forward to his reply
Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Risk of Being Drawn into Terrorism) (Amendment and Guidance) Regulations 2015 — House of Lords, 2015-03-23
Topic: Civil Rights
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I very much welcome these regulations and I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation. He may remember that when we were debating the Bill, which has now become the 2015 Act, I tabled a number of amendments to try to advance the Scottish position, which was difficult because no Scottish institutions were yet mentioned in the schedule. That meant that I felt a little inhibited in pressing the points that needed to be attended to I am particularly grateful to the Minister and those who have been advising him for the way the Scottish matters have been dealt with in Regulations 4 and 5. Regulation 4 deals with a technical point which I had thought about raising but it seemed a little too fussy at the time; namely, that a mandatory order, which was being provided for in the Bill and, subject to this amendment, is still in the Act, is not available as a means of enforcing a court’s orders in Scotland. As Regulation 4 correctly puts it, a proper mechanism is, "by an order for specific implement" Had it been necessary to do so, I would have moved that amendment myself. I did not trouble to because I was quite sure that someone would pick it up if the need arose and I am very glad that that has been attended to It is pleasing to see how the definition of the duty to ensure freedom of speech has been expressed in Regulation 5, particularly as it mentions visiting speakers as well as, "members, students and employees of the institution" The wording of that provision, which chimes very well with what I and others were attempting to achieve in the debates on the Bill, is very welcome Finally, the Scottish guidance is significantly lighter-handed than the English. In particular, the way higher education and further education institutions are dealt with is significantly lighter because a good deal more trust exists between the Government in Scotland and the institutions with which they are dealing. However, looking at paragraph 60 in the Scottish guidance, it occurred to me that further guidance was being anticipated to deal specifically with the problem of visiting speakers. The Minister mentioned that in his summary. I look forward to seeing what comes out of it, but I hope very much that those who are framing the guidance in Scotland will continue to deal with this with a light-touch mechanism. They are dealing with people of good will who know exactly what they are seeking to achieve and who do not need very much detail—just enough to point the way the universities should go in setting out their mechanisms. I am quite certain they will follow the guidance if it follows the kind of pattern we see in the guidance before us today For all these reasons, I am extremely grateful to the Minister and those supporting him for what has been achieved in these regulations.