argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Elizabeth Anne McInnes (Labour, Centre-left): The vast majority of Rohingyas want nothing but peace, but it is they who have suffered most as a result of the violence committed, supposedly in their name, by a small number of armed militants. Because of so-called collective punishment for such attacks, more than 100,000 innocent Rohingya men, women and children have been forced to flee their homes in a campaign that UN officials say may amount to ethnic cleansing. Many displaced Rohingyas have ended up in squalid camps, and, according to UN figures published today, some 35,000 have fled across the border to Bangladesh in the past 24 hours alone. There, and in Myanmar itself, these families are in desperate need of our aid I am sure the Minister will share the deep disappointment of many Members of this House at the failure of Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar’s civilian Government, to speak out more forcefully against human rights abuses in Rakhine. It is, though, General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, who of course bears ultimate responsibility for the army’s atrocities. It is he who ultimately must be held to account The Minister must do more than express disappointment, important though that is. The Government must do everything they can to help to bring an end to this senseless violence. Ministers must set clear and unambiguous red lines for Myanmar’s authorities—civilian and military—when it comes to respecting human rights. If those red lines are crossed, there should be consequences. For instance, in the light of recent events, it seems wholly inappropriate that in the past three years this Government have sold weapons worth more than half a million pounds to the Government of Myanmar Will the Minister now accept that his colleagues in the Ministry of Defence demonstrated shockingly poor judgment in spending a quarter of a million pounds—from the aid budget no less—on training members of Myanmar’s army? Will he also accept that it was a serious error of judgment for the Minister of State for Defence, the hon. Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster), to say by way of explanation that such programmes ensure that other countries learn about British values and human rights Does the Minister agree that it simply cannot be right for Britain to continue to provide military aid to a country where human rights abuses are so rampant? If he accepts that, will he demonstrate his Government’s commitment to the Rohingya people by immediately suspending military aid until Myanmar’s army can demonstrate that it is both able and willing to protect the rights of all the country’s citizens?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): The appalling persecution of the Rohingya is long standing and well documented. I concur with the remarks of the former Chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, the hon. Member for Reigate (Crispin Blunt); I was very disappointed with the statement made in response to the urgent question I have two questions for the Minister. On aid, reports today suggest that 30,000 Rohingyas are stranded in the mountains between Bangladesh and Burma. What is being done to address that in practical terms? There has to be a political solution in the long term. Does the Minister agree with the Nobel laureate, Malala, who yesterday appealed to Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the citizenship of Myanmar has to be given to the Rohingya, so that they cease to be stateless people?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Angela Christine Smith (Labour, Centre-left): I participated in the induction programme for the new Parliament last year, and I appreciate the challenges facing Burma as it transitions towards democracy. I also appreciate the efforts made by the UK Government and Parliament—let us not overlook its role—in supporting that democratic development. Surely, though, it is vital that the UK Government and this Parliament continually restate their belief that citizenship for the Rohingya is an essential part of that transition.
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Mohammed Afzal Khan (Labour, Centre-left): Despite the extensive support— economic, cultural and political—that we have given to the Myanmar Government, we are now seeing that the Rohingya community is in danger of genocide. Does the Minister agree that we need to ask that Government for three things? First, the Government security forces need to be brought under control. Secondly, the aid organisations need to have free access there. Thirdly, the key thing is that the Rohingya need to be recognised as full citizens of Burma.
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): You will be aware, Mr Speaker, of the Burmese army’s six-year campaign against the Rohingya Muslims in Kachin and Rakhine provinces, during which 100,000 civilians have already been forced to flee their homes under very repressive laws and are unable to work freely. The UN has said that war crimes have been committed, yet nobody has been held accountable. This looks like the ethnic cleansing that is the precursor to genocide, with stateless citizens who cannot be counted, meaning that their bodies cannot be counted either. We need our Foreign Secretary and the Minister to say unequivocally that we want full humanitarian access, that we want the violence to end and that we want to end the culture of impunity that allows these people to be murdered and nobody brought to justice.
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Stella Judith Creasy (Labour, Centre-left): May I press the Minister further on his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg)? The Minister says it is very difficult to find out what is going on in Burma, but is it so difficult or is it that we do not believe the reports? I have a report from the Burma Human Rights Network, which specifies that 30,000 Rohingya are trapped on the hillsides in Tha Win Chaung and Inn Din near Maungdaw township. These people are trapped without food, water and medicine. What is the Minister doing to find out what is going on? Frankly, if 30,000 people are trapped in such a situation, they cannot await a ministerial visit.
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Anthony Joseph Lloyd (Labour, Centre-left): When the Minister has finally clarified the facts, will he condemn as genocide what everybody else believes to be genocide? What is the value of having a democratic dialogue if the result is the persecution and massacre of a whole group of people?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Catharine Letitia Hoey (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister keeps repeating that the situation in Burma is very complex; I think we know that. What is really disturbing for those of us who went to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi and were so moved by her speech is that it seems that not only is she not doing anything, but she is not actually saying anything. In view of our relationship with the country and with her, does the Minister not think that someone should pick up the phone and speak to her? Has he done so? Has the Foreign Secretary spoken to her? Has anyone telephoned her and had a conversation in which they have repeated what some of us are saying in the Chamber today?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Graham Peter Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Over the past six years, the British public have witnessed the murderous persecution of the Rohingya in Rakhine province. At the same time, they have turned on their television screens and heard some of the Burmese Buddhists using language that suggests that the Rohingya are almost subhuman. We have seen that persecution going on. Given that we have given some £80 million a year in DFID aid over this period, the British public will want to know why the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no influence over the situation at all.
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Mark Phillip Hendrick (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister started his statement by talking about a Rohingya attack on the Burmese military. That flies in the face of what is an emerging genocide. When will the Government take a much stronger line with the Burmese Government, which in spite of the election of Aung San Suu Kyi are allowing the military to continue as it did before?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Mohammad Yasin (Labour, Centre-left): The Rohingya were the loyal allies of Britain in world war two and now they face their darkest hour. Will the Minister give us a clear answer? Will the Government make representations to the UN Security Council, calling for its immediate intervention to protect the Rohingya?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): The Newcastle in solidarity with the people of Rohingya group meets on Monday. Does the Minister recognise that many people there—and there will be many people there—will take his word as evidence that he sees the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people as collateral damage in the establishment of democracy in Myanmar and, therefore, that the Rohingya people have no friend in this Government?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): Over the weekend, I met members of the Rohingya community in my constituency. They told me horrific stories of some of the most grave crimes against humanity. They did not even know whether their friends and family were dead or alive. They told me horrific stories of women and children being burned and tortured. They also told me that during her time in custody, they had led some of the biggest campaigns in this country for the immediate release of Ms Suu Kyi. Now, in their hour of need, they hear a deafening silence. Why will the Minister not condemn this grave crime against humanity; why will he not condemn the persecution and ethnic cleansing; and why will he not condemn the deafening silence of Ms Suu Kyi?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): One issue inhibiting the UN’s work is the almost complete absence of in-country staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Will the Minister urgently raise that with his counterparts to ensure that the commissioner’s staff are granted regular visas?
Violence in Rakhine State — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Julie Elizabeth Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): The message that seems to be coming over loud and clear today, as it has in the Foreign Secretary’s comments in recent days, is that the British Government are most concerned about defending the de facto leader and the worthy pursuit of democracy, at the expense of the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims. We have heard talk of getting the UN to take the situation seriously, but when are we going to escalate that? Given that children are being beheaded, villages burned and people raped in huge numbers, how serious does it have to get before we escalate our action?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): Leaving without a deal would be disastrous, and the Government must now realise that it will not be possible to negotiate the bespoke deal that they have spoken about at great length by the time set out under the article 50 process, because there will not be sufficient time, given the rate of progress. In order for the Secretary of State to talk about an implementation period, he has to have something to implement. Why does he not recognise, therefore, that the only way now to give business the stability and certainty it requires is to say that we will remain within the current trade and market access arrangements for a transitional period in order to allow a final deal to be negotiated and agreed?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): I hope there is a deal, and that it is good both for Europe and for us. However, to implement such a deal, with clause 9 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill the Government are seeking to allow Ministers to introduce regulations that "may make any provision that could be made by an Act of Parliament"— any provision— "(including modifying this Act)." In the whole history of this Parliament, no Government have ever come to Parliament to ask for that. That is not a Henry VIII clause; it is an Alice in Wonderland clause! Surely the Secretary of State, as the parliamentarian who has stood up so many times at the Dispatch Box to call for Parliament to have powers, should amend that provision before it comes to Committee stage.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): On the financial settlement, can the Secretary of State confirm that the Government will bring forward a separate and distinct vote in Parliament to authorise any billions of pounds of divorce bill from the European Union? I ask him because next Monday he is expecting the House—hon. Members will see this on the Order Paper—to vote for a money resolution, which authorises, in advance, any expenditure, and, worse, for a Ways and Means resolution, which authorises any tax. I do not think that he would accept that Parliament should be giving such a blank cheque in advance without knowing what the settlement is.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Catharine Letitia Hoey (Labour, Centre-left): As the Secretary of State just said, the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is a crucial piece of legislation for us to leave the EU. Would he therefore agree that, although people might have difficulties with parts of it that can be discussed in Committee, anyone who votes against the principle on Second Reading is betraying the will of the British people?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Stella Judith Creasy (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State cautioned us to think about our constituents in response to his statement, so I am thinking about the nearly 30 million British people—I believe that is the figure—who went to Europe this summer, mainly on holiday. Will he confirm for them today that they will be able to book their European holiday when they come to do so next year, or is he thinking about blue skies, but delivering empty ones at this point?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stephen Nathan Kinnock (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will have noted that the United Kingdom registered the lowest rate of economic growth in the entire European Union in the first quarter of this year. Does he think that the chaotic and shambolic way these negotiations are going may have contributed to that level of growth?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State confirm that if we leave the European Union without a deal the car plant up the road from my constituency in Ellesmere Port, which currently provides 2,000 full-time jobs and a much wider supply chain, will struggle, because if we leave the customs union and the single market, that adds £125 million a year, and its supply chains are very mixed up all over Europe? Having no deal puts those jobs at risk, and it will be a disaster for my constituents in the automotive industry.
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): I should declare that my husband is a dual Irish-British national, which gives me a particular interest in the relationship we have after Brexit with our largest trading partner in the EU. The Secretary of State talked about "significant, concrete progress" in this vital area. Yet when I was in Ireland this summer, commentators universally were saying what Fintan O’Toole from The Irish Times said: "behind all of these delightful reassurances, there is sweet"— here I paraphrase—"nothing". Will the Secretary of State please detail what that "significant, concrete progress" is, or are his descriptions of this magic border just a whim?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): Businesses that are thinking about whether to invest here in the UK or overseas in the EU will be horrified to hear the Secretary of State glibly agreeing with the Prime Minister by saying that leaving on WTO terms would be fine. Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to state that if we were to leave on WTO terms, the consequences for the car factory that my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) just referred to would be catastrophic; and doing so would be bad for us and for the EU?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Kelvin Peter Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Secretary of State agree that it is entirely possible to love Europe—a subcontinent of wonderful peoples of great culture—but at the same time to oppose totally the European Union on democratic and economic grounds?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State did not answer the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham East (Mr Leslie) regarding the money resolution and the Ways and Means motion that he is expecting the House to vote on next Monday. Will he confirm categorically that the motions will give him and other Ministers the power to cut whatever deal they like on the divorce bill without any further reference to this House in a separate, distinguishable vote?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): Has the Secretary of State informed his EU counterpart that he has told this House and promised the people of Britain that he will deliver the "exact same benefits" outside the EU as we currently enjoy inside it, and what was the reaction?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Seema Malhotra-Saluja (Labour, Centre-left): The European Investment Bank is the EU’s not-for-profit, long-term lending institution, and it is symbolic of our commitment to each other’s progress. EIB funding in the UK for infrastructure spending, entrepreneurship and development has been worth €35 billion in the past six years. What specific discussions has the Secretary of State had on the EIB? Is he committed to doing all he can in seeking for the UK to remain a member of the EIB after we leave the EU, or are the Government planning for us to leave the EIB? Can he guarantee that withdrawing from it will not have a negative impact on investment in the UK and on our economy?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Energy
Helen Catherine Goodman (Labour, Centre-left): He is nodding, so he does know. The Secretary of State also knows that the legal base for the energy market is separate from that for the single market, so when he says in his statement that "the key issues in relation to cross-border economic co-operation and energy will need to form an integral part of discussions on the UK’s future relationship", is he softening up his colleagues sitting behind him for the reality that we will have to stay in the European energy market?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Adrian Edward Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): The Foreign Secretary has publicly proclaimed that the EU can "whistle" for a divorce payment and the Secretary of State for International Trade has accused the EU of blackmailing the UK. How helpful has the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union found those comments in underlining the UK’s commitment to a "flexible and imaginative" approach, which he claims to be the basis of our approach?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Education
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that the delayed process of the negotiations means that universities and other educational institutions are left on tenterhooks in respect of long-term research programmes and exchange programmes? They do not know whether we will still be part of Horizon 2020 or the Erasmus Plus programme and bids have to be in for the next round at the end of this month. Will the Secretary of State give a commitment that the universities sector will be one of our top priorities and that it will get full access to Horizon 2020 and Erasmus Plus?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Foreign Trade
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): May I press the Secretary of State on the Irish question? In particular, what detailed talks are happening between his Department and the Welsh Government on trade from Welsh ports to Irish ports? My constituents are concerned and they care about what leaving the customs union will mean in terms of barriers, customs and jobs. It seems that the Irish Government and the Welsh Government are concerned—they seem to get it—but that the UK Government do not. Will he assure me that talks are taking place? Will he or one of his Ministers meet me to assure me that that problem is being looked at, as is that of the north-south border in Ireland?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: International Affairs
Karin Marguerite Smyth (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State continues to talk about the Canadian border when referring to the Irish border, reducing the situation to a technical issue, which it is not. The situations are not analogous. He said earlier that he would do anything to progress some of the talks. Will the Prime Minister do what her predecessors have done by taking charge of the situation in Ireland and visiting Northern Ireland, perhaps with the Taoiseach, to demonstrate to the EU that this is a highly critical issue that goes beyond the technical issue of the border?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-09-05
Topic: Energy
Martin David Whitfield (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State said in his statement that he respects the need for safeguards on nuclear materials, but he went on to comment that he looks forward to a "comprehensive new partnership". Does he envisage Euratom continuing and us being a part of it, or will we have a new Euratom-type agreement?