argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Asylum (Time Limit) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-16
Topic: Immigration
Barry Strachan Gardiner (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree with and endorse the remarks that my right hon. Friend has just made. Many asylum seekers are trafficked here; they may fall victim to the traffickers, be imprisoned or be engaged in the sex trade. There are all sorts of reasons, such as being restrained by their traffickers, why people may not be physically able to make the necessary arrangements.
Asylum (Time Limit) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-16
Topic: Immigration
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): The asylum system needs to have integrity. There are mechanisms, which I am sure the Minister will strongly outline, that show real integrity and that if an individual falsely claims asylum they will be removed in due course. It is important to recognise that robust systems are in place and that we try to enforce them. We must not let people play the system, but we must recognise that genuine asylum claims can be made later than the proposed three-month limit I turn to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner). It will not have escaped your notice, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we have been dealing with the Modern Slavery Bill in this House and another place, where it currently resides. That Bill tries to ensure that we deal with the slavery and trafficking that my hon. Friend mentioned. Individuals may have believed, because of language or cultural difficulties, that they came to this country for work or other reasons, but found themselves trafficked, imprisoned or abused. The Government have recognised the issue by introducing the Modern Slavery Bill, and we have supported them on that Under the Asylum (Time Limit) Bill, victims of such horrendous crimes—who may have been forced to come to the UK, who may have lived the life of slaves for many months or years but have been resident in the UK—would have no means of claiming asylum because they had been brought here by traffickers. Those are important circumstances that the Bill misses because of its cut-off date of three months The Bill is flawed and unworkable. There is a robust system in place. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments, which I am sure will reflect the fact that such a system exists. I would welcome the hon. Member for Christchurch reflecting on the fact that situations change outside the UK, affecting people who may have been here for more than three months, and that through no fault of their own they may need to apply for asylum after that date. As a stark example, if a German Jew were at university in the UK in March 1938 and suddenly realised that they could not return to Germany because of potential difficulties with the fascist regime there, and if they had been here for longer than three months and the hon. Gentleman’s Bill was in place, they would have to be sent back to Germany and ultimately to their death. I am sure the hon. Gentleman would not wish such a situation to affect future asylum claims. He should also reflect on the security provided by the Modern Slavery Bill. Whatever the Minister says, I hope the hon. Member for Christchurch will think carefully about these matters and agree to withdraw his Bill.
Nuclear Management Partners (Sellafield) — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): Three of the world’s top 10 engineering challenges are at Sellafield. As other hon. Members have said, it is a very complex site. Will the Secretary of State ensure that he and his fellow Ministers undertake very complex monitoring to make sure that the value-for-money challenges identified by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee do not slip again? I mean value for money in not just the cost of the contract but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) said, the impact on the supply chain, because Sellafield should not deaden the local market, but build it and help it to thrive.
Charter for Budget Responsibility — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Edward Michael Balls (Labour, Centre-left): The Chancellor told this House that if Britain was to lose its triple A credit rating it would be a disaster for Britain. Can he remind the House when Britain lost its triple A credit rating? Was he the Chancellor at the time? When are we going to get it back?
Charter for Budget Responsibility — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): Does my right hon. Friend agree that perhaps one problem with a rolling target is that it is very difficult to hit? The point for many people is this: low-paid workers in my constituency do not get to pay tax at all; instead they need the taxman to be giving them money. Is it not because so many people need in-work benefits—they work and yet the taxman gives them money—that the Chancellor is spending £25 billion more than he expected to in 2010?
Charter for Budget Responsibility — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
Dawn Primarolo (Labour, Centre-left): Order. We are under quite a lot of time pressure now. In order to make sure that every Member who wants to speak gets in, I am taking the time limit down to four minutes for each Back-Bench contribution. I think we will be able to make sure that everybody gets in on that basis. The time limit is now four minutes and I warned Steve Baker about that beforehand.
Charter for Budget Responsibility — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): I will. Why then did Robert Chote say that these assumptions were "signed off by the ‘quad’" Did the Chief Secretary sign them off? Was it a mistake or is he now trying to "reverse ferret" out of it? Which is it?
Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
John Derek Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): As usual, my hon. Friend is making some powerful and interesting comments. It is odd that the Government have struggled for such a long time in the past few years to find legislation to put through the House, and we have had a number of days that we have had to fill with other business. Given that record, is it not even more strange that they are having to move these motions tonight?
Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
Andrew Peter Miller (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have faced day after day when the House has risen early because of the appalling management of business by the Government Whips. That has meant that we have not spent the time that was available to us to deal properly and thoughtfully with Bills during their proceedings.
Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
David Wright (Labour, Centre-left): One of the messages that this Government tried to give out at the start of this Parliament was that they would try to bring forward less legislation and deal with it comprehensively and carefully. They have clearly failed in that process because we have these motions before us tonight. When I was in the Whips Office under the previous Government, we moved a large number of Bills through this House very efficiently, and managed to get most of them through before the wash-up period. The Government are in real danger of losing this legislation if they are not careful.
Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Peter Miller (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His experience in the Whips Office was incredibly valuable, and he illustrates the point I am making My right hon. Friend the Member for Warley observed that this Bill started its proceedings on 23 January—almost a year ago—and it seems quite extraordinary that we are where we are today. The Government ought to wake up. If they are going to serve democracy properly, Bills ought to have the proper amount of time made available to them.
Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension — House of Commons, 2015-01-13
Topic: Other
John Derek Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) about the problems with the Bills in the Lords. Is not that because the Government are trying to rush legislation through here and not giving it proper time for debate? That is why it gets into trouble in the Lords?
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Housing
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. and learned Gentleman raises an important point. I have people in my constituency, such as Mr and Mrs Elliot of Coventry, who have invested their life savings in their property but, because they are outside the formula area, do not qualify for compensation.
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): Yes, indeed Apart from those who are paid supporters of the scheme, it has virtually no supporters. When I say "paid supporters", I am including some of the civil engineering advisers and consultants who are producing reports in favour because they are paid to do so. There is a danger that they are damaging the reputation of British civil engineering consultants.
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Other
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): That is so. I think that the right hon. Lady is probably regarded as being in the south-east, where 51% are against and 30% are in favour. In the London area, 48% are against and 34% are in favour. And so it goes on. The supporters of every political party are, on balance, against.
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): Even in Birmingham there are doubts. There is a site called Washwood Heath. Everybody in Birmingham ranging from the far-left Trots to the chamber of commerce was in favour of redeveloping it with about 3,000 modern jobs in IT and bio-engineering, but—lo and behold—HS2 says, "Tough. We need it for some sidings. Total employees: 30."
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Public Lands
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): I think the right hon. Lady will confirm that she was present when our colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith), asked Sir David Higgins about the fact that they were going to tear through two bits of ancient woodland in her constituency. He reassured her that it was all right, because they would replant it!
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen Pelham Pound (Labour, Centre-left): I did not wish to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman as the cloak of Chesterton falls about his shoulders, but would he not agree with the former Baroness Thatcher in her comment that these referendums and plebiscites are devices of dictators and demagogues?
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Public Lands
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): The Euston arch could be rebuilt tomorrow. We do not need a huge engineering project to justify it. We could simply dig the stones out of the canal and rebuild the arch where it used to stand, and we could do that tomorrow.
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Housing
Frank Gordon Dobson (Labour, Centre-left): I fear that the right hon. Gentleman has been very badly briefed by his officials, because he ought to know—his officials certainly ought to know this, although they probably do not, if my experience is anything to go by—that there were outline proposals for the redevelopment of Euston station that virtually everyone in the locality approved of. They would like that particular redevelopment to go ahead, because it would not involve a vast amount of redevelopment around the station. Sir David Higgins appears to believe, based on his experience with the Olympics in east London, that the area around Euston is a brownfield site, but it is not. It is full of people, and they want to be left alone.
HS2 Funding Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Other
Dawn Primarolo (Labour, Centre-left): No apology is necessary; I am sure that nobody could lead the Minister astray even with the skills you show in representing your constituents, Mrs Gillan. Your points may be relevant, but we have been discussing only the minutiae and we need to return to the big picture.
Overseas Voters Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): I think that is exactly what I was saying. If there is a priority, it must be to ensure that prospective voters in the UK are registered, because the outcome of elections can be distorted. The points I made in relation to individual electoral registration are exactly those.
Overseas Voters Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): I believe that the register is 100,000 down in London alone, so I do not think that what I said was at all premature. It would be helpful if, rather than patting himself on the back, the Minister told us what steps he intends to take over the next few months to ensure that the register recovers lost ground. There is no problem with the principle of individual electoral registration, but there is a problem with the Government’s execution of that principle, which excludes a significant number of people and groups. That is a separate issue from under-registration. Under-registration needs to be dealt with in any event, and the Government have done precious little about it.
Overseas Voters Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): This is fantastical stuff. The initial matching for individual electoral registration in my constituency showed that the percentages in some wards were in the low to mid-40s. Thanks to the good work of the local electoral registration officers, the percentages have been pushed up into the 70s and 80s, but that is still very poor compared with the previous register. The Minister should not be complacent about the detrimental effect that IER is having on the register, and he has not yet addressed any of the issues relating to under-registration. This just shows that the Government’s priorities are completely wrong.
Economy and City Link: Coventry — House of Commons, 2015-01-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Geoffrey Robinson (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to take part in this debate. The Minister also agreed to my taking part, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham), whom I congratulate on his initiative. I also thank Mr Speaker for granting this important debate The only mystery that remains to be solved is why exactly Jon Moulton made this acquisition in the way he did in an industry that was already in difficulty. One feared very much what the outcome would be for a company that had already experienced many years of extreme difficulty. The situation will no doubt be unfolded once the Department finishes its report and we have read its conclusions. Perhaps a further investigation will be necessary; indeed, my hon. Friend has called for one In the few minutes available to me, I want to address four aspects of concern. My hon. Friend has already said that we cannot be complacent in Coventry, but perhaps he will agree that the new leadership in Coventry has sent a very loud message that Coventry is open for business and to the new businesses of the 21st century. The internet and internet shopping are clearly going to generate a lot of such businesses. Indeed, we thought that that was what Mr Moulton was investing in and that there was a reasonable prospect for City Link’s future, although there was never any guarantee. It is a pity that the early venture has come to such a tragic and sad halt It is tremendous to see the approach being taken by Coventry’s leadership. After years of not making the progress we should have been making, the new leader, supported by her deputy, has made it plain that things have changed in Coventry’s approach to openness. We are looking to do things differently and are encouraging others to join us in a way that we might not have done in the past. It is in that spirit that we went down the City Link and other routes.
Faith Schools — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Barry Strachan Gardiner (Labour, Centre-left): The Jews free school is in my constituency in Brent North. The Secretary of State will be aware of the deep concern in the Jewish community at the moment about security around schools. Many other Jewish and other faith schools around the country are in a similar position. What steps is her Department taking to ensure that the children in those schools are being kept safe?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Tristram Hunt (Labour, Centre-left): The whole House is united in its horror at the attacks in Paris, which, sadly, form part of a growing tide of intolerance that seeks to undermine civil society by targeting symbols of pluralism and tolerance. As the right hon. Lady has highlighted, from the assault in the school in Peshawar, to the kidnappings of Boko Haram, to the murder of Jewish schoolchildren in Toulouse, Islamist terrorists hope to close down learning and debate. That is why it is more important than ever that we provide safe schooling for every English community. Following the question by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), will the Secretary of State join me in supporting the work of the Community Security Trust in providing security for Jewish schools across the UK? Will she join the Labour party in committing to retaining the CST’s funding for the entire Parliament so that whoever wins the general election on 7 May, the Jewish community knows that the education of its children will always be protected by the British state?
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill: Allocation of Time — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Other
Stephen Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): This is an important Bill and it has Labour’s support. As the Minister has said, the change proposed is significant, but it is also very straightforward. We are, therefore, content to support all of the stages being considered today Question put and agreed to.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): Given that women in the Church have waited so long for this to happen, and that many of them hold senior positions but are not yet bishops, does the Minister think that we might see a woman automatically going into one of those five senior positions rather than having to work her way through the diocesan route?
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): As a Stockport Member of Parliament, I was delighted when Rev. Libby Lane was appointed Bishop of Stockport. However, she is a suffragan bishop and will therefore have no automatic right to take a seat in the other place. What assessment has the Minister made of the Church of England’s ability to appoint women bishops to represent dioceses, so that they will become eligible to sit in the other place?
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): I accept what the Minister says about introducing measures to allow women bishops to leapfrog others so that they can be appointed to the House of Lords, and I appreciate that individual appointments are a matter for the Church, but what assessment has he made of the number of bishops in the Church of England who are coming up for retirement? That assessment could be useful in informing us about the appointment of women diocesan bishops.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): I wonder whether the Minister will be able to help me to understand this fully. An assessment has been made, because 10 years is the time period in the Bill for when the sunset clause will come into effect. On that basis, is the assessment that in 10 years’ time we will have 50:50 male and female bishops in the House of Lords? What does the Minister think will be the position after 10 years?
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Other
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): Why is there a need for a sunset clause? I do not understand why we feel that everything will have been solved in 10 years. Would it not be better to leave it open-ended and repeal the legislation in 10 years’ time if we feel that the situation has been dealt with? I would hope that in 10 years’ time we will have moved to a democratically elected House of Lords.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Stephen Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. Part of the argument that I would make for a democratic second Chamber would be about ensuring that the diversity of our modern society is reflected, including people who are from or are representatives of other faiths. There are practical issues with different faiths, such as the representative institutions they have, but as we debate reform of the other place it is absolutely right that, in seeking to have a second Chamber that is a senate of the regions and nations, the diversity of faiths is reflected, alongside the representation of the Church of England.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): I am very interested to hear what my hon. Friend is saying. He paid tribute to the role of the established Church in this country and then said that it is important, if there is reform of the House of Lords, that other faiths are reflected. Does he think there is a special place for the established Church, while it remains established, in any second Chamber?
Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Stephen Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is tempting me to go beyond the realms of this legislation. Let me say this in answer to her. Personally, I am in favour of fully electing the second Chamber, which clearly has implications for whether any Church or other faith is directly represented in it. However, it is important that we engage fully with all sections of society as we look at reforming the second Chamber. That is why, as we said, we think this matter should be considered by a citizen-led constitutional convention, to be set up as soon as possible to examine precisely how we best ensure a senate of the nations and regions. The very proper point my hon. Friend has raised about what that means for direct representation through the bishops in the second Chamber should be part of that consideration Today, however, is in a sense an opportunity to leave to one side those wider debates around constitutional reform and the House of Lords. They are important matters, but matters for another day. Today we can all come together to recognise what could be a momentous occasion for our Church and our Parliament—another step towards true gender equality. We know there is a long way to go. As the Minister said, female priests were introduced 20 years ago, and out of 8,000 full-time priests in this country, 1,700 are now women. In the original draft of my speech, I pointed to the slow progress that that represented, but on reflection, when I worked out the percentages, I found that there was about same proportion of women priests in the Church of England as we have women Members of Parliament in this House. In other words, the Church of England has achieved in 20 years what we have achieved in over 100 years, so it is very significant progress none the less. Today’s Bill provides an opportunity to build on that progress. It is an important symbolic moment, which is why the Labour party is very pleased to support the Bill today.