argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Long Covid — House of Commons, 2021-01-14
Topic: Social Welfare
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I congratulate and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for having applied for and secured the debate, and also for setting up the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, which is so important in giving this House a voice in the detailed response to the issues thrown up by the covid pandemic. One point that I really want to get across in the short time available to me is that so little is yet known about long covid. We have an emerging picture, but those in Government have to demonstrate a bit of humility in their response, accepting that we do not yet know the full picture of how this will affect people. There must be more flexibility in how the system responds to people who are affected in this way. The point has been made to me by constituents that there is a lot of crossover between the symptoms and treatment of people with long covid and those who suffer from ME; I think that point was also made by the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams). Certainly, looking back over the years at the way in which the benefits system has coped with people who suffer from ME, let alone the medical profession, we can see that this will be a problem with which we shall have to come to terms for some considerable time I want to share with the House one email I received from a constituent, which illustrates very well the way in which, unfortunately, people are so often left to fall between the gaps. This constituent had two part-time jobs. She worked as a tourist guide and had another job on two days a week. She wrote: "Because of the 50-50 rule I wasn’t eligible for SEISS, so, when I was made redundant…at the end of my Furlough, I sent my P45 in hoping for Job Seekers Allowance. I have just had a phone call to say that I am ineligible for JSA as my Class 2 contributions as a self-employed person don’t count and I wasn’t" making class 1 contributions for "long enough… I pointed out that I paid Class 1 contributions and tax for over 40 years. She apologised and said that only the last 2 years count! I’m ineligible for UC due to my husband’s pensions (he’s 77). That means I will have to take out my minimal work pensions (the total in one pot is about £65!) in order to survive until my State Pension kicks in in 13 months." I am afraid that that shows the way in which too many people have been left behind and excluded from the provision that the Government have made Things could have been so different if only the Government had been prepared to listen to those of us who said at the start that there was a role for a universal basic income in meeting the challenge to our society.
UK Shellfish Exports — House of Commons, 2021-02-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the EU ban on UK shellfish exports.
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Families in Flookburgh in my constituency have fished on the sands for centuries. In recent generations, they have built a market that means the majority of their catch is sold in France. The Government’s failure to secure export rights for Flookburgh fishermen is a negligent betrayal of my communities. My constituents do not care whose fault it is, and are not impressed with the Secretary of State’s buck passing while their livelihoods are destroyed. Will he be clear about what he will do to compensate my constituents and restore their access to live shellfish markets, as they had been promised?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Minister will know that the major player in this crisis is China, the economy of which Myanmar is far more dependent on than others. The relationship between the military and the Chinese Government has in the past been ambiguous, given how destabilising China’s actions are to the region. Notwithstanding whatever grievances we may have in respect of the Uyghurs and Hong Kong, this is a moment in which we should be working together, including with China, to solve this crisis. Can the Minister make an assessment of China’s likely response at this time? Have our Government had conversations with the Chinese Government about such a co-ordinated international response?
Neonicotinoid Alternatives — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Environment
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): One hundred and fifty-seven of my Bath constituents have written to me since January to raise this issue. We must remember that we are in not only a climate emergency, but a nature emergency. Given that the Government made an explicit pledge to keep pesticide restrictions in place after Brexit, will the Minister commit to giving the Office for Environmental Protection the powers and resources to hold public authorities to account on environmental standards?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Environment
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Given that food waste accounts for 19% of the UK’s landfill and that even the proposed targets in the Environment Bill to separate household food waste collections are unlikely to eliminate food waste in landfill by 2030, is it not time that his Department considered a food waste to landfill ban in England for food waste businesses that produce more than 5 kg of food waste per week?
Voter ID: Democratic Participation — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Government Operations
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the hon. Member for that answer. Notwithstanding the commission’s findings, though, it is estimated that it would cost something in the region of £20 million to introduce a measure such as this and there is always the risk of depressing voter turnout. Would he impress on the commission that, if that money is there to be spent, it would be better spent encouraging voter turnout, rather than on measures such as this, which I contend would inevitably depress it?
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: International Affairs
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Liberal Democrats join colleagues across the House in their condemnation of the Iranian regime’s actions. Our hearts have to go out to Richard, Gabriella and the whole family. This must feel like one step forward, two steps back. I sincerely hope that the Government are considering Magnitsky sanctions, which are surely the next step I am concerned about Nazanin’s current state. Redress says that Nazanin "has already suffered severe physical and psychological impacts from the torture and ill-treatment" and that if she is subjected to more, it could cause "irreparable damage" to her. What immediate attention have our Government directed to the Iranian regime to ensure that Nazanin’s medical needs are met in full?
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Government Operations
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I appreciate the Minister’s comments about the inquiry and compensation, but will he assure me that the Government will commit to seeing former sub-postmasters as individuals, and to treating each case with importance for all those who have faced more than a decade of accusations and had their life burdened with legal difficulties due to the Post Office’s mismanagement? Many have lost their homes and been refused insurance. Will they each be treated individually and not simply as one overarching scandal?
Universal Basic Income — House of Commons, 2021-04-28
Topic: Social Welfare
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Although I share the determination of the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) for a universal basic income as the way ahead and his disappointment that it is not being trialled in Scotland, does the Minister share my disappointment that the SNP Government at Holyrood were not able to get their processes in shape in time to adopt the powers over welfare in the Scotland Act 2016 that might have given them more influence over the situation?
Government Support for India — House of Commons, 2021-04-28
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement on the support the Government are providing to the Indian Government.
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As many hon. Members have said, the images from India are both difficult to watch and painful for many of our constituents with family there. In light of what is happening, how much of the 1.3 billion that is going into covid relief worldwide is going to India? Might that be reviewed in light of what is happening across the world, with a view to upgrading it?
Future of Health and Care — House of Commons, 2021-02-11
Topic: Social Welfare
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): On this day eight years ago, the Government announced and then legislated for a new funding model for social care, which the Tories then scrapped two years later. Eight years on, we have yet another NHS reform announcement, but only yet another promise to reform social care. With 25,000 care home deaths during the pandemic, what will it take for the Prime Minister to make good on his promise to fix social care, and when will the Secretary of State start the long-promised cross-party talks to find a solution?
Ministerial and other Maternal Allowances Bill — House of Commons, 2021-02-11
Topic: Labor
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I do agree. That would not only sell ourselves short but sell short the work done by our staff in our constituencies. Owing to the pandemic, it has been difficult for parliamentarians who came into this House in December 2019 to know what case workloads might normally look like, but I have experienced a very high level over the past year, and my staff have played a key role in relation to that. We need to be there to support our constituents. Constituents have said that they have had a better understanding of the role of MPs and what they can do as a result I do not want it to be thought that I do not agree with Cabinet Ministers being entitled to full pay and maternity leave. I absolutely support that; it is entirely right and in keeping with best practice, but it also potentially speaks to huge unfairness, on which other Members have touched. Secretaries of State will receive about £1,300 a week if they receive full maternity pay for six months, but millions of people around the country are eligible only for statutory pay, which after the first six weeks is just £151 a week—close to a 1,000% difference On Second Reading, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) spoke eloquently about the deficiencies in maternity pay and allowances. It does seem odd to me for the Government to say, "This is the standard we are going to give to a Cabinet Minister," and on the other hand say, "The statutory minimum is the standard by which you should treat your employees." That seems a case of "Do as I say and not as I do." The organisation that I worked for previously is now giving six months of parental leave, regardless of whether that is maternity, paternity or adoption leave. That is a big organisation.
Puppy Trafficking — House of Commons, 2021-01-21
Topic: Agriculture
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have a constituent who wants to start a lobster hatchery, but they have been shocked by the impact on the fishing sector of our departure from the EU. Should anybody interested in coming into the fishing industry even bother?
Covid-19: May Elections — House of Commons, 2021-01-21
Topic: Government Operations
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Looking at the electoral procedures to be followed, though, we can all see areas, such as the collection of nomination signatures, where there is potential for unnecessary face-to-face contact. Surely this is a moment when we can look at doing these things differently, but if we are to make any changes in time for May, that work would need to be done now. Can the hon. Gentleman tell me whether that work is being done by the commission?
Skills for Jobs White Paper — House of Commons, 2021-01-21
Topic: Education
Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The rapidly changing workplace makes it vital that people can acquire new skills throughout their lifetime. However, we know that mature students are more averse to taking on debt, and they are often unable to take on long-term repayments if those repayments take them up to retirement. Instead of introducing a lifetime loan entitlement, will the Secretary of State look at introducing a lifetime grant, similar to the Liberal Democrat idea of a skills wallet, which would give every person up to £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lifetime?
Equitable Life — House of Commons, 2021-01-21
Topic: Labor
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): So here we are again. First, I would like to endorse the calls for an inquiry on some of the wildly inaccurate payments received by Equitable Life pensioners. That transparency is needed by those who are dependent on what they get through the Equitable Life scheme run by the Government for any kind of income in retirement. That is so important This is a reminder of how Governments of various colours have let these people down. It is clear to me that the Government, in their failure to regulate Equitable Life, allowed people a false sense of security when investing and doing what Governments of all shapes, sizes and political hues had encouraged them to do: provide for their own retirement. Those people then discovered, to their horror, that their plans for retirement—often modest plans—had been destroyed The Government’s first response was to provide about half a million pounds of support. I am proud that my colleague Vince Cable was instrumental in ensuring that an additional £1 billion was provided in 2010, but even that is far short of the £4.5 billion that the independent ombudsman recognised was owed to the people who have been so cruelly hit by the Equitable Life crisis. People who have been encouraged to save and provide for themselves and their families in retirement, and who then dutifully take that advice, should not be punished and left to a retirement in penury because the Government of the day did not do their job in regulating Equitable Life properly In my community alone, 2,000 victims of the Equitable Life scandal are making the best they can of a reduced circumstances retirement. It seems to me that the Treasury is callously banking on the number of people in receipt and deserving of compensation reducing year on year. That is a tragedy, and the Government should step up right now. It is not only a historical injustice to the 2,000 people in my community who are Equitable Life pensioners that they have not been given their due payments and the retirement that they had saved and provided for. It is also damaging to our communities. Let us remember that if those 2,000 people in Westmorland and Lonsdale were to receive the payments they were due by this Government, it would make a big difference to our local economy. Morally and practically, it is right for this Government to do what the independent ombudsman called for some years ago and pay the full £4.5 billion to those pensioners.
Lobbying of Government Committee — House of Commons, 2021-04-14
Topic: Government Operations
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): However we collectively as the body politic got into this situation, may I suggest that it is damaging public trust in elected representatives? The one good thing about this Committee, if it were seen to be put in place, would be that it could restore some of that trust and repair some of the damage to democracy in the UK.
Lobbying of Government Committee — House of Commons, 2021-04-14
Topic: Government Operations
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): What a pleasure it is to come down from the north of Scotland rather than Zooming in, Madam Deputy Speaker We are clearly in a spot of bother on Greensill, but I would certainly draw a couple of rays of hope from the debate. I have always had faith in the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr Wragg), and what I heard from him today confirms my belief that he is doing a good job. I was very much taken by the point made by the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) about the fact that training might be very helpful My colleague and good friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney), made the point, if I picked it up correctly, that we are all in this together. That sentiment was echoed by the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price). My intervention on the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O'Hara) was along the lines that, as others have said, such a besmirchment of democracy is not helpful. To see this happening and to hear people in the streets saying, "You’re all at it—you’re all letting us down" is not at all helpful, and it is dangerous to democracy, which, after all, this place is the mother of I am going to take a leaf out of the book of the hon. Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset (Mr Liddell-Grainger) and go local. With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall return—mentally, at any rate—to the far north of Scotland. The damage and corrosion to faith in democracy needs to be taken with the local situation that we have up there. For whatever reason, unfortunately, in the vast area of the highlands, public appointments do not seem to reflect the far north. Local knowledge is essential to running services, as how things are done is quite delicate and detailed, and when people are appointed who are not from the area, that is counterproductive Finally, we have a Danish billionaire who buys estates in the far north of Scotland as you or I might buy household appliances, Madam Deputy Speaker—he just buys them one after the other. Other Members have heard me talk repeatedly about the great wish of the crofters in north Sutherland to take up the Government’s generous offer of our hosting one of Britain’s space launch sites. It went through planning nem con—unanimously—and all the crofters support it, yet this Danish billionaire who is not elected by anyone will do anything in his power to stop it. If we can get it right in this place on the Greensill front and restore public faith in us, there can be a knock-on effect that will only be good for wider democracy and people feeling that they are actually being heard.
Hammersmith Bridge — House of Commons, 2021-04-14
Topic: Education
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The hon. Member is making an excellent speech, and I am extremely grateful to her for bringing the matter back to the Floor of the House for debate once more. I wonder whether she would mind me taking the opportunity to highlight the massive impact that the closure has had on the residents of Barnes in my constituency. She mentioned the difficulties that people have had in getting to work and accessing healthcare. The biggest growing issue that we have had since the reopening of schools at the beginning of March is children getting to school. They have all already suffered massive disruption to their education, but many are finding that, where they could previously walk to school in 10 to 15 minutes, it now takes them upwards of an hour on crowded public transport during the pandemic On top of the pressures those children are already experiencing—some with exam stress, and all the uncertainty and disruption that they have faced—they now have the additional anxiety of how to get to and from school in a way that they have never experienced. I want to highlight the massive impact that the bridge’s closure is having on young people on both sides of the bridge and the really difficult experience they are having, and to urge the Minister to come to the table and find a solution.
Hammersmith Bridge — House of Commons, 2021-04-14
Topic: Transportation
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Briefly, does the hon. Lady agree that one of the significant disadvantages to the ferry service, welcome though it is, is that local residents will have to pay a fare to use it, as opposed to being able to use the bridge perfectly freely?
Hammersmith Bridge — House of Commons, 2021-04-14
Topic: Transportation
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. She referred earlier to fairness to taxpayers. Does she think that this is fair to the taxpayers of Richmond upon Thames, who are the most affected by this bridge closure? Their lives are being ruined, their businesses are closing, they cannot get to school or work, they cannot access medical services, and they have no say over what the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham does with its budget, but they understand that £140 million is more than that borough can afford. They are looking to the Government for assistance, and all they ask for is a commitment for the funding. The Minister stands here and talks about all the administrative barriers that are in the way. All we ask for is a commitment.
Poverty-focused Aid — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: International Affairs
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for his response. With international development spending already falling in line with the country’s drop in gross national income, and given the Chancellor’s deplorable plan to slash the UK’s commitment to the world’s poorest still further, it is more important than ever that UK ODA spending directly reaches developing countries and the communities and individuals in those countries who need it most. Could the Minister explain what criteria are being used to ensure that poverty alleviation is prioritised in decisions on spending? How are the Government planning to consult civil society on this?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-01-19
Topic: International Affairs
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Returning to the subject of Alexei Navalny, what discussions has the Foreign Secretary had with the Home Office about granting refuge to the supporters of Alexei Navalny, and indeed any other human rights defenders in Russia, should they want it or need it?
Vauxhall at Ellesmere Port and Battery Manufacturing Strategy — House of Commons, 2021-03-01
Topic: Energy
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Increasing demand for electric vehicles can help to create the green jobs that we need, as we transition away from carbon-emitting industries. Will the Secretary of State agree that cutting VAT to 5% on electric vehicles can help to stimulate that demand?
Covid-19: Ethnic Minority Disparities — House of Commons, 2021-03-01
Topic: Labor
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): In the year to September 2020, the drop in employment for people from ethnic minorities was 26 times higher than for white workers. Unless the Government take meaningful action to address workforce inequalities, including the ethnicity pay gap, the fall-out from covid will make these glaring inequalities even worse. May I ask again: will the Government finally commit to bringing forward the long-awaited ethnicity pay gap reporting?