argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
REACH etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Christopher Fox (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I was not implying that there was something wrong with the trade association. My point was that it is wrong to hide behind that statement and not acknowledge that there are serious copyright and confidentiality issues around this data which make the whole cut-and-paste exercise much more complex and expensive than the Minister seemed to present.
REACH etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robin Teverson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): At the end insert "but this House regrets that the draft Regulations do not address concerns raised by the European Union Committee in their report Brexit: chemical regulation, published on 7 November 2018, about Her Majesty’s Government’s plans for chemical regulation after the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union." Relevant document: 23rd Report from the European Union Committee Amendment to the Motion not moved. Motion, as amended, agreed.
Customs Safety and Security Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Monroe Edward Palmer (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I thank the Minister for the explanation of these three statutory instruments and for the detail he provided. I trust that when he winds up he will stress that this is continuity rather than anything new. To the extent that this is continuity, I do not wish to dwell at this hour on things that are replacing what already exists, but I shall deal with some of the things that might be slightly different The customs safety and security procedures SI refers to exempting risks during a six-months transition period. Will the Minister tell the House whether this exemption will cause any risk? There must be a risk in giving a six-month exemption. If this were an insurance company, there would be a risk assessment for giving that six-month exemption. I am sure the Minister and his team have worked that out This SI also places requirements on small firms in the transitional period. I agree that there have to be requirements for small firms, but I question why businesses are included as small firms if they employ up to the rather arbitrary figure of 50 people and therefore have this exemption. Has the Minister considered how many companies employing 100 people would divide their company in two and thus be exempted? One could use any multiple of 50, but it seems to be an easy way to avoid the requirement and I wonder whether the Minister and his team have thought about that. Should this be done according to the number of people employed or the size of the enterprise? A massive enterprise with millions and millions of pounds does not have to bother because it can be classified as a small company, but if the opposite applies, you are not exempted.
Customs Safety and Security Procedures (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jeremy Purvis (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am grateful for the Minister’s patience on this. It is important. He said at the Dispatch Box that HMRC has a capacity much greater than for providing 11,000 registrations a day. On GOV.UK on 28 February 2019, HMRC announced: "HMRC has the capacity to sign up 11,000 businesses per day for EORI numbers" What have the Government done since then to provide that extra capacity? Am I wrong in believing the Government on 28 February? What extra capacity is provided to offer this, other than what the Government themselves have said in their own statement?
Cat and Dog Fur (Control of Import, Export and Placing on the Market) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeremy Purvis (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): One might assume that this is an area where, if the border with the European Union is in Northern Ireland, capacity will have to be in place to ensure there is no opportunity for the importation of illegal goods through that border. How do the Government intend to ensure that the checks that the Minister said will be required, and that it is the Government’s intention to carry out, will take place at the Northern Ireland border?
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Judith Anne Jolly (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I too support the amendments in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friend Lord Marks. I repeat the view that he and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, expressed: we should be producing only legislation resulting from the decision to leave the EU. I thank the Minister very much for meeting us and for the government amendments—particularly to those Henry VIII clauses, which have absolutely no part in modern legislation I agree with previous noble Lords, but any Bill dealing with healthcare agreements outside the EU is different. I would be happy to look at these issues in another Bill at another time. As has just been said, the expansion in scope of the Bill looks opportunistic and is completely inappropriate at the moment.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Timothy Francis Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, the noble Lord used the expression, "giving force". If those principles are given force, it means that the Government treat themselves and put on the record that they are bound by those principles. That is what giving force would mean in those circumstances, because these are novel circumstances set out in the Bill. That kind of reassurance is needed with the data ethics framework.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Other
James Wallace (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I signed the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, in Committee. Indeed, as I indicated in the speech I made then, when evidence was given to the Scottish Parliament committee that was looking at the legislative consent Motion memorandum issue, there was an expectation that there would be a consent provision in the Bill. The noble Baroness, Lady Blackwood of North Oxford, clearly indicated an intention to do so when she replied to the debate; I put on record an appreciation of the fact that we now have this delivered in letter and in spirit.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sarah Virginia Brinton (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Under current arrangements, the National Audit Office is able to tell us exactly the costs of the reciprocal arrangements with Europe. I am therefore struggling to understand why we might not be able to do this elsewhere in future.
Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) (No. 2) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Alderdice (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am very grateful to the Minister, but it feels as if he is giving a veto to one party. When Lord Prior was Secretary of State, an Assembly was able to meet for some years without any nationalist representation at all. We are not talking about that in this situation. I understand what he is saying very well. The Government would be very ill advised to hand out a veto in that kind of way.
UK Net Zero Emissions Target — House of Lords, 2019-06-12
Topic: Housing
Matthew Owen John Taylor (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I strongly welcome the Government’s commitment, particularly given the Chancellor of the Exchequer apparently trying to argue that they should not make it. This is an important moment, supported across the House I work in development, housing and renewable heat. I should declare that, but I do so because I am deeply concerned that, while a car may last a decade or so, the houses we build today will—we hope—last a century or much longer. Between now and 2025, when the Minister said we would introduce the new regulations, we will have built some 2 million more homes. Retrofitting old homes to meet zero carbon targets for heat and water is extremely difficult. We have that problem for all those we have already built. We should not build millions more without making that long-term decision now. The Committee on Climate Change has pointed that out and asked for urgent action. London has shown that if you bring in new standards, the market quickly moves to them. Will the Minister bring forward the changes that he has indicated will not come through until 2025?
Problem Gambling — House of Lords, 2019-07-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Thurso (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, perhaps I may press the Minister on his comments about technological advances, particularly with regard to what my noble friend said about pop-up advertising. These adverts are insidious. They are made possible by the use of cookies and algorithms, and are directly designed to entrap the people most likely to want to gamble. Can anything be done with the technological advances that he is talking about to prevent that kind of advertising?
Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2019-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jonathan Marks (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I wish simply to join in the unanimous praise and gratitude for the Government’s acceptance of those amendments that they have accepted, and their tabling of these amendments today. The Online Procedure Rules are intended to introduce a new and simplified procedure. We were concerned to ensure that litigants who were going to find it difficult to use that procedure, particularly in so far as it was a digital procedure and they would not be using paper means to conduct proceedings, should not be excluded by difficulty from approaching the procedure and should have afforded to them the kind of assistance they would need to handle litigation, without the need for lawyers, under the Online Procedure Rules We are particularly grateful for the Government’s acceptance of Amendment 4, which imposes a duty on the Lord Chancellor, as the Minister has explained, to provide assistance or support for digitally excluded people, and these amendments tie in the obligation to have regard to the needs of those people in conducting that litigation. I was particularly concerned about the use of the word "technical" in relation to that assistance, because it seemed to us that that might be unduly restrictive. I am grateful for the excision of that word from the amendments.
Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I start by apologising to the House that I was unable to take part in the debate in Grand Committee last week. Sad to say, I did stream the proceedings live to my sickbed, so I followed proceedings contemporaneously. The words of my amendment are not my own but those of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s Sub-Committee A. I intend, first, to give an example of how important the areas are that are covered by this SI; secondly, to question the reassurances given by the Minister in Grand Committee on the area of extradition; thirdly, to examine the impact of losing access to crucial EU databases on securing our borders and how that jeopardises the Government’s immigration strategy post Brexit; and finally, to highlight the muddled thinking of the Government that resulted in their putting too many important legislative changes into one SI The regret is about the way the Government are showing contempt for proper scrutiny of this statutory instrument by the House, by accident or design, not about the content of the instrument itself. As the Minister acknowledged in Grand Committee on 12 March at col. GC 195, these regulations which cover some of the most important areas of leaving the EU—law enforcement, security and judicial co-operation—have been "under-debated". Yet despite this, the Government cram every necessary legislative change in these important areas into one statutory instrument. Not only does this make the SI impenetrable to mere mortals, even the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s Sub-Committee A concluded in its 17th report, published on 20 February, at paragraph 5: "We were not persuaded that so wide-ranging an instrument, covering policy areas that are individually of significant concern to the House, can be justified. Effective scrutiny is inhibited by the wide range of issues included".
Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Mixed Topics
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I am grateful for the support of my noble friend Lady Ludford and the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy of Southwark The Minister kept on about the regulations not containing any major policy areas. We have not said that they provide major policy changes—we accept what the Government say about that—but what we and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee are complaining about is that far too much legislation is contained within one statutory instrument. I specifically criticised what the Minister said in Grand Committee about the three policy areas and the common legal framework. In response to that criticism she simply repeated exactly what she said in Grand Committee I am grateful that the Minister admits that the contingency arrangements will result in a mutual reduction in capability of the UK and the EU, but it leaves an important question unanswered. I accept that she cannot speak for other individual EU states, but one of the purposes of the statutory instrument is to ensure that the alternative extradition arrangements under the 1957 convention can legally operate—that is, that the UK can extradite people to EU states or other signatories to the convention. However, we do not know whether EU states’ domestic legislation will allow them to extradite people to the UK As the Minister acknowledges, they may have to redesignate the UK as a Council of Europe member rather than as an EU member state in their domestic legislation in order to make the 1957 convention work. However, we still have no reassurance that the contingency arrangements the Government are relying on will work in practice. I accept that they are doing what they can on their side of the agreement, as it were, but we still do not know whether EU countries will be able to extradite people to the UK under the 1957 convention We are getting into the detail but the point is that it does not matter how long or short the Explanatory Memorandum is: if there is too much content in the statutory instrument itself, you will never get an Explanatory Memorandum that will assist the House because it will be either too superficial or too detailed to enable sufficient scrutiny. I believe the Government accept that and hopefully we will not face this situation in the future. On that basis, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, the first extraordinary thing to say about this statutory instrument is that the Secretary of State did not consider it necessary to consult anyone about it. The second is to make clear its effect and to contrast it with the Government’s often-repeated mantra, not just for leaving the EU but for the dead horse that is Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, both of which the Government and those in favour of leaving the EU describe as "taking back control of our borders". The only sense in which this instrument can be interpreted as taking back control of our borders is that the Government have decided by themselves to give up control of our borders without any influence from the EU The other contradiction between what the Government claim to be doing and are actually doing is that they say that they are going to create a level playing field for EU and non-EU citizens regarding entry to the UK. This instrument gives preferential treatment to EU citizens after we leave the EU. It grants automatic entry to the UK for EU and EEA citizens even after we leave the EU, with leave to remain for a period of three months. EU and EEA citizens do not even have to have a passport; they can travel on a national identity card. If they do have a passport, they can use the automatic e-gates at airports. In other words, they are as free to enter the UK as they were under freedom of movement. Can the Minister confirm this?
Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I add to what my noble friend Lord Paddick said—it is the disjuncture and hypocrisy that upsets us. Of course, this is a one-way continuation of free movement. Many of us were extremely distressed when the Prime Minister cited the top reason for celebrating her ill-fated draft withdrawal agreement and political declaration last November; apparently, its top benefit was ending free movement. In fact, this is not happening—at least, not into the UK—and no consideration was given to the benefits of free movement for UK citizens in the rest of the EU. This instrument says nothing about those opportunities, which are being torn away from UK nationals. This will particularly affect young people and those of all ages who want to work or retire in the rest of the EU. It is the Government’s inconsistency which strikes such a difficult note Had I had the opportunity to ask my noble friends on the Front Bench, who know a great deal more about immigration law than I do, I may not have needed to ask this question, which concerns the difference between Articles 3 and 7, which I do not really understand. Article 3 is entitled: "Grant of leave to EEA and Swiss nationals" Article 7 is entitled: "Grant of leave by virtue of Appendix EU to the immigration rules" I simply do not understand the difference between those legal bases for extension of leave, as "EEA nationals" covers EU nationals as well. Perhaps the Minister could help me. That also spills over to the health charge, because Article 10, on exempting from the health charge, appears to apply only to those who acquire leave to enter or remain, "by virtue of Appendix EU to the immigration rules" It does not appear to cover those who get leave under draft Article 3. As I say, it may just be that I do not understand how all this interacts, but perhaps the Minister can enlighten me.
Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I am a little confused. At points, the Minister appeared to say that this was a temporary arrangement in the event of no deal; at other times, she talked about a temporary arrangement pending the introduction of a skills-based scheme. At some points, she talked about that scheme being in place by January 2021; in other places, she talked about it being our intention to have a skills-based scheme in place by January 2021. Is it definite or an intention On the light-touch regulatory regime, does that mean that there is a mechanism to enforce the three-month limit on stays in the UK or that there is no such mechanism? Light touch and non-existent are two different things.
Immigration, Nationality and Asylum (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’s Sub-Committee A has drawn two issues to the special attention of the House. The first is that there are EU specifications for certain documents, notably the uniform format for biometric residence permits for third-country nationals. The Home Office explained to the sub-committee that the EU is in the process of switching from the current design, the switch to be completed by all member states by the end of 2019, but the UK will not issue the new EU design. In addition to the questions raised by the sub-committee as to whether immigration officials conducting exit checks in foreign countries to establish whether someone has the right to enter the UK before they depart will be notified of such a change, and whether confusion will be created by deviating from the standard EU format, would a potential delay to the UK’s departure from the EU for 12 months or more require the UK to adopt the new EU design despite what is contained in this instrument The other issue is the withdrawal of the UK not only from the Dublin regulation but from the Eurodac regulation. Currently, under the Dublin regulation, an asylum seeker must seek asylum in the first safe country arrived in. The Eurodac regulation covers the use and operation of the Eurodac biometric database, which notifies participating member states of a match if a person has been fingerprinted as an asylum seeker in connection with an illegal crossing into a country participating in the Dublin regulation. My understanding is that this instrument makes the necessary legislative changes to acknowledge that the UK will no longer be party either to the Dublin regulation or the Eurodac regulation, as the UK will no longer have access to the mechanism for returning asylum seekers to the first country they arrived in; nor will they be able to establish by fingerprints that they sought asylum in another safe country, as the UK will no longer have access to that database. Will the Minister explain the practical implications of the Home Office’s response to the sub- committee that asylum claims may still be deemed inadmissible to the UK if the claimants have already been recognised as a refugee or could have claimed asylum elsewhere? How, in the absence of the Eurodac database, will the UK establish this If EU member states are no longer obliged to accept transfers from the UK under the Dublin regulation, what is the Home Office going to do with those asylum seekers? If by some other means the Home Office determines that an asylum seeker could have claimed asylum elsewhere, or has already been recognised as a refugee elsewhere, they are presumably genuine refugees and so cannot be returned to their country of origin. As the UK will no longer be a member of the Dublin regulation, presumably they cannot be transferred to the EU member state where they first sought asylum either. I eagerly await the Minister’s response.