argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Over the Counter Derivatives, Central Counterparties and Trade Repositories (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-06-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak on these regulations and I join other noble Lords in congratulating my noble friend on the way in which she introduced them. Making the complex clear is no mean feat, given the number of acronyms in them. I am sure she would agree that we have a world-leading financial services sector in the City of London, given its ecosystem, geography and regulator I note—other noble Lords have commented on this—the shift in responsibility for CCPs to the Bank of England. Does my noble friend believe that the Bank has the breadth of experience to make decisions on CCPs? I am sure that it has the specific, narrow understanding but, in wanting the decisions to be made in line with broad government policy, what discussions have the Government had with the Bank of England on this issue? Can she also say something about discussions with the Bank over the level of resourcing that she believes it currently has to exercise this task As has already been said by other noble Lords, the regulations are required for compliance at the end of this year. Post that, does my noble friend believe that these regulations will enable not only compliance but optimisation? Does she believe that, post-Brexit, more could be done to ensure that we have an optimised OTC derivatives market in the UK Finally, on the role of the Bank of England—which, again, is wider than these regulations—I ask the Minister to update the House, in writing if necessary, on the current progress on a central bank digital currency. She talked, quite rightly, about financial stability. If a social media platform launched a cryptocurrency that took hold in any nation state, that could have a significantly detrimental effect on financial stability. Can she update noble Lords on the Bank’s current discussions and consultation on CBDC?
Financial Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-06-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I am pleased to speak to these regulations. In doing so, I thank all those across financial services, in the City of London and beyond, who helped to get the regulations into the condition they are in. We have one of the finest financial services centres on the planet, and potentially the best is yet to come—but that is "potentially" rather than "inevitably". Does my noble friend agree that a large part of the success to date of financial services, not least in London, is due to the fact that London is one of the most diverse cities on the planet? Like cities, financial services organisations benefit from such diversity, and we have seen that benefit throughout the UK and across the world Echoing the question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, will my noble friend the Minister set out the position of Gibraltar as regards the regulations? Secondly, will she clarify whether equivalence is still the target and, if not, why not? Come our exit, does she believe from her perspective that financial services in the UK will be in a better position going forward than they are today?
European Union: Negotiations (European Union Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2020-03-16
Topic: Other
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): Section 29 addresses that issue. The Command Paper—a key document in our report—was issued on 27 February. I do not have Section 29 in front of me, but it says specifically that such evidence as we have deemed necessary should have been taken. I am sure we would have loved to read a report about a whole lot of other very interesting questions, but unless we had the evidence on file we would have had to have taken more evidence, which would have slowed things down immensely.
Coronavirus Bill — House of Lords, 2020-03-24
Topic: Other
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I have nearly finished. With the leniency of the House I will ask my final question I appreciate the fact that the Paymaster-General has given his assurance, but will the Minister assure us that the provisions in Part 4 of Schedule 28 in relation to the wishes of the deceased will be respected? I thank noble Lords for their leniency.
Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Section 75 —Designation of Public Authority) Order 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-07-08
Topic: Civil Rights
Margaret Ritchie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I welcome this draft statutory instrument. I thank the Minister for his clear explanation of the instrument, which upon commencement will designate the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements as a public authority for the purpose of equality duties, as established by Section 75 of the Northern Irelands Act, which derived from the Good Friday agreement, and Sections 49A and 49B of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It is only right and proper that citizens from the 27 EU nations are shown proper and due regard in terms of equality of opportunity But, like the noble Lord, Lord Empey, I would like to ask whether are we giving respectful approval in this instance. Premises have been established; staff have been appointed. Did the recruitment of those staff comply with the equality provisions that are required under the equality of opportunity as prescribed in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act? I have written to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which is responsible for ensuring those equality provisions are adhered to, and it is very much in support of this draft statutory instrument. I would like to ask the Minister whether there will be a copy of the report that will be published—hopefully on an annual basis—by the Independent Monitoring Authority to ensure that it is complying with these equality provisions If we respect the rights of all citizens—as the noble Lords, Lord Hain, Lord Empey and Lord Bruce, have already referred to—there are citizens in Northern Ireland who are being denied their proper rights in terms of the victims’ pension fund, which was fully implemented by the last Parliament, in 2019. Only a few weeks ago, the Northern Ireland Executive provided funds to administer the system. Obviously, that would be launched in the Executive Office, but no department has been appointed to implement the scheme. Therefore, these people who have been victims and who have endured considerable pain, suffering and injury over many years are still without their rightful pensions. That is totally unacceptable, outrageous and one of the egregious problems that has emerged from the current Northern Ireland Executive I hope that, in the fullness of time that will be resolved, but I would urge the Secretary of State, via the Minister, to ensure that a department is appointed as quickly as possible to disburse the funds. That is urgently required. I also ask the Minister to ensure, talking to the Secretary of State, that this issue is resolved as quickly as possible, to ensure that there is full equality of opportunity for these people, who have suffered such immeasurable pain and total disregard for far too long.
Weights and Measures Act 1985 (Definitions of “Metre” and “Kilogram”) (Amendment) Order 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-05-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I thank the Minister for his clear, concise and measured introduction. Weights and measures are critical to almost every element of life, not least trade. We are in an enviable position here in the UK because of the National Physical Laboratory and indeed the UK Accreditation System which is ably chaired by my noble friend Lord Lindsay, and I pay tribute to him for all his work in that area. Given that, can my noble friend the Minister say how the Government will use the advantage we have across weights and measures standards in the post-Brexit world? I believe that we have a clear competitive advantage that we can exploit. This demonstrates that weights and measures are not just about quantity; they are also about quality I was lucky enough to be one of the directors of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Whenever we were asked to give a sense of how big something was in terms of space, we would use football pitches. If it was for length or height, we used London double-decker buses. This instrument shows that we have clear, accurate and world-leading means of taking measurements, many of them stemming from our history here in the UK. It is perhaps a shame that we are not bringing these regulations into force on the anniversary of the Metre Convention, but it is excellent that this debate is being held on its anniversary, the title for which is "Measurements for global trade"—just so Will the Minister consider what the most difficult unit of measurement is and how he would go about measuring it? I refer to the House of Lords minute. I wish these regulations godspeed—however we choose to measure that.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Other
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, the Hybrid Sitting of the House will now begin. A limited number of Members are here in the Chamber, respecting social distancing, and, if the capacity of the Chamber is exceeded, I will immediately adjourn the House. Other Members will participate remotely, but all Members will be treated equally, wherever they are. For Members participating remotely, microphones will unmute shortly before they are to speak—please accept any on-screen prompt to unmute. Microphones will be muted after each speech. I ask noble Lords to be patient if there are any short delays as we switch between physical and remote participants. I remind the House that our normal courtesies in debate still very much apply in this new hybrid way of working Oral Questions will now commence. Please ensure that questions and answers are short. I call the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, to ask the first Oral Question.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Other
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, we now come to the appointment Motion in the name of the Senior Deputy Speaker. Last week, the Procedure Committee agreed that this type of business should be conducted as physical proceedings only, with no opportunity to participate virtually other than by the mover, in this case the Senior Deputy Speaker. There is no speakers’ list, but Members present in the Chamber are entitled to participate. The Procedure Committee’s guidance requests any Member intending to speak on such Motions to give notice in advance. If the capacity of the Chamber is exceeded, I will immediately adjourn the House.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Other
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, we come now to the Motion in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman. A limited number of Members are here in the Chamber, respecting social distancing. If the capacity of the Chamber is exceeded, I will immediately adjourn the House. Other Members will participate remotely, but all Members will be treated equally wherever they are. For Members participating remotely, microphones will unmute shortly before they are to speak. Please accept any onscreen prompt to unmute. Microphones will be muted after each speech. I ask noble Lords to be patient if there are any short delays as we switch between physical and remote participants I should remind the House that our normal courtesies in debate still very much apply in this new hybrid way of working. This is a time-limited debate. The time is limited to three hours.
Business of the House (Virtual Proceedings and Topical Questions for Written Answer) — House of Lords, 2020-04-21
Topic: Civil Rights
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I add my thanks not just to the leadership of the House and the usual channels but to all the staff and everyone who has made it possible for us to commence some of our work. I add one small question to the Minister. Some comments have been made in the press and elsewhere, in social media, about access for people with disabilities—such as the hard of hearing—who are not necessarily able to access the important public information during this crisis. What are the Government doing to ensure that we tackle that issue as soon as possible?
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-04-23
Topic: Other
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, the Virtual Proceedings on the debate in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, will now commence. This is a time-limited debate. I will first call the noble Baroness in the usual way. The Question will then be put. I will then call each speaker on the list in the usual way. Please ensure that you unmute your microphone prior to speaking. Your microphone will be returned to mute when you finish speaking. In accordance with the guidance agreed by the Procedure Committee, if your name is not listed it is not possible for you to take part in the proceedings. Before I call the noble Baroness, I call on the Chief Whip to speak briefly.
Rough Sleeping — House of Lords, 2020-02-27
Topic: Housing
Tina Stowell (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register as chair of the Charity Commission. I was recently in Manchester and visited a homelessness charity that supports rough sleepers. One of the things I learned during that visit was that there is a significant increase in providers of support for rough sleeping in places such as Manchester, but that not all of those providing the support are as well intentioned as they might be. In worst-case scenarios, some are potentially exploiting the most vulnerable. Others might be well intentioned, but the way in which they go about trying to provide their support potentially makes a serious problem much worse, instead of solving it Does the Minister agree with me that it is important that those registered charities doing very important work make clear their registered status—as something that distinguishes them from others operating in this field, whether well intentioned but not doing the right thing or worse than that—and in doing so provide some assurance to those in need of that support? It is important to remind the charities carrying that important status to distinguish them from others—charities that so many people rely on—of the expectations of standards that they must meet in doing their work.
Finance Bill — House of Lords, 2020-07-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lady Noakes, and I agree with all her comments. I also thank my noble friend the Minister for the clear way in which he introduced the Bills. I ask him to join me in paying tribute to all our front-line workers, many of them in the financial sector, who have done so much for so many over this crisis period. Does he agree with me that we owe them all an enduring debt of gratitude Basic economics will always remain the same: we can either increase income or take out costs. I believe we have some significant opportunities to do both these things without having economically illiterate taxation or cutting support to people who often need it the most. I agree with many of the comments of my noble friend Lord Blencathra, the noble Lord, Lord Empey, and particularly my noble friend Lord Lamont, who as an excellent Chancellor had his term cut well before it should have been I will ask my noble friend the Minister about three areas: payments, central bank digital currencies—CBDCs—and sovereign wealth funds. On payments, has he had a chance to look at the excellent paper from the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures on the need to transform cross-border payments? As in domestic settings, we pay too much and it takes too long. Does he agree that the Government, as one of the biggest payers, could save multiple billions if we had a true transformation of our payments infrastructure? For example, can he say how much the DWP pays in fees and to intermediaries in making the billions of payments it makes year on year Does my noble friend the Minister agree that the current consultation undertaken by the Bank of England in relation to CBDCs is an excellent piece of work and could have truly transformational benefits for the UK Similarly, will my noble friend comment on the work undertaken to look at the potential for a sovereign wealth fund in the UK? We have needed one for decades; I believe we need it now more than ever. Is he satisfied with the level of fintech involvement in all the current government programmes? Could the Government do more to introduce more small and medium-sized enterprises into assisting businesses and individuals who need it most? Does he agree that if we truly deploy all the elements of the fourth industrial revolution—robotics, AI, distributed ledger technology and quantum—we could truly transform the payments infrastructure, take cost out and get income in? That would benefit state and citizen alike.
Covid-19: Businesses and the Private Sector — House of Lords, 2020-05-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, we have heard about the extraordinary impact of the private sector contribution from the noble Lord, Lord Dobbs, and other noble Lords. I wish to highlight the work of the British curry industry which, as a collective of 11,000 restaurants with 80,000 staff—[Inaudible.] Any recession or job losses elsewhere is likely to have profound effect on this business, which is interconnected and interdependent. Many noble Lords will be aware of the pioneering entrepreneurs and leaders among the 5,000-strong members of the Bangladesh Caterers Association —[Inaudible.] This lockdown has been devastating on their profession. Further job losses—[Inaudible.] It has impacted hundreds of thousands of families for whom this has been their livelihood for generations Post lockdown, with the economic decline, many of these businesses are likely to face catastrophic meltdown. The UK’s forthcoming immigration point-based system will further exacerbate the pressure—[Inaudible]—staff from overseas, though not Europe. I look forward to the Home Secretary fulfilling her promises made during the Brexit campaign to support this industry and to recruit skilled chefs from abroad Despite all these factors, the majority of restaurants, if not all, throughout the four nations have responded to this emergency in earnest by donating ready-made meals to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families—particularly during the month of Ramadan—and of course to every hospital in their locality as well as to care staff. I am proud of their formidable endeavours, reaching out to make a difference and disregarding—[Inaudible.] They are indeed the pride of Britain. I invite the Minister to commend the work of the Bangladesh Caterers Association and agree that government measures for the curry industry are equally as essential—[Inaudible.]
Covid-19: Businesses and the Private Sector — House of Lords, 2020-05-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Tyrie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I declare an interest as chairman of the CMA. I will say a few words about what the CMA is doing to try to assist in this crisis. In a nutshell, the CMA has three jobs during the crisis. First, it needs to ensure that competition law does not get in the way of necessary co-operation between firms in the crisis, especially to ensure the maintenance of essential medical and food supplies. I am pleased that the Government have acted on CMA advice to exclude a number of agreements between firms on competition law that would otherwise have been prohibited The second thing we can do is to act rapidly and robustly against the small minority of traders that may have been exploiting consumers’ vulnerability. The CMA’s statutory base contains no provisions for emergency action of that type but we have a taskforce for exactly that job. We have sent over 250 letters to firms asking for an explanation of their conduct. To address price gouging, deterrence is essential in the long term, and even in the next few months, as are time-limited emergency powers, like those introduced in many other countries, especially where they have been put in place as part of the emergency. Something like that in the UK would boost deterrence further. We have offered the Government advice on this The third point, and the most important in the long term, is the contribution that the CMA can make to post-crisis reconstruction. The starting point will not be good. Big recessions usually weaken competition, as market concentration rises. Legislation is going to be needed and, as a number of noble Lords have pointed out, to play a full role we will need a stronger legislative base.
Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill — House of Lords, 2020-06-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Margaret Ritchie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution to the Second Reading of this Bill. Like previous noble Lords who have spoken, I feel that the provisions in the Bill will undoubtedly protect companies in the execution of their corporate responsibilities during and post this pandemic Undoubtedly, the coronavirus pandemic, along with Brexit, has caused uncertainty for many companies. I will give examples from Northern Ireland. The aviation and aerospace industry has suffered a shock. There have been job losses in Thompson Aero Seating, which manufactures seats for aircraft, and in Bombardier, a multinational company, and those job losses have a direct impact on the aviation industry. Ulster Bank published its survey this week, as it has done on a monthly basis since August 2002, and the state of the local economy was the worst it had reported since then. There has been a slight increase in performance since April, but the report shows that the lockdown has caused many problems. So I hope that the Bill will provide the necessary resilience and strength to our businesses as they execute their corporate responsibilities Last week, the Northern Ireland Assembly gave legislative consent to the Bill. But it raised two issues—which I too will raise—on behalf of the Irish League of Credit Unions and Enterprise Northern Ireland. The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, referred to charitable institutions. The Irish League of Credit Unions is a charitable institution, but it has some technical issues. Neither organisation was consulted prior to this, so what level of consultation took place preceding the accelerated passage of this legislation Schedule 14 to the Bill applies to meetings held between 26 March and 30 September 2020. The year end for credit union accounting purposes in Northern Ireland is 30 September. Under the standard rules for credit unions, organisations affiliated to the Irish League must hold their general meetings within four months of 30 September—that is, by the end of January 2021. Traditionally, most local credit union AGMs are held in November and December, so the Irish League of Credit Unions would very much like to have a resolution to this issue. Enterprise Northern Ireland has suggested that the period proposed in the Bill to present the presentation of winding-up petitions should be extended to cover cases where a statutory demand is served between 1 March and 31 October I would very much like the noble Lord to provide me with answers on those two issues. If he is not able to do so today, perhaps he would provide them to me in writing at a later stage. These issues go very much to the heart of the Bill. Although no company has any particular objection to fulfilling its corporate responsibilities, it wants to have the necessary resilience to execute business, to provide jobs and employment, and to provide the impetus that the local economy requires.