argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
BBC — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on changes to the licence fee exemptions, programming and job losses at the BBC.
Lisa Cameron (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Alongside free television licences for the over-75s, which I will keep campaigning on, may I raise how, during lockdown, a number of elderly and vulnerable members of the East Kilbride West church have been tuning in to the BBC’s "Reflections at the Quay"—enabling them to join the service on a Sunday morning, when they would normally have been attending church—which, appallingly, has now been taken off air, leaving them absolutely devastated? Many are still shielding, lonely and now more isolated than ever, and my constituents want this important programme back. I urge the Minister to have a discussion with the BBC about the importance of religious broadcasting in supporting the most vulnerable at this time.
BBC — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on changes to the licence fee exemptions, programming and job losses at the BBC.
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The TV has been a vital lifeline to pensioners during the pandemic, but because of some very cynical Conservative party buck-passing, more than 5,200 households in East Renfrewshire—more than 80% of homes in which someone is over 75—face paying the licence fee. Those pensioners rely on their televisions. The Government clearly have an influence, so will the Minister use it and work with the BBC to reverse this unfortunate and very damaging decision?
Windrush Lessons Learned Review — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Civil Rights
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I welcome this full statement, which contains some substantial commitments and aims, and I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of it. First, when Wendy Williams gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights earlier this month, she said that the Windrush scandal had highlighted "fundamental cultural, political and institutional factors" relevant to how the Home Office carries out its duties across the board. She said that those issues needed to be fixed and it seems that the Home Secretary has recognised that in her statement. But Wendy Williams also said that she had considered the Home Office responses to previous reviews and reports, and found that those responses tended to be characterised by a quick acknowledgement of the result and a focus on process, rather than on the fundamental issues identified in the respective reviews. She said that, in the past, the remedial actions taken by the Home Office were superficial to the extent that there was action at all, and that they did not have a lasting effect. She also said that many of the issues that were identified kept coming up successively, time and again, but in different contexts. So can the Home Secretary reassure me that the steps she intends to take will avoid the pitfalls that Wendy Williams has identified with previous reviews Secondly, the Home Secretary has committed to changing the Home Office’s openness to scrutiny, policy and decision making, and she talks about engagement. Will that include engagement with the devolved Government in Edinburgh? Thirdly and finally, the Home Secretary and I do not always see eye to eye, but I want to thank her for doing what she was unable to do last time, which is to confirm that she will carry out the root and branch review of the hostile environment policy that Wendy Williams stipulated in recommendation 7. In relation to that, I have a specific question for the Home Secretary. Will she tell us whether measures such as the right to rent scheme will be paused pending the outcome of the review of the hostile environment policy?
Windrush Lessons Learned Review — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Immigration
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Concerns remain that even before the Home Office had responded to the lessons learned review, the UK Government were pressing ahead with plans to extend the reach of the policy to EU citizens in the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill. Given what the Secretary of State has said today, will she guarantee that EU citizens will not also become victims of the hostile environment created by her Government?
Windrush Lessons Learned Review — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Immigration
Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The no recourse to public funds policy is another example of a policy that affects migrants and the BAME community, and it must be scrapped immediately. Will the Secretary of State show that she is serious about addressing inequality and scrap the policy?
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-21
Topic: Mixed Topics
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Looking at the evidence that we heard during the Bill Committee, am I right in understanding that the greater possibility of rehabilitating young people is what is being looked at here? It is about where we define youth. Does it stop at 18, or 21, or—as we are now looking at in Scotland in our consultation—25, in terms of not maturity generally but the ability to rehabilitate?
Self-employed People: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State continues to duck the question. He has been told for about seven months of those excluded from support—the battered, bruised and brushed off. We are talking about the 3 million—the newly self-employed, the directors and the freelancers who have been given nothing. He is the Business Secretary, so is it that the Chancellor has ignored his calls for support or is it just that he simply does not care?
Dismiss and Re-engage Tactics — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is a Minister in government. He has repeatedly called this unacceptable. A number of his colleagues have called out companies such as British Airways that have shamefully used fire and rehire tactics. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury called it "a practice that all of us in the House would condemn."—[Official Report, 13 October 2020; Vol. 682, c. 168.] The Prime Minister said that he was looking at what we can do. People are fed up with this Government’s warm words and no intention of action, so let us hear it today: does the Minister support the aims of the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands), and will he support it?
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): A pub owner in my constituency has seen his business severely impacted by covid-19 restrictions but has been unable to access a bounce back loan, as the bank where he has his business account is not part of the scheme and none of the accredited lenders are accepting new business accounts. Will the Secretary of State widen the number of banks eligible to provide these loans or ensure that the big lenders accept additional business customers, so that small businesses can access the support they need to get through this crisis?
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry), the Secretary of State claimed that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs does not have the information necessary to distinguish between an active, working owner-director of a small business, and an absentee shareholder of a big business who contributes no part to the running of the business. HMRC may not have all that information, but Companies House definitely does and most of it is on public record, so can the Minister tell us what discussions his Department has had with Companies House in the last seven months with a view to using that information to identify the million or so small businesses that have been deliberately excluded from Government support up until now?
Covid-19: Support for Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): While I welcome the extension of the furlough, albeit belatedly, I would suggest the next step to repair mistakes made in handling the pandemic for businesses is to look at the failures within the business interruption loan schemes, which I outlined in a debate in this Chamber last week. Many companies are not taking on CBILs or BBLS loans, because having more debt around their necks is the last thing they need just now. Has the Minister carried out any analysis of the potential effects of offering businesses grants, rather than loans?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Four weeks ago, the Prime Minister agreed with me when he said this about the green deal mis-selling scandal:"We must accelerate the process by which these complaints are upheld…and compensation is delivered"—[Official Report, 14 October 2020; Vol. 682, c. 372.]I have three constituents who have died waiting. I do not want this to be political and I do not care who gets the credit when it is all resolved; I just want it sorted out. So will the Secretary of State please meet the all-party parliamentary group on green deal mis-selling as a matter of urgency and work with us to find a way forward?
Parliamentary Constituencies Bill — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Civil Rights
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I agree that we need equality. On that basis, and given that all Members should be equal in this House, the hon. Gentleman will be aware that the system of English votes for English laws is currently suspended. Will he call on the Government to ensure that that system does not come back, so that his hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie) can cast his vote in exact same way as him in a Division?
Committee on Standards — House of Commons, 2020-11-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It goes back to my fundamental point that I do not see how the system can produce one qualified candidate and one non-qualified candidate. It suggests that the Government are questioning the integrity of the system as a whole, and in that case we have to have a much bigger discussion than the one we are having right now. As the former Chair of the Standards Committee, the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green), just said, we desperately need talented, qualified individuals, particularly women, to come forward for these kind of roles in public life, and I cannot imagine that the thought of a debate such as this ending up on the Floor of the House of Commons is any kind of encouragement The SNP is happy to endorse the recommendation of the House of Commons Commission and this incredibly thorough process, and therefore we will be very happy to support the official Opposition in their amendment tonight.
Coronavirus: Employment — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Other
Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Just to ask the Secretary of State again, because I did not hear an answer in there: can he tell us if he made his Cabinet colleagues aware of the negative consequences that would happen, and what was the result of these conversations?
Autumn Budget: Devolved Administrations — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): This is just the disrespect agenda in action. The Tories never really wanted devolution anyway, and now they do not really give a stuff about whether or not it works properly. If they do not think that people in Scotland should not be in control of their finances, why will they not give the Scottish Finance Minister the information she needs to be able to set the budget properly? If they will not give her the information she needs, why not just give her the power to set our budget properly, without any recourse to Westminster at all?
Pension Schemes Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2020-10-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Neil Charles Gray (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We welcome this part of the Bill in particular. We support informing savers about their savings landscape, but one concern we have is that the amendment in the Lords that allows for the public dashboard to be bedded in for a year before commercial dashboards come in could be removed in Committee. Can the Secretary of State confirm now that she has no intention of watering that down? If that were to happen, it would be met with the vigorous opposition from the Opposition.
Border Control Posts — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If he will publish details of the UK Government request to the EU to establish border control posts at Northern Ireland ports. If, as the Prime Minister has claimed, there will be no checks or border controls for British goods entering Northern Ireland, what exactly are the new border posts at Northern Ireland sea ports and airports for exactly?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Neil Charles Gray (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Earlier this summer, the Treasury floated a story in the Telegraph suggesting a public sector pay freeze to save money. Given that so many public sector workers, such as nurses, police officers, firefighters, teachers and others have put their lives on the line to fight covid, surely that would be an unconscionable betrayal? Will the Prime Minister therefore unequivocally not only rule out a pay freeze but commit to fully funding a package to ensure that they are remunerated to reflect their sacrifices?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Five years on from the day the world was shocked by little Alan Kurdi’s death, perhaps the Minister could just agree that the response to the channel crossings should be informed by empathy and evidence and not driven by Farage and friction. Will he confirm that, despite what he has said, there is nothing in international law that requires refugees to apply for asylum in the first safe state that they come to, even though the overwhelming majority do? Will he acknowledge that there will be good reasons, such as family ties, for many of the people attempting crossings to make their claims here instead of in France? Will he recognise that by failing to provide safe legal routes, the Government force people to use ever more dangerous alternatives and drive them into the arms of people smugglers, as at least two parliamentary Committees have previously pointed out Instead of bashing our brilliant human rights lawyers, will the Minister now put those safe routes in place; ensure a successor to the Dublin family unity rules; restart resettlement and commit to it for the long term; and reopen Dubs and other safe routes from Europe? That would be a response rooted in empathy and evidence.
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Stephen Mark Flynn (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Refugees experience situations that few of us can even imagine, yet in recent months, while sitting aboard overcrowded dinghies in the middle of the English channel, they have been subjected to a voyeuristic media filming them, like some sort of perverse sea safari, while also facing a UK Government intent on enforcing upon them their hostile environment. So I ask the Minister: do either of these things give him any shame?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Just last week, the Minister’s Department posted a video attacking so-called "activist lawyers". Does he understand that Trumpian language like that and other comments in the Chamber today risk stoking further divisions and tensions? Will he apologise for demonising both asylum seekers and lawyers acting on their behalf in saying that they were trying to "undermine" the rule of law? Will he at least introduce safe passages to prove that this is not a dystopian Government?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Christopher Charles Stephens (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Unlike the ghastly rhetoric we have heard from some on the Government Benches, the Minister is well aware that refugee charities have asked the Government to protect trafficked women detained in hotels in Glasgow, a call that has fallen on deaf ears, and the same campaigners are calling for the Government to create safe, legal routes for asylum seekers, but instead we get a shameful response. Not doing enough to help refugees is inhumane and indefensible When will the Minister and the Department end their dangerous rhetoric and the hostile environment, and start treating refugees detained in hotels or on boats in the channel with respect, dignity and compassion?
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: Immigration
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to human rights and migration lawyers, who do an essential job in upholding the rule of law and preventing the Home Office from breaking its international obligations under human rights and refugee conventions?
Shared Prosperity Fund — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Five months before the transition periods ends, there is still lots of talk from the Government about future funding arrangements but no details. Last month, the Minister told me that he would make inquiries on this, yet his response only promised more details in due course. Does he appreciate that communities cannot afford to wait in perpetuity and need clarity on this now?
UK Internal Market — House of Commons, 2020-09-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): By contrast to the Secretary of State’s power surge, the European single market’s principles, for example, are based on equality, co-operation and consent, with agreed standards for all member states. If he claims that the policy on the UK internal market is not a power grab, will he guarantee a mechanism for negotiation, agreement and consent between the four nations of the UK?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Shortly, the Government will publish their internal market proposals. I have seen them. They are nothing short of an attack on Scotland’s Parliament and an affront to the people of Scotland. As we have already heard, this legislation breaks international law, but it also breaks domestic law. The Prime Minister and his friends—a parcel o’ rogues—are creating a rogue state where the rule of law does not apply. Why does the Prime Minister think that he and his friends are above the law?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-09
Topic: Immigration
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister is aware of the tragic case of Mercy Baguma, who three weeks ago was found dead in her Glasgow flat with her starving one-year-old son, Adriel, lying next to her. Thankfully, little Adriel has made a recovery, and he was running around my constituency office on Friday when his father Eric came to meet me. Adriel has been through more than any one-year-old should ever have to go through, and his future hangs in limbo while the Home Office prolongs his father’s asylum application. Will the Prime Minister agree to organise a meeting between me and the Home Secretary to look at Eric’s case and make sure that the family can go forward with certainty after such a difficult time?
Protection of Jobs and Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-09-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the CBIL scheme, but many medium-sized and larger businesses in my constituency have struggled to get the loans they require. Lloyds Banking Group in particular has been poor at making positive lending decisions. What are the right hon. Gentleman and his Government doing about that?
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Chancellor has announced the latest package of covid measures, and we clearly face a further protracted period of the crisis, with more and more areas going into local restrictions. Given the regional packages announced for England, will the Chancellor tell us exactly what the Barnett consequentials will be, as devolved nations need to plan properly for their own mitigation measures?
Down Syndrome Awareness Month — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Lisa Cameron (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): This is a particularly poignant debate for me to lead, as chair of the all-party parliamentary groups on disability and on inclusive entrepreneurship, which I will mention a bit more later. This year’s theme for Down Syndrome Awareness Month is "what holds me back", which I will discuss, but I want also to speak about the real skills, abilities and potential of people with Down’s syndrome and why nothing should hold them back To begin, it would be appropriate to thank a number of organisations for their campaigning on Down’s syndrome inclusion and for their support in preparation for this debate and Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Those include Down’s Syndrome Scotland, the Down Syndrome Research Foundation UK, the Down’s Syndrome Association, Scope, Right To Life and Mencap, to mention but a few.
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Will the Prime Minister look at the case of a young constituent of mine who has gone from a successful career in banking to facing the real prospect of bankruptcy, all because he set up his own business on the wrong side of the completely unnecessary cut-off date for self-employed support? He has used up his savings; he cannot pay the bills. Will the Prime Minister act to close this significant gap in support for the newly self-employed?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Melvyn Linden (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): It is quite clear, as we move into further restrictions and with the virus increasing, that we are not going to go back to live music anytime soon. My Belvidere constituent, Craig Johnston, came to see me at my surgery on Friday, and he is concerned by the lack of support for people in the live music industry. What is the Prime Minister going to do for Craig?