argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Joanna Mary Gideon (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Imran Ahmad Khan), who is always most eloquent. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in this debate at a historic moment for the UK as an independent trading nation, and I congratulate the Minister and the International Trade Secretary on doing this brilliant deal. It demonstrates that we are ready to start trading independently from the European Union with our allies across the world I have a particular interest in our relationship with Japan. Some years ago, I ran a small business importing handmade paper from around the world, and Japan provided products and the source of inspiration. I visited a number of times, once as part of a trade mission The deal is historic, not least because it is the first we have struck since constituencies such as mine voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union. It will create new and exciting opportunities for businesses in Stoke-on-Trent Central. For many UK businesses, Japan has traditionally been a challenging market to penetrate with multiple barriers to entry, but thanks to the agreement, many of those barriers have been eliminated. The cutting of red tape and removal of barriers between the two countries means that the agreement is a huge win for the more than 8,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK that already export goods to Japan, more than 700 of which are based in the west midlands With the free trade agreement in place, many more businesses stand to prosper. I want to encourage more local businesses to explore the opportunities that trading with Japan can offer. For example, an advanced ceramics research and testing company in my constituency, Lucideon, has told me that the UK-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement will support more than £1 million of commercial growth for it in the next 12 months. The agreement makes it easier for such companies to export and sell the knowledge and skills of their world-leading experts to the highly competitive and highly lucrative Japanese market. It also makes it easier for business people and skilled workers to travel between our two countries and gives British and Japanese workers more flexibility to move between them.
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for her outstanding representation of Stoke-on-Trent. In Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, I have the amazing Burleigh Pottery based in Middleport, which saw exports to Japan grow by 60% last year, worth £250,000. Does she agree that this is a fine deal not just for advanced ceramics, but for our traditional tableware ceramics as well?
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Joanna Mary Gideon (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that this is a great deal for Stoke-on-Trent and all the Potteries I am delighted that the first deal that the UK has struck as an independent trading nation is with our long-standing ally and friend Japan. From having previously done business in Japan, and from my personal connections, I know that the Japanese, just like the British, have a huge love and respect for quality brands, the highest standards and excellence in manufacturing. After all, it is the country that has introduced the concept of kaizen to the world, improving productivity across the globe. For household names in the UK, such as Emma Bridgewater, Portmeirion and Wade, all of which manufacture in Stoke-on-Trent Central, the deal presents a fantastic opportunity to sell more goods and achieve even more brand recognition The deal shows us that, now we have left the European Union, there is not a race to the bottom in standards, as some naysayers would claim—quite the opposite. The Government have placed, and will continue to place, our shared common values and commitment to high standards at the heart of the UK’s trading policy In conclusion, the deal is a great step forward for an independent and global Britain. It moves us ever closer to joining CPTPP, which will give businesses in my constituency and across the UK tariff-free access to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. I am extremely enthusiastic about the deal, which is only the tip of the iceberg of what the Government can achieve for our country as we leave the constraints of the European Union and become a truly independent trading nation.
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jack Edgar Brereton (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon). Like the UK, Japan is an island nation—a maritime trading nation. We have shared values: it is a strong voice for free trade and the rules-based international order, as many hon. Members have already said. It was hugely welcome that Japan was one of the first nations to announce that it would seek a mutually improved trading future with a post-Brexit UK. As our partnership deepens, I want more of that investment to come to Stoke-on-Trent, and for Japanese tourists and buyers to come to enjoy the authentic world capital of ceramics Like the Japanese, we are keen on tea and fine ceramics—or should I say porcelain?—so at the top, or high-value, end of the market for exceptional ceramics, it is no surprise to find a fusion of Japanese and Stoke-on-Trent expertise and artistry. The British-Japanese ceramicist Reiko Kaneko, whom I was delighted to visit in my constituency, has her studio locally. There is also Hitomi Hosono—sorry for my pronunciation—who trained in Japan, Copenhagen and London, but it was at Wedgwood in my constituency that she really made her mark. She is now its artist in residence, and one of the few who has actually exhibited while still alive at the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. This is what Stoke-on-Trent can offer to global Britain: local expertise and local passion at the very top of the world class However, it is not just about those artists; we are also keen to ensure that earthenware, ceramics, tiles and tableware are increasing their exports to Japan. The UK lags behind EU competitors such as France and Portugal, and we can do a lot better than that. We want to make sure that we are increasing our exports into the Japanese market, and this trade agreement will allow us to do that. It is also about ensuring that we secure not just market access, but greater market presence, and a specialist DIT adviser for ceramics based in Stoke-on-Trent could be just the way of achieving that. Ceramics manufacturers have certainly welcomed the partnership with Japan, which is their fourth largest export market. I hope we can agree that Stoke-on-Trent ceramics are an iconic good that we must continue to push locally I would like to thank the Secretary of State and the Ministers for all they have been doing to push ceramics. They never fail to mention ceramics in the many trade agreements we are seeking to secure. It fits very much as well with the recent work of VisitBritain, which shows that this is a place that the Japanese see as the world’s best destination for revisiting places of nostalgic importance. That is very much about the ceramics industry and the ceramics that we want to see very much pushed with further trade agreements.
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): This has been an excellent debate, with speeches from 13 Government Back Benchers and six Opposition Members. It is an historic moment, as the Secretary of State outlined. The UK-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement is an historic milestone in embracing the opportunities of the UK’s future as an independent trading nation. It shows that economic powerhouses such as Japan—the world’s third largest economy—want ambitious deals with the UK and that it is possible to strike deals that go further and faster than the EU. It not only secures the benefits of the existing EU agreements, which many—and particularly the Opposition—said was impossible, but goes further in a number of key areas such as digital and data, financial services, the protection of geographical indicators and rules of origin. It was negotiated in record time, almost entirely virtually.
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Richard Michael John Ogilvie Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend. Does he agree that this important free trade agreement is the first of several key UK-Asia goals over the next year, including accession to the trans-Pacific partnership, dialogue partner status with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, several bilateral market access initiatives and partnership of the climate change summit in Glasgow? Altogether, this will bring alive the determined strategy of global Britain.
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-11-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is quite right. He is our trade envoy to the ASEAN region and to a couple of countries there. I was addressing our DIT internal teams in the Asia-Pacific region just this week on the incredible opportunities that this country has there The deal was negotiated almost entirely virtually. It deepens the economic partnership between two like-minded island democracies. It reflects our shared values and our shared belief in the fundamental principles of free and fair trade and the importance of playing by the rules. That point was made on both sides of the House, including by the right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar) and my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Jeremy Hunt). This British-shaped deal strengthens ties between the world’s third largest and fifth largest economies and will help to drive economic growth in the long run. The Government are committed to levelling up the UK, delivering opportunity and unleashing the potential of every part of our United Kingdom. We heard in this debate from two former Trade Ministers: my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), with his excellent and deep understanding of world trade, and my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier) on the importance of the International Trade Committee in scrutinising this agreement. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers), who again showed that we have proved the naysayers wrong, and from my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Craig Williams) about thriving Wales-Japan trade, particularly in the area of lamb My right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey, a former Foreign Secretary, described this as a personal triumph for the Trade Secretary; I entirely agree. I can attest at first hand to how much personal effort she has put into getting the team to move forward, including in the early hours of the day. That has been incredibly helpful. My hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, welcomed the fact that the Trade and Agriculture Commission was to be put on a statutory basis. He also pointed out that Japan is the world’s largest importer of agrifood.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have a clear commitment to recruit 20,000 police officers by March 2023. Thanks to the strong commitment we have had from all forces across England and Wales, we have made a fantastic start, with almost 6,000 additional officers recruited by the end of September. As the party of law and order, we are well on track to increasing police officer numbers across all forces.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Giacomo Lopresti (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the increase in police numbers across the country; it is great news, honouring and delivering on our manifesto commitment. I have been informed that Avon and Somerset seems to be lagging behind a bit on the uplift of police numbers. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that that is not the case?
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I can assure my hon. Friend that Avon and Somerset has all the resources needed to recruit the number of police officers that it needs. We have asked it to recruit 137; it has actually recruited 130, and of course we have funded it with up to £326 million. On top of that, I would urge the police force and my hon. Friend to keep on banging the drum—we are the party of law and order—and to get out there and recruit the remaining police officers that it needs.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Gordon Leonard Henderson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful that the Government have provided Kent with an additional 184 police officers, but will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Kent’s excellent police and crime commissioner, Matthew Scott, who, in his four years in office, has recruited 450 officers over and above the Government-funded number? That means we now have 3,847 officers in Kent, which is the highest number on record.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely commend the police and crime commissioner for Kent, Matthew Scott, but I also thank and pay tribute to the chief constable. This is a joint effort. Having been out in Kent a few weeks ago on a police raid, I have seen at first hand the new recruits and the absolute determination that the force has not just in recruitment but in dealing with some of the most appalling crimes that we see.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Elliot Colburn (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted that London will also receive an uplift in the number of police officers on our streets. With the continued incidence of catalytic converter theft, vehicle-related crime, antisocial behaviour and burglaries in Carshalton and Wallington, can my right hon. Friend assure me that the London Borough of Sutton will receive its fair share of these new officers?
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to bang the drum for the London Borough of Sutton. Of course, he will know that the Metropolitan police has been allocated an additional 1,369 new officers. Its funding has increased as well, by £193 million. I must emphasise that that is money for the frontline—for police officers to deal with the crimes that my hon. Friend highlights, along with a lot of the serious violent crime we see across London.
Police Officer Numbers — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important for this House and the British public to know that this Government have put record levels of funding into the police, and that this Government, this Prime Minister and this Home Secretary absolutely, unequivocally back the police. The hon. Lady asks about the recruitment of PCSOs. Obviously, that links to the powers and the duties that they have, but she will also know that that is a decision for chief constables and police and crime commissioners, so across London, for example, where there might be an issue with PCSOs, it is for her, as a London MP, to raise this with the Labour Mayor of London. These are operational decisions, but I maintain that this Government back the police. Our funding settlement illustrates that day in, day out, as does the recruitment programme, with almost 6,000 new police officers recruited to the frontline.
Covid-19: Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): Our police forces face unprecedented challenges and have the critical role of maintaining public order. They will continue to engage, explain and encourage people to follow the rules, but will enforce where necessary. We have provided £30 million extra surge funding to support additional enforcement and we continue to work closely with our policing partners to ensure they have the necessary powers.
Covid-19: Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): Has the Minister seen some of the quite shocking footage of the policing of demonstrations that is available online, and is he aware that the police have been visiting restaurants and demanding people’s names and addresses? What is happening to our country?
Covid-19: Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): I know my right hon. Friend is not given to hyperbole and that he has expressed his concern about the enforcement regime around the regulations over some weeks now. The enforcement from place to place is obviously an operational matter for the chief constable in that particular locality, but we are trying, where at all possible and in close conjunction with the National Police Chiefs Council, to maintain a sense of fairness and proportionality, using the "Four Es" where we can. I would just point him to the very small number of enforcement notices that have been handed out against the vast population of the United Kingdom—only in the tens of thousands against a population of 65 million—which shows that encouraging the British people to follow the regulations is largely working.
Knife Crime — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): We are surging police capacity in the forces most affected by violent crime. We have just consulted on serious violence reduction orders, which would make it easier for the police to stop and search individuals previously convicted of knife crime. We are also investing millions in early intervention to stop young people being drawn into violence in the first place.
Knife Crime — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is rightly concerned about knife crime in his constituency, as am I. While he again seeks to make a connection between police numbers and the level of crime—an argument that was made endlessly before the election—I point out, as somebody who paid a leading role in the battle against the last surge in knife crime, between 2008 and 2012, when police officer numbers were at an all-time high, particularly in London, that the connection is not direct. However, there is much more that we can and will do on knife crime. Although absent the covid effect on crime, we are seeing some signs of a turn in the current surge in knife crime, there is still much more to do in his constituency, as there is across the country.
Knife Crime — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): I acknowledge the work that the Minister did while he was working for the Mayor of London to tackle knife crime, reducing numbers, but also in the last year, with a welcome reduction of 19% in knife crime offences. Of course there is more to do. Every life lost is a life wasted and a family ruined, and we must do more. I was very supportive of the introduction of knife crime prevention orders, and I would be grateful if the Minister could tell me how many orders have been issued since the trials were rolled out this spring.
Knife Crime — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his concern about this issue, which affects his constituency as it does many others, and he is right to raise it. Unfortunately, the introduction of knife crime prevention orders, which were scheduled to come in in London, has not yet happened, largely because of the impact of the covid pandemic and the absorption of capacity. However, there has been very significant activity on this issue, not least three weeks ago with a national week of intensification of Operation Sceptre, the anti-knife crime operation, which saw 2,005 arrests and well over 10,000 knives taken off the streets in the space of one week. That is an indication of the scale of the problem to which we are addressing ourselves with some urgency.,
County Lines Drugs Networks — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): We are determined to dismantle county lines, which is why we are investing £25 million over two years to surge our law enforcement response to these ruthless criminal gangs. This includes investment in the national county lines co-ordination centre, targeted operational activity in three major exporting police force areas, and increased disruption on the road and rail network.
County Lines Drugs Networks — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): With schools often having to send children home this year, very vulnerable young people have been preyed upon by these terrible gangs. Will my right hon. Friend welcome the decision of West Mercia’s police and crime commissioner, John Campion, to commission the Children’s Society to provide extra help and diversionary activities for these young people?
County Lines Drugs Networks — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend rightly recognises that these gangs particularly prey on and target vulnerable children when they are outside the school environment, often those who have, sadly, fallen out of school and cease to attend. So initiatives such as the one she outlines sound absolutely on the money in terms of the type of work we need at a granular level in constituencies across the country. Having worked with the Children’s Society as a Back Bencher, I know what enormous value and experience it can bring to these efforts, and I applaud the efforts of her local PCC to do this.
End of Transition Period: National Security) — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: International Affairs
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): National security remains our absolute priority. This country is a safe country and will remain so after the end of the transition period. The hon. Lady asks what alternative arrangements are in place. Obviously, we continue the negotiations and await their outcome, but we are prepared for a range of scenarios. In the event that it is not possible to reach an agreement, the UK has well developed and well rehearsed plans in place. They involve transitioning co-operation with EU member states to alternative, non-EU arrangements by the end of the transition period. These are tried and tested mechanisms, which the UK already uses with so many other countries.
End of Transition Period: National Security) — House of Commons, 2020-12-14
Topic: Law and Crime
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I have already said that this country will remain one of the safest places in the world. It is worth underlining to the hon. Gentleman that the UK will continue to be a global leader on national security; we are now and we will remain so in the future. I hope that, equally, he will note the level of preparedness and the hard work by our police and all our other agencies to ensure that we are well prepared for the end of the transition period to give that assurance to the public over their safety and security and welfare and wellbeing, which absolutely remain a priority for this Government.