argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Civil Rights
Peta Buscombe (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I also congratulate my noble friend the Minister on putting the Bill into far better shape than it was in when it left the Commons, as is so often the case in your Lordships’ House. It shows your Lordships working brilliantly together, as we do. I agree with everything that my colleagues on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the noble Baronesses, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws and Lady Lister, said about the clauses we are looking at now. I also say to my noble friend Lord Lamont that if he had been with us at Second Reading and in Committee, he would have been rather more assured that some of the aspects that concerned him about the guidance have already been debated at great length. I am sure that my noble friend the Minister will have taken those issues on board On substance, I also say to the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, that this is about clarification, which will make all the difference to perception. Perception is hugely important; I think of the 500 signatories who attached their names to a letter in the Guardian only last week. The Minister has responded with clarity, which is exactly what we all asked for. I thank him for that Finally, and with respect to my noble friend, I remind all noble Lords of the need to put pressure on whoever is in government after the forthcoming election to bring back to the House debate and legislation regarding data retention. This is an aspect that remains in the forefront of many noble Lords’ minds. It needs to be addressed further and as quickly as possible.
Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Civil Rights
Michael Bates (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am very grateful for the comments that have been made from around the House. There is no need for the noble Baroness to worry about damaging my career prospects. As I am reliably informed, I do not have many, having already exceeded my mother’s expectations for my career some years ago The noble Baroness made a very important point about the fact that we have considered 237 amendments and there has been no Division, but that is not to say that there has been no difference, change or argument, or really passionate debate. I think of some of the debates that we have had, particularly on academic freedom and communications data, to which my noble friend Lady Buscombe referred. We have had passionate debate all the way through, and as a result of that 40 amendments have been made to the Bill, which will now go on its journey to another place.
Taxation: Avoidance — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Stephen Sherbourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, can I endorse what the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, said? I know my noble friend Lord Green, who I agree is a man of great integrity. I agree also that the acquisition by HSBC at the time of a great many companies, producing a loose federation, caused management stretch in terms of organising it—I think that it has learnt the lessons of that. It is important that people outside this Chamber understand the measures that this Government have taken to strengthen controls on banking behaviour.
Taxation: Avoidance — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Other
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I could not help noticing that the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, was not here at all for the Statement that my noble friend Lord Newby repeated at the beginning of this Urgent Question. It is our convention that it is appropriate for a noble Lord to be present in the Chamber if he wishes to ask a question about a Statement. As I have taken time in order to make this point, it is of course the turn of a Labour Peer to ask a question of my noble friend should they wish, but I think that the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, would not be in line with the Companion if he was to ask that question himself.
Taxation: Avoidance — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Other
Tina Stowell (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, our convention suggests, as stated in the Companion, that noble Lords must be here in this Chamber to hear the Statement being repeated if they wish to ask a question of the Minister repeating that Statement. The noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, was not in the Chamber to hear my noble friend repeat the Statement.
Infrastructure Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-02-09
Topic: Public Lands
Malcolm Sinclair (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, that these amendments do not do very much for the Bill. All these points were going to be covered anyway. I do not think that the process over the past two weeks has done politicians any good at all. It was a hurried amendment in the Commons and the Government, under Liberal pressure, gave way. We now have a cobbled together lot of amendments which did not give the other case a decent chance for discussion. If anybody reads last Monday’s Commons Hansard, it is not an impressive debate. We have not had a sensible opportunity here, although the whole framework of what we are discussing has been discussed ad nauseam in this House I would like to ask my noble friend, particularly about item 6 in column 1 regarding what will take place in other protected areas, how many miles of coal-mine tunnel are under protected areas in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty? Of course, we must remember that these would not have been allowed under this amendment: the fracking pipeline is only about 6 to 9 inches, whereas a coal-mine tunnel is considerably more My noble friend Lord Framlingham has just mentioned ancient woodland. Will marine nature reserves will be classified as protected areas? How many more restrictions will there be on the industry? My noble friend the Minister was absolutely right when she said that health and safety risks can be managed with best practices. We need to show those best practices for the rest of Europe to follow Returning to point 6, is this a precedent for future development? If you are not allowed to drill a 6 to 9-inch pipeline a thousand feet down, presumably the Government will not build HS2 which will go smack through the middle of the Chilterns, an area of outstanding natural beauty. There will be 11 kilometres of tunnels there. It will do considerably more damage than any whipstocking under an AONB from a small well. Presumably we will not have any more development. The Liberal party has closed the door on development in national parks and closed the door on the opportunity of growth. I think that a lot of people will use item 6 as a precedent in order to stop any future development at all.
Davies Commission Report — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my noble friend for his comments. I agree with him about the importance of ensuring that whatever decision the Government take in moving forward on what has been a very extensive report reflects the importance of UK plc and regional connectivity. We will certainly review that, and it will be part and parcel of our decision-making on the way forward when we return to this issue in the autumn.
Davies Commission Report — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): I reassure the noble Lord that, when he gets a chance to read the commission’s report, he will find that it has addressed all the concerns that he has highlighted, and it will be a significant part of the Government’s decision. With regard to the statement made in 2010 by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, as I said earlier, the proposal that was in front of him at that time, including some of the concerns that the noble Lord has just highlighted, merited what the Prime Minister said. However, we are quite clear: the commission has now produced its report; it is well balanced and has looked at many factors that the proposition in front of us in 2010 did not consider; and the Government will come back with their view in the autumn.
Davies Commission Report — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): My noble friend is quite right to point out that there are current obligations, which will continue until October 2017, but I take his point about the penalties that are paid, and I will take that back to the department.
Davies Commission Report — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): I have never regarded the noble Baroness as being hard line in any respect. I am sure she will agree that it would be inappropriate for me to give a commitment at this time. The Government will evaluate the report, and we will come back on the way forward in the autumn.
Childcare Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): I wish to speak to an amendment that I have in this group. I follow entirely the comment of the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, about the need for things being child-centred. My noble friend was kind enough to embarrass my wife by saying that she was Montessorian of the Year, so I am obviously particularly attached to the Montessori system, which is quintessentially child-centred I will not repeat the remarks that I made at Second Reading but I think that, as the Select Committee said, there is a little bit of a risk of a conflict at the heart of the Bill. It is presented by my noble friend as an Education Minister but much of the rationale is that it is an employment measure. Indeed, the Minister for Employment is creating a task force that is intended to enhance the take-home pay of a two-earner household doing whatever the regulations—when we see them—will define as work. We do not know quite what that is, but we know that it is work done outside the home or work done inside the home, other than anything to do with caring for the children, as far as I can see. At the same time, we are moving from 15 to 30 hours and bringing in something that was never there before—a barrier against women who stay at home and provide that affective affinity which is so vital. Heaven knows, my mother was never a graduate—she did her bit in the war—but I do not like to think there was anyone better than her at providing childcare. I hope that we can find a way in going forward with this policy to explore whether that barrier is necessary. It will be costly in terms of administration for local authorities, and potentially to providers, and potentially socially costly in what it says about the role and enormous social, and therefore economic, contribution made by mothers who stay at home I fear that increasingly, given the comments I have received since the remarks I made at Second Reading. I have had a number of emails from groups and individuals about what I said at Second Reading about not venturing to put in second place the role of the mother who stays at home and cares for a child. That has certainly struck a chord. We must have care as we tread forward. If we really do believe in a big society, is that a big society that we wish to build? I unashamedly think that that is a marvellous phrase of the Prime Minister’s, and I strongly support the principle.
Childcare Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, surely, as the noble Baroness has acknowledged, there is a key question of affordability here. There is a great danger of good intentions running away with us on this legislation. I ask the noble Baroness for clarification. She speaks from the Front Bench of her party; is she making a commitment that the Liberal Democrats believe that that money should be spent?
Childcare Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2015-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I do not expect an answer now, but I should like to give an example which comes from the policy statement. It says that under Clause 1(5)(i), the number of hours of free childcare each eligible child takes up may be included. That can only come from a report provided by the provider, which is sometimes a small provider. Inadvertently false information may be given; it could be a mistake or something might be put in the wrong column—things happen. The next paragraph in the statement, which concerns provision for criminal offences, directly relates that to the provision and disclosure mentioned in Clause 1(5)(i) and (j). It may be that the example given is not included in that, but people reading this document could believe that there is scope for the offence to be pushed too wide by certain busybodies. I do not want to continue the point now but I hope that we can have further discussions on that matter of concern.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): As I understand it, it would certainly cover the point that the noble Baroness makes about draw-down products; it will not simply be a question of reporting. To conclude, while the Government share the concerns about member-borne charges, the Government and regulators are equipped with the powers to cap charges in all pension schemes, including draw-down products. We feel that intervening in the market at this stage would be wrong: intervention must be based on evidence, but it is an intervention that the Government have not shied away from making elsewhere in the market. We are closely and proactively monitoring developments in the decumulation market to consider whether there is need to use those powers In the closing remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Bradley, in Committee, he stated his hope that we would act in the interests of consumers if we were to see excessive charges in the new draw-down products that come to market. I can reassure him that this remains our intention. I therefore respectfully ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Bradley, for his contribution and for allowing me to provide an update on NEST. I will do my best to answer the specific point on state aid rules I stress at the outset that the Government have broadly two concerns about the amendment. One of them is the state aid rules. The second is that we want NEST to focus on its mission to provide assistance to small and micro-employers in the run-up to 2017, when the restrictions will be lifted. However, I will go through some of the background and do my best to answer the specific points—or point—raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bradley As promised—and as acknowledged by the noble Lord opposite—during the Committee proceedings I wrote to the noble Lords, Lord Bradley and Lord McAvoy, copying it to other noble Lords who had participated in the debate, clarifying, I hoped, a point relating to state aid and the removal of the annual contribution limit and transfer restrictions from 1 April 2017. It must be noted that that letter referred to it certainly not being contrary to state aid rules to lift the restrictions on 2017. That was, of course, the consent given. However, it does not follow that it could be done any earlier; otherwise, a particular date would not have been chosen for lifting the restrictions. This is where the issue is: whether if a particular date is given, and consent is given for that date, it follows that you can lift the restrictions at any date before. This is the difference between us. I do not think it follows, where an application has been made for a particular date and consent is given, that you can predate it. However, I will try to come back to that.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this amendment changes the parliamentary procedure applicable to the exercise of some delegated powers contained in Part 2 of the Bill from the negative resolution procedure to the affirmative resolution procedure the first time these powers are exercised. These powers relate to exclusions from the definition of collective benefits and how schemes that provide collective benefits will operate in relation to certain key matters. The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee recommended that the regulation-making powers in Clauses 9 to 11 and Clause 21 should be subject to the affirmative procedure the first time they are used. In response to amendments tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Bradley and Lord McAvoy, in Committee, I made clear that the Government accept that recommendation in respect of those powers. This amendment therefore places regulations made under those powers subject to the affirmative procedure on first use, as the Committee recommended. The Committee also recommended that the power in Clause 8(3)(b), allowing regulations to exclude a specified benefit from the definition of a collective benefit, should be subject to the affirmative procedure every time it is used I also explained when we debated the noble Lords’ amendments in Committee that the Government do not consider this to be appropriate because there needs to be flexibility to respond to new developments in scheme and benefit design that could result in benefits falling within the definition of "collective benefits" and hence becoming subject to the requirements of regulations made under Part 2 of the Bill, contrary to policy intention. Clause 8 is a key provision as it defines the scope of the provisions relating to collective benefits in Part 2. Because it is a key provision it should be subject to the affirmative procedure the first time it is used but there are circumstances where the Government may need to use this power without unnecessary delay to avoid members’ benefits being affected and to avoid schemes being subject to expensive requirements around the setting of targets, actuarial valuations and so on, which are not appropriate because other regulatory and governance requirements would be more appropriate to them. As the affirmative procedure could result in delay, leading to significant distress to members who would be without clarity as to whether their benefits were caught by the collective benefit provisions, we believe that the power in Clause 8(3)(b) needs to be affirmative on first use only. I therefore beg to move this amendment.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sally Oppenheim-Barnes (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this Bill is a very welcome reform and has been met with a good deal of justified praise. I, too, have concerns about the possibility of the citizens advice bureaux being able to take on such another role—and to do it effectively, because I have the greatest admiration for it having dealt with it over many years. Its staff are all volunteers. They do not necessarily have specialised knowledge. Those who have had training in dealing with the pensions market are scattered quite thinly, as has already been said by the noble Lord, Lord Bradley. We had not very long ago two big Bills which imposed new duties on the citizens advice bureaux, the most recent being the Consumer Rights Bill and, before that, the regulatory reform Bill. They were given extra sums of money, which were not overgenerous, because they now have to give specialised information. I know that big-shot financial advisers often get things very wrong and they are supposed to be experts, so a great onus is being placed on the citizens advice bureau that I am concerned about. These are very important matters; this is a very important and welcome Bill; and I hope that my noble friend will be able to say something that is helpful and pacifies my concerns.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Howard Emerson Flight (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I, too, have some reservations about the guidance arrangements, in two different types of area, which I hope can be put at rest. First, imagine that an individual with a pension of £20,000 goes to get guidance. Is the guidance likely to say, "Go on—pay the tax, take the money and spend it"? The main guidance will be divided between buying an annuity or entering into a draw-down. The pension might be a bit small for the mechanics of a draw-down, so one is likely to be guided towards an annuity. For the present and foreseeable future, we all know that bond yields are artificially low, and that anyone who buys an annuity today will look back in five, seven or I do not know how many years’ time, when bond yields are back to normal, and say, "My God, I got a really bad deal when I bought that annuity. I know that I cannot sue the Government because it was guidance, not advice, but it was pretty bad guidance to suggest that I buy an annuity when what it was based on—mainly bond yields—were artificially low" The second thing that worries me is that people will, as it were, be left in the air. Their guidance might sort out whether they would be right to buy an annuity or right to do something else, but let us say that the guidance is, perhaps, that they should leave their money in the pension scheme and draw down only when they want to. They will then need someone to manage those investments. As a result of what I believe to be the very mistaken RDR reforms, most financial advisers are not willing to take on individuals with less than a substantial sum of money. How, therefore, will the individual get from the position of government guidance on what type of product they might buy to selecting a fund manager or a fund, if they are not able to get financial advice? As a result of the contortions that we have got into in financial regulation, people cannot get such advice from the government guidance bodies because the Government cannot give investment advice. I think a lot of people will end up feeling that they are left hanging in mid-air, even if they have gone through a very good guidance process, as to where they should go to choose the right product.
Pension Schemes Bill — House of Lords, 2015-01-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the House will be relieved that this amendment is relatively straightforward. It enables any regulations that are made under new Section 18A of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993 to be subject to the affirmative resolution process Clause 78 of the Bill provides a power to create a fee-paid judicial pension scheme via new Section 18A of that Act. The creation of such a pension scheme is a legal requirement on the Lord Chancellor as a consequence of the Supreme Court ruling in O’Brien v Ministry of Justice The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee report for the Bill recommended that such regulations be subject to the affirmative regulations procedure, and we are pleased to confirm this. This brings regulations on judicial pensions in line with those that will establish the new judicial pension scheme starting in April 2015, providing a high level of parliamentary control in respect of any changes to judicial pensions. I beg to move.
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill — House of Lords, 2015-03-17
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Taylor (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I have it in command from Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to acquaint the House that they, having been informed of the purport of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, have consented to place their interests, so far as they are affected by the Bill, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill Clause 3: Companies: duty to publish report on payment practices Amendment 1