argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Housing and Homes — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Housing
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. That is exactly the point that I wish to make The Ministry’s data shows that in Kingston upon Hull there were a total of 22,132 properties in the local authority area with a housing health and social care rating category 1 hazard—all of them in the private rented sector. A category 1 hazard is one that poses a serious threat to the health or safety of people living in or visiting a home. It is estimated that the cost to the council of dealing with all those issues would run to £23.5 million. Surely that bill should not have to be footed by the people who live and pay their council tax in Hull I absolutely agree that there should be a local licensing system whereby those who own private rented accommodation make a contribution to the regulation and maintenance of some of their properties. That is the only fair way to do it. I am calling on the Ministry to make it easier for local councils such as Hull City Council to introduce landlord licensing, so that they can check that all these people living in private rented accommodation are not living somewhere that is a hazard to their health.
NatWest Ferryhill — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Philip Wilson (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition against the closure of the NatWest branch in Ferryhill, which will leave it without any bank branches whatsoever. I would like to put on record my thanks to Hannah Smalley of Ferryhill, who helped to compile over 1,000 signatures in opposition to the closure The petition states: The petition of residents of the United Kingdom, Declares that NatWest Ferryhill is due to close on the 4th June 2018 and this will have a detrimental effect to the local community The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to take into account the concerns of petitioners and take whatever steps they can to halt the planned closure of NatWest Ferryhill branch And the petitioners remain, etc [P002149]
Arsène Wenger — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s sentiment. My constituents would not forgive me if I did not remind him that during that "unbeaten" season, Arsenal did in fact lose to Middlesbrough in the Carling cup, although they were unbeaten in the Premier League. However, that season was absolutely incredible. I think there could be no better tribute to Arsène Wenger than the occasion when, during the "Invincibles" season, the Pompey fans at Fratton Park, despite having lost 5-1, were singing, "Can We Play You Every Week?". That, I think, is testament to how widely respected and how glorious the football was that was played in that "Invincibles" year.
Arsène Wenger — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way and congratulate him on securing this debate. As the MP who represents the Arsenal stadium—the old and the new—I have been through the pain and the pleasure of the building of the new stadium. Throughout the whole time that Arsène Wenger has been manager, he has ensured that Arsenal has made an enormous contribution to the local community. Arsenal in the Community has been very successful for local grounds and clubs all over the borough. I have never forgotten taking a large group of primary school children to the Arsenal stadium one evening, where Arsène Wenger gave them a very interesting talk about how he had learned English. He told them that they should all learn foreign languages in order to create a more generous and peaceful world. He has a wonderful ability to communicate with people of all ages and all footballing abilities. I think that the future of football has to be community based, with much greater fan participation in the running of our clubs.
Arsène Wenger — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing the debate. I cannot believe that I am here, witnessing and enjoying the debate. It is important that we recognise Arsène Wenger’s contribution, not just to Arsenal football club and football in this country, but to football around the world. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Arsène Wenger has been hugely successful not only in men’s football but in women’s football, and that Arsenal Ladies is the most successful women’s team in the land?
Arsène Wenger — House of Commons, 2018-05-15
Topic: Other
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): For a Tottenham fan, the hon. Lady is providing good testimony on one of the country’s most successful and fantastic managers. She and the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman) have not really talked about Arsène Wenger’s commitment to fair play. Who could forget that Arsène Wenger offered to replay the game against Sheffield United when Kanu deliberately knocked the ball into the goal, not knowing the rule about passing the ball back to the goalkeeper? Arsène Wenger’s commitment to fair play and to the values of the game, as an inspiration manager and mentor to so many people, are testament to the class of the man.
Victims and Witnesses: Court Experience — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Civil Rights
Gloria De Piero (Labour, Centre-left): The court experience can be a bewildering one—it can often feel like a different planet. That is not helped by the fact that 72% of court judges are men. It is International Women’s Day on Thursday; will the Government commit to a timetable to ensure that 50% of court judges are women?
Prisoner Work Experience — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Mann (Labour, Centre-left): I know that the Secretary of State is new in office, but people at Ranby Prison have been waiting for two years now to be able to get on with creating the sports facilities that they are capable of building inside— the seating, the dugouts for community sports, and even the changing rooms—but the one thing they have not been given is the Secretary of State’s permission to proceed with doing this commercial work. Could I incentivise him with perhaps a cup of tea afterwards, to concentrate his mind on why he needs to make this decision urgently?
Port Talbot Prison — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Public Lands
Stephen Nathan Kinnock (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his answer, but the problem is that the proposed site is right next to residential areas, schools and a care home; is served by very poor transport links; is on a designated enterprise zone; is on marshland; and is restricted by a covenant saying that it can only be used as an industrial park. The Minister must surely agree therefore that the whole idea is a non-starter and should be scrapped with immediate effect.
Legal Aid — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Housing
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): Citizens Advice has estimated that for every £1 of legal aid spending on housing advice the state would save over £2, and that if the advice was on debt and housing, it would save even more. Will the Minister commit to commissioning research into the cost-effectiveness of reintroducing early legal advice in the housing sector, so that we can save money in the long run?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: Family law has been in need of reform for far too long. We now have a situation where the judiciary is supporting early intervention and wishing to carry out a pilot scheme. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how to make this excellent solution a reality?; As the Minister knows, there has already been a public meeting in my constituency about the prison there. He will be delighted to know that we have organised another on 12 April, to which he has been invited. May I encourage him to come and meet my constituents to hear directly their concerns, and I can guarantee that he will receive a warm welcome in the valleys?; The Torbay offender management team works to reduce crime and prevent those released from prison from reoffending. What assessment has the Lord Chancellor made of its effectiveness in preventing crime in Torbay?; In December, the previous Prisons Minister wrote to me saying that the spate of deaths at HMP Nottingham was a random occurrence, blaming a phenomenon called “suicide cluster”. In January, an inspection of the prison deemed it fundamentally unsafe. Last month there was another death, reported to be a suicide. Will Ministers now accept that there is nothing random going on at this jail and that it is not a safe environment?; I am sure that in 100 years’ time people will look at our prisons in the same way as we look at Victorian prisons—as being cruel and locking up too many people with health problems. One thing we could do is clear out of our prisons people serving less than a year. It does no good, they are moved around and they cannot be trained. Will the Minister look at that?; Since 2010, six successive Courts Ministers have dodged a decision over the future of Sunderland’s court estate. Despite more than £2 million having been spent on preparations for a new centre for justice, a further £284,000 will now be spent on urgent repairs to the city’s crumbling magistrates courts as a result of that unacceptable delay. Will the new Minister meet me and my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott) to see whether we can put an end to this saga and give the people of Sunderland a decision at last?; Does my right hon. Friend agree that, as he reforms the justice system, a system of incentives could help prisoners with good behaviour records and reduce reoffending in the future?; The most recent figures from the Department show that only 6% of employment tribunal fees have been repaid, although the Supreme Court declared them unlawful last year. If the Department cannot uphold the law, how can it expect anyone else to?
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): With the support of Co-op Funeralcare, Dignity plc, the National Association of Funeral Directors, the bereavement charity Cruse and the all-party group on baby loss, 50 bereaved parents in Hull are still seeking an independent inquiry into what happened to their babies’ ashes. Does the Minister still stand by Hull City Council, which has refused to have that independent inquiry?
Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Immigration
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the work that the shadow Home Secretary has done to pursue this issue. I share her concern about the state of Yarl’s Wood and some of the policies that underpin it. I understand that the Immigration Minister this weekend responded to calls from my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) to prevent the deportation of two of her constituents from being accelerated as a result of one of them being on hunger strike. But as well as that individual case, will the Minister address the wider issue and confirm that no individual should have their case or their deportation accelerated or prioritised simply because they have gone on hunger strike or made some kind of protest in response to the very difficult conditions that they face? I am sure that she would not want that kind of punitive action to be taken in response to protest.
Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Immigration
Jessica Rose Phillips (Labour, Centre-left): I have a huge amount of respect for the Minister, but her statement that this happens only when people are at risk of absconding is not one that I recognise from immigration casework that I do every single day. A woman in my constituency rang the police because of a threat to kill her from a violent ex-husband. She was taken to Yarl’s Wood, not to a place of safety. We detained a woman who was a victim. She has now been given indefinite leave to remain because her case was going through the process. This is not an isolated case. Does the Home Office think that it keeps vulnerable women who are at risk of rape, sexual violence or domestic abuse safe by basically deterring them from calling the police because they will be sent to a detention centre?
Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Immigration
Gareth Craig Snell (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) is travelling with the Defence Committee, but as Opelo and her mother are her constituents, she has asked me to put on record her thanks to the Minister for her intervention at the weekend. She also asked me to put on record her thanks to the Rev. Ashley Cooper and all those at Swan Bank church for the welfare support they have been giving to the immediate friends and family. Does the Minister agree that the fact that Members of Parliament have to resort to weekend telephone calls directly to Ministers to try to stop individuals from being deported before they have had their due process is a sign that the immigration system in this country is simply failing?
Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Immigration
David Lindon Lammy (Labour, Centre-left): I am very proud to be the son of immigrants and proud of this country’s record on supporting refugees and immigrants. Does the Minister understand that at the heart of her answer is an indifference, first, to indefinite detention and, secondly, to the fact that many women at Yarl’s Wood have been there for months and months, running into years? That is why many of them are refusing food. The possibility that the Government will accelerate deportation on that basis must be contrary to human rights. Can she satisfy the House that this satisfies all the obligations that the Government have to meet in their human rights record and that it is not cruel and unusual punishment?
Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Immigration
Stella Judith Creasy (Labour, Centre-left): I want to put on record my support for the work that the shadow Home Secretary has been doing on this issue and for the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth), who has fought tirelessly for her constituents. I am grateful that the Minister has listened and agreed to review the case. For many of us, the trouble with this is that we are talking about an environment where we know that two thirds of the women in Yarl’s Wood have experienced rape or sexual torture and that 85% of them are then released back, not deported. Does the Minister recognise that, rather than continuing to keep Yarl’s Wood open, there may be not only cheaper but much more compassionate and humane ways in which we can manage our immigration system that would speak to the best of British values?
Water Supply Disruption — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Vernon Coaker (Labour, Centre-left): The reality for many thousands of people, including hundreds in my constituency in Arnold, Nottingham, was 24 hours without water and, in some circumstances, no access to bottled water. In particular, people had concerns about vulnerable customers. Can the Minister assure us that companies such as Severn Trent will now review their emergency plans so that such things cannot happen again? It is simply unacceptable that we cannot even get bottled water to everyone who needs it.
Water Supply Disruption — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Public Lands
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): The N8 and N4 areas have also been badly affected. Not a week goes by without a large flood and now we do not have enough water. Will the Minister please make representations to Thames Water? The regulator is toothless: £20 compensation will not cut it for most of my constituents, many of whom have had to miss work, incur extra childcare costs and so on.
Water Supply Disruption — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): Lest anyone think these major bursts and leaks are solely the product of the recent snow and ice, let me say that in the last week of January, two major mains burst in Hammersmith, flooding residential and business premises, cutting off thousands of people in west London and closing two major east-west routes—King Street and Goldhawk Road. The latter is still closed almost six weeks later. The problem is that private monopoly utilities such as Thames have neither the carrot nor the stick so that they undertake the necessary repair and replacement of their pipework. My constituents want the Government to force them to do that, but I have heard nothing about it. Is not the Minister just washing her hands?
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Frank Field (Labour, Centre-left): On protecting the vulnerable, we know that the most vulnerable do not move around, despite having shining examples of people doing that. Will the Secretary of State consider putting a duty on companies, running alongside capping, which is a key part of the Bill, to put their poorer consumers on the lowest tariff, so that it is not up to them to try to match the skills of the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne)?
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Yvonne Helen Fovargue (Labour, Centre-left): I support the Bill, but does the Secretary of State not agree that, while it may tackle the so-called loyalty penalty for certain customers, more needs to be done to tackle the loyalty penalty in other markets, which, according to Citizens Advice, costs the most vulnerable and possibly the oldest customers about £900 a year?
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): The regulator will need time to consult before the Bill’s provisions are enacted. Is the right hon. Gentleman confident that, with the Bill being put before both Houses of Parliament today, customers will be able to benefit from it this winter?
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Order. As Members can see, many colleagues are trying to get in on this debate. If Members could stick to eight minutes, we will be able to get everyone in without having to impose a time limit. I call John Penrose.
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Louise Flint (Labour, Centre-left): Some 5 million people are already benefiting from the price cap for those on pre payment meters or on the warm home discount, and Ofgem is in charge of that. Why cannot it be trusted to extend its skill to a wider group of customers?
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): When we took evidence from the big six companies and probed them on where their profits came from, they were very clear that their profits came from the standard variable tariffs. Centrica has a £287 difference between its standard variable tariff and its best tariff, while Scottish Power has a £333 difference between those tariffs. They are earning their profits on the higher tariffs, and I just do not think that they will unilaterally reduce those tariffs, because that will be a hit to their profits, not a slight reduction in the number of new customers they get. The Government are right to exclude that cap, and that is why our Select Committee recommended that The Government have also accepted our recommendation to continue encouraging consumer switching. I believe that competition and regulation can co-exist effectively.
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): I hope that does not happen. Ofgem and the Competition and Markets Authority are putting the cap in place to make it easier for customers to switch. Northern Ireland, where there is a price cap, has as much switching as we do. The international examples suggest that we can have switching in a market that also has a price cap.
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): I am sure the author of the Bill would agree with me that one model is the not-for-profit Welsh Water, which runs the utility and competes against others where necessary, but has competition in its tendering process so that it meets European competition rules for utility companies. It also invests in its customers, which is what is missing from the private monopolies that run distribution and transmission.
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Louise Flint (Labour, Centre-left): I accept that we are talking about decades—I do not think that the market we ended up with was one that Margaret Thatcher thought that she was creating. The truth is that it was only after 2010 that we had any transparency and could access the data to tell us what was going on with these prices and why the mark-ups were so high. That is an important lesson from all this: transparency in this market is absolutely key.
Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-03-06
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. Can I just help a little bit? We have asked Members if they can do up to eight minutes, and some people are stretching that, but the hon. Lady has just spoken and is intervening again. I know it is part of the debate, but I want to make sure that those wanting to speak at the end have not been sitting here for no reason.
Consumer Advice and Assistance — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): Some 11 million people a year use price comparison sites to gain information on insurers and other products. The Financial Conduct Authority found in 2014 that such sites were not delivering fair and consistent practices. The Competition and Markets Authority has now said the sites should be using the CARE model; that is, they should be clear, accurate, responsible and easy to use. What can the Government do to ensure that these sites are straightforward and easy to use?
Consumer Advice and Assistance — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): A Port Talbot shift supervisor was badly advised by a pensions predator preying on him who made him take the wrong choice. "I will never forgive myself", he said, "because all 20 on my shift followed my lead." In an otherwise welcome Bill, in the words of Baroness Altmann, "the Government seems to have bowed to industry pressure and proposes to weaken consumer protection for pension customers. By removing a clause introduced in the House of Lords…more people are at risk of losing their hard-earned savings in scams, frauds and unwise pension withdrawals." She is absolutely right. Will the Government think again?
Mortgage Interest: Effects on Claimants — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Housing
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent, who is registered blind yet has paid into the system all his working life, asks how it can be fair that tenants continue, quite rightly, to get support now, but 100,000 or more people like himself are losing that interest support with their mortgages. It is not good enough to say that they will get it back at the end. This is affecting people now. People are worried about their futures and worried about their incomes now. It is not good enough.