argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): No In truth there is a choice between working hard, getting into the detail and defending British interests, which we are doing and will continue to do, and playing politics, as Labour Members and those on the left of our politics seem intent on doing It is worth remembering that the TRA was set up in 2018 under the last Government and places strict limits on the powers of the Secretary of State. Of course, the Labour party knows this, because Labour tried to curtail the Secretary of State’s powers even further. The hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd), as shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, spoke against "the public interest...being used as a mechanism to widen the powers of the Secretary of State."––[Official Report, Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Public Bill Committee, 25 January 2018; c. 103.] During the passage of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, Labour stood against the Secretary of State being able to reject a recommendation of the TRA, but today Labour is asking us to legislate to do just that: to reject the TRA’s recommendation Under the legislation from the last Parliament—that dead Parliament—the Secretary of State does not have the power to change the TRA’s recommendation—
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): No, the right hon. Lady has had her say The Secretary of State does not have the power under the law to change the TRA’s recommendation on the safeguard measure to retain measures against its advice. She possesses only a downward ratchet, which means either accepting the TRA’s recommendation in its entirety or rejecting it and seeing every part of the safeguard measure expire on 30 June. I can assure the House that the Secretary of State takes these responsibilities very seriously and will reach a decision on the recommendation and publish it before the measure is due to expire.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): No. We should all greatly value Britain’s reputation as a champion of global free and fair trade. We should not want to take actions that risk being found to be non-compliant at the WTO. The Secretary of State takes her responsibilities very seriously in considering the recommendation from the TRA, but the truth is that the best way forward, the right way forward, for our steel producers lies in free and fair trade. Together, we can make sure that this vital British industry enjoys a sustainable long-term future. The British people should be in no doubt: this people’s Government are backing our steel manufacturers; this people’s Government are backing the tens of thousands of jobs in the industry; and this people’s Government will continue to do so.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Energy
Peter James Guy Aldous (Conservative, Centre-right): I will take the few short minutes available to me to highlight the need to promote the production of clean steel, which can play a key role in the covid recovery, levelling up and decarbonisation. With COP26 rapidly coming into view on the horizon, there is an opportunity for the UK to be a global leader in this sector In the next few years, there will be an enormous increase in the demand for steel, and that is already manifesting itself in significant price increases. In East Anglia and off our coast, steel will be required for the largest array of offshore wind farms in the world, for the building of the Sizewell C nuclear power station and the cabling required for renewing and extending our grid However, we must not ignore the environmental impact of steel production, as the industry contributes up to 7% of the world’s CO2 emissions. The rapid emergence of hydrogen, which has quickly evolved from the new kid on the block to the energy sector’s Swiss army penknife, provides the UK with the USP for promoting clean steel, whether from carbon capture, offshore wind or nuclear power. The volume of hydrogen needed for steel production is of reasonable proportions to match either blue hydrogen or green hydrogen East Anglia, as you are well aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, is not an established centre for the steel industry, but we are uniquely placed to play a major role in the changing face of domestic steel production due to ready access to low-carbon energy sources, whether offshore wind through carbon capture for the existing gas infrastructure focused on Bacton, or Sizewell C. It is also important that in the supply chain we promote and develop fabrication hubs in places such as Lowestoft, where skills and expertise have been built up in shipbuilding and the oil and gas industry for well over a century The Government are laying the foundations for a world-leading clean steel industry with the 10-point plan, the industrial decarbonisation strategy and the industrial fuel switching competition. It is vital that they now build on that work, announce the findings of the call for evidence for the clean steel fund and bring forward the following policy initiatives: first, a border carbon adjustment on imported goods based on their carbon content; secondly, the setting of clear targets for the use of clean steel by specific dates in infrastructure projects; and, finally, the promotion of a clean steel demonstrator project. It is also important that the forthcoming hydrogen strategy provides the framework for the industry to develop in East Anglia.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Energy
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): Now then, surely even the Labour party will realise that as we embark on our £640 billion infrastructure campaign we are going to need lots of British steel. We are going to need about 7.6 million tonnes over the next 10 years to build new wind farms, power stations, schools, hospitals, railways and flood defences. We have a record to be proud of: we have provided more than £500 million in relief to the steel industry since 2013, to help it to cope with high electricity costs; we are launching a £350 million industrial energy transformation fund to help businesses with high energy use, including in the steel industry; and we have doubled the proportion of steel procured from within the UK over the past year Under Labour, steel production fell by almost 50% and employment in the UK steel industry was cut in half. Industrial electricity prices rose by 66% in the last five years under the Labour Government, crippling the steel industry. Labour MPs complained when we announced new freeports, but they will use a massive amount of British steel and be a welcome boost to large engineering companies such as Abacus Lighting and Caunton Engineering in Ashfield and Eastwood. And they were whingeing about the new royal yacht, which will be made from British steel by British shipbuilders, and will then sail around the world promoting our great country Perhaps the Minister will support my idea of building a brand-new yacht for the Labour party. We could call it the HMS Clueless and the skipper would be Labour’s Captain Hindsight, who would lead a motley crew of out-of-touch Labour MPs on a cruise around the world, stopping off at countries that subscribe to their brand of socialism. The first stop would be Cuba, and it would then be off to Venezuela and then North Korea. But there is mutiny in the air and I feel that Captain Hindsight will have to walk the plank, because below deck the Mayor of Greater Manchester is plotting to take back control of the Labour party and, as usual, poor old Captain Hindsight will not even see it coming.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Miriam Joy Cates (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very much in favour of free trade, which contributes to prosperity, innovation and fairness across the world. However, free trade requires a level playing field, and right now the pitch on which our UK steel industry is trying to compete is uphill and full of holes. Our British steelmakers cannot compete on price with foreign manufacturers many of whom have far cheaper energy prices and receive massive state subsidies. Other countries also employ market-distorting practices such as steel dumping, with the deliberate intention of putting British steel manufacturers out of business. That is why we, and the US and the EU, have rightly implemented steel safeguards over recent years to protect domestic industries from unfair and malicious practices that are the very antithesis of free trade. It is therefore incomprehensible that the Trade Remedies Authority is recommending that we allow over half our safeguards on steel products to lapse, at a time when the EU and the US will be maintaining their safeguards in response to the continuing threats to steel producers around the world Steel is a critical national industry producing essential materials for our infrastructure and our nuclear and defence capabilities. Steel is therefore crucial to our security. It is also an industry that is vital to our economy. Steel supports over 33,000 jobs, including many hundreds in the Stocksbridge steelworks in my constituency. I know that the Government fully understand this. I am grateful for the frequent engagement of my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary with me on this issue and the welcome commitment of the Minister today to use anti-dumping measures where necessary. I also look forward to meeting my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister later this week to discuss this issue further. The recommendations of the TRA could be devastating for UK steel and I am concerned that they are based on the wrong data and fail to take into account the international situation We need to take action to retain our steel safeguards. I accept that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade does not currently have the power that she needs to ensure that that happens. However, the necessary changes are legally complex, and the Opposition’s proposal will breach World Trade Organisation rules and could result in retaliatory tariffs from other nations. Although we must act quickly, we must also be certain to act legally, and a quick Bill thrown together on the back of an Opposition debate is not the proper way to give our steel industry the protection it needs. We cannot afford to get this wrong. Although I cannot support the motion, I do urge the Government to take rapid action to reform the TRA and give new powers to the Secretary of State. In 2016, people in my constituency voted to take back control. That means our democratically elected Government having the final say over our trade policy. The Government must act to back UK steel.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Energy
Peter Alexander Gibson (Conservative, Centre-right): Steel has played an important role in Darlington’s past and is set, thanks to this Conservative Government, to play an important role in our clean, green future. Indeed, Darlington is home to a British steel site, and on its outskirts is the world renowned Cleveland Bridge, which my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Paul Howell) will say more about We all know that steel has heavily influenced our national story whether that be in our railways, our bridges or our ships. Sadly, the industry has been in decline for too long with lost jobs for thousands. Indeed, many of these jobs were lost under the last Labour Government I am proud that the Tees Valley has been at the forefront of British steel manufacturing for 170 years and while the old Redcar Steelworks closed in 2015, we have a bright future as the home of the innovation and design sector, on which I am quite sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Jacob Young) will expand This Conservative Government are delivering where the last Labour Government failed. We are supporting this key industry by directly investing in our national infrastructure, using British steel to help revolutionise our transport and energy sectors. This Government are doubling the amount of steel procured within the UK and using British steel in the £640 billion infrastructure spending. Steel made in Britain will help us to build back Britain as we look beyond the pandemic. HS2, Dogger Bank, Hinkley Point C as well as new schools, hospitals and flood defences across the UK are being built with British steel. I am delighted that Cleveland Bridge, staffed by many of my constituents, will be providing its expertise for many of these projects In addition, this Government are helping to decarbonise the sector. That has been achieved by creating a new £250 million clean steel fund, and launching a £315 million industrial energy transformation fund to help businesses with high energy use, helping the industry to cut its bills and emissions. While the Labour party does nothing but talk down the steel sector, failing to support production and jobs, this Conservative Government are supporting the industry, so that British steel is best placed to benefit from the opportunities presented by our new trade deals around the world, and our massive infrastructure investment.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jerome Patrick Burke Mayhew (Conservative, Centre-right): The TRA’s sole function is to look at data and decide whether to impose trade restrictions to protect the UK steel market from unforeseen surges of imports to ensure fair trade. It is not there to put up protectionist barriers to international trade. Its recommendations are based on detailed research into the UK steel market. So it is not so much the data that Labour challenges—as was made clear earlier this evening, it is the terms of reference given to the TRA. Let us be clear: Labour wants to move to outright protectionism Extending tariffs that are not justified by the data shifts the debate from ensuring fair competition, which drives long-term economic growth and prosperity, to outright protectionism, which corrodes markets and makes us all poorer. That is particularly the case with a foundation product such as steel. Labour wants to put up the price of steel for all the manufacturers of the United Kingdom, making their products more expensive and then less competitive. What does Labour suggest when they struggle against cheaper imports—more protectionism? Even its current proposal is so extreme that it would require us to leave the World Trade Organisation. What next? These are the economics of the Soviet Union The Government are right to focus on defending fair competition while supporting our steel industry to adopt low-carbon energy sources as we move toward renewable supplies, supporting our producers to the tune of £500 million since 2013 so that our cleaner energy does not disadvantage them. In the long run though, we need to move away from clumsy and expensive state support. Rather than costing our Treasury money to compensate industry, a carbon border adjustment mechanism would raise income from high-carbon imports, providing funds to invest in our own decarbonisation plans. Those are supports that can work within WTO rules, not in flagrant breach of them, as Labour wants No longer will our exports be penalised by relatively high energy costs or be undercut in our domestic market by dirty imports. Such a mechanism will allow us to price carbon realistically, unleashing the power of the free market to nose out lower-carbon alternatives as part of the unending price war that real competition brings. That is the kind of policy framework that a serious Opposition would be proposing. If the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) wants to modernise the Labour party, he should start with the Soviet dinosaurs in his BEIS team.
Protecting Britain’s Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2021-06-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman, but I refer back to the comments made by the Under-Secretary of State for International Trade, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Hampshire. The tools available to us relating to anti-dumping measures continue to be ones that remain at the forefront of the Secretary of State’s toolkit, as I mentioned. I know she will be focusing on that very closely in the days and weeks ahead. There should be no doubt that we absolutely have the future of our steel industry at the centre. It is a strategic industry and remains so, as so many colleagues have mentioned this evening. Speaking as the Minister challenged with delivering net zero, I can say that the offshore wind industry and the nuclear industry, and so many other critical parts of our infrastructure within the net zero part of this Government’s and this country’s commitment over the next 30 years, will require high quality and hopefully very much British-made steel. We are fully cognisant of the international situation that the industry and all its communities face, so we continue to work to protect jobs and to ensure that the industry succeeds in securing its sustainable future. I firmly believe that we will and know that the Secretary of State will continue to update the House in the days ahead Question put.
Trade Deals: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: International Affairs
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): I and my whole team would like to associate ourselves with the tributes to Sir David Amess that have been made this week. He was listed on the Order Paper for today’s oral questions and I have no doubt that he would have championed the export opportunities for Southend, our newest city The Government are clear that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international rights obligations and to hold to account those who violate those rights. By having stronger economic relationships with partners, we have the opportunity to open discussions on a range of issues.
Trade Deals: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is right: as we reach out, with our new ability to do free trade deals with our friends and allies, it is important to us to consider such important issues. For New Zealand, a chapter on indigenous peoples and their part in their nation’s future progress, in respect of both economic and wider issues, was very important and we were happy to work with New Zealand to include it. I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss more fully the particular area of freedom of religion, which I agree is extremely important and which the UK continues to champion around the world.
Trade Deals: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the excellent Secretary of State to the Dispatch Box. Does she agree that free trade agreements enable us to influence the supply chain in the countries with which we trade freely? When I chaired the all-party parliamentary group against human trafficking, the improvement of supply chains was very much appreciated and reduced the amount of human trafficking.
Trade Deals: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend, who has done a great deal of work in this policy space, is absolutely right. It is important that we make sure not only that we use the power of trade to build relationships, as I said, but to give our businesses that want to work globally through supply chains the best tools and protections that they might need to ensure that they have authority with countries where the improvement of the position of the supply-chain workforce and, indeed, the protection of other human rights is critical.
Trade Deals: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: International Affairs
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have said, we have been clear that trade never comes at the expense of human rights, but we will always make use of the many relationships we have, including a very strong and long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia, to work with partners not only to get mutual trading benefit but to help to make improvements on the issues that we consider to be important.
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): Our trade agreements are lowering tariffs and unlocking new opportunities for food exporters and the farmers that supply them. The Department for International Trade supports such businesses to capitalise on those opportunities, expand into new markets and sell fantastic British produce overseas.
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Agriculture
Neil Peter Hammerton Hudson (Conservative, Centre-right): Our fantastic farmers in Cumbria and the wider UK produce world-class food with the highest animal welfare and environmental standards. We should be very proud of that—we can be a beacon to the rest of the world. What reassurances can my right hon. Friend give to the farmers in Penrith and The Border and throughout the UK that those high standards will be upheld in future trade deals, and that meaningful parliamentary scrutiny will be possible, not least through the urgent establishment of the new Trade and Agriculture Commission?
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): Just as the Cumbrian farmers are doing well, may I say how proud I am of my Northumbrian farmers who, just across the way, are similarly producing some of the finest food in the world? My hon. Friend is quite right: the new Trade and Agriculture Commission will play an important role in scrutinising trade agreements after signature. Applications are being considered and we hope to be able to announce the membership and the details very shortly. The commission will be in place to scrutinise, first of all, the free trade agreement with Australia when we sign it.
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Agriculture
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): Wales produces some of the UK’s most iconic food products and we have already unlocked new markets to increase opportunities—for example, gaining access for UK lamb, poultry and beef to Japan. We want to unlock even more opportunities for Welsh farmers and exporters and we will be working closely with the Welsh farming industry as we seek to do so.
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Agriculture
David James Duguid (Conservative, Centre-right): On behalf of my constituent, Irene Fowlie, may I thank the Department, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for its help in facilitating the export of high-quality pedigree Essie Suffolk sheep to Georgia earlier this year? May I ask my right hon. Friend, whom I welcome to her new role, how we can improve access to new export routes for other high-quality agricultural produce, particularly from Scotland?
British Farmers: Global Exports — House of Commons, 2021-10-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is a great champion of all the wonderful produce coming out of Scotland and I thank him for his continued efforts. He will be pleased to know that we launched the export support service on 1 October, which will be there to help existing and potentially new exporters with some of those new markets. We have also established a new team in Edinburgh, which is building great networks, and we are committed to enhancing our support for businesses across Scotland to help us showcase the amazing goods and services from every corner of that nation.