argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Women and the Economy — House of Commons, 2015-12-09
Topic: Civil Rights
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): I will make some progress, if my hon. Friend will forgive me As for the Government’s own track record, the Women and Equalities Minister’s own Department for Education’s management board contains just two women out of 12 members. It is clear from such circumstances and recent announcements that the Government have a blind spot when it comes to gender. Ministers are ignorant, indifferent, or deliberately targeting women for the worst effects of their cuts. That makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s words about his commitment to gender equality In conclusion, let me make a few suggestions about what Ministers could start to do to address the inherent gender inequality that runs right through this Government’s agenda: carry out a full cumulative impact assessment of all Government policy since 2010 to analyse the impact on women; act now to address any disproportionately damaging effects; commit to introducing—and publishing immediately—cumulative equality impact assessments across Government and remedial action wherever policy is found to be inimical to equality, as the Labour Government in Wales are already committed to doing; and ensure that women are at the heart of decision making at every level. And is it not time the Government published a full, comprehensive, cross-Government gender equality strategy that addresses the economic and social discrimination and disadvantage that have become the hallmark of this Government? That is what the Opposition are calling for this afternoon and I commend our motion to the House.
Women and the Economy — House of Commons, 2015-12-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for giving way so early. She mentioned women running their own businesses. Does she consider it a success that women are likely to have an average income of £9,800, compared with self-employed men, who earn an average of £17,000?
Women and the Economy — House of Commons, 2015-12-09
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): In our house, when I was growing up, if it rained, we used to say, "We blame the Tories", so I am no stranger to the Minister’s political strategy. She commenced her speech with remarks about celebrating the contribution of women. Does she think that it pays tribute to the hard work of women in our economy to bang on in the way she is about what happened under the previous Labour Government?
Women and the Economy — House of Commons, 2015-12-09
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): I have said that I will not Thirdly, women who were born in the 1950s fought for everything in our country, and they built the political platform that I and many Labour Members have stood on. They fought not just for the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the reforms of the 1970s, but for all-women shortlists in the Labour party that meant that people like me had a much greater chance. Today, women in their 50s, and others, are having to fight yet again through the WASPI campaign for what they should have had. That is not fair, and for young women in my constituency, and those later in life, I do not feel that the picture described by Conservative Members is right. Those women are deeply unsatisfied with the measures that the Chancellor has handed out in recent months, and they would not expect me to stop asking him to do more.
Treatment of Asylum Seekers — House of Commons, 2015-12-09
Topic: Immigration
Robert Charles Douglas Flello (Labour, Centre-left): The petition, which has in excess of 3,000 signatures, has been organised by the St Vincent de Paul Society The petition states: The petition of residents of the UK, Declares that the petitioners are gravely concerned about the manner in which asylum seekers are currently treated in the UK; further that the 2015/16 Immigration Bill threatens to make those seeking sanctuary even more vulnerable; further that the Bill will leave more families homeless and further isolate an already marginalised group; further that recommendations made by the All-Party Parliamentary inquiry into the use of immigration detention have been excluded from the Bill; further that the petitioners have a moral responsibility as Christians to be a voice for those who have no voice; further that Pope Francis has said that refugees and asylum seekers are our brothers and sisters; and further that a local petition on this matter was signed by 3,000 people The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to reconsider the findings of the All-Party Parliamentary inquiry into the use of immigration detention to adopt the inquiry's recommendations in order to improve the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK And the petitioners remain, etc [P001659]
Human Rights Act 1998 — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps he plans to take to ensure that proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 meet the UK’s domestic and international human rights obligations.
Graham Peter Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The public need to be aware that withdrawing from the Human Rights Act does not mean that we will withdraw from human rights, because people will still be able to have those rights. It is just that rather than get them in British courts they will have to traipse off to Strasbourg to get them. The British public need to be made aware of the situation. The issue, of course, is about the convention. Are the Government proposing to withdraw from the European convention on human rights, a move that would remove human rights in this country, rather than just from the Human Rights Act?
Human Rights Act 1998 — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps he plans to take to ensure that proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 meet the UK’s domestic and international human rights obligations.
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): Because so many people in my constituency had written to me expressing their concerns about the Government’s plans on this issue, I organised a meeting during the recess. The dozens of people who came along had one simple question, which I hope the Attorney General will be able to answer: which of the rights currently contained within the Human Rights Act would he and the Government wish to see excluded from a British Bill of Rights?
Human Rights Act 1998 — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps he plans to take to ensure that proposals for reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 meet the UK’s domestic and international human rights obligations.
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Attorney General accept that the continuing uncertainty about whether the UK will remain a signatory to the ECHR is itself damaging? Given that the proposal for a British Bill of Rights has been around in the Conservative party for a considerable time, why cannot the Attorney General be certain and tell us whether the UK will remain a signatory to the ECHR or not?
Drones — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): Technological development can undermine legislation under all Governments, but particularly under this Government, who seem to have no strategy for it. We need to know that, while the strikes may be made by drones, the decision makers are still accountable to the House. When will the Attorney General establish a clear legislative and ethical framework in relation to future drone strikes?
Women and Girls in Sport — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): I commend Manchester City football club for its women and girls programme, which provides 12 weekly sessions free of charge to girls and women between the ages of 14 and 25 to increase their participation in football. Do we not need to see other such examples spread right across football in the country?
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister knows well that girls who give up STEM subjects early on do not get into good management jobs later on. Is it not important to measure how many women are getting into senior positions, particularly in the private sector?
Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Angela Rayner (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister join me in welcoming the work done by Joeli Brearley of Pregnant then Screwed, a Greater Manchester-based organisation campaigning to raise awareness of the appalling examples of discrimination in the workplace? More importantly, will the Minister pledge to work with organisations such as Pregnant then Screwed to help tackle this inequality in the workplace?
Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Catherine Jane Smith (Labour, Centre-left): According to research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, one in nine mothers have lost their jobs due to pregnancy discrimination, yet since the introduction of employment tribunal fees nearly seven in 10 cases that could have gone before tribunals are not going ahead, according to Citizens Advice. Why are the Government giving the green light to employers to discriminate against women?
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the responses received to the Government Equalities Office’s recent consultation on closing the gender pay gap.
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Minister’s commitment to introducing regulations on compulsory reporting. There is clearly a way to go when the UK’s gender pay gap is 19.1%, which significantly exceeds the European Union average of 16.4%. But does she agree that publishing alone will not be enough? If the information is to be useful, it needs to be consistent, standardised and readily available to workers and their representatives.
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the responses received to the Government Equalities Office’s recent consultation on closing the gender pay gap.
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): I am glad that the Minister agrees that the information should be accessible and meaningful, and companies must know that the Government treat this matter with the utmost seriousness. Will she therefore explain why, in the very week that the Prime Minister was proclaiming his support for action at the Conservative party conference, Conservative MEPs were voting against a recommendation that companies should disclose their gender pay gap? Is she not worried about the message that that sends out?
Diversity Reporting — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Minister’s warm words on women in technology, but she will know that the British Computer Society’s recent IT scorecard showed a lamentable lack of progress in increasing the proportion of women in tech jobs. She will also know that I have long campaigned on this subject. Companies that hide on this key issue for our economic future are betraying the next generation of engineers and technologists. What will she do to ensure that companies and her Government publish information on tech diversity?
Redcar Steelworks — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour, Centre-left): The official receiver has indicated that the Government have released no further funds to buy coke. The last shift at Redcar coke ovens pushed the final bed this morning. One hundred and seventy years of steelmaking have come to a terrible, shuddering halt in only four weeks Since the liquidation announcement, we have learned that the original figure of £80 million was a public relations gimmick. There is no new money. Why has the Secretary of State continued to ignore calls to provide at least £30 million of new money, when it has been demonstrated that that money is guaranteed under statute for any worker who undergoes redundancy? Why have no colleges or training providers dealing with SSI workers, contractors and downstream workers received any additional funding on top of their existing budgets? What are the estimated clean-up costs of the Teesside Cast Products site in Redcar? How will security and funding be guaranteed for the Redcar bulk terminal and beam mill, which are still in operation? Why are arguably the best coke ovens and the largest blast furnace in Britain, which are on one of the handful of sites in the EU where production costs are lower than 90% of other EU sites, being allowed to close, while less efficient sites continue during this global steel price downturn?
Redcar Steelworks — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister is overseeing the death of 170 years of steelmaking on Teesside. It does not have to be the end—the site is still viable. You’ve thrown the towel in. I have literally just got off the phone to people on the site. German companies are willing to buy foundry coke that we can produce in the coke ovens. That sells at £520 a tonne, compared to £190 for ordinary coke. The site is viable. We have companies willing to invest. We have companies willing to come in and supply the coke ovens to keep the plant running and to do the mothballing. You are not giving us time. You are just throwing the towel in. The official receiver has not done proper diligence. We can find buyers, we just need three months. Please, keep the plant alive. You hide behind the excuse that it is the Thai banks, the Swiss banks, the American banks, the British banks—this is British industry.
Redcar Steelworks — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I do not question the Minister’s efforts, but she has clearly been hung out to dry by the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary. Many small companies in the north-east are affected by this closure. Has the Department drawn up a register of where they are, and what measures will she put in place to help those small companies that are creditors?
Redcar Steelworks — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Dakin (Labour, Centre-left): The coke ovens and the blast furnace are national assets, and this Government should do everything, even at this eleventh hour, to secure them so that they are not lost and are instead retained in order to allow the future to be bright again.
Wilson Doctrine — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I am very grateful to you for what you have just announced. Given the Leader of the House’s announcement earlier that we will have a statement from the Prime Minister on Monday—such statements sometimes run for an hour or even two hours—and that we will then have this three-hour debate, there will not be much time for the Psychoactive Substances Bill.
Wilson Doctrine — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): No. The Leader of the House says that that is our fault. It is for the Government to make provision for matters of interest to the whole House and to make proper provision for scrutiny of their own legislation.
Armed Forces Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Maria Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Of course, the hon. Gentleman has a lot of knowledge of these matters, and I appreciate that such issues, as the Minister must have found, are very complex and difficult. Given the seriousness of the incidents and the fact that the Government undertook to look at the matter, it is important to have a full discussion about why they have come to the conclusion they have. I have not said that I disagree with the conclusion, but I think the House needs to probe fully why the decision, which she undertook to keep under review, was made. We will seek to probe that further during the Bill’s passage. I say no more than that.
Armed Forces Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. I can understand the temptation, but I do not want to open this pretty technical debate into a general point-scoring debate on policy. As I say, I can understand the temptation, but I am sure the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Brendan O'Hara) will want to stick to what we are debating.
Armed Forces Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I am not sure what point the hon. Lady is making. That is what I referred to. That is Labour party policy and it has not changed with what has happened in our great party in the past few months.
Armed Forces Bill — House of Commons, 2015-10-15
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): Order. We have moved way off the subject of the Bill. I understand that there is a desire to keep proceedings going, so I am not trying to pin it down to a tight debate, but I like to try to keep the debate on the subject of the Bill at least a little, so I am sure that the hon. Gentleman could mention it now and again. Given his experience, I know that that will never be a difficulty.
Refugee Camps: Winter — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Immigration
Questions: Refugee children in Europe also face a tough winter. Last week the UNHCR expressed concern that unaccompanied children moving within Europe are at a heightened risk of violence and abuse, especially in overcrowded reception centres, while Save the Children operations in Italy and Greece have identified that these children are suffering a high level of psychological distress. Does the Minister agree that just because these children have arrived in Europe, it does not mean they are safe? Will he have a word in the Prime Minister’s ear to remind him that I wrote to him on 11 September and am still awaiting an answer
Diane Julie Abbott (Labour, Centre-left): There are terrible reports of the conditions in the Syrian refugee camps on Greek islands such as Lesbos, with no dry clothes, no shelter, no food, and children sleeping in bin bags, and conditions can only get worse as winter approaches. Are the Government really prepared to turn their back on people like these?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): What we are talking about are tax credits for people in work. The Prime Minister knows that; he understands that. He has lost the support of many people in this country who are actually quite sympathetic to his political project, and some of the newspapers that support him have now come out against him on this. He did commit himself to cuts of £12 billion in the welfare budget, but repeatedly refused to say whether tax credits would be part of that. In fact, he said that they would not be. Will he now give us the answer that we are trying to get today?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): I have asked the Prime Minister five times whether or not people will be worse off next April if they receive working tax credits. He has still not been able to answer me, or, indeed, many others. May I put to him a question that I was sent by—[Interruption.] It may seem very amusing to Conservative Members I was sent this question by Karen. She wrote: "Why is the Prime Minister punishing working families—I work full time and earn the ‘living wage’ within the public sector. The tax credit cuts will push me and my family into hardship." Can the Prime Minister give a cast-iron guarantee to Karen, and all the other families who are very worried about what will happen to their incomes next April? They are worried about how they will be able to make ends meet? He could give them the answer today, and I hope that he will. I ask him for the sixth time: please give us an answer to a very straightforward, very simple question.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Other
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Leader of the House has pointedly refused to answer any questions about the terms of reference of the panel of experts, its members and whether they will be paid, or whether they will be able to take evidence. He said that he would make those details available in the fullness of time. He has chosen not to make a written ministerial statement or an oral statement to the House, so we cannot presume that he will make the details available to the House before he makes them available to the rest of the country. I wonder whether he might now like to leap to his feet to point out that he will make all the details available in the Library.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend will be aware that concerns about the challenges facing the steel industry have been raised repeatedly in this House—I think there have been 10 debates—and there have been repeated questions, meetings, exchanges with officials from the Departments for Business, Innovation and Skills and of Energy and Climate Change, and others, for more than two years. Is she surprised, as I am, that it has taken until today for the Business Secretary to get on a train to Brussels and try to sort out this mess?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): I certainly am surprised. If the Business Secretary needs an Opposition day debate to encourage him to do his job by going to Brussels and talking to the Commission after years of not doing that, we will secure more such debates and persuade him to do his duty, which he should have been doing in the first place.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anna Catherine Turley (Labour, Centre-left): I was proud to secure a Backbench Business Committee debate on the crisis in the steel industry. It took place just one day before the Redcar steelworks paused production, yet we were accused by the Minister for the northern powerhouse of "showboating". Does my hon. Friend think that that is an appropriate description for a parliamentary debate?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Geraint Richard Davies (Labour, Centre-left): On the EU helping out, does my hon. Friend agree that there is a strong case for carbon tariffs from the EU so that we do not displace clean steel produced in Britain with dirty steel produced in China and elsewhere?
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2015-10-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Angela Eagle (Labour, Centre-left): Yes, I do Rather than hiding behind the European Commission, why do the Government not take action first on energy-intensive industry payments and get retrospective approval later? That is what Germany did with its Renewable Energy Act 2012. It provided support to producers of renewable energy from January 2012. It did not submit the Act for prior state scrutiny. It let the Commission investigate and then state aid approval was received in November 2014, two years after it had first provided support. Why can our Government not look after the interests of UK steel in the same way? It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Government have been so slow to act because they have an ideological aversion to any Government intervention. We have a Secretary of State who will not let the phrase "industrial strategy" cross his lips We on the Labour Benches support international trade, but free trade must also be fair. China is currently responsible for a tsunami of cheap steel, which is being dumped on European markets. The UK should be at the forefront of demanding rapid and effective action to stop it.