argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He is, in a sense, performing a kind of double act today with the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), two seats to his left. What I would say to the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), who is a very experienced denizen of the House, having previously served as its Deputy Leader, is twofold. First, as he knows, the scheduling of business is in the hands of the Government, notably in respect of Government business. Although his expectation, as things stand, as to when that matter will next be treated by the House may well be correct, it has not been announced Secondly, the scheduling will, in all probability, be announced at business questions tomorrow by the Leader of the House. If it is not, there will be an opportunity for that matter to be probed. I know I can say with complete confidence and with no fear of contradiction that just as the right hon. Gentleman is in his place now, so he will be at the appropriate time tomorrow, and I think there is more than a passing possibility that he will catch my eye.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter James Bottomley (Conservative, Centre-right): We have heard the suggestion that the Prime Minister said something that was wrong. We heard from the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), from the Scottish National party, that the bit between the ends of the Forth crossing, which I would call "the bridge", was actually made with steel that was not produced in this country.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Whatever else may be said, and it may be a point of enormous interest, that is manifestly not a point of order. We will leave the matter there for now. If there are no further points of order, perhaps we can now come to the ten-minute rule motion in the name of the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington. Whatever he may have to say tomorrow, I assume that today he intends to address his ten-minute rule motion.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will have to be a little patient, because I am going to come on to talk about evidence from around the world of some of the problems that other systems have encountered when trying to embrace electronic balloting too quickly and without adequate preparation I appreciate from previous debates on the Bill in this House that there are differences of opinion about whether electronic balloting is sufficiently safe and secure. Lord Kerslake said that he personally was convinced that the case for it had been made, and we have heard from others in recent minutes that they too are so convinced, but Lord Kerslake was good enough to say that he appreciated that others were not. I remind the House that the Open Rights Group gave evidence to the Speaker’s Commission in which it neatly summed up the concerns over the security of online voting. It stated: "Voting is a uniquely difficult question for computer science: the system must verify your eligibility; know whether you have already voted; and allow for audits and recounts. Yet it must always preserve your anonymity and privacy." That was the view of the Open Rights Group, and that is the view that we must investigate more carefully. Lord Kerslake explained that that was why his clause, added to the Bill in the other place, required that a review should be commissioned There have already been many reviews looking into this matter, such as those carried out by Electoral Reform Services, WebRoots Democracy and, of course, the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy. They have made encouraging comments about a move to electronic ballots, but none has been able to provide assurance on managing the risks. While there is still this doubt, I can see merit in exploring the issues further. And of course the important difference is that this review will be specifically in the context of electronic ballots for industrial action. So, in accepting that there should be a review, we accept the spirit of the clause on electronic balloting. In fact, we accept virtually the entirety of the amendment made by the Lords on electronic balloting.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): No, I am not going to give way again; I am going to carry on with my argument. The review will report accordingly to the House The power to permit electronic balloting already exists in section 54 of the Employment Relations Act 2004, but we have not yet exercised it because we have not been convinced, and neither have any previous Government, including a Labour Government that held office for 13 years, that the system would ensure privacy, opportunity and minimise the risk of fraud and malpractice. There has been much positive progress in the way that technology can help to address such issues, which is reflected in the reports I have cited. We have been clear that we will be willing to use the power when we are convinced that the concerns have been adequately addressed. The legislation is framed in a way that requires us first to be satisfied on such matters, and for good reason. That is why, instead of a strategy for roll-out, I am today seeking agreement to a statutory requirement for the Government to publish their response to the review, which would be laid before Parliament, making it readily accessible to hon. Members, who could ask questions and raise matters in the House in the usual way.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): Madam Deputy Speaker, I can assure you that my relations with the Socialist Workers Party or its newspaper are probably rather less good than the hon. Gentleman’s, so it was not through my good offices that it got hold of any document—not that I accept that it did get hold of any document The hon. Gentleman asks a reasonable question, and I have made it clear that the Government have no objection in principle and that we expect statutory elections eventually to move towards online voting, but we will do that with trade union strike ballots when we are convinced that such voting is safe. That is why we want an independent review that will report to Parliament. I will not prejudge its outcome, because if I did, it would be slightly pointless to have the review in the first place.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is a fan of "The X Factor" and so are many of us, but she will recognise that, important though it is to the public, "The X Factor" is not a statutory election. While I am absolutely happy to acknowledge her expertise, I hope that she will acknowledge the evidence of the Open Rights Group. It is not a Tory front organisation—she can investigate it—but an independent specialist organisation that gave evidence only last year and said that there were specific issues to overcome. She will also have to explain to the review why it is that several countries have experimented with online voting and then reversed the decision because they found it to be unsafe. The review will allow us—
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): No, I will not be specific, because we are going to set up an independent review involving people with real expertise in the matter. The hon. Lady will be welcome to give evidence to the review, which will produce a report that will be laid before Parliament. She can then interrogate the report and the Government’s response.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Felicia Jane Beatrix Drummond (Conservative, Centre-right): On the point being made by the Opposition about the Conservative party’s online voting, I found it impossible to get on to the site and was unable to vote for my candidate in the mayoral election. Did my hon. Friend experience the same issue?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I did not have that issue, but that does show that there can be issues with online voting, as there can be with postal voting. While it is not a matter of enormous public interest, because it was not a statutory election, we would be very worried if a statutory election, such as a union strike ballot, was subject to the same level of problems.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I am quite happy to explain again that it is not a statutory election The review will allow us to consider again the case for e-balloting and ensure that we have assessed the latest technology. Taken together, the review and the Government’s response will enable the Secretary of State to make a properly informed and transparent decision about the risks of achieving safe, secure electronic balloting, and therefore whether such a system should be rolled out.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes a good point—[Interruption.] My hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) suggests that submissions should be inscribed on vellum, and my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office has a particular enthusiasm for that means of communication, but I prefer the more modern kind, so I suggest that an online submission—perhaps even by WhatsApp—might be appropriate Turning to the reserve power to cap facility time, the Government do not agree with the Lords amendment.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady, who made an admirable and, for me, rather challenging contribution to our deliberations in Committee, knows that we do not comment on legal advice If publication, and the proper monitoring and recording that it necessitates, do not achieve the aim of bringing excessive spending on facility time back down to a reasonable level, it will be necessary to consider the imposition of a cap. A reserve power is very much a power of last resort.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right. What is reasonable can vary according to the organisation and the situation of that organisation, which is why we want to collect two years of data before we establish what seems to be a reasonable level by looking at comparable organisations. I will come on to the fact that we will also be creating the possibility of removing the cap from an organisation if it has a particular situation, such as the one that he describes, that would justify a much higher level of spending on the different kinds of facility time.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Let us clear that up. The hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard) will get used to the fact that if one says "you", that means me. If one says "the hon. Gentleman", that means the Minister.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
David Michael Davis (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman comes right to the point. He does not have to rely on the good will of this Minister, who I am sure will be in the Cabinet in six months. The reason I asked the Minister to outline at the Dispatch Box the Government’s intent on receipt of the report was that, if another Minister were ever tempted not to follow the explicit policy line we have now, the hon. Gentleman and I could hold that Minister to account in this Chamber.
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Other
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Could you advise me whether it is in order for the House to spend quite so much time talking about my career prospects, because I do not feel that that is really helping?
Trade Union Bill — House of Commons, 2016-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas Edward Coleridge Boles (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not want to take up time because lots of Members want to speak, but may I draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to elections conducted in the Philippines? Interestingly, a company called Smartmatic—chaired by a former Labour Minister, his colleague Lord Malloch-Brown—was put in charge of conducting online voting for the entire population of the Philippines. There was a hack, in which the identity data of 70 million people were stolen, and a report said that every registered voter’s data were open to abuse.
British Normandy Veterans: Légion d’Honneur — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mark Lancaster (Conservative, Centre-right): The Légion D’Honneur is established by law in France, with set requirements for scrutiny and approval. Within those limits, the French authorities have done their utmost to expedite the issue of the awards. As in the UK, such honours and awards are generally not made posthumously. I can confirm that the cases of Mr Barbour and Mr Nankivell have been submitted to the French authorities. Unfortunately, there is no record of an application for Mr Carncross, but if one is submitted, I will ensure that it is expedited.
Defence Spending: Small Firms — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to highlight ways in which we can make the process easier for small and medium-sized businesses. For example, this year we removed the turnover requirement in the pre-qualification process, and we are working towards simplifying the contract terms and reducing them to just three pages.
Defence Spending: Small Firms — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is working hard to represent the interests of his constituents; not only did he raise this case last week at Prime Minister’s questions but I am pleased to say that we will be able to meet him and the administrators later today.
Defence Spending: Small Firms — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight that earlier this year we were able to announce contracts for some of the long lead-time items as part of that programme, and also to highlight the way in which small and medium-sized businesses play such an important role in that supply chain.
Defence Spending: Small Firms — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not recognise the figures that the hon. Lady cited. I can confirm that in 2014-15 we spent 19% with small and medium-sized businesses. She will be aware that, as she highlighted, the contract with Dun and Bradstreet for evaluating the characteristics of different firms, which is a Cabinet Office contract, ended in 2014. We are in the process of discussing with Cabinet Office colleagues what the successor framework will be like.
Litigation Against the Armed Forces — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Minister’s statement and urge him and the Government to press ahead with reforms in this area, in particular with regard to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of human rights laws and civil law limitation periods, so that we have accountability for rare acts of wrongdoing, but do not subject those risking life and limb for their country to vexatious litigation by ambulance-chasing lawyers.
Litigation Against the Armed Forces — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend to his place, and especially welcome his stance on this matter. He may have to spread his net even wider than he thinks. Is he aware that Phil Shiner, who has made so much money out of this situation, is trying to conceal his ill-gotten gains by threatening those editors who are threatening to expose him with recourse to the Independent Press Standards Organisation on the basis of so-called mental health problems?
Litigation Against the Armed Forces — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
Michael Penning (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work—not just as Minister for the Reserves but ever since he came to the House—for the reserves, in which he has served honourably, as well. Let us let the regulatory bodies do their work first and see what comes out of the other side, and then see whether any other processes, including perhaps even legal action, are needed.
Defence Procurement: Single-source Contracts — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): Competition remains the best way of securing value for money but sometimes we need to place single-source contracts. We therefore established a new regime backed by statute with an independent regulator to ensure contract costs and profit rates are both reasonable and transparent.
Defence Procurement: Single-source Contracts — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be aware that that is an ongoing subject of discussion, and of the commitment that General Dynamics has made in Wales in the part of the world she represents to create 250 jobs in the supply chain for the Ajax vehicles.
Defence Procurement: Single-source Contracts — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): Whether contracts are derived from single source or open competition, unnecessary costs can be incurred when design specifications are changed after the contract has started, for example with the Type 45s. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that late changes after contracts have started no longer occur?
Army Recruitment — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Civil Rights
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to an inequalities audit across the public sector. Given that the younger demographic from which the Army recruits is increasingly ethnically diverse, will my right hon. Friend the Minister commit to pay special attention to the recruitment, retention and promotion figures for black and minority ethnic service personnel?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps is my hon. Friend taking to assist current and former personnel who are concerned about the health effects of being prescribed Lariam anti-malarials when deployed overseas?
Mark Lancaster (Conservative, Centre-right): The Ministry of Defence takes the health and wellbeing of its personnel seriously and acknowledges its duty of care to provide the best possible support to them. I am delighted to be able to confirm today that, as part of that care, we have introduced a single point of contact providing information on mefloquine and signposting a range of services to help those who have concerns having taken Lariam. Further details are available on the gov.uk website.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: What steps is my hon. Friend taking to assist current and former personnel who are concerned about the health effects of being prescribed Lariam anti-malarials when deployed overseas?
Michael Penning (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been doing everything we possibly can to protect people’s personal details online. I went to Marham myself two days after that incident took place—the police investigation there is ongoing—to give reassurance not only to the serving personnel but to their families that we will do everything we possibly can to protect them.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Questions: What steps is my hon. Friend taking to assist current and former personnel who are concerned about the health effects of being prescribed Lariam anti-malarials when deployed overseas?; During the EU referendum campaign, the Government said that voting to leave would put the security of the UK and western Europe at risk, so will the Secretary of State tell me by how much the Government are increasing the defence budget as a result of the referendum’s outcome? Or was that in fact an example of scaremongering that we can add to the ever-growing pile entitled “Utter cobblers that the Government were spouting during the EU referendum campaign”?; Easat Radar Systems in Stoke-on-Trent is a cutting-edge business supplying coastal-based radar surveying UK waters and exporting round the world. This is the kind of British-based defence manufacturing we need as Russia continues to test our defences and security concerns about breaches to our coastline grow. The Minister for Defence Procurement is already coming to Stafford. I invite her to come to Stoke-on-Trent afterwards to visit Easat Radar Systems to give the business the support it deserves.
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is a doughty champion of businesses in Stoke-on-Trent. I know that the Secretary of State has already offered a meeting with businesses in that constituency, and I look forward to hearing more about the particular one he mentioned in his question.
Schools that work for Everyone — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The Secretary of State must be heard. Everybody, I think, on both sides of the House knows that, when ministerial statements are delivered, I, almost without exception, allow everyone who wants to contribute the chance to do so, and, believe me, today will be no exception—I am very sensitive to the differences of opinion in the House. Everyone will have a chance to question the Secretary of State, but meanwhile she should and must be heard with courtesy.
Schools that work for Everyone — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I think the shadow Secretary of State is bringing her remarks to a close. I have been generous, but she is a little over her time and I think she has either finished or is approaching her last sentence—a pithy one.
Schools that work for Everyone — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
Justine Greening (Conservative, Centre-right): In that case, all the more reason for us to bring forward the reforms announced today. It is nonsensical to make an argument in the way the right hon. Lady has just done and then say we should do nothing about it.
Schools that work for Everyone — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Other
Justine Greening (Conservative, Centre-right): I tend to agree with my hon. Friend, and I would add that on the one hand there is a vehement dislike of the status quo while on the other hand apparently an objection to bringing forward any reforms to change it.
Schools that work for Everyone — House of Commons, 2016-09-12
Topic: Housing
Justine Greening (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman argues about the status quo, while resolutely standing against any proposals to change it. As he knows, the challenge that we face is selection by house price. Parents simply do not have the choice if they are not able to buy a house in a catchment area. We think that is totally unacceptable and that grammars should do more to reach into disadvantaged communities, but we also think that parents in those communities should have the choice of a grammar if that is what they want.