argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): That attempted point of order suffered from the material disadvantage of not being a point of order. The hon. and learned Lady has made her point. Legal exegesis as between a court and an advocate-general is not a matter for the Chair. I would go so far as to say that it is well beyond my limited capabilities. I am grateful to the hon. and learned Lady for elevating me to a level of prowess that I cannot profess.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Perhaps the Secretary of State is invested with psychic powers—I have no way of knowing—but I am bound to say to the hon. Gentleman that in my dealings with the Secretary of State, I have never regarded him in any way as a bully. He is sometimes insistent upon his point of view, but I must say that I have never found him remotely pressurising. Dealing with him is not difficult at all.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I will take the point of order in a minute I was very generous to the Secretary of State. We all enjoy his rhetorical flourishes and I will not repeat the precise words, but he used a little formulation a moment ago that was very, very borderline as far as the procedures of this House are concerned. I very gently say to him that what passes muster at the Oxford Union might not be acceptable in the Chamber of the House.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Those addressing the House from the Treasury Bench get a degree of latitude, but I do note what the right hon. Lady says and I hope that contributions will focus on what the debate is supposed to be about, for if that were not to happen, there would have to be another debate on the matter in order to meet the terms of the commitment that has been given. That might be inconvenient for some people, but that debate on that matter will take place, and about that there need be no doubt on any Bench—Back or Front.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): No, no, no I hope that people recognise that I have tried to take as many interventions as possible, but we must now move on to hear from the principal Opposition spokesman and, of course, to make sure that as many Back Benchers as possible have their voices heard.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Just before I call the shadow Secretary of State, I have now to announce the results of today’s deferred Divisions. In respect of the question relating to environmental protection, the Ayes were 315 and the Noes were 235, so the Ayes have it. In respect of the question relating to immigration, the Ayes were 314 and the Noes were 276, so the Ayes have it [The Division list is published at the end of today’s debates.]
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. and learned Friend and I do not agree on referendums, but we agree on practically everything else. As he is a close political ally and a good friend of mine, I shall give way to him.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve (Conservative, Centre-right): In the spirit of trying to encourage the Government to be clear with the House, does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the difficulty with the Government’s motion is that the revocation route is not acknowledged? The Government may not want it, and of course there are different ways of reaching it—one is through a referendum; another is through a revocation by this House alone—but the difficulty with the Government’s motion as tabled is that it pretends that that route does not exist. It seems to emphasise a binary choice. Does he therefore agree that getting clarity on that, and possibly a correction, would be immeasurably helpful? Otherwise, it gives the impression that the Government are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I will come to the right hon. Lady’s point of order in a minute May I gently say to the right hon. Member for Meriden (Dame Caroline Spelman) that she cannot withdraw her amendment? Her amendment has not yet been moved. Her amendment is, frankly, in the hands of the House of Commons. If she puts forward an amendment and then chooses not to move it, that is for her judgment and people will make their own assessment of that. It is perfectly possible for other signatories to it who do stick with the wish to persist with it to do so I come now to the point of order of the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry).
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. On account of the level of interest in the debate and my desire to accommodate it as best I can, the time limit on Back-Bench speeches will have to be reduced to four minutes with immediate effect.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend knows, I never said that I would change my lifelong opinions on the strength of one opinion poll. If I fight an election and urge the case for a Conservative Government, but the Labour party wins and takes office, does my hon. Friend think that I should then attend this House as an Opposition Member supporting the Government’s policies because they had just won a democratic mandate for them? That is not how we do politics in this country. It would be an absurd way to proceed.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Mixed Topics
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): It is always a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), who rightly points out that when you are honest with your constituents and tell them how it is, they respect you for it. My constituents have seen that we have discussed the economic consequences of a no-deal Brexit time and again. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that some of my colleagues have chosen the irresponsible course. Given a choice between compromise and chaos, they chose chaos We all know the facts. No deal could tip us back into recession, and will cost the north-west jobs and cripple our exports. It would undermine the difficult decisions this Government have had to make to strengthen the economy over the past decade. It is time for this House to state clearly that no deal is not in the interest of our country or our constituents, and that we will not countenance it. The negotiation is over. The deal is over. No deal is no longer just a threat to drive a hard bargain; it is a threat to our economy, and a sign to any future trade partners of how unwilling we are to compromise.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. There is a lot of background noise. I am not sure that the acoustics are as helpful as they might be, and I apologise to the hon. Gentleman for that, but I urge him to project. Speak up, man—we want to hear you.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. There is much gesticulation. The right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) is seeking to intervene, but it is for the Secretary of State to decide whether to take the intervention. As I understand it, he is aware of the intended intervener but does not wish to take the intervention.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I fear that it is more a point of frustration. No impropriety—[Interruption.] Order. I accept that the hon. Lady might be irritated, but the right hon. Gentleman is not giving way and now is not a time for points of order. If she wants to make a point of order later, I will take it.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): For me, what we are engaged in is the most important democratic debate in this country’s history. The British people have given our Parliament a clear instruction. It is time for us to determine who is the boss.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Under the Order of the House of today, I must now put the Questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on the motion. We begin with amendment (a), in the name of the right hon. Member for Meriden (Dame Caroline Spelman), who has since advised me and, equally—or more importantly—the House that she does not wish to move her amendment. I thank her for her courtesy in telling me and the House. However, I am advised that her co-signatory—it is in the ownership of the House—the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) does wish to move the amendment.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The amendment must be moved formally. [Interruption.] Order. Do not tell me it is not moved. I know perfectly well what I am doing. The amendment is in the ownership of the House. The right hon. Member for Meriden has decided, perfectly properly, that she does not wish to move it; another Member who signed it does. It really is a very simple point for an experienced parliamentarian.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The great likelihood—I await further comment, but I think that I can say this without fear of contradiction—is that there will be further opportunities for these matters to be debated, but in the immediate term, please, let us have some courtesy. There will be further debate on these matters, of that I think we can be sure.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): If the right hon. Gentleman will forgive me—to be honest, even if he will not—I prefer to hear the remaining points of order and then to invite the Leader of the House to deliver the supplementary or emergency business statement. We will see what is intended to take place tomorrow. We may well learn tomorrow of what is intended to take place in subsequent days. There has been a clear expression of will by the House. I rather imagine there will be conversations among colleagues Ultimately, the House can debate what the House wants to debate. We will see what it wants to debate and what shape events take in the days to come. I do not want to express myself more forcefully than that—I do not think that would be right—but the right hon. Gentleman need be in no doubt that the matters will be fully debated. Members will have the opportunity to put their point of view. In all likelihood, many propositions will come to be tested.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Jacob William Rees-Mogg (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I wonder whether you might be in a position to confirm that, as a matter of constitutional fact, a motion of this House, though important, cannot override statute law.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): A motion of the House does not override statute law—that is true. If Members who have supported a motion want to ensure its ultimate success, further steps are required. I think that Members who have keenly attended to these matters in recent weeks are aware of that, and they know that there are opportunities available to them if they wish to take those opportunities.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I will take one who has signalled to me, the hon. Member for Wakefield, and then let us hear the statement by the Leader of the House. If there are then further points of order, I can take them afterwards.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I will take the right hon. Gentleman I would say to the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) that, as I think she is well aware, a number of Members across the House in recent weeks have had a concern about this particular policy issue. If significant numbers of Members across the House have a concern and a desire to act in common on this matter, it is open to them to explore the potential for doing so. They will find that they get professional advice on that matter, as any Member of the House is entitled to seek and obtain professional advice. It is not for me, here and now, to say exactly what should happen, but what I will say is that Members can work together and be heard.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): That is a very interesting philosophical question, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has focused on it. This House operates in accordance with its own procedures, including, importantly, with its Standing Orders. It is not for me to seek to interpret the will of the people. The hon. Gentleman is a most dedicated public servant who has now been in the House for a little over 18 months, and he may well feel that he is very close to his people—I do not say that in any pejorative spirit, but he may well feel he is—and that he is deeply attuned to the will of the people. I do not claim that I am, and it is not for the Speaker to be. It is for the Speaker to seek to facilitate the will of the legislature.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying, but the Government’s position is not a matter for me. I say as a matter of pride that I have never been a member of a Government; that has never been part of my ambition. I must say that it is a lot easier to be Speaker than to be a Minister. My responsibility is to consider amendments if they are tabled. If Members want to table amendments to the Government’s motion, they may do so. I rather imagine, from what the right hon. Gentleman has said, that he will want to do so.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Perhaps I can help the hon. Gentleman. I appreciate that he was listening attentively. There is no contradiction or tension whatever. He correctly surmises that tomorrow the House, as on every sitting Thursday, will meet at 9.30. However—I say this as much for the benefit of people listening to our proceedings as for the benefit of Members—Question Time is at 9.30, and at 10.30 we would ordinarily either have urgent questions or move straight to the business statement from the Leader of the House. I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s concern not just for colleagues but for me, but I am perfectly sanguine about a deadline of 10.30 for the submission of manuscript amendments, and I am comfortable that I will be able to make judgments in time for the start of the debate, and for the debate to take place on an informed basis. There is no problem there.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure that it is really for me to say that I expect one particular course of action or another. I feel, now that I have been around a little while, sometimes predictable things have happened and sometimes some very unpredictable and even, in some cases, rather curious things have happened, so I have got used to a range of possibilities and I do not think I would say that I expect this or expect that. What I do expect, not specifically of the Government, is that if Members feel strongly dissatisfied with what is on offer to them, they will communicate with each other and they will come forward, seek professional advice, seek my own and attempt to ensure that what they wish to be debated as elected Members of the legislature is indeed debated and, of course, by definition not just debated but voted upon by the House.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Following on from what you have just said, is it not a fact that if the moaning Minnies attacking the Government really had any guts they would table a motion of no confidence in the Government? That is how it is done traditionally, not through back-door means.
UK’s Withdrawal from the European Union — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): That is perfectly legitimate. The hon. Gentleman expresses his point of view with his characteristic force. It is open to people to table motions of no confidence—of course it is. That is a perfectly proper course of action and it can happen, and does, from time to time If there are no further points of order, we come to the emergency business statement by the Leader of the House.
War Pensions: Appeals Process — House of Commons, 2019-03-13
Topic: Other
Robert Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for giving way, and I thank the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders) for securing this debate. I make the point to the House that one of the things that Mr Cottrell might or might not have done is lean on his friends in the Ellesmere Port company. There is a Cheshire Regiment old boy network there, and that is very important. If the hon. Gentleman would like to give me more details—I seem to remember a Cottrell serving with me in Bosnia—I will make sure that there is a connection.
Speaker’s Statement — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): As I imagine most right hon. and hon. Members present are aware, there will be a service in memory of and in tribute to our departed colleague Paul Flynn. That service is due to take place in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and will begin at 10.30 am. However, I want to reassure the House—I do so on the authority of my Chaplain, the Right Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who will lead the service—that it will conclude well in time for colleagues to return to the Chamber for the one-minute silence at 11 am. The one-minute silence is of course to mark the second anniversary of the terrible events of 22 March 2017, when lives were lost After the one-minute silence at 11 am, we will have urgent questions. When those have been disposed of—I am using the parliamentary term "disposed of"—we will resume the debate on the Bill. I hope that that is helpful to colleagues as a roadmap for how we are going to proceed today.
Overseas Electors Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Civil Rights
Philip Andrew Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman says from a sedentary position, there have been many, and I am certainly not going to disagree. We probably should not have a Division on that, because I am certainly not going to disagree. In all seriousness, I think he made some very good points in what is now new clause 1. When he suggested the change in Committee, he said that the purpose behind it was "to ensure that people register at the outset so that we avoid spikes in registration in the immediate lead-up to an election period when, given everything else that is going on, electoral registration officers are at their busiest, their work is at its most hectic and they are under the most careful of examinations." He pointed out that as we very much saw "in constituencies across the UK at the previous general election, there was not just a flurry of late registrations, but in certain constituencies there were complaints afterwards that people had not been allowed to vote, even though…they had registered in time."––[Official Report, Overseas Electors Public Bill Committee, 31 October 2018; c. 103-104.] He also said that, in some circumstances, they had confirmation that they had been registered, but then found that they were not on the register, and that the new clause is intended to avoid those problems happening again.
Overseas Electors Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Immigration
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): At the start of his remarks, my hon. Friend said that we must be careful about repercussive measures. My concern is that the new clause is repercussive and will lead to calls for similar prompts for other kinds of people—new citizens, for example, or those turning 18. My other slight concern is about what kind of information registration officers are likely to receive about those intending to leave, or who have left. Surely if such a provision is to work, the email addresses of many more people would need to be available to registration officers, otherwise we will have no way of knowing that people have left or are intending to leave.
Overseas Electors Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Other
Philip Andrew Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I do not argue with much of what he said. If he thinks that the registration officer will not have much information, that is not a problem with the new clause. His argument seems to be that there is not much point to the new clause—in the second part of his remarks he did not point out a problem with new clause; he said that he did not think it would be used very much, but that is not an argument against it. He might be surprised at what the registration officer finds out. The fact that the provision might not be used often does not mean that it is bad to slot it into the Bill—it just might not be used very often.
Overseas Electors Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Housing
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): I must have expressed myself badly. My second question was about what would need to change on the forms and the things that we use to get people’s information. If someone is a new tenant in a property and the previous tenant has moved out and gone overseas, unless we have some other process or forms, often those new tenants will not know that the previous tenants moved to another country. They will therefore have no way of providing the information that the registration officer needs to provide the prompt suggested in new clause 1. My question was about the process that would be needed to support the new clause to make it work.
Overseas Electors Bill — House of Commons, 2019-03-22
Topic: Immigration
Neil John O'Brien (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is generous with his time. Will he address my first point about the repercussive nature of new clause 1? He says that it cannot do any harm, but it will surely prompt people to say, "Ah, we now need similar prompts for those who turn 18 or who are new citizens of this country".