argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Foreign and Security Strategy (EUC Report) — House of Lords, 2016-06-07
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher Samuel Tugendhat (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I want to thank everybody who contributed to this very thoughtful debate and say how grateful I am for some of the remarks made about the committee and my chairmanship of it. When I listened to a number of the contributions, I realised what a long agenda of possible subjects the committee has in front of it. I am sure that my successor was listening equally attentively, and I will follow with interest the path she takes in response to much of what was said today I thank the Minister for her thoughtful and encouraging reply. I take this opportunity, through her, to thank the officials in the Foreign Office, who were uniformly helpful, not only on this report but on the various other reports with which I was involved. I express my appreciation to them Many points were made that I would like to take up, but the hour is late and it would be doing the House a disservice were I to do so. I will confine myself to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, who talked about his wish that the EU would set an example to other parts of the world on how sovereign states can work together in a post-modern world. That is what the EU used to do. It was an exemplar, an example that people tried to follow. As a result of the mismanagement of the eurozone crisis and a number of internal issues—of which, I am sorry to say, the British problem has been an important one—the European Union has lost that position. I nurse the hope, as I think many other noble Lords do, that if we vote decisively to remain within the European Union, it will be seen as a vote of confidence in the institution and will give renewed confidence to the EU and to the rest of the world in the ability of the EU to fulfil its objectives.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Energy
Matthew Ridley (Conservative, Centre-right): I apologise for interrupting and am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for allowing me to do so. Given that he is not moved by the arguments made by the Front Bench on our side, perhaps I could try an argument on him that might appeal particularly to a Scottish Liberal Democrat. News came in recently, in the last month or so, of a study that has found that the density of breeding golden plover goes down by 80% when a wind farm is built on a particular piece of moorland.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Energy
Arthur Wellesley (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I immediately declare an interest in land in South Ayrshire, as detailed in the register of interests I support the Minister. Recently, I read very interesting figures showing that, in Scotland, there is now 16 gigawatts of installed or consented capacity of onshore wind farms, against a peak demand of 6.5 gigawatts. The shocking figure has emerged that, in 2015, £90 million was paid in constraint payments—that is, to pay wind farm owners not to allow their turbines to turn. Surely this is mad economics. There is no justification whatever for allowing any extension of the deadline for subsidies to wind farms that are consented, and I therefore urge noble Lords opposite to support—
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Government Operations
Arthur Wellesley (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, my understanding is that the Conservative Party announced in its manifesto that it wished to terminate these subsidies earlier than originally anticipated. That is a manifesto commitment that we in this House are now asked to agree. My argument would be that, however deserving the case may be, there is no justification for extending beyond the deadline established in the Bill. That is why I urge noble Lords opposite to support the government amendment.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank noble Lords for participating in this debate and making their points as fluently and forcefully as they have in the past. I shall deal with the points in the order they were made during the debate, and will therefore refer first to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace, who spoke about the grace periods and the timeliness of what we are doing, saying that this is the Government’s fault. The point I was seeking to make was not so much about the delay as the constant ping-pong, given that the other place has given a very clear view. This measure was passed there by a substantial majority—far larger than the Government’s overall majority; it was not just Conservative Members who voted for it So these points are relevant, and I hope that the noble and learned Lord will accept that the Liberal Democrats have no monopoly in determining what justice is. We have sought to be just in setting grace periods and allowing for an investment freeze, so although we differ on where we think justice lies, I will take no lessons from the Liberal Democrats—that this is the definition of justice that has been handed down from on high The difference between us is this. We feel—
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): We Conservatives have put forward our own definition of justice, rather than seeking to put a gloss on it in a way that is helpful to the noble and learned Lord’s argument The essential difference is one of deployment. Every proposal put forward by the noble and learned Lord would increase deployment. We feel that we are doing the right thing in balancing the interests of investors with the wider interest, what was in the manifesto and votes in the other place The noble and learned Lord raised the issue of steel, suggesting that this measure would make a massive difference and therefore we have to adopt it. As is widely recognised, the Government are committed to doing everything they can on steel, and indeed are delivering—on procurement, on relief on energy costs, on action against dumping. I hope that we will have his support in those matters I turn to the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, who, with his customary passion and fervour, put forward arguments in relation to an area that he knows well. I respect where he is coming from—of course, I understand that—but I do not think that there is any ambiguity in relation to Sorbie. I have checked this and do not want to give a running commentary on planning issues—I should not seek to do that and it would be unwise to do so—but it seems to us that it is very clear that Sorbie falls the other side of the line. I do not think that there is any ambiguity there but, as I said, I cannot really give a running commentary on it.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Lord is being very creative. I do not think that there was any legal doubt about it. He has referred to it previously as a technicality in a broader sense. I will write to him if I am wrong on that. We will double check but I do not think that there is any uncertainty in relation to that matter I move on to what was said by the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, in relation to CFDs. That of course goes wider than the current debate, which is focused on wind deployment, but I take on board what she said. We have made statements about new technologies within CFDs. The CFD system is designed with this in mind. As I think the noble Baroness knows, CFD auctions for less-established technologies will be taking place later this year in relation to pot 2, and further details will be issued in relation to that.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Energy
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): To me, unnecessary subsidies—and I think we are entering into that area—are undesirable. Solar, for example, is being deployed without subsidy, as we know, and that will no doubt happen with onshore wind. All the evidence I see is that those technologies where we do not need a subsidy, we should not be subsidising, and that is the international message that is coming across. Al Gore and others who are not necessarily supportive of the Conservative view say that we should not be subsidising unnecessarily, and we are very much of that view I turn to the noble Baroness, Lady Liddell, who sought to characterise the House of Commons as a big boy with a stick or a bully. That may happen on occasion but it is perhaps an incomplete picture of what, after all, is the elected Chamber, and this measure was passed by a significant majority in the House of Commons.
Energy Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-04-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Bourne (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I understand the point that the noble Baroness is making, and I thank her for her general support for what the Government are doing. Clearly, we need legal certainty. We feel that we have delivered on a grace period to take account of some of the difficulties that there are and the investment freeze position. We have made movement on grid delays and radar delays as well. I say to the noble Baroness that the line has to be drawn somewhere; as soon as you start to unpick it and make exceptions for one or two categories then one or two others come into play. I understand that there is great difficulty in drawing the line anywhere, but unless you draw that line, every case could be an exception. That is the point I am making I thank my noble friend the Duke of Wellington for some interesting insight on the situation. As for the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, who said that my noble friend would not get his vote, I do not think any of us got his vote, so that was probably fair to all of us I turn to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Grantchester. He talked rather uncharacteristically—I am not sure whether he really meant it—about vindictive and aggressive attitudes and the adoption of a UKIP stance. I hope he has evidence that that is what we have been doing because it does not cut the mustard with us. As the noble Lord well knows, we do not listen to UKIP on anything, thank goodness. There can be no suggestion that this is vindictive or aggressive. It was in the manifesto, which people voted for; it has been debated in the other place numerous times; and we were responding to views heard up and down the country. He might not like the policy but I do not think that he can characterise it as vindictive or aggressive We have the date of 18 June and I repeat to the noble Lord that that is not arbitrary: it is the date that the announcement was made. We believe that this is an unnecessary subsidy and that we have got justice by balancing issues such as the investment freeze and the grace period with the cut-off point. There is a very clear policy, which has been endorsed several times by the other place. I urge noble Lords to oppose any amendments and vote for the main Motion.
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Alastair Cooke (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, like all who have spoken in this very interesting and wide-ranging debate, I warmly endorse and support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice. We seem to have strayed also into Amendment 2, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Empey, and I have great sympathy with what he said about it. However, I think that this debate is primarily about Amendment 1 We all remember the deep sense of crisis that existed last summer in Northern Ireland with regard to the extent and viciousness of paramilitary activity. It has been touched on from time to time in this debate, bringing it home to us again. The latest police figures show that nearly 100 people were injured last year as a result of paramilitary assaults or shooting incidents. The sooner the new commission is able to get to work, the better it will be. The effectiveness of its work would surely be most usefully demonstrated by regular twice-yearly reports. No one speaks with more authority on this matter than the noble Lord, Lord Alderdice, who is hugely respected for the work that he did on the Independent Monitoring Commission, to which tribute has been paid today. I would like to be part of that tribute The Government will have noted the strength of feeling that exists and I hope they will respond in the way that all of us who have spoken in this debate would wish.
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: International Affairs
William Trimble (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, everything that has been said by the previous three noble Lords who have spoken is significant, and how people feel about things and the language that is used is also significant, but in assessing the legal situation we must bear in mind that Ireland—the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Free State, whatever you want to call it—operates under a formal, written constitution. Here, I am speaking from memory, not having consulted documents to refresh my memory and ensure that it is accurate, which is a dangerous thing to do, but the 1937 constitution, in giving a name to the state, said that the name of the state was "Éire, which in English means Ireland". That is a nice one to reflect on. That constitution was still in force in 1949, when the state was declared to be a republic, but that was legislation. No amendment was made to the constitution, so in Irish constitutional law, the name remained unchanged.
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: International Affairs
William Trimble (Conservative, Centre-right): My apologies. I hope that the microphone caught what I was saying and that the noble Lords could hear it, but I thank the noble Lord for drawing my attention to that. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, will not mind if I turn my back to him for the rest of my comments; that is no reflection on him at all I was saying that the 1949 Act did not change the Irish constitution, and in Irish constitutional law the name remained unchanged. There is nothing unusual about that, where common popular usage varies from the formal usage. There is a central European state that is always described incorrectly in our media as the Czech Republic. The name of the state is Czechia, but we call it the Czech Republic because we find it difficult to get our tongue around the name Czechia The point where we run into difficulties is that the Irish constitution was changed as a result of the agreement in 1998. What the noble Lord, Lord Empey, said about that agreement was absolutely true. But the question then is: did that constitutional change change the name of the state? I rather suspect that it did, but I would like to go and check. Perhaps I will pause at that point and leave the Minister to direct inquiries on our behalf.
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew Dunlop (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, in rising to respond to this short debate, I will echo the noble Lord, Lord McAvoy, in saying that when we have heard from two very eminent historians, the noble Lord, Lord Bew, and my noble friend Lord Lexden, we should tread very warily—but tread I must Amendment 2A relates to a number of clauses in the Bill that deal with the Independent Reporting Commission. As my noble friend Lord Lexden made clear, he raised this issue at Second Reading and I am very grateful to him for giving the House an opportunity to debate it this afternoon. My noble friend has proposed that the reference to "Ireland" in Clause 2(3)(a) should be changed to "Republic of Ireland". I have known my noble friend for well over 30 years and know that throughout that time his interest in and commitment to Northern Ireland has been constant and steadfast—and his sense of history is unfailing. Having also worked under his tutelage, I can also personally attest to his great attention to important detail With regard to my noble friend’s amendment, I can confirm that it has been the practice since 2006 to refer to "Ireland" in international agreements and in UK legislation, and that the references to "Ireland" in the Bill are therefore in line with current drafting practice. Indeed, I think I am right in saying that the legislation that established the IMC in 2003 used the term "Ireland". So the Government are confident that the 1949 Act does not require the use of the term "Republic of Ireland".
Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: Government Operations
Andrew Dunlop (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this has been a short but important debate. Clause 8 makes provision for a new undertaking to be given by all Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, in line with the fresh start agreement. To be clear with the Committee, it was necessary to introduce this undertaking through Westminster legislation because the Assembly is prohibited by the Northern Ireland Act from introducing a requirement for its Members to make an oath or declaration as a condition of taking office. The Assembly has established mechanisms for holding MLAs to account for their adherence to the existing Assembly code of conduct, through the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges and the independent Commissioner for Standards. The Assembly already has the power to introduce measures to investigate alleged breaches of the undertaking and to impose sanctions for any such breaches The amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Empey, assumes that Standing Orders would be the obvious vehicle for introducing any such measures, but this is not necessarily the only vehicle. For example, it may be open to the Assembly to legislate. There may of course be other options, and it is right that the Assembly should be able to debate and explore the available options for itself. Indeed, the whole issue of devolution was mentioned by my noble friend Lord Trimble. There is considerable value in the Assembly and not this House determining how MLAs should be held to account for any breaches of the new undertaking, just as this House holds its Members to account for their behaviour. Any such measures would of course need to be built upon cross-community support in the Assembly, and it must be right that Assembly Members should be subject to scrutiny for their conduct To answer the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, the Government will of course encourage the Assembly to consider carefully how this might be achieved. However, for the reasons I have given, I urge the noble Lord to withdraw this amendment.
BBC Charter Review (Communications Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2016-04-21
Topic: Government Operations
Peter Fowler (Conservative, Centre-right): So far, my noble friend has said that there is basically going to be no change—certainly not to the government control of the charter. But when she and the Government come to make their proposals in the White Paper, is it their intention that they will be put to the vote in the House of Commons and House of Lords?
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Keen (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, in an effort to avoid a double act, I wish to repeat in the form of a Statement a response to an Urgent Question given by the Secretary of State for the Home Department in the other place on violence in Marseilles at the Euro 2016 Championships. The Statement is as follows "The trouble that occurred in Marseilles involving England supporters was deeply disturbing. I also made it clear that co-ordinated groups of Russian supporters were responsible for instigating a good deal of the worst violence. I note that UEFA has announced this morning that Russia is subject to a suspended disqualification from the tournament. This Government’s priority now is to work with the French authorities to ensure that the events of the weekend are not repeated This morning I updated Cabinet colleagues on the full range of measures that we are taking ahead of the match between England and Wales in Lens on Thursday. It had already been agreed with the French that an additional contingent of United Kingdom police spotters would be deployed to help identify troublemakers. The Foreign Office is advising supporters without tickets that they should avoid travelling to Lens and nearby Lille. The Foreign Office has drawn fans’ attention to the fact that Russia is playing Slovakia in Lille tomorrow afternoon and said that English and Welsh supporters should be on their guard Stadium security is an area of significant concern following the breakdown of segregation in the Vélodrome stadium. We are acutely conscious of the dangers when crowd management inside a stadium goes wrong, and discussions are in hand with the French police about reinforcing the stewarding operation in Lens on Thursday night The House will already be aware of the robust operation in place in this country to prevent known troublemakers subject to football banning orders from travelling to France before the start of the tournament, which has seen almost 1,400 passports being surrendered. Following the violence in Marseilles, nine British nationals were arrested and six have now been given custodial sentences for their involvement in the violence. Our expectation is that all will be subject to additional court proceedings on their return to the United Kingdom to examine whether banning orders should be imposed We are deeply concerned at the very serious injuries suffered by some England supporters in Marseilles. The Foreign Office has additional staff in France and is providing consular assistance to those who have been hurt and their families. We are confident that all the measures we and the French are taking will help, but I would conclude by echoing the England captain and manager, who have urged fans to stay out of trouble. As the UEFA decision in relation to the Russian team shows, the penalties for individuals and for the teams they support could be severe if there is more violence in the days ahead" My Lords, that concludes the Statement.
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Richard Keen (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot say to what extent the European arrest warrant will have to be deployed in respect of persons responsible for these actions in France. However, persons who return to England may be subject to the civil procedure relating to football banning orders, which results in the loss of their passports. With regard to co-operation, there has been co-operation between the English and French police authorities since well before the championship began, and that co-operation continues.
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Douglas Hogg (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, would it not be desirable for the Russian Government to provide the kind of assistance to the French Government that the United Kingdom Government are providing? Will my noble and learned friend tell the House what steps we are taking to encourage that?
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Keen (Conservative, Centre-right): We are not aware of the steps that the Russians are taking in response to the events in Marseilles. The question of where the World Cup should be held is for FIFA, not for the Government.
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Keen (Conservative, Centre-right): We will take the Russian Government’s response into consideration. Indeed, I understand that the Russian Sports Minister was present in the stadium at Marseilles at the time of the match. It will be the subject of the further ongoing inquiry that has been initiated by UEFA.
Euro 2016: Fan Violence — House of Lords, 2016-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Keen (Conservative, Centre-right): It is not a case of being complacent. The question posed by the noble Lord proceeded upon the basis of the suspension hanging over the Russian team becoming an actuality. It has not become an actuality, and it is only that hypothesis that I referred to