argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19: Recovery Strategies — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Daniel Mosley (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Hayman on securing the debate and declare my registered interests. Over the past few days, we have heard the forecasts of the scale of the hit that the UK economy could take this year. Investment is needed on a massive scale to rebuild the economy post Covid. It is essential that this investment focuses on building back better We have seen the devastating effects of one ecological crisis in Covid. This must surely focus minds on working to avoid another, in the form of climate change. We must use post-Covid investment to focus on key recovery and our net-zero targets. The macroeconomic case is rock solid, with the Government able to borrow at negative real rates to invest in clean industries with high rates of return A key gap is investment in nuclear. Nuclear is currently the only mature low-carbon technology that can provide large quantities of firm, non-variable power into the grid. To mitigate the risk of no firm power alternative being available to meet the 2050 targets, the build rate of nuclear needs to expand significantly. The key issue remains the cost of capital, and the Government urgently need to clarify their approach to funding new nuclear. Will the Minister clarify in what timescales a decision and announcement will be made on the model for funding new nuclear? Fairness must also be a priority of the recovery. Thousands of new high-skilled jobs are needed to rejuvenate and level up the regions of the north and the Midlands, where I live. We need an evidence-based plan for recovery that fits these regions. Data must play a key role in how government policy is targeted. I highlight the excellent work of the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory’s independent economic review; it provides a unique dataset on the Midlands economy, which should be a key reference point for designing a recovery plan that fits the Midlands. Does the Minister agree on the importance of this data, collated at a regional level, to government policy-making regarding the levelling up agenda?
Covid-19: Recovery Strategies — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Environment
Deborah Bull (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, the palpable improvement in air quality over the past three months has been the silver lining in the Covid cloud. In London, there has been an average fall in nitrogen dioxide levels of 26%, with even greater reductions in some of the capital’s traffic hotspots. Across the UK, some cities have seen reductions of up to 60% compared with the same period last year. We will all benefit from this given the well-evidenced connection between air pollution and physical, as well as mental, health, but a study from Harvard has uncovered important links between air quality and Covid-19. It found that even a small increase in long-term exposure to fine particulate matter—the main source of which is vehicle emissions—leads to an 8% increase in the Covid-19 death rate. This is of particular relevance as we think about not just a cleaner economy post Covid but a fairer one Air pollution inequalities are mainly an urban problem, with research finding higher levels of pollution in the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods and in areas with a population more than 20% non-white. This means that ethnically diverse communities are, in general, exposed to higher levels of air pollution, increasing their already greater susceptibility to Covid-19. It is therefore surprising that this aspect of risk was not addressed in the recent Public Health England report on the disproportionate impact of the disease on our black, Asian and minority ethnic populations Can the Minister tell us whether the Government have plans to design differentiated recovery strategies for those areas more heavily affected by poor air? Cleaning up these pollution hotspots would not just maintain the unanticipated gains in air quality; it would help to tackle some of the UK’s most stubborn and persistent health inequalities. Levelling up is a laudable aim and one I support, but it cannot just mean rebalancing between north and south, urban and rural. It must also mean addressing the inequalities rife within our cities.
Covid-19: Recovery Strategies — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Environment
Helene Valerie Hayman (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister. I congratulate her on a comprehensive and indeed encouraging wind-up speech. My thanks go to everyone who has contributed and made this a rich and fascinating debate. It has been wide-ranging and covered an enormous number of subjects Despite that diversity, there are three themes that I would like to highlight which for me emerged as moral imperatives going forward. The first is the multiple inequalities in our society, and the fact that we will be able to say that we have succeeded only if we address them in the policies that we adopt. The second is the effect on the young, who are most at risk not only from the economic consequences of the pandemic but from the potential consequences of unmitigated climate change. My generation, the post-war generation, has had a golden life in many ways. We were not tested by war as our parents’ generation was but we have a test now, and that test is the legacy that we leave to our children and grandchildren The third theme is the need to rise to the scale of the challenges that we face and, perhaps above all in this excellent debate, to recognise that we will be judged not only on our words but on our actions.
Education Settings: Wider Opening — House of Lords, 2020-06-11
Topic: Education
Deborah Bull (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, does the Minister agree that schools play a vital role in not just academic learning but the development of social and emotional skills that lead to better mental health and academic outcomes? It is shown that the relationships built at school serve as a buffer against psychological and social risks, so the continued closure increases the vulnerability of many children, especially disadvantaged ones. Can the Minister help ensure that schools prioritise social and emotional learning when they reopen, alongside academic learning, and that they have access to adequate resources and specialist input to help support the most vulnerable pupils?
Covid-19: Social Care Services — House of Lords, 2020-04-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Tanni Carys Davina Grey-Thompson (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I draw attention to my interests in the register, in that I am a vice-president of the LGA. The Care and Support Alliance has reported thousands of people getting in touch with its members over this very issue. The questions I raised at Second Reading of the Coronavirus Bill are still valid and I will be writing to the Minister, because of our three-minute time limit today. To help proceedings, I have nine questions There is still a lack of adequate PPE for disabled people and their carers. One young disabled woman reported that she was verbally abused for not having adequate PPE available, even though it is difficult to obtain. Another young woman struggling with PA support was told that she should just go and live in a care home. My first question is: now that care home deaths are being reported, are HMG changing their strategy for this sector? A really serious danger is that some disabled people may be forced to move back to their families, which could be toxic or abusive, because that could appear safer than a care home Secondly, for transparency, will HMG report deaths in the community so that the true overall death figure is accurate; if not, why not Thirdly, HMG said that the delivery target was 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April. Is this on target and how many more need to be done? Was this a logistics aim or a medical aim? Will the Minister confirm that disabled people will not be excluded from testing Fourthly, will HMG review the carer’s allowance? Unpaid carers are also in a precarious position Fifthly, will HMG urgently review the guidance on direct payments? It is confusing and families are at breaking point trying to manage working from home However, my biggest concern is that, as I understand it, eight areas have switched on the Care Act easements. I can find the names of six: Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Birmingham and Solihull. So, sixthly, as a matter of urgency, can the Minister confirm that these six are correct? It was reported in the Law Society Gazette this morning—but has now been removed—that the other two are Croydon and Hertfordshire, although Hertfordshire has said that it has not triggered easement. This is very confusing for everybody. Can the Minister confirm which areas have triggered easement Seventhly, can he explain how these areas have apparently reached crisis point, such that they cannot carry out their duties to disabled people, but nowhere else has? Or are there more than eight Eighthly, how are disabled people expected to get advice if they do not know what law their local area is applying Finally, ninthly, does the Minister accept that HMG should publish regularly the full list of areas that have switched on Care Act easements and, if they are not prepared to do so, can he explain why not?
Covid-19: Social Care Services — House of Lords, 2020-04-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Susan Lilian Primrose Cunliffe-Lister (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, for securing this debate. That so many people are speaking shows how important this extraordinary virus is I have had many disabled people contact me. One was the wife of a man who has multiple neurological problems. His conditions, because he has several, were not on the high-risk list. He was told that he should work, even though he is vulnerable. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal is patron of the Spinal Injuries Association and I am its president. Princess Anne has written a personal encouraging letter. I shall quote one sentence: "I want to let you know that you are not forgotten." We do not understand why people with spinal injuries, who can be very vulnerable, are no longer on the most vulnerable list. One tetraplegic died because he was denied ventilation. Many disabled people live in their own homes and have live-in carers. With Brexit and then coronavirus, it has become very difficult to get helpers. Will the Government recognise this predicament and relax immigration rules for people coming from Europe, as they make very good carers? This is not only for people living in their own homes, it is for hospitals and care homes. We really are at risk.
Covid-19: Social Care Services — House of Lords, 2020-04-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Deborah Bull (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I join others in thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, for introducing this important debate. I will focus my comments on the impact on the UK’s 1.5 million people who live with learning disabilities. Their challenges have been exacerbated by this pandemic. They are already seven times more likely to be socially isolated and to suffer mental health problems, and so are at particular risk from the effects of quarantine. They are challenged to understand social distancing and they are at high risk of respiratory problems, making them more vulnerable to the virus While the action plan for adult social care acknowledges the Covid-related challenges of this community, disability advocates have raised a number of concerns about the plan and the sector’s specific challenges. Workforce support is a key pillar of the plan but is silent on pay increases, which is a significant factor in retention and recruitment. As the workforce includes 115,000 people from the EU, staff shortages are a long-term concern Concerns have also been expressed that the £1.6 billion emergency funding for local authorities to support social care providers is insufficient and that distribution across different areas is uneven. The noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, articulated concerns about guidance on the assessment of people with learning disabilities who contract Covid-19, with GPs wrongly conflating support needs with frailty and telling people that they will not be prioritised for treatment Finally, there are concerns about flexibilities to social protection introduced by the Coronavirus Act. Can the Minister provide reassurance that people with learning disabilities will not fall through the gaps and end up locked away in in-patient units? There are already 2,000 people in these units, often far from their families and held in inappropriate environments—sometimes confined to a single room—while awaiting the completion of their care and treatment reviews. I know personally one family in the midst of such a process, with a long-awaited solution tantalisingly in sight before coronavirus put everything on the back burner. Can the Government give this family and others like them reassurance that their needs will not go to the back of a long queue, or be forgotten altogether, once this immediate crisis is under control The desperate need for long-term reform of social care has been highlighted yet again by the situation we now face. In 1942, while the world was at war, the British Government produced the Beveridge report, and with it the basis for the welfare state. This crisis must inspire the same sort of visionary thinking. It is not just a question of how we react to this pandemic; it is about the legacy that this generation will leave behind.
Covid-19: Social Care Services — House of Lords, 2020-04-23
Topic: Social Welfare
Sheila Clare Hollins (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, the Covid-19 pandemic will be disproportionately felt by society’s most vulnerable people, including people living with learning disabilities. Care Act easements under the Coronavirus Act, which has been enacted by eight local authorities already, raise the bar for social care to the threshold of human rights violations. Despite government reassurances, people with learning disabilities are at real risk of seeing their care and support reduced or removed as the Care Act easements set a new high threshold for the provision of care For those with learning disabilities, Covid-19 has truly pulled the rug from beneath their feet. Visits are discouraged, employment and volunteering roles disrupted and day centres closed. These are not luxuries, they are essential components of keeping well in the community. For many of those with learning disabilities, this loss of routine, structure and meaningful human contact could be disastrous. For some, increased anxiety is leading to behavioural challenges that precipitate urgent hospital admissions under the Mental Health Act. Routine dental and other health appointments have stopped and people’s access to urgent treatment may even discriminate against them When the economy and people’s livelihoods were at risk, the Government announced unprecedented financial support. When more NHS capacity was needed, we built massive new hospitals across the country. But when vulnerable people saw their entire support network evaporate, the Government’s response was not to increase social care provision, but to watch it wither. I speak from personal experience and remind the House that I am a carer for my adult disabled son who is at home with me during lockdown. Three equally important areas—jobs, health, and supporting our most vulnerable people—have vastly different responses. This crisis adds urgent emphasis to the need for a properly funded national care service. I hope the Minister will say something positive about a future funding settlement. It is needed, and soon People with learning disabilities will need an increase in support to recover their confidence, meaningful occupation and friendships when lockdown ends. Can the Minister say what will be done to reverse the harm done by the loss of familiar support during this period, which for many will have been complicated further by other traumatic losses My noble friend Lady Masham spoke about the lack of recognition by the NHS of the respiratory risks faced by people with tetraplegia, like my youngest daughter. I share my noble friend’s and others’ concerns about difficulties recruiting to the care sector and our huge reliance on carers from eastern Europe, who are finding it more difficult to come here to work. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.
EU: Future Relationship — House of Lords, 2020-02-27
Topic: International Affairs
John Kerr (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord True, to his new responsibilities. I look forward to many a True statement. He emphasised the importance of our understanding that the world has changed and that we are in a brave new world that is all fresh. What I am worried about is whether the foreigners will see it that way. I am worried that the foreigners will still believe that the joint commitment in the political declaration to a level playing field perhaps still holds. I am worried that the foreigners—the 27—noting that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister are in denial about what the Northern Ireland protocol says and that no work is being done in Belfast or in London on implementing it, may feel that "pacta sunt servanda" is no longer the governing principle here. Will the noble Lord assure me that we still believe that commitments should be honoured? If that is his view, will he please raise it with the Prime Minister?
EU: Future Relationship — House of Lords, 2020-02-27
Topic: International Affairs
John Montagu (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, does the Minister agree that the European Commission responded very warmly in its mandate to what was proposed in the political declaration and that the Statements we have heard since, from the Prime Minister and today, have simply disregarded or hardly mentioned the political declaration, which was approved by so many members of his party? Can he reassure me that we will see a Statement very soon that includes things in the declaration? I am thinking particularly of international security, the CSDP missions that we do and international development.
Israel and Palestine: United States’ Proposals for Peace — House of Lords, 2020-02-27
Topic: International Affairs
Indarjit Singh (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge, for securing this important debate. The Balfour Declaration for the creation of a Jewish homeland stated, as we have been reminded, that the rights of existing inhabitants would be fully protected. Over the years, we have seen these rights systematically eroded. The declaration, although politically understandable, was based on a conflict-perpetuating fallacy that people of different faiths are so different that they have to have separate countries to survive. It is a fallacy that perpetuates prejudice and lasting hostility, as seen in the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, and partitions in many parts of the Middle East and—closer to home—in Ireland. This fallacy is inherent in the continuing conflict between two sister faiths in Israel-Palestine. Sikh teachings, put forward at the time of horrendous religious conflict between India’s Hindus and Muslims, emphasised that we should look beyond superficial differences, to commonalities that unite us; that for peace and harmony between people, we must recognise our common humanity A few years ago, I visited Israel with the then Chief Rabbi, my noble friend Lord Sacks. We met Jews and Arabs from all walks of life in a beautiful country packed with history; a country that in more peaceful times could live on tourism alone—and a country holy to three of the world’s great faiths. In all the people we met, there was a common yearning for peace, security, food and a decent standard of living. The American so-called peace plan seeks to perpetuate existing injustices against the Palestinian people by legitimising Israeli occupation of illegally seized Palestinian land and by giving Jerusalem to Israel. It is doomed to failure. For true peace, it is essential to recognise and respect common interests A viable peace plan should begin with a need to recognise that the involvement of outside powers, on one side or another, inevitably exacerbates conflict. Outside involvement is rarely in pursuit of justice, but in pursuit of so-called strategic interests—trade and political dominance. Such interventions widen conflict and suffering. Can any noble Lord in this Chamber deny that the involvement of Russia and the West in the Middle East has added to the suffering of innocent men, women and children, and the desperate plight of refugees fleeing bullets, bombs and rockets, and the destruction of their homes A better way forward would be for the UN to appoint a senior judicial figure, remote from political involvement and acceptable to both sides, to start from small beginnings and look to common issues and concerns. With extensive Israeli settlements all over Palestinian territory, a two-state solution—never a good idea in itself—is also not viable. Instead, both sides should look to easing travel restrictions and developing common social and economic initiatives to break down misunderstanding, leading to greater peace, security and trust. This is not easy but I believe it is the only way forward.
Finance Bill — House of Lords, 2020-07-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nicholas Macpherson (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I want belatedly to congratulate the Minister on his appointment to the Treasury. I had the good fortune of supporting from the official Box one of his distinguished predecessors, the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, in a Finance Bill debate back in the 1980s. I wish the Minister well in responding to so many speakers today The Chancellor set out a sensible Budget in March, and this is a sensible Bill. He has announced further measures since, all of which should support demand through a very difficult time, but we should be in no doubt that the best way to support the economy is to get on top of the virus and enable people to return to work When it comes to a temporary stamp duty cut, timing is everything. In the early 1990s, the re-imposition of the duty after a temporary cut may have added to the housing market slump which had then taken root, but I am happy to defer to the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, on that. In current circumstances, the cut could lift animal spirits and hence demand. In any event, I hope that the Chancellor will take the opportunity to look again at the stamp duty regime. Rates of duty are too high; they discourage people from moving. In a rational world, we would follow Ireland’s example, cut stamp duty rates and introduce a self-assessed property tax, but I am a realist and I do not expect this to happen any time soon Of course, dispensing largesse, whether through tax cuts or higher spending, is the easy part of the Treasury’s job. The Fiscal sustainability report, published by the independent OBR earlier this week is a reminder of the difficult part. On its central projection, the country will still be a running a deficit of over £100 billion in four years’ time, which is some 4.5% of national income. That suggests to me that we will need tax rises or public spending cuts of at least £50 billion to restore the public finances to a sustainable footing Public spending cuts can play a part—in my view, the abolition of the so-called triple lock for uprating the state pension is long overdue—but given the Government’s promise of no return to austerity, tax increases will have to deliver the bulk of the consolidation. For my part, I would recommend a social solidarity charge, payable on all income and with no reliefs. As the economy comes off life support, I encourage Treasury Ministers to lead a national debate about how the country will live within its means in the medium term.