argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland) — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend puts his points very well. It is worth recalling that some paramilitary assaults have involved teenagers—young people—and in some instances such assaults are child abuse. There is a real brutality to some of the cases we have seen in Northern Ireland in recent years. That is another reason why it is vital that we see an end to paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.
Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland) — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): I wholeheartedly agree that the terrorist activities of those groups was never justified, and I pay tribute to the role played by the hon. Lady’s party and the other parties in Northern Ireland that stood out against terrorism throughout the 30 years of the troubles. The crucial way forward for those groupings is to cease involvement in criminality. Their members should stop their criminal activities, and it is vital that the police continue to do all they can to pursue anyone who continues to be involved in such activity.
Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland) — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have said on a number of occasions, anyone involved in criminal activity should expect to face justice, and the police will pursue anyone involved in such activities. On the organisational structures, the assessment provides further information beyond what the Chief Constable was able to share in his statement. Parties and individuals, however, will continue to have questions about the organisations and how they are run and structured. That is another reason why a formal ongoing verification process to try to move us forward towards resolving the problems once and for all will be an important part of a successful outcome to the talks.
Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland) — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): The security forces have placed a huge priority on seeking to prevent the dissident republican groupings from carrying out lethal attacks. In recent days there have been two examples of attacks on the state by those groupings. It is crucial that the PSNI and its security partners both north and south of the border continue to do all they can to keep people in Northern Ireland safe from the terrorist threat from dissident republicans, and I am confident that they will do that.
Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland) — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Anne Villiers (Conservative, Centre-right): I have discussed this important matter with the Home Secretary on a number of occasions. I draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to the part of the report that makes it clear that the UK Government are open to extending the strategy to Northern Ireland in the future. Given the particular circumstances, we do not think that is appropriate just now, but we are happy to work with the devolved bodies to share best practice and do all we can to counter extremism in whatever form it comes.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will be aware that the Conservative manifesto made it very clear there would be £12 billion of welfare savings, so this was clearly flagged up. Will she explain where, if she opposes the measure, she will find the savings—which other benefit would she cut, or which tax would she raise?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): After an intervention, the hon. Lady asked whether Government Members had been listening to the media. I listened to an interview she gave on Radio 4 this morning. She gave only two examples of changes that she would make to the tax system. One related to inheritance tax and the other was to raise the tax threshold to 50p. In 2017-18, that would raise only £270 million. Where would she get the other £4.2 billion?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will know that when the tax credit system was created it cost £4.4 billion to administer, whereas this year it will cost £30 billion. Will she admit that the only credible welfare system is an affordable welfare system?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Protecting working people’s economic security is, and always has been, a priority for this Government. We are passionate about that, because we believe in people being allowed to meet their potential and fulfil their aspirations from wherever they come in life. Our mission is to get wages up, tax down, and welfare under control. The reforms to tax credits must be understood as part of a wider package of reforms that includes an increase to the personal allowance, increased childcare provision for working families, and of course the national living wage Next April the legal minimum pay for a full-time worker will be £1,300 higher than it was the year before. We have done that at a time when businesses have created record numbers of jobs—1,000 a day and 2 million in total, and the highest rates that we have ever reached. Coupled with strongly rising wages, more hours on offer and low inflation, our policy is delivering security and prosperity for working households up and down the country. That is what the country deserves and that is what we are doing.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): As a matter of fact, living standards have this year reached beyond their pre-crisis point, or indeed any prior year We can make lasting economic reforms only because we have taken the tough decisions to get this country back on its feet after the financial crisis that crashed into Labour’s structural deficit, which was among the highest in the developed world. Some choose to indulge in a game of "What if we had unlimited money?" We face facts. In 2010, the Government inherited a deficit of £153 billion. That is almost £6,000 for every household in the country. Our budget deficit was 10.2% of GDP. For every £4 the Government were spending, £1 was borrowed. That could not be allowed to go on, because when Governments lose control of the national finances, those who lose the most are generally those who have the least.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister is making some excellent points and I fully support his desire to reduce the deficit and reform tax credit. This is a listening Government, so I just wonder whether, in the coming weeks as we consider the impact of the reform and in terms of compassion, it might be worth looking at tweaking the child tax credit—or the marriage allowance, which is very low—to try to soften the blow. I do not expect the Minister to answer now, but that is surely worth considering.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister not agree that the Opposition have completely ignored the background, which is that at the moment wages are rising at a rate of 3.5%? We are seeing wages rising. The policy is working and it would be wrong in those circumstances to continue to subsidise and act as a drag on wages by using tax credits in the way they have been used.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): As a result of this Government’s strong economic management, we are indeed seeing strong wage growth coupled with strong employment growth. This is the right time to make lasting economic reform On the deficit, much progress has been made, but this year we are still having to borrow £3,300 for every household in the land. To tackle a deficit of that proportion requires all income groups to share the burden. I agree with the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) that it is right that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the most.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): To put this issue into context, will my hon. Friend confirm that the average taxpayer is paying £1,900 extra in tax this year just for the cost of Government debt interest? Is not the only way to reduce this debt tax on ordinary taxpayers to get rid of the deficit and pay down the debt, something which the Labour party seems incapable of grasping?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): It is indeed an extraordinary amount. For every month we fail to deal with the deficit, not only would we be racking up more debts for all our children but we would be incurring greater interest charges in the here and now, which means money not spent on other essential services.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady, who is a veteran and very experienced in the House, will know I cannot pre-empt anything in the Chancellor’s autumn statement on this or on any other subject. She was right to vote with the Government on the statutory instrument. As I will be outlining in my remarks today, this is a reform package of measures for working people. It is the right thing to do for the future of those families and the future of our country.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I must make some progress The tax credit reforms are an important part of fiscal rebalancing, but they are only one part. On the same day that the tax credits lower threshold and higher taper rate take effect, we are reforming dividend tax and pensions relief for those on high incomes, and initiating a further clampdown on tax avoidance. Those are three measures among a set that also includes: the end of permanent non-dom status, restrictions on landlords’ tax relief and the continuation of a top rate of tax that is higher than it was in 4,718 of the 4,753 days the Labour party was in office. If we look at how the burden of deficit reduction is spread through society, the simple fact is this: the distribution of spending among income groups is constant between 2010 and 2017, while the burden of tax has shifted towards the best-off.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend brings me on, quite handily, to my very next point. When tax credits first came in, their aim was entirely noble, but they quickly soared out of control. The total cost more than trebled between 1999 and 2010, ending up costing £30 billion in 2010. Scandalously, while spending spiralled under the previous Government, in-work poverty actually rose by 20%. Now, we can kick a problem down the road or we can do something about it. We chose to do something about it. Our reforms do not abolish tax credit or anything close.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I heard the hon. Gentleman make this extraordinary point on "Newsnight" last night. He talks about an average. If we have an upwards curve, and we draw a line through it, of course it is going to be lower in the middle than at the end. The point is the bill kept on rising—
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister share my astonishment that despite being asked four or five times, his opposite number failed to say how the Opposition would fund this £4 billion? Does that not demonstrate that Labour cannot be trusted with our public finances?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Today’s bills will be paid at some point. We believe that the challenges for this generation should be dealt with by this generation, and we believe we need to get our finances under control and eliminate the deficit, and not just pass on the problem to our children and grandchildren.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not deny that pay restraint in the public sector is difficult, but that 1% restraint has also protected 200,000 jobs in the public sector, which is an important aim. In addition, since 2007-08, pay in the public sector has risen faster than in the private.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I keep saying I must make some progress. For the moment, I think I must mean it These reforms of tax credits go hand in hand with the new settlement for working Britain that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out in the last Budget. At the same time, we are introducing radical measures to put more cash where it belongs—in the pockets of hard-working people. Our increases to the tax-free personal allowance mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer—
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker Our increases to the tax-free personal allowance mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer has seen their income tax bill cut by £825 since 2010. We are adding a further £80 next year and a further £40 the year after.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): As always, my hon. Friend is correct, and she brings me on to my next point. Already, more than 200 firms, including some of our biggest employers, have announced they intend to pay staff at or above the national living wage before it comes into effect, which has helped to push private sector wage growth to 4.4%, according to latest figures, at a time of low or no inflation Then there are the wider things we have done on living costs. We have frozen council tax and fuel duty. On childcare, we have already introduced 15 hours for the 40% most disadvantaged two-year-olds, which is just through its first full year of operation and still ramping up. From 2017, there will be 30 hours for working families with three and four-year-olds, and just the additional 15 hours will be worth £2,500 per child per year.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): The statutory instrument does not affect the level of child tax credits. The hon. Gentleman, being a keen student of these matters, will know about the taper for tax credit awards and the stacking effect of the different elements, but the child tax credit, as the Prime Minister said, is not being changed.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I am conscious of time and know that many people want to speak Perhaps most important is the wider effect of the national living wage. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that as the national living wage imposes upward pressure further up the scale, 6 million people will get a pay rise. That effect starts now, but it will continue rising right up to the end of the decade. We are not just talking about a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage economy; we are seeing it happen.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman’s intervention is timely. Had he been listening—that might sound as I did not mean it to sound—he would have heard me talk about the wider effects of the national living wage. It affects not just people on the national minimum wage, but a much wider distribution. Most economists estimate that it would extend about 25% up the income scale.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): It does answer the question. The hon. Gentleman was suggesting that this proportion would not benefit from a national living wage, which is incorrect. A lot of people who are not on today’s minimum wage will also benefit to a sum of about—[Interruption.] I am asked how many—the estimate is that about 6 million people will benefit directly or indirectly.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): The harsh reality that we face is that we have a budget deficit equivalent to £3,300 for every household in the country. We need to take firm action on that now. It is right, as I said earlier, that the burden is spread right throughout society, but it is also right to shift the burden towards the upper end, which is what has happened with the tax burden.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister will know that many Conservative Members, including me, are concerned about these changes. I will not, however, vote with the Opposition because of the nature of the vote and its non-binding effect. However, further to the reference point—[Interruption.] If a few more Labour Members had turned up at the original vote, we might have won. Let me take the Minister back to the point made by the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon). Will he confirm that the autumn statement offers the opportunity for the Government to mitigate some of these effects, whether it be through a change to the order or through other tax changes? Can he confirm to me and many others on the Government side who are concerned that the Treasury is looking at other things that can be done to help this group of people?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Social Welfare
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): There are a number of mitigating elements involved in the package. We have been talking about the national living wage, and there are major—[Interruption.] These things are all new. There are major extensions to childcare provision. We have reductions in social rents, and increases in the income tax personal allowance.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I conclude—I am very conscious of the time—I want to address a couple of points about poverty. The best route out of poverty is employment. We have created the conditions for the private sector to create record numbers of jobs—over 2 million since 2010. The best way to target in-work poverty is, first, by helping people move up the hours scale and, secondly, by increasing wages. We are seeing wages rise strongly, and we are seeing living standards rising by 3.1%, year on year.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not giving way again, as many people want to speak and I am coming towards the end of my remarks The number of people in in-work poverty is 200,000 lower than it was at its peak in 2008-09. Let me remind Members of the surest way to create poverty and to dash the aspirations of working families up and down the country. It is to lose control of the public finances. We are making sure that that never happens again. We are driving down the deficit; we have set out the path towards surplus; and through our Charter for Budget Responsibility, we are making sure that we insulate ourselves against any future shocks the world economy might throw at us. We do all this while delivering a new settlement for working Britain—one where decent wages are not subsidised by the public purse, but met by employers; one that says to employers, "You can have very competitive tax, but you must pay your people properly"; one that allows hard-working people to keep more of the money they earn; and one that offers a way out of reliance on benefits and top-ups through work that pays Those have not been easy decisions to make, but we face a £3,300 per household deficit, and if we reduce the level of state support people are inevitably affected. But tough decisions become necessary decisions when we are working towards the most important and the most progressive goal of all—economic security for working Britain in an uncertain world. Our new settlement for working Britain is an integral part of that. We will continue down the path of economic security, stability and opportunity for working Britain.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that it is now the policy of the SNP to use the new tax-raising powers shortly to be introduced to increase income tax in Scotland in a year or two’s time to increase tax credits in Scotland?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the parties represented on his side of the House have made a series of apocalyptic predictions about the British economy since the 2010 general election, and that, one after another, those apocalyptic predictions have been proved wrong? Why should we believe your predictions now?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman knows, he is making many points with which I agree. I know that he is keen to be honest with the House, but will he be clear about one thing? Tonight’s vote will not overturn the changes in tax credits, although a vote in the other place may do so at some point in the future. Today’s debate is a good opportunity for us to express our concerns, but I do not want the hon. Gentleman to lead anyone who is watching it to believe that the vote will be on tax credits. Even if the motion is passed, it will make no difference. Will the hon. Gentleman be clear about that, please?
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Labor
Rebecca Faye Clark (Pow) (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you so much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I remembered as soon as I had said it that I should not have said it. Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker The hon. Gentleman asked just now what it was that we wanted in our constituencies. What we really want is a better future for everyone. We do not want people to be hard done by. Will the hon. Gentleman comment on this? We want more jobs, a better future, more money and better childcare, all of which the Minister has outlined today.
Tax Credits — House of Commons, 2015-10-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has talked four or five times about doing the right thing, but is it not important to recognise that that includes doing the right thing by the next generation, which stands to be saddled with billions of pounds of debt that cannot be paid back?