argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Scottish Economy: Support — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): The Scottish Budget last week should have marked the start of an ambitious recovery plan for Scotland, but instead it is a missed opportunity that will not deliver the recovery Scotland needs. Similarly, the UK Government’s Budget offered tax cuts for bankers on business class flights but nowhere near enough for hard-working families across Scotland and the rest of the UK. Does the Secretary of State accept that both the Scottish and UK Governments must go further so we can get the economy firing on all cylinders?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: May I start by wishing the Prime Minister and his family a happy Christmas? Last Christmas, I joined the charity Sewa Day in wrapping Christmas presents at Durga Bhawan Temple. I delivered a small number of the thousands of gifts the Hindu community had donated for children and adults across Sandwell. Will the Prime Minister join me in thanking Sewa Day, Deepak, Madhu and Reena, who I will be joining again this Friday at West Bromwich Shree Krishna Mandir?
Keir Starmer (Labour, Centre-left): Only last week, the Government were saying that plan B measures were not required. They are. Just like "the rail revolution for the north", "no one will have to sell their homes for social care" and "no tax rises", it is overpromise after overpromise until reality catches up. Does the Prime Minister understand why his own MPs no longer trust him?
School Openings: January 2022 — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Education
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I urge the Minister to take very seriously the morale out there in schools. We spend a lot of time, quite rightly, thanking NHS staff as frontliners, but teachers and the whole school community are also wonderful, hard-working people, so let us look carefully to morale and to the health of our children, which is paramount. Will he also look at early years and nursery provision, which is essential to people who want to go to work and have their children looked after properly? Will he please talk to the people at the National Day Nurseries Association, which is based in Huddersfield, because they are the experts?
Ajax Noise and Vibration Review — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Government Operations
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his tenaciousness in providing the report. The opening paragraph of the conclusion states: "Nothing in this Review detracts from the fact that GDUK has designed and built what MOD maintains is thus far a vehicle which is not fit for purpose and does not meet the contracted specification." In effect, we have a vehicle that does not work and has damaged our people, and GDUK has burnt something like £4 billion of UK taxpayers’ money so far. What the report does not actually outline, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (John Spellar) said, is a timescale for when decisions have to be taken. When will the decision on whether we are going to can this project altogether be taken? If it is canned, may I pick up on an issue raised by the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood), which is the exposure of the taxpayer? There is a big difference between GDUK and GD globally. Is the global company legally liable for the liabilities of the programme?
Ajax Noise and Vibration Review — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Labor
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his statement. These are indeed very serious concerns being discussed today and, as other Members have said, they need to be addressed urgently. Alongside that, the committed and loyal staff at General Dynamics in my constituency are very concerned and worried about the uncertainty of not knowing what the future holds. I appreciate what the Minister said, but can I press him to give further details on the timescale for the outcome of the review, and a further commitment to ensure that staff, trade unions and the company are fully involved in the discussions, to ensure that the workforce at Merthyr Tydfil are kept in the loop as much as they possibly can be?
Postmasters with Overturned Convictions: Settlement Funds — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Law and Crime
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): First, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) for wiping me out of the campaign, or not recognising my contribution to the campaign over the past few years. I first got involved in this campaign 10 years ago. My constituent Tom Brown was accused of stealing £84,000, which he paid back. After two years, the Post Office dropped the case having bankrupted the individual. He was one of the 555, and without them and the discovery that went along with that, the deceit, the cover-up and the downright lies would not have been exposed. He will now only get £20,000. The Minister has moved this on more than his predecessors, but these people need access to that justice. They only settled because the Post Office used £100 million of public money to force them to the negotiating table. They cannot be left high and dry; they were the people who got to the truth around this. They need fully compensating, even if they just get back what they paid back. In Tom’s case, that is £84,000 that the Post Office has that was never missing and is still in their coffers.
Postmasters with Overturned Convictions: Settlement Funds — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Government Operations
Stephanie Louise Peacock (Labour, Centre-left): Postmasters were criminalised by a culture that assumed that technology could not fail and workers were dishonest, so will the Minister tell us what steps the Government are taking to ensure that a scandal like this cannot happen again?
Postmasters with Overturned Convictions: Settlement Funds — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Law and Crime
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Centre-left): On the watch of the former Post Office managing director Mr Alan Cook, now the very well-paid chair of Liverpool Victoria, I understand more than 160 sub-postmasters were prosecuted and almost 60 went to prison. I hope the Minister is able to say how many of those sub-postmasters will be compensated and whether Mr Cook has been invited to give evidence to Sir Wyn Williams’s inquiry Specifically, does the Minister share my view that, for that record as well as his ill-judged effort to demutualise LV=, there are questions as to whether Mr Cook is any longer a fit and proper person to run a major business?
Speaker’s Statement — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Government Operations
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): I would like to announce the result of today’s ballot to elect the new Chair of the Home Affairs Committee. Three hundred and fifteen votes were cast with no spoilt ballot papers. The counting went for two rounds. There were 286 valid votes in the second round, excluding the ballot papers where the preferences had been exhausted. The quota to be reached was therefore 144 votes, and Dame Diana Johnson was elected Chair with 154 votes. She will take up her post immediately, and I would like to congratulate her. The result of the count under the alternative vote system will be made available as soon as possible in the Vote Office and will be published online—congratulations, Dame Diana Johnson.
Professional Qualifications Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2021-12-15
Topic: Education
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): I will not detain the House for long, but I put on record that I think the brevity of this afternoon’s debate more reflects concern about the rise of the omicron variant than it does a lack of interest in this important subject. Professional qualifications are a key part of many sectors of our economy and public realm. They are significant factors in the protection of service users, from consumers to covid patients. The Bill promotes mutual recognition and professional qualifications. It increases opportunities for many, including nurses and lawyers, to work here and abroad Many Members of the House will have constituents who could be impacted by the Bill. Newcastle has many professionals who may benefit from the recognition of their qualifications, and many businesses that might look to recruit international talent. As my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) emphasised, it is essential that we maintain our high standards and recognise that qualification recognition, although important to our public services and economy, will not solve our skills shortage. The Government must invest in skills and also give our regions the power to do so. I emphasise that because Labour wants Britain to be the best place in the world to live and to work. The Bill started in the other place and my Labour colleagues’ work on it certainly reflects that. Their scrutiny and amendments have significantly improved the Bill by securing statutory protections for regulator autonomy and statutory consultations with regulators. Regulating key professions is not a market option; it is essential to protect service users and professionals Unfortunately, it remains the case that far too much of the actual content of the Bill will be passed as secondary legislation. That is unacceptable. In addition, as emphasised by the hon. Member for Midlothian (Owen Thompson), the devolved Administrations are not adequately consulted and must have a voice. The Government have a duty, indeed, to consult them and to seek the consent of devolved Administrations as the Bill passes through the House The Government’s handling of the Bill has been chaotic. As my hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) said, they introduced the Bill without knowing which professions were in its scope. We have a weak Prime Minister without the support of his own Back Benchers. But it is absolutely essential that we protect our regulators’ autonomy to ensure that our standards are fit for purpose and that we protect the professional standards that British citizens have come to rely on. Labour is therefore demanding that the Government amend the Bill to ensure that Parliament is given the opportunity to scrutinise secondary legislation appropriately and that the devolved Administrations are included in the regulation-making process. I look forward to the Government recognising the validity of our concerns as the Bill passes through this House.
Great British Railways: National Headquarters — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): But of course, Mr Speaker. York is not just about 200 years of the history of the railways; it is home to some of the leading rail engineers of the future and digital rail, as well as leadership from our operations and rail systems. This cannot just be about hotspots where people have their favoured city; it must also be about bringing the rail community together to ensure we make the most of the future for our rail systems. Will the Secretary of State look very closely at the bid from York?
Rail Investment in the North: Levelling Up — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Questions: What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of his policies on rail investment in the north of England on the Government’s levelling up agenda.
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): Building Northern Powerhouse Rail in full with a stop in Bradford city centre will help to transform Bradford’s economy and draw much-needed jobs and investment into the district, yet the Government are now believed to be scrapping the plans for NPR. Will the Minister give me some certainty today and either commit to the plan, or admit that the reality is that the Government have no intention of delivering real, transformative change to the economy and lives of people in West Yorkshire?
Rail Investment in the North: Levelling Up — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Questions: What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of his policies on rail investment in the north of England on the Government’s levelling up agenda.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the Salisbury train collision and I wish those who have sadly been injured a speedy recovery. We must, in the near future, get to the bottom of how such an incident could ever have occurred After the Budget, northern leaders were left even more bemused than before about Government plans for the north. There was no mention of Northern Powerhouse Rail and nothing more on HS2’s eastern leg or the midlands rail hub. There is still no rolling programme of electrification and no sign of the mythical integrated rail plan, which Ministers have kept referring me to for over a year. What a complete lack of ambition for the north. How did this happen? Was it because the Secretary of State could not convince the Chancellor to invest in our country’s railways, or was it because the Chancellor thought that giving tax cuts to already wealthy bankers was far more important?
Bus Services — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Samuel Peter Tarry (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Minister to Transport orals for what I believe is her first set of questions In April, I raised the devastating impact of Government cuts on rural transport networks, which has led to what CPRE calls "transport deserts". I asked for "assurances…that significant investment will be offered" to support rural bus networks and "ensure that our rural communities are genuinely connected" The Minister of State told me: "There can be no greater champion of buses than the Prime Minister".—[Official Report, 29 April 2021; Vol. 693, c. 501.] He then gave assurances that funding was on its way Six months on, rural communities are still bearing the brunt of the Government’s failure to act. Many of the funding announcements in the Budget were nothing more than rehashed and repackaged initiatives that will do nothing to tackle the transport deserts that blight the lives of ordinary people in so many rural communities, towns and villages. I ask again: will the Minister offer rural bus networks the tangible and significant investment that they so desperately need? Will she offer a firm deadline for when that will be done?
Bus Services — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): Back in 2017, the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) was the buses Minister. As he will remember, we had many discussions about the Bus Services Act 2017 and audiovisual announcements. Incredibly, some four and a half years on, the proposals for audiovisual announcements have still not been implemented. When can I expect to see and hear them on buses in Cambridge?
Glasgow Airport: Airspace Modernisation — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Environment
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (Labour, Centre-left): We have an analogue airspace system in the digital age; the Minister is right in what he says. With the better ascents and descents of planes and the elimination of holding patterns, we will not only improve noise abatement but cut carbon emissions by up to 26%, as he rightly said. This is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit when it comes to the climate crisis, so can the Minister tell us what he is personally doing and how he is talking to the industry to unlock the funding we need to enable this programme to continue?
Rhondda Tunnel — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): I hope it will be very soon because, frankly, the harness is ready. The mines rescue service is ready to dangle the Secretary of State down a hole, and I will be right behind him On a serious point, the Rhondda railway tunnel is a disused tunnel that is 3,443 yards long. It belongs, oddly, to Highways England, so it is the Secretary of State’s responsibility. If we are able to reopen it as a cycle path, as many people hope, it would be the longest cycle path in Europe. It would be a major local attraction, which would be good for tourism and jobs in an area of outstanding beauty that unfortunately has terrible financial deprivation. The Secretary of State is welcome.
UK Transport Network: Decarbonisation — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Environment
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): With COP under way, the Government should be sending the strongest signals on transport decarbonisation. On the one hand we have the chief scientific adviser telling people to fly less, as did a report from the nudge unit that the Government quickly deleted and suppressed, but on the other hand the Chancellor is cutting air passenger duty on domestic flights and the Prime Minister flew back from COP on a private jet for a supposedly urgent appointment that turned out to be a dinner for Telegraph journalists. Does the Secretary of State agree with the chief scientific adviser, or does he agree with the Chancellor and the Prime Minister? He cannot do both.
East Birmingham Tram Line — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Liam Dominic Byrne (Labour, Centre-left): Last week’s Budget was a step forward, but if we strip out the re-announced money, we see that it was actually £1 billion less than the Mayor asked for. That shortfall jeopardises our potential to build the 8-mile tram line through east Birmingham, so will the Minister meet me and other Members from east Birmingham so that we can explain to him the cross-party ambition to build the line? We cannot connect what are the poorest communities in the country with the wealth created by High Speed 2 without the tram line, and we cannot level up what is, in effect, the fifth-biggest city in Britain without it.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): Five years ago, Sheffield looked as though it was going to benefit from a whole range of levelling-up measures for rail infrastructure, but then the electrification of the midland main line was abandoned in 2017; a positive 2016 report on a new road tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester seems to have lain in the bottom of some ministerial drawer since; and the high-speed rail line between Sheffield and Manchester seems to have become an upgrade to the Hope Valley line which, however welcome, means that trains will get to the very high speed of under 60 mph. The one thing we have left is the eastern leg of High Speed 2. Will the Secretary of State now commit to that eastern leg going ahead? Or is this simply another example of Sheffield being not levelled up but, together with whole parts of the east midlands, being forgotten about and left behind?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Environment
Questions: The Mayor of London is making cuts to seven bus routes in my constituency and has halted the upgrade to South Kensington tube station, at the same time as he has increased the congestion charge to £15 a day for my constituents. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this reeks of financial incompetence on the part of the Mayor and Transport for London?
James McMahon (Labour, Centre-left): May I begin by sending my thoughts and prayers to those injured in Sunday’s train crash, particularly the badly injured train driver, and, of course, I pay tribute to the emergency responders The British people are looking for leadership on climate change. The Budget was the clearest indication yet that the Government lack ambition, urgency and commitment after a wearying 11 years in power. The Government saw cuts to domestic aviation taxes, yet baked in inflation-busting rail fare increases and did nothing to reverse the rapid decline in bus use. Of the 4,000 new zero-carbon buses promised by the Prime Minister two years ago, not a single one is yet on the road. The roll-out of electric charging points is sluggish, and, today, there are 1 million more diesel vans on the road than when the Government came to power. So, next week, when Transport Day meets at COP26, what will change?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-11-04
Topic: Transportation
Questions: The Mayor of London is making cuts to seven bus routes in my constituency and has halted the upgrade to South Kensington tube station, at the same time as he has increased the congestion charge to £15 a day for my constituents. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this reeks of financial incompetence on the part of the Mayor and Transport for London?
James McMahon (Labour, Centre-left): With respect, our position on aviation and decarbonisation is absolutely clear. I want to stop the Transport Secretary not from flying, but perhaps from flying his own private plane Turning to smart motorways, it has been 10 months since I asked the Secretary of State to reinstate the hard shoulder immediately. No action followed. Instead, he ploughed ahead on smart motorway roll-out. Since then, whistleblowers have come forward confirming our worst fears: broken equipment; a lack of monitoring; and, ultimately, lives being placed at risk. This failure has had a devastating impact on people’s lives. Now that the Transport Committee has published its damning report and the families of those who lost loved ones on smart motorways were forced into Parliament Square this week to protest, will he do the right thing and immediately insist that the hard shoulder is reinstated today?