argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Midland Main Line Electrification — House of Commons, 2016-11-07
Topic: Transportation
Paul Christopher Maynard (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me make it clear that we are committed to continuing the ongoing development work, and my focus today is on how, in the shorter term, we can deliver faster journeys and better trains for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents.
Midland Main Line Electrification — House of Commons, 2016-11-07
Topic: Transportation
Paul Christopher Maynard (Conservative, Centre-right): I will merely repeat what I have just said, which is that we are committed to the development of the ongoing electrification programme. I urge the hon. Lady today to consider the benefits that will accrue to her constituents and her local economy from the improvements in journey times that we are going to be accelerating through the new franchise process. There will be faster, better trains for her constituents, as well as constituents in Leicester, Sheffield and around the east midlands because of that.
Midland Main Line Electrification — House of Commons, 2016-11-07
Topic: Transportation
Paul Christopher Maynard (Conservative, Centre-right): I am continuing to stress to Labour Members that we are continuing to develop the electrification proposals. What we are focusing on today is ensuring that we have better quality train services on the inter-city routes by ensuring that the longer distance trains have fewer stopping places south of Kettering. Therefore, we are continuing that development work. I am not going to take lectures from Labour Members about the pace of electrification, given that the Labour party failed to electrify more than 6 miles in its entire time in government. We are electrifying the line from St Pancras to Corby and Kettering to enable faster journeys for commuters on that route, and then we are continuing the development work as planned to ensure that we continue to improve services to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, as we laid out Let me stress again that I recognise what my right hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough has said about the ageing rolling stock on the midland main line, but I remind her that although the HSTs are 40 years old, about three quarters of the inter-city fleet is made up of the Meridians, which are only 10 years old and are performing relatively well. Through the franchise competition, we will look to improve the rolling stock on the long-distance inter-city services. Across the country, rail passengers today are seeing the fruits of this approach to improving rail services. We need only look at the new stations at Manchester Victoria, Birmingham New Street and elsewhere across the country to see that My right hon. Friend also referred to freight, which I just want to touch on because it is very important to consider this in the context of the midland main line. The movement of freight is vital to the economic prosperity of the regions that export and manufacture. Indeed, a number of upgrade projects across the region, such as on the great northern great eastern line, have been specifically designed and delivered to improve freight paths for manufacturers in the region. Investment in transport across the UK—
Midland Main Line Electrification — House of Commons, 2016-11-07
Topic: Transportation
Paul Christopher Maynard (Conservative, Centre-right): I can only repeat what I keep saying to the hon. Lady, which is that she needs to focus on the fact that we are continuing our development work on the further stages of electrification. This is an incremental process. I am trying to emphasise that we as a Government are seeking to deliver the benefits that will accrue from a range of projects on the line as soon as possible through the new refranchising process. I urge her, when she gets the chance—[Interruption.] I ask the hon. Member for Sheffield South East very politely not to interrupt from a sedentary position. I urge hon. Members to look at Hansard tomorrow morning and to read carefully what I have said about what we wish to do with the new franchise. I have already offered to meet the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues and the Secretary of State to discuss how best we can improve the service to Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield in the short term while we continue to improve and deliver on the electrification process alongside that by continuing the development work. I have been clear about that today, and I am happy to make it clear to the hon. Gentleman again in any meeting that we might subsequently have Our enhancements are already being delivered, and we will be running an additional passenger train per hour on the midland main line into St Pancras as well as opening up additional capacity for crucial freight services. This will provide much needed extra capacity for passenger services on the stops from Kettering and Corby and other stations into London used by regular commuters into London, as well as allowing a reduction in journey times for passengers travelling from Sheffield and Nottingham via Derby and Loughborough into London I always welcome fact-filled debates and submissions from Members on both sides of the House. I thank them for their attention today, and I look forward to discussing this in more detail in the weeks to come.
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): The Crown Prosecution Service has this very month published guidelines on crimes involving social media, and it will publish a broader cybercrime strategy and guidance for prosecutors this autumn. All CPS prosecutors already have access to training on how to deal with cybercrime.
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady will know that the Government have in place many measures to deal with prevention; she is quite right to talk about the internet of things. When it comes to prosecution, I am confident that the CPS understands the international nature of this crime, particularly the exploitation by organised crime groups of cybercrime across the world and the need for co-operation with other jurisdictions to deal with it. Our cybercrime strategy will address a lot of the concerns she has expressed.
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): Do we not rely too much on prosecution guidance when it comes to cybercrimes, such as online abuse, when there is no substitute for clear primary legislation? Will my hon. and learned Friend carefully consider the proposals of the Law Commission’s 13th programme of law reform, which looks at offensive online communications, and will he advise our right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor that this should be a top priority?
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for the work she has done and continues to do to tighten up the law on offences such as revenge pornography. I believe it is incumbent on the police and on prosecutors to use the existing law more thoroughly, but if there is a case for further reform, the Government will of course look at it very carefully.
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
David Thomas Charles Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): There is little doubt that there has been a huge increase in cybercrime of all sorts over the past few years. Does the Attorney General think we have the specialist knowledge we need within all our law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem?
Cybercrime — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head. It is vital that the investigatory and prosecutorial authorities understand the global nature of cybercrime. I am confident that the new strategy, to be published very shortly, will address the very concerns that he has raised.
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Vulnerable victims and witnesses can already give evidence from behind a screen or via a video link. In addition, having piloted pre-trial cross examination, which allows vulnerable witnesses to pre-record all their evidence ahead of the trial, we will be rolling it out nationally.
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right that those witnesses are of particular concern. I am sure she will be pleased to learn that those kind of witnesses will particularly benefit from pre-recorded cross examination; where it has been trialled—we have trialled it in three court centres so far—about three quarters of the cases have been cases of a sexual nature, and most of the witnesses have been children.
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right that that is a serious concern for many of those involved in these kinds of cases. That is precisely why the measures I have described are of benefit. If all of a witness’s evidence is pre-recorded, they will not come face to face with the defendant at all. That is a huge benefit.
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): With the rise of social media, victims and, in particular, witnesses fear intimidation from the online community. Will my right hon. and learned Friend take into consideration protections in the digital space as well as the physical courtroom?
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, indeed—my hon. Friend makes an important point. We have to deal with a context that is very different from anything we have experienced before. It is important for people to understand that social media is not ungoverned space. The law applies there as it does elsewhere. If those using social media engage in behaviour that would otherwise be criminal, they will find it is criminal there, too.
Vulnerable Witnesses — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): We need to look carefully at how we might read across some of the things that are clearly working well in the criminal courts to other types of court. The hon. Lady is right to highlight that. There is huge scope for us to understand more about how people can give their best evidence. That, after all, is what court systems of all kinds should be looking for.
Leaving the EU: Devolved Administrations and Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What discussions he has had with devolved Administrations on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability to prosecute criminals.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office regularly engage with Scotland’s prosecution service and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland. The Government recognise the importance of retaining good co-operation with European countries on prosecutions, and will continue to engage with the devolved Administrations to seek the best arrangements possible on leaving the EU.
Leaving the EU: Devolved Administrations and Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What discussions he has had with devolved Administrations on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability to prosecute criminals.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman will anticipate, I am not going to prejudge the outcome of the negotiations and discussions we will have. It is of course right that the European arrest warrant and other measures like it are of huge benefit not just to this country but to our European partners as well. For that reason I am optimistic that we will be able to put in place measures that benefit both sides.
Leaving the EU: Devolved Administrations and Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What discussions he has had with devolved Administrations on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability to prosecute criminals.
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): Once we are freed from the freedom of movement rules, will the Crown Prosecution Service seek to prosecute EU nationals who commit crimes in this country and to ban them from returning to this country, which we are not able to do at the moment?
Leaving the EU: Devolved Administrations and Prosecutions — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What discussions he has had with devolved Administrations on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability to prosecute criminals.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will know that at the moment the CPS does indeed prosecute European nationals who commit crimes in this country. Some of the measures I have just described are of assistance not just in returning those individuals to be tried in this country but in gaining the evidence necessary to secure their conviction. As for the measures taken thereafter, sentencing decisions are of course for the courts. We will look carefully at what other measures might become available to the courts once we have left the European Union.
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The number of sentences considered by my office under the unduly lenient sentence scheme has increased by over 108% since 2010, from 342 to 713 requests in 2015. Of those, 136 were referred to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient, with the court agreeing to increase the original sentence for 102 offenders.
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): Stalking causes enormous harm and distress to victims, and the Government have rightly strengthened the law in this area. Will my right hon. and learned Friend consider extending the unduly lenient sentence scheme to cover these crimes?
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will know that as a party we have a manifesto commitment to extend the unduly lenient sentence scheme. A number of offences are surprisingly not included in the scheme at the moment. We need to look carefully at the whole range of criminal offences to decide what should be inside and what should be outside the scheme, but he certainly makes a good case for the types of offences we might consider including in the future.
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): Given that the need for an unduly lenient sentence scheme has been conceded, the public are very confused as to why some offences are covered and some are not. Would it not be simpler to have a scheme that covered all offences?
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a tempting proposition to give my office a good deal more work. There is no doubt that one of the advantages of the unduly lenient sentence scheme is that it is available to the public. It does not require the intervention of lawyers and it is, I hope, easy for the public to access. It should also be easy for the public to understand, and I am therefore in favour of drawing the line between cases within the scheme and those outside in a logical and easily understandable place. I would also say that it is important to bear it in mind that, even with an extended version of the scheme, we are talking about a very small minority of cases where judges err in this way. As I said, last year 102 cases were considered under the scheme to be unduly lenient. That is out of about 80,000 sentences passed in the Crown courts that year.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): We are leaving the European Union, but co-operation with our European and global allies will remain important. My office will continue to engage internationally to promote the rule of law, a shared understanding of international law and global co-operation on criminal justice.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Again, I do not think we should pre-empt the outcome of any discussions that will follow, but, as I said earlier, I think there is an understanding, not just in the United Kingdom but in the rest of the European Union, that the sort of co-operation on crime and security that we have now benefits both sides and will need to continue in order to make sure that we are all safer and more secure, and that we can successfully capture and prosecute the sorts of offenders he describes.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not fallacious for the remoaners to always say that once we have left the European Union, we will not have access to European institutions? Is it not the case that Europol, the Erasmus programme and the Eurovision song contest all have members who are not members of the European Union?
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not think that by grouping them together my hon. Friend is describing Eurovision as a criminal enterprise—although there are those who may say so. It is important, as he says, to recognise that leaving the European Union is not the same as leaving Europe, and it is certainly not the same as being unprepared to co-operate. We will be co-operating with a whole range of partners, because, as I have said, it will be in our mutual interest.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I am unwilling to commit to making the case for the Eurovision song contest, but it is very important that all in this House understand that the Government are committed to continuing our internationalist perspective and to keeping this nation and its citizens safe. I do not think the hon. Gentleman will hear, from any member of the Government, the view that we can do so without co-operating internationally. We will seek to do that just as successfully and just as fully as we have done in the past, inside or outside the European Union.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): How is my right hon. and learned Friend interacting with the Government of Romania? He will know that the Heritage Foundation has recently issued a report saying that the courts in Romania are subject to chronic corruption and political influence.
Leaving the EU: International Co-operation — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Whether he has made an assessment of the potential operational consequences of the UK leaving the EU on how his office interacts with its international counterparts.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not going to comment on the status of other court systems. What I will say is that part of the engagement that this country has abroad on the rule of law, in a variety of different countries, is designed to ensure that the long experience that this country has in running effective, efficient and fair court systems is transmitted to others where they ask for our help, and I am sure we will continue in that enterprise.
Prosecution of Sexual Offences — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring that prosecutors are able more effectively to prosecute cases of rape and other sexual offences.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): I regularly meet the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss this and other topics. The Crown Prosecution Service continues to prioritise rape and serious sexual offending and has taken steps to ensure that prosecutors are able to prosecute these cases effectively. Those steps include increasing the number of specialist staff in its rape and serious sexual offences units, providing specialist training for prosecutors and developing closer working arrangements with the police.
Prosecution of Sexual Offences — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring that prosecutors are able more effectively to prosecute cases of rape and other sexual offences.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes I do agree, and what the hon. Lady describes clearly does not sound acceptable or in line with the standards we would all expect. There are two things that I think are important. The first is that the prosecutors should be involved as early as possible, so that advice can be given to the police about the development of an investigation with a view to prosecution. The second is to ensure that when a case comes to court, we continue the communication that we should have had up to that point with victims and witnesses and that people are given to understand what is going on around them. Courts can be very confusing places, and we only add to the distress if we do not take the trouble to explain the process to those who are, through no fault of their own, suddenly involved in it. That is one of the things we will look to do better.
Prosecution of Sexual Offences — House of Commons, 2016-10-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring that prosecutors are able more effectively to prosecute cases of rape and other sexual offences.
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right that although we should welcome the increased volume of prosecutions that are taking place, there is still a divergence in the way in which this is done across the country. For that reason, the CPS has set up a national delivery board and is looking at ways in which we can understand why those differences exist and is attempting to resolve them. As my hon. Friend says, this is also a matter of making sure that prosecutors are properly trained, as they are, and have the resources they need to do the job well.