argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is so right. I think that everyone who knows people in the Ukrainian community in Britain, which is so large and so active and makes such a fantastic contribution to our life, feels a huge amount of sympathy for the people of Ukraine today. This is a country with which we have familiarity and which we understand. It is a country that is a democracy and shares our values. That is what is at stake today.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Energy
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): I strongly support the Government’s approach. As my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) said, this is not a faraway country of which we know nothing. However, may I ask what assessment the Government have made of the impact of the war on energy prices and oil prices, and the subsequent impact on people at home? What measures can they introduce to mitigate those factors, given that, as we know, the war is likely to increase the cost of living for ordinary folk throughout the country?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Energy
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is right: one of the risks of Putin’s venture is that there could be a spike in gas and oil prices. We in the Government will do everything we can to mitigate that and to help the people of this country, but it is one of the reasons why the whole of western Europe must end its dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady very much for what she is doing with the OSCE and the monitoring operation. I have met members of the OSCE monitoring unit, and I think they do an amazing job. Sadly, because of the threat and the duty of care that we have to them, we have asked them to step back temporarily. Let us hope we are in a better position by July—let us hope—but at the moment things are not looking good.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Crabb (Conservative, Centre-right): I strongly welcome my right hon. Friend’s resolute and clear-sighted statement. Does he agree that one of the things that Putin is looking for at the moment is any hint or sign of division or variance among members of the western alliance, and that it is therefore important right now to invest the time to go the extra mile and ensure that our allies, across Europe and including America, speak with one voice in the same way that we have spoken with one voice from the House this afternoon?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for what he has said. There has been a lot of commentary today about whether we should have gone further and gone with the whole package of sanctions unilaterally today, but one of the reasons we wanted to work in lockstep with our friends was to reinforce that message of unity and resolve in the west.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): The best way to avoid a refugee crisis is for President Putin to de-escalate, and the best way to get him to de-escalate is for the west to be united. That is why we are implementing the package of sanctions that I have described, together with our friends.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my right hon. Friend aware that just eight years ago this month 100 Ukrainian citizens died under sniper fire in the Maidan protest against the pro-Russian corrupt Administration of Viktor Yanukovych? Does he agree that the courage and the willingness of Ukrainians to give their lives in the fight for freedom and democracy in their country demonstrates that any further invasion is bound to lead to horrendous bloodshed on both sides?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is right. Since those demonstrations, 14,000 Ukrainians have died fighting for their freedom. He knows that country well, and he knows that it will continue to defend itself and fight for liberty.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Just to be absolutely clear, I know that the House wants us to hit Putin with absolutely everything that we have today, but what we want to do is prioritise unity among the alliance and among our friends and work in lockstep with them. There will be more to come.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Craig Whittaker (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the statement from my right hon. Friend, because sanctions from countries all around the world will without question hurt Russia. However, given the events overnight, Russia appears to feel that this is a price worth paying. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, with increased deployments to Poland, Estonia and Cyprus, we will do whatever is necessary—including militarily, if needed—to support NATO and our friends in Ukraine as this crisis develops?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): I am proud to represent a vibrant Ukrainian community across Huddersfield and my own constituency. I know that, as we speak here today, they will be deeply fearful for the safety and democratic freedoms of their friends and families back in Ukraine. Will the Prime Minister commit to unleashing the toughest possible sanctions on Russia and continue to support our NATO allies militarily in eastern Europe?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): Without the courage and ambition of Franklin Roosevelt’s lend-lease programme, Britain and the Soviet Union might not have been able to resist Nazi aggression in 1941. Can the Ukrainian people depend on the United Kingdom and our allies in Europe and north America to provide similar extensive support so that they might be able to resist further Russian aggression?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, and in every conversation I have had in the last few weeks and months about Ukraine, we have focused on this issue of supporting the Ukrainian economy. One of the reasons that Volodymyr Zelensky has been so reluctant to accept the idea of even the possibility of an invasion is precisely because of the threat to Ukrainian economic stability. We must shore up that country, and that is why I announced a further $500 million of support today from the UK Government.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad that the FCDO was able to help out. We have a dedicated helpline for family members and anybody who is concerned. I think there are about 1,100 currently still in Ukraine, and there is a helpline that people should ring. I will read out the number. It is 01908 516666. There you go!
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alun Hugh Cairns (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the Prime Minister for the robust steps he has taken and for the co-ordinating role that he is playing across the western world. Does he agree that last night’s events should be seen in the context of Crimea, Salisbury and cyber-attacks as well as of the threat of gas supply restrictions? Can he reassure us that he will continue to play a co-ordinating role to ensure that the western world is absolutely as one in its response?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. We already have a huge range of sanctions. I think that there are 275 Russian individuals who are already sanctioned, including many of those who were responsible for or linked with the Salisbury poisonings, the illegal activity in Chechnya, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and other episodes.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes we are, and we are in a position to impose considerable economic cost on Putin. The question is whether he will care enough about it, because he is plainly in an illogical and irrational frame of mind.
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Nicola Jane Aiken (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, and his and this Government’s leadership in defending democracy and freedom and standing by our Ukrainian allies, showing what global Britain is all about. Sadly, my constituency is home to too much Russian dirty money and I welcome the further sanctions. As the children of Ukraine are set to suffer in fear of war, will my right hon. Friend consider whether the children of Russians connected to the Kremlin, who may be in schools in this country, should be sent home to Russia and not allowed to benefit from an education in this country?
Ukraine — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for accurately reciting what I said, because that is what we are doing. We are now sanctioning them very heavily for what they are doing in Donbas, where Russian activity has long been present. Together with our friends and partners, we are going to bring forward further measures that I think will hit the Russian economy very hard. I understand the House’s desire to do everything on day one, but we should make sure that we work in unison with our friends and partners, because what Putin wants above all is to divide us, and in that he must not succeed.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Labor
Matthew James Offord (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my right hon. Friend aware that, only this morning, Hertfordshire County Council was considering a petition submitted by individuals to ask it to divest from its pension scheme? Does he agree that it is the responsibility of elected representatives to ensure that pension schemes have the best and most profitable outcome to allow the members of that pension scheme to receive the best possible income?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I do, and I will give some other examples of local authorities considering the same actions that my hon. Friend describes The argument that I wish to advance is that, for too long, we have seen public pension schemes pursue pseudo foreign policies.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I will make a bit of progress and then I will return to the hon. Gentleman All too often, the foreign policy of these public pension schemes is, I am afraid, exclusively focused on re-writing the UK’s relationship with the world’s only Jewish state, Israel.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Government Operations
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I will come back to the hon. Gentleman. I appreciate his interest The latest example of the politicisation of public pension schemes is by Wirral Council, which is currently considering realising almost £5 million-worth of investments in seven companies. This pet project of a small minority who seek to hijack the money of hard-working taxpayers for their own political ends is of no interest to the public pension scheme holders of the Wirral, or indeed, I suggest, to the public pension scheme holders and rate payers of Hertfordshire The politicisation of public sector pension schemes, such as that seen by Wirral Council, is also to the detriment of the UK Government’s relations with states abroad. Supreme Court Justices Lord Arden and Lord Sales established in their judgments that, because the schemes are managed by councils that are part of the machinery of the state, receive taxpayer funding and are underwritten by state regulation outlined in the 2013 Act, they are liable to be identified with the British state. It is perfectly reasonable for an individual, an organisation or a nation abroad to look to these decisions and believe that they are the British state’s intentions. It would be wrong that, owing to a minority of an extreme and well-organised clique, the UK Government’s relationship with an ally has the potential to be undermined. Ultimately, central Government must reclaim their constitutional responsibility for the conduct of the UK’s international affairs. It is for this House to be the place in which those decisions are debated, as I am sure we will see later today. Public service pension scheme trustees must return to their primary duty of achieving maximum returns for scheme members.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support for this new clause, as I am to all those hon. Members across the House who have indicated theirs, and for his long-standing interest in the issue. He makes an extremely important point Let me be clear: it should not be assumed that someone expressing their support for Palestine is antisemitic. Of course that is not the case. Many are genuinely moved by the cause of Palestinian statehood and are concerned at Israeli settlements and the actions of the Israeli Government. It is the policy of this Government to pursue a two-state solution. However, one does not have to look very hard to find a pattern of antisemitic behaviour in connection with campaigns promoting a boycott of Israel Successive studies have shown that the single best statistical predictor of anti- Jewish hostility is the amount of BDS activity, which comes as no surprise when one inspects the ethical inconsistency within the movement. Why does its concern for humanity, and for the welfare of Muslims in particular, expire at the Jordan river? The BDS movement is mute on neighbouring Jordan or Lebanon, where the Palestinian minority really are second-class citizens, and fell silent when thousands of Palestinians were killed at the hands of the murderous Assad regime There has been no call for a boycott of ICICI Bank in response to the egregious human rights abuses being committed against Muslims in India, or for divestments from Huawei following the verdict by an independent tribunal in London that a genocide is being committed against the Uyghur Muslims. That selective concern for humanity, and specifically for the welfare of Palestinians, poses some alarming questions. Why is Israel held to a higher standard than every other country in the world?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Crabb (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is making a powerful speech and I commend him on how he has gone about bringing forward this new clause to close a specific loophole on public sector pensions. In the context of his point about the wider boycott, divestments and sanctions movement, does he agree that it is a pernicious movement that singles out Israel time and again, to undermine the UK-Israel bilateral relationship and the very notion of the integrity of the Israeli Jewish state? I very much hope the Government will accept his new clause, but does he also accept that there is a need for a broader piece of work by the Government to address the BDS movement in its entirety when it comes to public sector choices?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Scott Lloyd Benton (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and I commend him on tabling this new clause. Does he agree that the BDS movement has consistently opposed efforts from Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a peaceful settlement? He referred earlier to Wirral Council and its pensions committee; does he agree that it would be entirely inappropriate for a local authority to be judge and jury on such complex matters as where businesses should and should not invest in contested territory in the middle east?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree strongly with both my hon. Friend’s points. On his second point, the motion before Wirral Council is to ask its pensions officer to be the arbitrator of which business it should or should not be investing in within Israel and within settlements. Pity this poor individual, who, instead of going about his normal work as a respectable, hard-working local government officer, must suddenly spend hours, days, weeks or months attempting to understand the intricacies of the Israel-Palestine question and provide advice to a committee of local councillors. It is frankly an absurdity and an abuse of that individual. We should not be seeing this. These questions should rightly be taken forward by the United Kingdom Government BDS is ultimately yesterday’s war. In the middle east today things are rapidly changing, and thank goodness for that. As a result of the Abraham accords, we see Arab nations—Gulf states—coming forward to recognise the state of Israel and work with it through science, technology, education and commerce. If Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and other nations can do this—even those countries, such as Saudi Arabia, that have not explicitly recognised the state of Israel but are none the less working with it on security matters and other issues—then we as a country should not be tolerating this kind of activity, and certainly not within the public sector. I urge hon. and right hon. Members across the House to support the new clause. I am grateful to the Government for indicating their support. I hope that in the Queen’s Speech later in the spring we will see a wider BDS Bill that makes the UK one of the first countries in the world to really grapple with this issue.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Labor
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): As a matter of law, what the hon. Member is saying is not correct. Pensions within the public sector, as elsewhere, are regulated. They were regulated by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, and they will be regulated by this Bill. He has been speaking for more than 15 minutes, and it is not clear to me whether the SNP is in favour or against BDS. It is important that he makes clear his position.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Labor
Daniel Leonard James Poulter (Conservative, Centre-right): On the right hon. Gentleman’s point about his own pension fund, I do not think there would be many countries left in which it could invest. I understand his concerns about pension funds making ethical investments, but the pension fund also has a fiduciary duty to sustain the fund, and to make investments in that respect and for future pensioners who will draw on it. How can he reconcile the two positions?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank all right hon. and hon. Members who have spoken today. I appreciate the constructive way in which all Opposition parties have handled the Bill. Today’s debate has focused on several important themes, which I will address in turn. One central theme was the clarification requested by the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Tulip Siddiq) and other Members about whether the estimated £17 billion cost of remedy will be included in future valuations of the cost control mechanism for unfunded schemes. The answer, definitively, is that it will not. The Government will reform the cost control mechanism to a reform scheme-only design for future valuations. I hope that that reassures the House.
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Labor
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for what he has said, and I can confirm that we will be accepting the new clause. It will have the Government’s support this afternoon The hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) raised a number of important points, but I will deal first with her new clause 4, which relates to fairness for members of public service pension schemes. This is also relevant to the point raised by the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn Let me begin by reassuring the hon. Member for Edinburgh West that equal treatment and fairness for all members, including those with protected characteristics, remains a central tenet of the Bill. The Government have conducted a full equalities impact assessment of the Bill, which was published when it was introduced. In addition, when making the necessary changes in the scheme rules to deliver remedy, bodies will carry out any appropriate equalities analysis for their specific schemes, in compliance with the Equality Act 2010. Indeed, many schemes are currently concluding public consultations on the changes in scheme regulations to implement the prospective remedy. The Government intend that a similar exercise will take place when it comes to schemes making further changes in their scheme regulations to implement the retrospective remedy, prior to 1 October 2023 The Bill also provides that, from 1 April 2022, all public service workers who remain in service will do so as members of the reformed schemes, which provide career average, or CARE, benefits. CARE schemes offer fairer outcomes to those who experience lower salary progression over the course of their careers. A number of women and those with other protected characteristics are likely to be better off under CARE schemes, on average. Moving on to guidance for members, I wholly agree that clear, accessible and accurate guidance—
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James Buckland (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of technical detail, I do not wish to put my right hon. Friend on the spot, but can he assure me that early commencement provisions will be brought into effect with regard to the judicial retirement age matters? It is a matter of real public importance that we bring those measures into force as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the usual two-month gap between Royal Assent and them coming into effect? Can he give me that assurance?
Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2022-02-22
Topic: Labor
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to my opening speech, I can confirm that that is the case In conclusion, this Bill recommits to the principle of greater fairness between lower and higher earners and for the taxpayer, as well as the future sustainability and affordability of public service pensions. I am pleased to see the Bill reach Third Reading, and I am grateful to all Members for their contributions today.