argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jacob Young (Conservative, Centre-right): As the MP for Redcar and Cleveland, I represent many of Teesside’s offshore oil and gas workers. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that if any additional border restrictions are put in place, that important part of our economy will not be negatively affected?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is, rightly, a strong advocate for his constituency and this important sector in his constituency. There have been certain limited and restricted exemptions, but I repeat that if he bears with us on this and has patience, he will find that announcements will come in due course. He is, however, right to highlight his constituency interest.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important at this stage to reflect upon the amount of support that the Government have put in to businesses throughout this pandemic. Of course the hon. Lady is right on certainty for businesses and others with regard to coronavirus restrictions. Nothing has changed on that, and of course we will work with all sectors, as we have done throughout this pandemic, when it comes to not only support, but giving them information up front.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend please confirm that people should not be travelling in and out of the country unless absolutely necessary? Will she assure me that airports are fully aware that they too have a moral duty to ensure that social distancing is in place?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Immigration
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has made the case for a stronger United Kingdom and for the Union working together, which is absolutely right, and we have been doing that, with Border Force in particular. I pay tribute to my Border Force colleagues across the country for the very strong work they are doing, in Scotland, Wales and across the UK, because they have been on the frontline every day.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Immigration
Antony Higginbotham (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the Home Secretary for all the work that she and her Department are doing to keep our borders and people safe during this period. More than anything else, aerospace workers in Burnley need planes to be back in the air, so will the Home Secretary assure me that her Department is looking at what measures might be needed on the border in the long term to allow travel to resume in a safe and secure way?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Immigration
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I am naturally going to disagree with the hon. Lady, and do so respectfully. As I have already said and as she will recall, last year at the Select Committee we had a lengthy discussion around coronavirus measures at the border and the number of people coming into the country, and I have highlighted the measures that are in place. These are stringent and strong measures, which have been put in place in a layered approach throughout the pandemic. When the situation has changed, when the evidence has changed, and when new strains have materialised and developed, the Government have taken the right action at the right time.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Immigration
Sara Alice Britcliffe (Conservative, Centre-right): Many residents in Hyndburn and Haslingden have raised concerns about people entering our country and not following the isolation guidance when they arrive. Will the Home Secretary please reassure my residents that more stringent measures will be in place, if necessary, to control the virus?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier comments. I have been very clear about the measures that have been brought in since January last year. Any Member of this House saying that the Government have not taken action is completely wrong. I would be more than happy to write to him with the list of every single step and measure—from the Home Office, the Department for Transport and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office—that has been brought in at the border.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a really miserable time for everybody involved in the travel industry. Yesterday, Hays Travel announced that it is going to close 89 of its 535 stores. At the moment, it is unclear whether that will impact on the four stores in Northamptonshire, including the shop in Kettering. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that if the Government tighten the border controls, they revisit the financial help available to the travel industry?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend, and I completely hear his comments. As I said, our operational partners and the people in the sector have had a torrid time. It is for my colleagues across Government to continue that work and dialogue. I should emphasise that dialogue always takes place with sectors and businesses. That is important, and it will absolutely continue.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): I will always speak highly of my frontline partners in Border Force, who do exceptional work across ports and airports. From the start of this pandemic, we have supported Border Force staff and resourced them with PPE and the equipment they have asked for and needed—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady shakes her head, but we absolutely have, and the head of Border Force, who I work with day in, day out, can testify to that. As I have already articulated, measures at the border are always under review. Those incredible staff are put under pressure, for example, when airports are very busy. They are there, and we have measures in place to protect them, including the way in which we rota them and keep them distant from travelling members of the public.
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Immigration
Andrew John Carter (Conservative, Centre-right): I offer my support to the work that the Home Secretary has undertaken during the pandemic by reacting to the ever-changing challenge of this virus. As she knows, Warrington is getting used to having a more significant connection to UK ports, and to Ireland and the channel tunnel, with the recent addition of an inland border facility. Can she assure me that the new measures will not impact the flow of freight and cause issues with lorries queuing in my rural villages?
UK Border: Covid Protections — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Priti Sushil Patel (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an important point. Obviously, as part of the end of transition, inland sites were created to assist with the flow of goods, as we have spoken about this afternoon. Again, Border Force is involved with inland sites, and that will absolutely continue. The measures are under review, and we are making sure we can operationalise them. That equally applies to the inland sites that he refers to.
Educational Settings: Reopening — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to raise these issues. Mental health concerns are at the forefront of all our decision making on schools and reopening schools, and I pay tribute to those students who have taken these issues as seriously as they have. It is why we are, over the longer term, putting in place the recommendations in our Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health. Once fully rolled out, I believe that they will transform the provision of mental health services for children in our schools.
Educational Settings: Reopening — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I agree with the hon. Member. We have already purchased 1.3 million computers. They have been built to order, imported and distributed. We have distributed 876,000 of those devices, but it is not just about devices; it is also about data. We have partnered with the UK’s major mobile phone operators to provide free data for disadvantaged children to get online, as well as 4G wireless routers. I pay tribute to Three, EE, Tesco Mobile, SMARTY, Sky Mobile, Virgin Mobile, O2, Vodafone, BT Mobile and Lycamobile for working with us on this service-.
Educational Settings: Reopening — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for responding to the urgent question for over an hour. He has answered 40 questions, of which 34 were remote, so let me also thank the technicians for making that possible. We will now suspend for three minutes for hygiene purposes.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I call the Minister, let me say that, as I have indicated, there is a four-minute limit on Back-Bench contributions. The vast majority of contributions will be via videolink. Can I say to those who are contributing via videolink that there is a clock on the device you are using, so please keep an eye on it? There are no interventions on you, so it should be straightforward as to when you finish your contribution. If you try to exceed that time, you will be automatically cut off. For those contributing in the Chamber, the clocks will be working in the usual fashion.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Housing
Robert William Henry Seely (Conservative, Centre-right): I am speaking from the Isle of Wight, where, in addition to being a UNESCO biosphere, we hope in the next couple of years to become the UK’s first island park, if the Government intend to bring forward the new protected landscapes Bill, as I clearly I hope they do I support this Bill very much—I think it is a great Bill—but I wish to speak in favour of new clauses 14 and 15 to argue the case for minimising the impact of housing on the environment. It is great that the Government want to design better, and frankly we need better design in this country, but a well-designed low-density greenfield housing estate is still a low-density greenfield housing estate, and these housing estates are, by nature, unsustainable. New clause 14 would allow for a handbrake to stop environmentally damaging housing, because it would, by law, prioritise carbon-efficient housing and carbon-efficient locations House building, along with everything else that we do, needs to align with the UK’s binding obligations in the Paris climate accords and carbon-efficient obligations, as well as the Government’s justified world-leading commitment to net zero by 2050. To do that, we need carbon-efficient housing solutions, and that implies a focus on cities as opposed to suburban and rural development. If we do not get that carbon-efficient housing in this Bill, as mandated by this new clause, then can we look at it for the housing Bill For me, this also means that we need to do more to incentivise brownfield development in not only suburban but rural areas. Very often brownfield sites are too small to be used efficiently under the current financial regime, and it is much cheaper to build inefficiently on greenfield sites. Greenfield sites, as well as being the most carbon-intensive because we are building detached houses, are also dependent on car use outside existing communities, which means dependence not only on carbon-emitting cars but on people having to travel to get to amenities rather than those amenities being built near them. Research provided by the House of Commons Library shows that homes built in urban areas are significantly less carbon-emitting than those built in suburban and rural areas I welcome this Bill, but can we please look at the legal requirement for the most carbon-efficient housing in the most carbon-efficient locations, not only for our climate change commitments but for quality of life in cities, in suburbs and in rural areas?
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Housing
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): Listening to the contributions from colleagues on both sides of the House on this Bill today has been a real pleasure; it is clear that there is widespread support for its ambitions and I share that. It has also been a pleasure to listen to my constituents over the past 12 months —to the schoolchildren, the farmers, the businesses and most of all to Laurinda and The Time is Now group—because it is clear that out in the country the ambitions that the Government have set in this Bill are equally shared and, as many have said, we are eager to see this Bill get on the statute book I want to focus on issues of biodiversity and housing and draw the Minister’s attention to the new clauses in the name of my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers). In North East Bedfordshire we look to have one of the fastest rates of growth in housing development, and it is crucially important that whatever the level of housing—and of course those numbers need to come down—that housing development takes into account the maintenance, encouragement and resilience of the biodiversity in our local communities. I urge the Minister to listen to representations from the CPRE and also from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, based in my constituency, about the importance of biodiversity being incorporated in legislation when it comes to the expansion of housing developments and new developments across the country Finally, on the Minister and her team, it is clear that these ambitions, coming from all directions, at some point have to be corralled into a piece of legislation for the whole, and there are lots of tensions between what people want to achieve, but, as she and her colleagues will know, in addition to setting targets we must make sure that we maintain support and buy-in from the various constituents who are affected by those targets. I wish her all the best in bringing forward this Bill and give it my strong support today.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): I had said that there would be a limit of three minutes, but so many Members who had informed the Speaker’s Office that they wished to take part in the debate have decided not to bother that there is rather more time for those who have taken the trouble to meet their obligations. We will therefore start with a time limit of four minutes for Back-Bench speeches, which does not apply to the SNP spokesperson, Mr David Linden.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Public Lands
Charles Ashley Rupert Walker (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for making that intervention, which is important. Sixteen people signed the amendment along with me, and my hon. Friend, who is a doughty campaigner for the Itchen, was one of those valuable signatories In the time left, I will refer briefly to my other amendment, amendment 42 to clause 78, with regard to drainage and sewerage management plans, regulations and procedures. I tipped the Minister off that I would raise this briefly. The amendment seeks to deliver the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendation that water companies and local authorities should publish plans to manage surface water flood risk. In short, it seeks to ensure that everyone operating drains or pushing water into rivers, and all flood risk management authorities, such as the Environment Agency and local authorities, co-operates and shares information on the preparation of drainage and wastewater management plans. The water companies want to make sure that this is a team effort. Lots of nasty stuff goes into our rivers from a lot of different places. The water companies want to get on top of the situation and to work with other agencies to make sure that happens I conclude by thanking the Minister for how she has dealt with me and the other signatories to amendment 3. It has been an exemplar of how to do business with Back-Bench Members of Parliament.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I did not want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman but, no, it is not in order for him to have spoken to amendments contained in the previous group. It is not in order. I make the point because I could not reasonably interrupt him under the circumstances under which we are working, but we do expect Members to stick to the rules and not to bend them just because we are working virtually. It is important to keep standards I call Barry Sheerman.
Environment Bill — House of Commons, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Something is wrong with the sound. [Interruption.] It is not possible to go to the next person until we stop the video link that is not working. Is somebody listening to me? I apologise to the hon. Gentleman for the system not working properly and for him not knowing that it was not working. We will now go to Kerry McCarthy.
Long Covid — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Johanna Peta Churchill (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I am delighted to join her in congratulating Emma, who I know is using her experience of having had covid to launch such an innovative fundraising idea. I already have a Dallas-style hairdo, because I have not been to the hairdressers for some months. I just need some shoulder pads. I thank her and all volunteers and fundraisers for their marvellous job in coming up with some really great ideas to support research.
Adult Social Care Funding — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): During the pandemic, the Government have provided over £1.1 billion for infection control, £149 million for rapid testing costs and £120 million to boost the workforce in adult social care, and that is in addition to £4.6 billion to local authorities. For 2021-22, we are meeting our commitment to an annual uplift of £1 billion for social care and will provide councils with access to an additional £1 billion.
Health Service Capital Estate — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Harrogate District Hospital, which is an excellent hospital, will be reducing its carbon footprint by a quarter and making energy cost savings thanks to a £40 million Government grant, but the healthcare estate is much more than hospitals: it is also doctors’ surgeries, specialised units and so on. What steps is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that the whole estate, whether large or small, is included in the decarbonisation investment programme?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Matthew John David Hancock (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The court ruling in question found that we were on average 17 days late with the paperwork, but it did not find against any of the individual contracts. My team worked so hard to deliver the PPE that was needed and so, as the National Audit Office has confirmed and as my hon. Friend set out, there was never a point at which there was a national shortage. There were, of course, localised challenges and we were in the situation of a huge increase in global demand, but I think that we should all thank the civil servants who did such a good job.
Government's Management of the Economy — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Member’s Financial Interests The background to today’s debate is that no other Government in the western world have given such trenchant taxpayer support to their citizens. I read, as I am sure my colleagues did, the relaunch speech by the Leader of the Opposition, but it seemed to me that his guiding theme merely followed the defining levelling-up agenda of this Conservative Government I have no doubt that many speakers today will look at the last five years of this Government, but I would like to look at the first five years referred to in the motion, from 2010. When the coalition assembled in 2010, one in every three pounds of public expenditure was borrowed, and as a result of that difficult and dangerous financial position, tough decisions were taken about reductions in expenditure. Incidentally, the same fiscal tightening took place in Britain as took place in Obama’s America. As a result of those courageous decisions, six things happened, many of which were down to the skilful stewardship of George Osborne First, the UK had the strongest recovery among the G7 countries. More British jobs were created than under any other Government in history. By 2015, we had the fastest income growth among the lowest-paid 20% in the country. We had the most sustained and consistent fall in our deficit among the G7, and we introduced the national living wage. Meanwhile, the NHS performed more operations than ever before and crime fell in every year. The UK was the No. 1 recipient of inward investment in the G20. Like many of us, but especially me, I am incredibly proud to have served in a Government who, in spite of the economic difficulties, refused to balance the books on the backs of the poorest people in the world and implemented our 0.7% promise on international development. I am proud it was a Conservative Government who finally implemented the promise to the world’s poorest to spend 0.7% of our gross national income on international development. I know that the Government are considering breaking this promise, a manifesto commitment that all of us entered into just over a year ago, but I urge them not to do so. We would be the only G7 country to take this action, while America is increasing its development spending by $15 billion. Although it is £4 billion, which is a great deal of money, it is just 1% of what we have borrowed in the last year. It will result in hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths, mainly among children, and it will destroy a key and respected aspect of post-Brexit global Britain. I urge the Government, on this point, to think again.
Coronavirus: Supporting Businesses and Individuals — House of Commons, 2021-02-23
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The discretionary grant is there to show flexibility. Local authorities have been charged to come up with their own plans to reflect their own local economies and their own needs in order to capture as many people and businesses as possible In January, the Chancellor announced that a further £500 million of discretionary funding was being made available to local authorities. That is in addition to £1.1 billion already allocated back in November 2020. That business grant scheme has continued to provide business with vital funding during both the national and local restrictions.