argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
VAT Reduction: Tourism and Hospitality — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right that this has been an incredibly challenging period for the tourism and hospitality sectors, and it is also right to recognise that many organisations within these sectors have benefited from the measures that I have described, including the extensions to the employment schemes, business rates holidays and the VAT reduction, as well as the very important wider restart grants and the additional restrictions grant. As these restrictions are lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors resumes, temporary reliefs are being phased out and in time will be removed. Bridging that transition to a standard rate by applying a temporary 12.5% rate will help businesses to manage the change. We should want them to get back to normal trading and the support that they offer through that to their communities and the economy.
Aviation Sector: Financial Support — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government recognise the challenging circumstances facing the aviation industry, which the hon. Member described. The industry can draw on the package of measures announced by the Chancellor, including not just the furlough scheme but schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills and employment support. The aerospace sector and aviation customers are being supported with over £11 billion made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s covid corporate financing facility and grants for research and development. In addition, the renewed airport and ground operations support scheme, which the Chancellor announced in his Budget, will provide support for eligible businesses in England with their fixed costs for a further six months up to the equivalent of their business rate liabilities for the first half of 2021-22.
Steel Industry and Green Manufacturing Jobs — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have supported the steel sector extensively, including providing over £500 million in recent years to help with the costs of energy. At the summer economic update, the Government announced an ambitious £3.05 billion package for housing decarbonisation designed to cut carbon, save people money and create jobs. Alongside that, our covid support package is still available to the sector to protect jobs and ensure that producers have the right support during this challenging time.
Coronavirus Business Support Schemes — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have provided £25 billion in cash grants for businesses, and that includes the £5 billion of funding allocated at the March Budget for restart grants and the discretionary additional restrictions grant fund. My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary has been working closely with local authorities to ensure that these grants are delivered as swiftly as possible and directed towards the businesses that have been most impacted by the pandemic.
Coronavirus Business Support Schemes — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have said previously, the Government are committed to co-operating fully with all reviews on these matters. I do not accept what the hon. Lady has said with respect to the schemes that the Government have put forward over the past 14 months. Her constituency has had £16.7 million in business grants and 1,206 bounce-back loans totalling £30 million. In addition, 12,700 of her constituents have benefited from the furlough scheme, and 2,000 have benefited from the self-employed income support scheme. That is a significant contribution to help her constituents.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, which is on an important matter. I welcome the conclusions of the Swift review, and I hope he will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment or intervene on the scope of that review, as it was set up to be completely independent of Government. That said, we have always been clear that the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products is wrong, and nothing that the redress scheme does means that businesses cannot still go to the FCA, the Financial Ombudsman Service or the courts if they wish. If he wishes to raise particular circumstances with either the FCA or the Swift review, he can do that directly.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative, Centre-right): Brexit is a great opportunity to turbocharge global Britain, but unfortunately it has not worked so far for fishermen in my beautiful constituency of Hastings and Rye. Had it not been for Mr Keith Chapman setting up an export hub in Rye for local fishermen, many might not have survived. He did that at his own expense, and he has not been eligible for any of the Government funding made available to the fishing industry. What further support can be provided to assist entrepreneurs such as Mr Chapman when exports are hit by the double whammy of covid and Brexit?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): We have actually responded to all the requests that I have been asked and, indeed, gone above and beyond in providing disclosure. I would say a couple of things to the hon. Lady. First of all, I am very happy to co-operate fully and constructively with both the independent Boardman review and the Treasury Committee inquiry, and those processes have begun. Secondly, on the substance, it is important to remember what was going on. We were in the midst of a financial crisis and we were keen to explore all avenues to support small and medium-sized businesses. We have heard in the House today that there are still challenges, so it was right to examine all avenues to do that. This was just one of many strands of work that the Treasury and I conducted, rightly and appropriately. It is important to notice that, in the end, we rejected the taking forward of any proposals on supply chain finance.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is confusing multiple things. She has asked me previously about circuit breakers. At the time there was a debate, appropriately, about whether a national intervention was right at a time when the epidemiology across this country was incredibly varied. That is something that the deputy chief medical officer himself spoke about at a press conference, and he said it would be inappropriate at that time to take forward national interventions. That is what I was referring to To go back to the shadow Chancellor’s previous comment about transparency, in fact I voluntarily published extra messages to aid the transparency of this process for people. I am fully committed to working constructively with the inquiry, both the Boardman review and the Treasury Committee inquiry. It is worth reminding the shadow Chancellor of something she herself wrote last April in The Daily Mirror: "The ‘Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme’ seems to be stuck in the banks, and not getting to small businesses in particular, where cash flow is desperately needed." Well, the Government were also looking at how to get cash flow to small businesses, and I am sad and disappointed about what a conveniently short memory she has.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Housing
Alexander Paul Thomas Stafford (Conservative, Centre-right): As we emerge from the coronavirus crisis, our high streets need more support to survive than ever before, especially in former industrial areas in Rother Valley such as Dinnington, Maltby, Swallownest, Kiveton and others. Does the Minister agree that the levelling-up fund presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to inject much-needed investment into our beleaguered high streets in Rother Valley and across all our nations, returning them to their former glory? Does he agree that Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council should put in a good strong bid to get that money for our high streets?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Housing
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with my hon. Friend. The Government are committed to levelling up opportunities across the UK, including in Rother Valley. The £4.8 billion levelling-up fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including by regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport and investing in cultural and heritage assets. I look forward to working with him for his local area.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): On 31 January, in answer to the debate on justice for Equitable Life policyholders, this House was assured that all records were being retained and would be available in the event of their being needed. Equally, we were assured that there were no plans to destroy those records. I was therefore shocked that the Public Accounts Committee, in its hearing last week, was informed by Treasury officials that the records had been destroyed and would not be available. That makes getting justice for Equitable Life policyholders more expensive, so will my right hon. Friend agree to meet me and a small delegation of the all-party parliamentary group for justice for Equitable Life policyholders, so that we can get to the bottom of how we can move this long-running saga forward?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Housing
Andrew James Bridgen (Conservative, Centre-right): A band C home in Coalville in my constituency has a higher council tax charge than a band H property in Westminster. The Chancellor, in his former position as a Minister in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, told the House that the Leicestershire fairer funding model had a lot to commend it and would be used in consultation. Given that that was three years ago, will he look at an updated report by Leicestershire County Council entitled, "Putting right the years of wrong"?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen Paul Barclay (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course I would be happy to look at the report to which my hon. Friend refers. He knows that addressing future local authority resourcing is a matter for future spending reviews and the local government finance settlement. However, I would remind him that at the spending review 2020 we provided an estimated 4.6% cash increase in core spending to local authorities. That is on top of the largest real-terms increase in their core spending at the spending review 2019, and that is in addition to the about £11 billion of support that has been provided as part of the covid response.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Other
Rishi Sunak (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very sorry for the hon. Gentleman’s loss, and I know the whole House will join me in passing on those condolences. I am not aware of the particular proposal that he mentions, but if he writes to me, I will be happy to take a look at it.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Gareth Mark Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government’s commitment to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures highlights the importance of transparency in investment portfolios. Does my hon. Friend agree that more can be done to improve transparency and prevent the exposure of investments by financial services companies to modern slavery?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Thomas William Randall (Conservative, Centre-right): The borough of Gedling has received more than £105,000 in welcome back funding to help its high streets reopen safely and successfully as restrictions lift, and I will be out visiting businesses in Gedling on Friday to encourage them to apply for restart grants. Would my right hon. Friend join me in not only welcoming those lifelines for businesses but in encouraging businesses to apply for all the help available so that they can get back on their feet as we start to get back to normal?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I salute the people of Carlton and I rejoice in the businesses of Mapperley. I encourage businesses across the constituency of Gedling to take advantage of the Government’s unprecedented package of support, including the £5 billion-worth of grant support that the Chancellor announced at Budget, which is providing a lifeline for businesses as they relaunch their trading safely.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Immigration
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government work on behalf of all the British dual nationals, whether they be held in detention, open prison or elsewhere, and indeed of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe so that she can come home. The UK has had some positive impact. For example, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release on furlough and the removal of her ankle tag were in response to lobbying by this Government. We want to do more. We want to ensure that the people who are held in detention are released and are all able to return home to their families. We will continue to work hard at every level of Government to ensure that that happens.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Tulip Siddiq) on securing this urgent question and on ensuring that the family of Nazanin and the imprisonment of Nazanin herself are at the forefront of our minds in this House. Iran has a dreadful human rights record, with the largest number of executions anywhere in the world and the oppression of its native people. Does my right hon. Friend not find it ironic then that the United Nations Economic and Social Council elected Iran for a full four-year term to the Commission on the Status of Women? Will he therefore take that up at the United Nations to say that it is totally unacceptable for a country that suppresses women and imprisons them without proper process even to be considered to represent human rights across the world?
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): We are very conscious of the health of all those detained, particularly in the light of the covid situation. We lobby the Iranian Government hard and regularly to ensure that British dual nationals held in detention have adequate medical treatment, and we will continue to push for the thing that we are all ultimately trying to achieve, which is their full release and their ability to return to the UK.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Immigration
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for reinforcing the point that, as well as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, there are other British dual nationals incarcerated. The UK Government work tirelessly to secure the release of all those people. Some of them are household names and others are less well known, but we work on behalf of all of them. I assure him that we will continue to lobby to try to secure the release of them all and that we will investigate the full range of options, but, as I said, it would be inappropriate for me to speculate at the Dispatch Box as to what those might be.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Immigration
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK does not and will never accept dual nationals being used for political leverage, so I am not going to amplify whatever claims the Iranian regime have made about them. Our message and the message that I hope the right hon. Gentleman and every other Member of the House would echo is that the Iranian regime must release our people.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Immigration
James Spencer Cleverly (Conservative, Centre-right): I sincerely hope that he is not right. We will continue to work to bring Nazanin home and for the release of all British dual nationals. Their incarceration is unacceptable, unjustified and arbitrary, and it must stop.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Peter James Bottomley (Conservative, Centre-right): Knowing who did what will matter, but it is clear why it happened. In 1999, the Government withdrew from the contract and it became one of the worst private finance initiatives ever To know what happened, people should pay attention to the investigative journalists and what Lord Arbuthnot said. Computerworld in 2015, Computer Weekly in 2009 and Private Eye in 2015 laid out what the problems were. Second Sight, in its report, showed 12,000 communications failures a year between the terminals and the centre. There was a suggestion that some of the machines’ recordings of tax disc income, cash machines and other things were not coming through. I want to know whether Ministers and senior people in business, whether suppliers or customers, will pay attention not to glossy reviews saying how good things are, but to investigative journalists who say how bad things might be for the innocent. Until those innocent people, who were forced to plead guilty when they were not, are reimbursed the money they had not taken, we cannot sit quietly here in this House.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Other
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Father of the House for his comments. There is no sense that this inquiry is glossy in any sense. Sir Wyn will get the technical support that he needs to understand exactly the points that my hon. Friend makes, including the testimony in the court cases. In the call for evidence, there is an opportunity to listen to the magazines that he referred to, including Computer Weekly, and other journalists who have covered this.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes a crucial point: each and every single one of these people, whether they were prosecuted or "just" suffered a shortfall, is a human being. I see the anger on social media and the tears in some of the interviews following the quashing of the convictions; we cannot fail to realise that these people have suffered so tragically and terribly over so long a period. The Government and I will absolutely treat everybody as individuals. This has come at human cost.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is a very good Minister and the Government have, of course, inherited this problem, but, as a House, we have to recognise that this is a grotesque breach of the human rights and civil liberties of up to 555 litigants—our fellow citizens. It is right up there with the acts that we quite rightly complain about in some foreign countries. There may well be inadequate Post Office management, but a Government permanent secretary is the accounting officer and the Government urgently need to do the right thing. In respect of the inquiry that is already commissioned, will the Minister ensure that the evidence, advice and words of Lord Arbuthnot from the other place, who has consistently championed this issue and has been proven right, are loudly heard?
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Other
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): I should have congratulated earlier Lord Arbuthnot on the work he has done in this area. I know Sir Wyn Williams will note my right hon. Friend’s words, to make sure that Lord Arbuthnot’s words, deeds and campaign are heard within the inquiry, because there are many pertinent points that need to be included in the considerations.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Other
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Lady for her question and ask her to forgive me for ascribing Janet Skinner to be the constituent of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner). None the less, I know that her voice has been heard via many Members in this House. On the non-statutory inquiry, at this stage, Sir Wyn Williams is getting full support from each of the parties that he is investigating. If that changes, our advice will change, too. At the moment, things are working well, and he is getting the co-operation that is required.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Joy Inboden Morrissey (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that postmasters provide the backbone of the Post Office and will he join me in thanking Jay Patel, the Patel family and Jaspal Singh who provide vital services to communities across Beaconsfield, Hedgerley and Burnham? Will he continue to fight for justice and compensation for those who have been exonerated and take on board the excellent suggestion of my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Laura Farris) of looking at how we prevent these type of scandals from happening in the future?
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): I have constituents who are among the hundreds of victims of this appalling scandal. One has been telling me this morning that she could not even be in London last week to hear the outcome of this judgment because she could not afford the cost of travel. What mechanism is going to be in place to compensate these victims swiftly and fairly?
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): This inquiry is getting the co-operation of all those people participating and involved. If that changes, clearly, our advice and view will change, because I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that it is so important that we make sure that nobody can hide from this, so that we do get those answers and that those postmasters get justice.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Other
Paul Stuart Scully (Conservative, Centre-right): Because the evidence is coming forward. There is no point in compelling something that is already coming forward. Having said that, if that changes, our advice and our thoughts will change, but at the moment, everybody is participating in the inquiry. Sir Wyn Williams is happy and content that he is getting the information and co-operation that he requires to get answers.
Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment — House of Commons, 2021-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John Alan Redwood (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Minister understand that there has to be compensation, and urgently, and this compensation has to cover not just the Horizon losses but the legal costs and the loss of business and income that people suffered from the damage to their reputation Many MPs, including myself, told past Ministers that this was an accounting scandal—it was not a sudden outbreak of mass criminal activity by good public servants. They deserve better, and this Government must now apologise by making sure they get proper compensation.