argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Non-Domestic Rating (Lists) (No. 2) Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-18
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ralph Matthew Palmer (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I welcome both Bills. I completely support the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, in what he said. When we are reforming the rating system, we absolutely need to follow the money and move in the wake of Amazon, and make sure that, at least where we can bite it, which is its distribution centres, it is paying a proper rate of tax. It is important that we look at the effect our tax system has on our businesses and that we do not disadvantage native UK businesses and advantage overseas ones, as we have been doing for years in our VAT system It is also important that, when it comes to rate relief measures, we look at exactly who needs the relief. As the noble Lord may know, I am saddened that the Government have excluded a category of businesses from the Covid rate relief, specifically those such as suppliers to exhibitions, which have to maintain large premises so that they can have a business when exhibitions resume again—maybe this year, but maybe not—but which are still subject to the full business rates arrangements I want to spend my time today on the lavatories Bill and support what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, said. Indeed, I was cheering through the noble Baroness’s speech. We need public lavatories in town centres. Think of what life would be like if there were none. It ought to be one of the Government’s underlying objectives to encourage their provision That the Government are relieving the rates on separate buildings that are just lavatories is good, but the most effective way of providing a public lavatory is in conjunction with a business. The loos in Victoria Station are there because the railway wants to look after its customers, and it is the same for the loos in John Lewis, restaurants, hotels and anywhere else that one might make use of them. These are the provisions that we ought to be encouraging. That the intricacies of the current rating system do not seem to offer any obvious way of saying that the value added to a building by including a public lavatory should not affect the rateable value of the building is no reason why we should not do our best, conversationally in Committee on the Bill, to get real legislation when we get rating reform to make sure that the provision of this public service is not something that we then tax Also, if we are giving rate relief to public lavatories, we should do so with some conditions, and there should be something in the Bill that allows the Government to impose those conditions Coming back specifically to what the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, said, a proper quantity of provision of separate women’s toilet facilities is absolutely crucial. She demonstrated in great detail why that is true, and I support everything she said. I shall be introducing an amendment in Committee to enable the Government, should they so wish, to impose conditions to say that a toilet would be zero-rated for rates only if it matched the conditions required by the Government.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Thomas Ashton (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thought this would be a convenient point to confirm the plan for the February half-term recess. There will be written confirmation of this in the Royal Gallery and in tomorrow’s Forthcoming Business. Subject, as is always the case, to the progress of business, we will rise for half-term at the conclusion of proceedings on Thursday 11 February and return on Monday 22 February. I am afraid that I am not yet in a position to announce any further recess dates. I understand that certainty in respect of Easter would be welcome at the earliest opportunity, not least by the staff of the House, who continue to support us with such skill and dedication. I will make a further announcement as soon as I am able to.
Skills for Jobs White Paper — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
Ian Duncan (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, we now come to the 20 minutes allocated to Back-Bench questions. I ask that questions and answers be as short and sweet as possible so that we can call as many speakers as possible. I apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Baker of Dorking, for the kerfuffle that led him to appear early during the discussion, and I call him now.
Skills for Jobs White Paper — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Rose Berridge (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, there is a limit to central government, which is why the key strategy here is local skills improvement panels, working closely with colleges and the devolved authorities. That is matched by the Skills and Productivity Board, which will give a national picture. In relation to the question of who these employers are, when one looks at what is happening with apprenticeships, there are trail-blazer groups of employers. This is not just picking one person. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education oversees these trail-blazer groups. They include small and medium-sized enterprises and we are so encouraged that, as my noble friend made reference to education and training, much more is now taking place in the workplace. When one looks at apprenticeships, one sees that they have good training in the workplace as well as time out of the workplace to do that training. There are workplace placements for T-levels as well, so that those young people have a period of weeks in the workplace. So my noble friend is right that employers have a responsibility, and that is why employer-led bodies such as chambers of commerce are going to be involved with the local skills improvement plans.
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Morris (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I have a very different view from the opponent of the clause standing part. The UK Government, regardless of who is in power, obviously recognise at this point in time that the fundamental dimensions of this Bill are about the safety of the United Kingdom against terrorism. Our problem is that we are still a very open nation Whether it is in Afghanistan, the Middle East or Asia, in all those parts of the world we take an active role in promoting democracy. We see it occasionally with refugees who come to this country. Genuine refugees are welcome, but hidden within the alleged genuine refugees are, too often, terrorists or quasi-terrorists. It is against that background that my noble friend on the Front Bench is rightly introducing this Bill in Committee. If people think I am exaggerating, I have had personal death threats from the IRA. I happened to represent Northampton South, which had an IRA cell in the early 70s. Colleagues may know that I have been deeply involved in Sri Lanka for 50 years, and I am sorry to report that some number of illegal entrants to our country were active members of the LTTE Tamil Tigers. So the challenge is there, and we need to recognise it I praise those in our party who have decided the time has come to look again at the sentencing of terrorism. The problem is made worse by the misunderstanding—whether it be genuine or otherwise—of the difference between human rights and the original European Convention on Human Rights, which, of course, was the basis of our Human Rights Act. That is fine, but it should not cover elements where a war took place. Again, I cite Sri Lanka, because that was a ghastly war between a democratically elected Government and a terrorist movement, proscribed by the United Kingdom Government in in its last few months in 2001. The law that looks after the rights in that context is international humanitarian law It may surprise colleagues to know that under the generosity of previous Governments, we in the UK allowed the number two man running the Tamil Tigers to have an office in Camden. Okay, he was a British citizen, but he was in charge throughout the period when I was involved, and his wife—an Australian lady, now, obviously, with joint British citizenship—was involved in recruiting child soldiers. We had these people living in our midst. I say to my noble friend on the Front Bench: well done in bringing the Bill forward. Clause 1, to me, is absolutely fundamental to it, and I wish it a safe and swift passage.
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
David Wolfson (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am grateful for the words of the noble Lord. To answer his two questions, I say that this is essentially a tidying-up matter because of the different pace of legislation going through Parliament at the moment. The question of what would happen if this amendment were not made is an interesting one. At the very least we would be left with inelegant legislation, and I know from my previous incarnation that inelegant legislation is bad for Parliament but very good for lawyers, so let us try to make it as elegant as we can while we are at it. Much of the consultation on this matter preceded my involvement in this Bill and indeed my introduction to this House, but I am aware that there has been very significant consultation. Of course, if the noble Lord wishes to raise any particular points with me, my door is always open to him.
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Civil Rights
Andrew Robathan (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I listened carefully to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and agreed with a great deal of what he said—and I understood it all. I realised that that was because he is not a lawyer either. Nevertheless, even as just a layman, I think we all appreciate how hugely difficult this issue is. I also listened to the very sensible comments of the noble Lord, Lord Carlile; he has huge experience of this matter. It is terribly complicated, and wishful thinking will not make it go away The strategy we are talking about is very important, but this has been going on for at least two decades and I do not have total confidence in deradicalisation or rehabilitation. Neither does Jonathan Hall, who is currently carrying out his review. We talk about rehabilitation but Usman Khan—who the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, mentioned—killed his mentor, Jack Merritt, who believed in his redemption and had faith in his deradicalisation, because Khan managed to lie successfully. Do polygraphs and lie detectors find this out? I do not know I agree with many of the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and others. This hugely complicated issue needs further thought and deep consideration of how, if at all, we can solve these problems. With religious fanaticism or a fanatic ideology, is it possible to deradicalise people? I do not know. Are we talking about what was mentioned earlier, those no-hope sentences? I hope not. Should we throw away the key as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, suggested some of us want to do? I hope not, because I think people have to have some hope. However, I do think we need to have greater depth of thinking in this. I say to the Minister that we need to be looking at this in such depth that it may be we are still discussing it in a year’s time.
Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-26
Topic: Other
David Wolfson (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the Committee will appreciate that there is a significant overlap between this and the previous group. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, and indeed no other participant in this debate, will regard it as discourteous if on some occasions I take as read, as it were, points that I made in the previous debate. If the Committee finds it helpful, I propose to say a few words about each of the clauses and schedules to which objection has been taken and then come back to address some of the particular points raised by participants in the debate.
EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement: Fishing Industry — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Patience Wheatcroft (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, we were promised that Brexit would free the UK from EU red tape. Having seen the troubles of our fishing industry, the New York Times describes that promise as "a macabre joke." The chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association describes the situation now as "red tape gone crazy." The Minister acknowledges that there will be continuing requirements for paperwork, so could he tell the House how he equates the former promises with the current reality?
Police National Computer — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): We have just seen from the previous question that there is a bit of contradiction in some of the points raised by noble Lords on the Opposition Benches. Personally, I would allow my data to be kept for as long as anybody wanted for the purposes for which it might be used. Those pleas from the Opposition Benches have certainly been quite contradictory over the years.
Police National Computer — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Other
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I say to my noble friend that they can run them now. On the recovery timescale, as I said, the analysis should be complete by close of play today, and the work will be done to remediate the system as soon as possible after that.
Police National Computer — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Other
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): These were "no further action" records—but, as I say, the further analysis of this will be completed, and I am sure I will be able to explain this to the House in more detail in due course.
Police National Computer — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Other
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I have said that it was human error—probably fewer than 20 times, actually—because it was human error. I also repeat that there will be a full lessons learned review. I am not undermining the seriousness of this at all, because it is a very serious matter.
Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly know that officials have been working with bishops and others on developing the guidance, but I think the right reverend Prelate is taking about something slightly different, which is abuse that happens within a faith context —that is, using faith as a reason to abuse. I hope that some of the work she and others are doing with officials is cognisant of that type of abuse. I am sure it is, and I am sure that is the reason why she raised it.
Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Civil Rights
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the noble Lord that different communities have different problems in different situations. Perhaps lockdown is the most appropriate one to be talking about now. I do not think we should listen to the same voices; we need to get a range of voices before deciding what our interventions should be and in what context.
Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Other
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): The noble Lord mentions an important section of the community and I am aware of some of the issues that it faces. As I say, we have engaged extensively across the various sectors. However, I thank him for raising that point. I will check on that matter because that community needs our support.
Xinjiang: Forced Labour — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Bruce Forsyth (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, my noble friend said a few moments ago that he had to be consistent with what he said before. I would like to raise with him the issue, which is being discussed now in the other place, of the determination of the crime of genocide. He has always said that that is a matter for the courts, yet Ministers and the Government are now arguing that it would be quite wrong for the High Court in this country, which the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, has made clear is perfectly competent, to do that. So how can it be right to say that it is a matter for a court, which my noble friend has already indicated would be subject to a veto, but not right for the High Court here to determine behaviour such as we are seeing in Xinjiang as being genocide?
Xinjiang: Forced Labour — House of Lords, 2021-01-19
Topic: Other
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure the noble Lord, with whom I have engaged previously on this issue, that we take this very seriously. He makes some very pertinent points that I shall reflect upon. Seeing how we can move to a practical application is very high up my agenda, and I am seeing Sir Geoffrey Nice later this week to discuss it further.
Protocol on Northern Ireland: Disruption to Trade — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it is important that we are clear about the overall picture. One must not overstate individual anecdotes into a systemic picture. I acknowledge that there have been issues—that was never denied—but, overall, goods are continuing to flow effectively. Supermarkets are able to move their lorries into Northern Ireland. There are some specific issues, as we have seen with individual suppliers, but it is holding up well overall. The UK Government will continue to work with supermarkets, retailers and suppliers to move in the longer run to end-to-end digital systems that enable goods to be moved in accordance with the protocol in the most streamlined way possible.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I certainly assure the noble Baroness that the Government believe that safe and secure elections are the cornerstone of any democracy. The law is that these elections should go ahead on this date. The Prime Minister said that all matters are always under review, as they are in a pandemic. People then seemed to ride away and say that that was an indication that they would be postponed, but, as the Minister for the Constitution said in the other place yesterday, a very high bar would have to be set to not proceed with these elections. As far as her comments about returning officers, they obviously look at polling stations, but I will take note of the points the noble Baroness made. Certainly, voting should be easy.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): As the noble Lord knew I would, I thoroughly endorse the first remark he made. I believe local democracy is the cornerstone, and I wish that were more widely recognised. The Government will continue to engage with political parties to ensure that people are able to campaign safely and securely and to secure information. As far as his specific proposal is concerned, I will certainly make sure that that is fed into consideration.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly agree with the noble Lord that clarity is important. The planning assumption in the law is that we are proceeding with these elections. I take the point that he makes about people who are shielding or unable to go to the polling station. That is why, under the current considerations, we are looking at, for example, enhanced arrangements for proxy voting for those affected by Covid. We believe, in concert with those authorities involved, that it would be possible to proceed safely.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Young (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to the question of the noble Lord, Lord Reid, it must be right to encourage as many people as possible to vote by post, as Covid will still be with us and many people will not have been vaccinated. When local authorities send out the council tax demand at the beginning of March, should they not include details of how to register for postal votes, and perhaps even include a form?
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, characteristically, my noble friend makes an interesting and novel suggestion, which I will certainly ensure is passed on to those involved. But I repeat: we must have a high bar for even a short postponement of democracy, and any such decision would certainly never be taken lightly or rushed into. The Government will continue to work with the electoral community on the matter.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, our belief is that the elections can go ahead in the normal way in a safe and secure manner—and that is our objective—with the kinds of safeguards to which I have referred for those shielding and others.
Elections: May 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicholas True (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, the electoral authorities are in contact with those in local government who are involved in delivering places for the vote, which ultimately is returning officers. They will take a number of factors into account in considering the safety of premises, and I am sure that they will secure safety.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Civil Rights
Julia Frances Cumberlege (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, on her comprehensive introduction, expressing the urgency of the situation, which was also stressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Masham, in another interesting contribution for which I thank her. This is a difficult and hugely important issue, and it needs serious consideration on two counts. We have to look beyond the present situation with anti-vaccine campaigners and decide very carefully what is information and how we should combat damaging information being spread. Secondly, how do we reserve the right of the individual to use social media to express their personal views I spent six years on the Press Council, dealing with complaints. It was taxing, but today the print media is regulated to a greater extent. Even then, accountability for what should be published and what should not lay with not only the journalist who had written the article but with the editor and, in some newspapers, the owner.
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Lords, 2021-01-14
Topic: Other
Joanna Penn (Conservative, Centre-right): My understanding is that Amendment 26 is also consequential to amendments passed on day 1 of Report, so we may wish to ask the noble Lord, Lord Patel, whether he wishes to move his amendment, which is consequential to previous amendments agreed.
Fertilisers and Ammonium Nitrate Material (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Stopford (Conservative, Centre-right): That the draft Orders and Regulations laid before the House on 9, 14, 17, 23 and 31 December 2020 and 5 January 2021 be approved Relevant documents: 41st Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. Considered in Grand Committee on 26 and 27 January.
Alexei Navalny — House of Lords, 2021-01-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Tariq Ahmad (Conservative, Centre-right): As someone who worked in the City of London for 20 years, the integrity and robustness of the structures of the City of London are of paramount importance to me, as they are to the UK Government. Therefore, I share the noble Lord’s view that it is important we take constructive steps to stop the use of illicit financing and stop money flowing through London in the manner he suggests.