argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: As my right hon. Friend has said, the group of women who endure the largest gap in pay by comparison with their male peers is those over the age of 40. What is she doing specifically to address that? Many of those women are highly talented and highly skilled, but we as a country are not getting the best out of them.; In a letter from the Minister’s Department in March, I was informed that the greatest gender pay gap could be found in the finance and insurance sectors, in which it is 35.2%. Is that a problem? If so, what specifically is she doing about it with those sectors?
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raised this issue in one of the last Women and Equalities questions sessions of the last Parliament. He is right that the full-time gender pay gap in financial and insurance activities is 35.2%. I refer him to the answer that I gave earlier about the need to inspire young people and make sure that girls in particular do not count themselves out of particular careers, or out of specific subject choices at school so that they cannot go into those careers later on.
Gender Pay Gap — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: As my right hon. Friend has said, the group of women who endure the largest gap in pay by comparison with their male peers is those over the age of 40. What is she doing specifically to address that? Many of those women are highly talented and highly skilled, but we as a country are not getting the best out of them.; In a letter from the Minister’s Department in March, I was informed that the greatest gender pay gap could be found in the finance and insurance sectors, in which it is 35.2%. Is that a problem? If so, what specifically is she doing about it with those sectors?
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): The figure that the hon. Lady gives is thankfully smaller than the overall United Kingdom figure, but that does not mean it is acceptable. I am sure she will work with employers in her constituency when the regulations are published and brought into force to ensure that employers work hard on gender pay transparency and take specific steps to tackle the gap.
Careers — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): The European Union recently decided to dictate to this country that we have too many women not in work who are staying at home to look after their children. Does the Minister think it wrong that the EU should stigmatise women who want to stay at home and work, and would she like to tell the European Union to butt out?
Careers — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I shall take your direction, Mr Speaker, and say that we are talking about choice of careers, and that choice of course extends to women staying at home and looking after their families. We want women to be able to make that choice, as well as fathers, as often it will be they who stay at home. I am tempted by my hon. Friend’s invitation to speak to the European Union. I might change the language, but I think I will take him up on his offer.
Participation in Public Life — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): Following the general election we now have the highest number of women in Parliament in our history, although we recognise that we still have further to go. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) who has been elected as the first chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee. That Committee will play a pivotal role, and we are sure that it will take a close interest in increasing the number of women in public life.
Participation in Public Life — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Miriam Jane Alice Davies (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that fine reply and look forward to seeing that work in action. I am proud to support the Government in their steps to increase the representation of women in Parliament and to give local communities more power to shape their future. What steps is the Minister taking to encourage women to stand for their local councils?
Participation in Public Life — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my hon. Friend to her place and as the new chair of the all-party group for women in Parliament. How can we get more women to be local councillors? I know that my hon. Friend served as a local councillor, as have many colleagues across the House, and she will know that women are under-represented on local councils, making up only 31.7% of members. That is why schemes such as the Be a Councillor campaign, which has been run by the Local Government Association since 2012, are important. We want to encourage new candidates from all walks of life to come forward and represent their local community.
Participation in Public Life — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): We have made enormous progress on that and a third of the Cabinet is now female. I do not like the idea of quotas—I may speak for myself on that—and I do not like anybody thinking that the women in Parliament or in our Cabinet are there only because we took men out of the equation. We know that all women in Parliament and in our Cabinet are there under their own merits.
Participation in Public Life — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): Mentoring can play a fantastic role in all areas of public life and business. The Meet a Mentor scheme across the UK is encouraging women into business, and I would like such schemes to be extended to other areas of public and political life.
Women in Business — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Nigel Paul Huddleston (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my hon. Friend join me in applauding the efforts being made by traditionally male-dominated business organisations such as the CBI and the Institute of Directors to champion gender equality in the workplace, and for their efforts to increase female membership?
Women in Business — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): We welcome the work of the Institute of Directors and others to increase female membership. I congratulate Lady Barbara Judge, who has recently been appointed as the institute’s first female chair. It is vital that women are able to take their place in organisations that have traditionally been male dominated.
Career Progression — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government have been supporting Lord Davies to achieve the 25% target of women on boards of FTSE 100 companies by this year. We are improving transparency and providing more support to businesses, such as through the Women’s Business Council, within and outside the corporate sector, to help them to build their talent pipeline and to utilise and develop all the talents in their female workforce.
Career Progression — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Craig Paul Tracey (Conservative, Centre-right): It is great news that the Institute of Directors has appointed its first female chair in its 112-year history, but the fact remains that women still make up only about 20% of the membership of boards. Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the key ways to redress the balance is by encouraging and inspiring more female executives?
Career Progression — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely agree. The latest published figures showed that 23.5% of FTSE 100 board appointments were female, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that that relates particularly to progress made on non-executive directors, not on the executive pipeline. It is important to work with executive search firms, which is why in the previous Parliament the Government worked with them to develop their voluntary code of conduct. That has brought about real cultural change, but of course there is much more to do.
Career Progression — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Nicky Morgan (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very happy to welcome the publication by Harvey Nash to which the hon. Lady has referred. She may be aware that in July last year the previous Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills launched the voluntary enhanced code for executive search firms, which built on the Lord Davies report of 2011. The aim was to recognise and reflect on those executive search firms that were already working to improve gender equality in British boardrooms. The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that adverts often ask for the same old skills and do not recognise other experiences that women might have had that they could bring to the boardrooms of our top companies.
Career Progression — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. The hon. Member for Lanark and Hamilton East (Angela Crawley) has already contributed on Question 15, which we all savoured, but I am afraid that it is not possible for a Member to contribute twice in the same session. I urge the hon. Lady to store it and use it on a subsequent occasion. We look forward to that with eager anticipation. Meanwhile, I call Gloria de Piero.
Female Genital Mutilation — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Stephen Phillips (Conservative, Centre-right): We are coming to that time of year when girls are trafficked abroad for this barbaric practice to be undertaken. Does the Minister agree that it is critically important in this area to ensure that health care and safeguarding professionals have full and proper support to tackle FGM? What is she doing to ensure that that is the case this year?
Female Genital Mutilation — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. and learned Friend makes a very good point. The Government recognise the importance of equipping those on the front line with the tools they need to tackle FGM—and that means across the board. The Department of Health has funded a £3 million FGM prevention programme to support NHS staff and the Department for Education has provided £2 million to support a national programme, backed by Barnardo’s and the Local Government Association, that will create a highly specialised team of skilled social workers.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Charles Ashley Rupert Walker (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Leader of the House for his statement. The Procedure Committee will do a quick and dirty technical review of the changes in the time that remains before recess, but it will take time for the procedural implications of the changes to Standing Orders to become apparent. I suspect we will need to revisit this issue at some stage within the next 12 to 18 months.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I congratulate him on his uncontested re-election as Chair of the Procedure Committee. That shows the respect this House has for him. I ask him to see this as an ongoing task for his Committee. I have said I will return to this in 12 months’ time. In the meantime, I would like him to track the workings of this not simply over the next few weeks, but over the next few months. I would like the Procedure Committee to be absolutely central to deciding how this evolves as the months go by.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. This issue, of course, evokes very strong feeling in all parts of the House. Let me say at this early stage that colleagues can be assured that if they wish to contribute to the exchanges on this statement, they will have the opportunity—everyone will have the opportunity—to do so.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I have known the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr Gray) for more than 20 years, and I have never previously detected him having any difficulty in making himself heard, but such is the noise that today may be an exception.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important for me to stress that what we are delivering is what was voted on by the people of the United Kingdom on the basis of our manifesto, and I think it right and proper for us to deliver on that manifesto. I intentionally left the door open to Members in all parts of the House so that in 12 months’ time, when we have seen how the proposals bed in and when the first Bills have received Royal Assent, we can review the whole package and decide what is working and what is not.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Standing Orders can be amended and changed by hon. Members, but if it is the view of Members of this House that there should be primary legislation when we carry out the review in 12 months’ time, the right hon. Gentleman should bring that forward as a proposal.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): The fact that the programme motion was never moved might be a reason The Leader of the House has half answered the West Lothian question; he has given English Members a veto. What he has not done is allow them the right to initiate legislation. That happens in Scotland. Will his review in a year’s time take that into account?
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): The programme motion was not moved precisely because the Labour party said its Members would not support it. That is the story of the previous Parliament. They have a habit—as my hon. Friend will know—of saying one thing and doing another In 12 months’ time, when we carry out the review, I will be very open to submissions from all parts of the House about how the process should work, the way it is working and the extent of its working.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): There will be a relatively small number of England-only Committees; most Bills are broader in extent, and in the previous Session there were only four. One example in particular is education, which is devolved to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but I would expect most Committees to continue to be configured in exactly the same way as they are today, with representatives from throughout the United Kingdom.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely, and my hon. Friend represents a large number of Scottish constituents, and he is a powerful advocate for them. It is important that he is able to take decisions on matters that affect them. It is also right and proper that, when a matter exclusively affects English constituencies, he and his English colleagues should be able to say no if it is something that their constituents do not want.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Thomas Morris (Conservative, Centre-right): Following on from what the hon. Member for Angus (Mike Weir) said, I too am very concerned about what could happen in the other place. As things currently stand, we could go forward with this particular measure and be held hostage to fortune in the other place not only because of the political persuasions in the Lords but because they would not have the same criteria applied to them. We would spend a lot of time in this place trying to figure out what are English laws for England, and down there they could spend twice as long debating what we have given to them, with all the machinations that go on.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): The Lords will debate what we send to them as a House. If they send back legislation with material differences, as is the case at the moment, we will vote on whether to accept the changes or not. If the legislation concerns matters that affect England or England and Wales and are certified as such, to be accepted and passed into law it will require the support of the whole House and also of the MPs affected, either those in England or those in England and Wales.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): That is simply not true. They would have been able to vote. As I said earlier, every Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MP will continue to vote in the same Divisions except on the very small number of Bills for which there is an English-only Committee.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Other
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I can tell the hon. Gentleman that for now we will not apply this to private Members’ Bills. It will not apply to ten-minute rule Bills and the intention is that all Members of this House will continue to participate in all Divisions that affect the United Kingdom in general. The only change will be that Members of Parliament representing England or England and Wales will have a decisive say on matters that affect only their constituencies.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I have no idea if any of the new intake of Scottish MPs have any tattoos, but personally I prefer to spend perhaps a couple of thousand pounds on six iPads that can do the recording for us.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely understand the West Lothian question. The people who did not understand the West Lothian question were Labour Members when they introduced a new approach to the constitutional structure of this country without giving any consideration to the views of and impacts on electors in England. As we take a further step down the road towards devolution, we are ensuring that we do not forget the English, unlike Labour did 20 years ago.
English Votes on English Laws — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I can absolutely give that assurance. It is right and proper. These changes are necessary because, as I said earlier, all Opposition Members are, to say the least, in the strange position of being able to vote on education in my constituency but not in their own. That suggests that there is something wrong with our constitutional arrangements. As part of our plans to strengthen the Union and to provide more powers to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, there has to be an English dimension. That is what this is all about. I am disappointed that the SNP and the Labour party support devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but seem to oppose the English having anything as part of that change.
Britain and International Security — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): I will give way in a moment As the Prime Minister said on Monday, there must be a full-spectrum response to deal with ISIL at its source in places such as Syria, Iraq and Libya. We know that ISIL is organised and directed from northern Syria. That is why the Prime Minister said during last September’s debate on taking military action in Iraq that "there is a strong case for us to do more in Syria".—[Official Report, 26 September 2014; Vol. 585, c. 1259.] However, he recognised the reservations that some Members had, and we will not bring a motion to the House on which there is not some consensus. However, this is a new Parliament and it is for all Members to consider carefully how best to tackle ISIL, an evil caliphate that does not respect state boundaries Therefore, our position remains that we would return to the House for approval before conducting air strikes in Syria. The exception, as the House knows, is if a critical British national interest was at stake, or if there was the need to act to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. We are also clear that any action we take must not provide any succour to Assad or his regime.
Britain and International Security — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): We have to deal with ISIL extremism right across the board. We are working with the Tunisian authorities to find out exactly how the outrage last Friday was carried out, how it was planned, and who was involved in it. Let the House be in absolutely no doubt: the people who perpetrated the murders of our constituents are going to be tracked down, whether they are in Libya, in Syria, or anywhere else.
Britain and International Security — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): I am laying out some of the case today. However, the Prime Minister has made it clear that we will not return to the House for parliamentary authority to conduct air strikes in Syria unless there is a sufficient consensus behind it. It may be that opinion in this Parliament is rather different from opinion in the previous Parliament. A number of things have changed, not least the attacks that have multiplied and the spread of ISIS itself.
Britain and International Security — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Whiteside Gray (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend says that the BBC has been persuaded to drop the term "Islamic State", but is he aware of reports that the BBC has in fact said that it "must be fair with Islamic State…on the ground that its coverage of the terrorist group must be impartial" Does my right hon. Friend agree that the BBC need not be impartial with murderous scumbags such as ISIL and that calling them Daesh is perfectly correct?
Britain and International Security — House of Commons, 2015-07-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Julian Murray Lewis (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is, in my eyes, as gallant as they come In my hon. Friend’s intervention, he drew attention—he was kind enough to give me the copy of the news article to which he referred—to what the head of the BBC had said. According to today’s edition of The Times: "The head of the BBC has refused demands from 120 MPs to drop the term Islamic State on the ground that its coverage of the terrorist group must be impartial. Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the director-general, warned that an alternative name for the militants was ‘pejorative’ and said that the broadcaster needed to ‘preserve the BBC’s impartiality’." I have news for Lord Hall. I am well familiar with the concept of impartiality that applies to the BBC and independent television. I used to look into it decades ago. It is not absolute impartiality. The example that is always given is that there is no need for the media to be impartial between the arsonist and the fire brigade. The BBC is required to show due impartiality, which does not mean that it has to be impartial between terrorists and constitutionally constituted Governments and their armed forces. Lord Hall would do well to reflect on how he would react if somebody from his ranks of well-paid BBC executives said that the corporation needs to be impartial between the Nazis and the forces that fought them. He would not stand up for that suggestion for a moment.