argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister talks about listening to the Scottish Government, but that is of course on the back of the people of Scotland voting overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. Given the UK Government’s intransigence, it is little surprise that the Scottish National party is proposing a motion in the Scottish Parliament to ask for a mandate for a second referendum. Will the Government allow that to take place, or will she attempt to veto the democratic wishes of the Scottish people and the Scottish Parliament?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Grant (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Nobody knows what the answer will be when the people of Scotland are asked the simple question of whether they will choose hard Brexit as part of the UK, or full partnership with 27 sovereign states in the European Union. Does the Prime Minister agree that that question should be asked at a time when, whatever the democratic answer from the people, it can be seamlessly implemented, which means that the question should be asked within the timeframe indicated by Nicola Sturgeon yesterday?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Agriculture
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In the jumble of words that formed the Prime Minister’s statement—"global Britain", "leading role in Europe" and "not a moment to play politics or create uncertainty and division"—she missed out the two key words of "hypocrisy" and "irony" given her actions today. However, my real question is this: after Brexit, what are the Government’s plans with regard to the 1964 London fisheries convention?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Lisa Cameron (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister has welcomed the completion of the free trade agreements between the EU and Canada, and the pending free trade agreement between the EU and Japan. When it comes to the benefits of the single market and free trade, will the EU not be getting the full jammy doughnut while the UK will be left behind with nothing but an empty hole?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Education
George Kerevan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State mentions Germany’s lead in training in technical positions. Does she link that in any way with the fact that Germany consistently has a much higher level of corporation tax in order to fund that?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I amplify the point that my hon. Friend is making? On page 7 of its book, the OBR states that investment intentions have been put on hold, but when we turn the page, we find that business investment is forecast to grow by between 3.7% and 4.2% between 2018 and 2021. It simply does not add up, does it?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
George Kerevan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Not only does it not add up, but it means that we will not have the investment in plant and machinery that will raise productivity. We will miss our productivity targets yet again. Since the Chancellor has amassed his war chest, he should be using it. He should not wait for two or three years to see what happens after Brexit—no general does that. What is needed is investment now. Let us get on with the T-levels. Let us invest in English schools. I think that that would be a good thing to do, but it is not what the Budget says.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Education
George Kerevan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I accept that proposition but, having spent 25 years of my life teaching in further education, I know that £300 million for the whole of England and Wales becomes a tiny amount when we drill down to all the individual institutions. Can the Government not confront reality? If we want the productivity levels of Germany, we should not be talking about £300 million; we should be talking about £30 billion. If the Government do not want to spend £30 billion, that is fine, but they should not pretend that small amounts of money somehow solve the problem.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I learned a lot from my hon. Friend because about 35 years ago he was my economics lecturer We have delegated responsibility to the Bank of England through the quantitative easing programme, and that has led to a lack of balance. We have seen £435 billion of QE that simply has not worked, but we have not seen enough fiscal responsibility from the Government to create the circumstances that will deliver sustainable growth.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
George Kerevan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right. However, it is important to pin the blame where it is deserved, because perhaps the Chancellor gets too much of it. The blame actually lies in Downing Street with the Prime Minister. When she launched her bid for leadership of the Conservative party on 30 June 2016, she said: "If before 2020 there is a choice between further spending cuts, more borrowing and tax rises, the priority must be to avoid tax increases since they would disrupt consumption, employment and investment." Yet now we have a Budget that will raise the taxes of the self-employed and entrepreneurs—the people whose motivation is required for growth in the economy and an increase in productivity. It is the Prime Minister who has reneged on her leadership promise; the Chancellor is only doing her bidding This Budget claims to address the questions of education and productivity, but it is actually about selectivity and privilege for the narrow few. Let me tell the House what it has not done. For the first time in 100 years, the millennial generation is earning less than its parents. The Budget does not deal with that, because the Chancellor has sat on his war chest. Home ownership among middle earners is falling for the first time in 50 years. Mrs Thatcher would be turning in her grave if she heard that that was happening under a Conservative Government. By 2020-21—the end of the forecast period—average incomes will be a fifth less than they would have been if growth had continued at pre-crisis levels. There will be £5,000 less for every household The Conservative Government have not delivered a return to wealth for the ordinary person. The Chancellor’s freeze on universal credit and housing benefits means that one person in seven will have a lower real income in five years’ time. This is a Budget that does not address the real issues of inequality in this country. It is a Budget for inertia and complacency, and I will vote against it.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Education
William Arthur Roger Mullin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the outcomes of Scottish education, in terms of the number of people entering work and higher education, are significantly higher than they are in this part of the United Kingdom.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Hannah Mary Bardell (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I also welcome that funding, but does the hon. Lady share my dismay that, on the same page as her Government talk about giving support to victims of domestic violence, they refuse to get rid of the repugnant rape clause?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On 27 October 2015, when the right hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Gauke)—then Financial Secretary to the Treasury—gave evidence to the Public Bill Committee on the National Insurance Contributions (Rate Ceilings) Bill, he stated: "I remind the Committee of the purpose here. It is to emphasise and underline our commitment not to increase national insurance contribution rates in the course of this Parliament."––[Official Report, National Insurance Contributions (Rate Ceilings) Public Bill Committee, 27 October 2015; c. 9.] What does my hon. Friend think went wrong?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Labor
Philip John Boswell (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Alas and alack, it appears that word is seldom kept in this place The people I was describing often do jobs for the same companies for years on end, but the companies will not hire them as regular employees due to the cost of providing them with basic employee benefits. This means that they do not have maternity or paternity leave, sick leave or paid holidays; nor do they have the security of knowing whether they will be employed in a month’s time. The insinuation by the Chancellor that these individuals elect to give up all those benefits for the sake of saving a small percentage of their income on national insurance payments is absurd and hugely offensive. If the Chancellor would like to address the gap in revenue due to the growing trend of self-employment, I suggest that a fairer and more effective way would be to tackle those companies that hire workers only as self-employed contractors, in order to avoid paying employee benefits, rather than blaming those who are subjected to these unfair employment practices The Chancellor has presented yet another Tory Budget that blames working people for the economic problems created by the London-centric elite. It offers nothing new to address the existing economic problems faced by so many; nor will it protect working people from the fallout from this hard Tory Brexit. So much for caring Conservatism!
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): While talking about the need to balance the books, the hon. Gentleman made a bizarre analogy comparing the country with a family. When he is sitting at the dinner table, can he raise interest rates, print money and quantitatively ease? His analogy is completely and utterly defunct.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Energy
Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I will not give way, as others still wish to speak The privatisation of the Green Investment Bank is pushing ahead at precisely the wrong time. As part of this, I hope that the Government will reflect on the challenges they face and cancel that sale Oil and gas has raised its head as an issue, given the changing dynamic in Scottish political debate. In 2014, the then Prime Minister promised Scotland a £200 billion oil bonanza if we voted no. He told us that the industry relied on the broad shoulders of this United Kingdom. Well, those shoulders have barely shrugged in defence of the 65,000 people, many of them in my constituency, who have lost their jobs while the Government have been asleep at the wheel I and my party will take no lectures from folks over there on the oil and gas industry. We have seen an absolute dereliction of duty; the Government have been asleep at the wheel. This Budget provided an opportunity to right that wrong, but what did the Government do? Did they come forward with the exploration incentives that the industry needs? No, they did not. They simply reheated a previous commitment from the last Budget and said that they would set up a discussion group. Frankly, that is not good enough. When people are losing their jobs, it is not enough to sit down and have a chat over a cup of tea. An independent Scotland would undoubtedly have acted; it would have acted swiftly and decisively to save these people’s jobs.
Leaving the EU: Environmental Standards Regulations — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Environment
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): While the great repeal Bill may bring short-term stability and a working statute book when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it remains to be seen whether this Government, or indeed future Governments, will take any action to erode the UK’s existing environmental policies. What assurances can the Minister give the constituents who have written to me expressing deep concern about environmental protections post-Brexit?
Food and Drink Sector — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Agriculture
Calum Robert Kerr (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): My first DEFRA question, on 18 June 2015, was on convergence uplift. Now, €230 million should have flowed to Scottish farming. Since then, the Minister has demonstrated an uncanny ability to procrastinate, which my children could only envy. However, this is not children’s homework or getting to bed on time; it is fundamental money that is important to Scottish farming and it is now a matter of trust. The Minister wants us to believe that we can trust this Government with post-Brexit UK policy. Where is that money? How on earth can Scottish farming trust this Government and the Tories?
Food and Drink Sector — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Agriculture
Eilidh Whiteford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Press reports earlier this week suggest that the Danish Government may press for restrictions on UK fish imports to the EU if the Danish fleet loses access to UK—mostly Scottish—fishing waters when the UK leaves the EU. That would have very serious implications for Scottish fish producers, who currently export in the region of almost half a billion pounds-worth of fish to the EU every year. What conversations has the Minister had with his Danish counterpart this week, and what solutions is he proposing?
Leaving the EU: Value-for-money Scrutiny — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: International Affairs
Philip John Boswell (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I should declare an interest, as I sit on both the Public Accounts Committee and the Commission itself. Further to the question of the hon. Member for South East Cornwall (Mrs Murray), I asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office what concerns he had about the additional workload on his Department as a result of Brexit. He has many concerns, as intimated by the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), but said that he needs to know the details of the Brexit deal on the table before he can properly ascertain the impact. Is the hon. Gentleman confident that we will know the detail of this Brexit deal in 18 months’ time?
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: International Affairs
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for his statement. I am delighted to be called to speak. My concern is not just as a member of the LGBTI community, but in the broader sense of the profound impact of social, economic and political impoverishment on all Chechen society. Whether we like it or not, Kadyrov has in some terms the fundamental support of his nation, as a region of the Russian Federation. How we undermine that is through investment in foreign aid to tackle human rights abuses across the world. Will the Minister commit now, on the Floor of the House, that in fighting for LGBTI rights and other human rights in places like Chechnya, his foreign aid budget will not change after the general election?
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: International Affairs
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): All Glasgow weeps at this news, and when I return there later this afternoon there will be a vigil in George Square at which politicians and ordinary people will express their horror at what is happening in Chechnya I must disagree with some of my colleagues, in that I see no need for this matter to be escalated to the Foreign Secretary. I think that the Minister is a very capable Minister, and a deeply thoughtful Minister I echo the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Hannah Bardell). Is it not time for us to join countries such as Canada in having an envoy on LGBT rights who will report directly to the Prime Minister? I also echo what was said by my hon. Friend from Clydebank and—in the context of the Commonwealth—by the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr Evans): now is not the time to cut the foreign aid budget.
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In February, the Foreign Secretary announced the £700 million empowerment fund to come from the aid budget to project soft power and human rights. How is that fund being used to promote LGB rights and equal rights campaigners and to support civil society in Chechnya and elsewhere? May I echo the points of my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Martin Docherty-Hughes) because the Minister has not yet confirmed the Government’s commitment to the 0.7% aid target? This is precisely a demonstration of why that target is so important.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Government Operations
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Breaking with all convention, I think this actually is a point of order, Mr Speaker. The crux of my question to the Leader of the House concerned Government announcements and purdah. I have no idea whether there will be an announcement on which jobcentres they intend to close. Could you advise me, Mr Speaker? Is there anything to stop the Government making that announcement between now and the dissolution of Parliament?
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Government Operations
Ronald Jack Cowan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am a member of the Committee, so there is plenty I could say about the report, but I will respect your wish, Mr Speaker, for us to keep comments and questions short. The most important line in the report is perhaps that there should be "careful and restrained use of the machinery of government"— for example, of the civil service and the purdah provisions. Will the hon. Gentleman join me in encouraging the UK Government to trust the devolved Administrations and allow them to organise and run their referendums without external interference from this place?
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am grateful for that intervention. I agree with the hon. Gentleman, and it is up to us to demonstrate that fairness. Why should people who have emigrated from the UK be put in this position? They have a pension entitlement, but they have to return here to get what is theirs. That cannot be right. That is not something that we should support Joe Lewis, 90, lives in Canada and has recently lost his wife. He will be moving back to the UK as he can no longer cope with his frozen pension. After suffering a severe fall, Joe is increasingly struggling to afford living and medical costs. The only way he can make ends meet is to use up all his savings. Joe says: "All I want is my full state pension, which I have paid into my entire life." Why should Joe not get something for which he has paid? That is the salient point. Joe and everyone else we are talking about have paid national insurance. This is an entitlement George Gray, 77, now lives in South Africa. He paid national insurance for 48 years until reaching retirement at 65. He was completely unaware of frozen pensions until it came to applying for one. He states: "I was even told that getting our state pension was not a right, but merely a benefit from the British Government that could be amended at any time - but I’ve paid for it all of my working life." Anne Puckridge, 90, now lives in Canada. She worked in the UK up to the age of 76, paying mandatory national insurance contributions, and now has a frozen pension. She says: "The Government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries, and MPs cannot explain why they are not." Jane Davies, 70, now lives in British Columbia, Canada. She worked in the NHS for more than 20 years, helping hundreds as she worked in rehabilitation and elderly care. She was unaware that pensions could be frozen. She has said: "It’s outrageous when you think that it’s mainly Commonwealth countries that are affected, especially when Canadian pensioners living in the UK receive a full pension." That is why the Canadian Government are so exercised about this. They pay a full pension to their citizens living here, and yet we fail to reciprocate Wendy Moss now lives in Australia. She moved there in 2002 and was completely unaware that her pension would be frozen. She says: "I am looking into a potential return to the United Kingdom, but need to ensure that my family can make the journey back with me." In conclusion, these stories are heartbreaking. Let this House show that we can deliver compassion and recognise injustice. Let the Government commit to fixing this issue before we go out and campaign. Let us show that we are prepared to do the right thing. When we are back, I will look forward to legislation being passed to fix this and to fix the injustices for the WASPI women as well.
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Labor
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the Minister appreciate that there is clear evidence that people who have gone to live abroad have come back because they do not feel they can manage on a frozen pension? There is clear evidence that people feel that they have been affected quite significantly by that situation.
Tackling Infectious Diseases — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Several Members have asked about the future commitment to the 0.7% aid budget target. As the Minister has said, the 2015 legislation was passed on the basis of cross-party consensus. Does he share my hope that that cross-party consensus continues into the next election and that all parties’ manifestos will contain a commitment to the 0.7% target?
EU Citizens in the UK — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What steps she is taking to reassure non-UK EU citizens resident in the UK about their legal status after the UK leaves the EU.
Alan Brown (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As someone who is married to an EU national, I can assure the Minister that right now EU nationals do not feel any certainty from this Government. Does he agree with the organisations British in Europe and the3million that the Prime Minister’s offer will severely reduce the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU? Can he also explain why the Prime Minister made no reference to the far superior, detailed and comprehensive offer set out by the EU on 12 June?
EU Citizens in the UK — House of Commons, 2017-07-03
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What steps she is taking to reassure non-UK EU citizens resident in the UK about their legal status after the UK leaves the EU.
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): As my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) has highlighted, it is bizarre that the Prime Minister expects the EU to reciprocate an offer that falls short of the offer that the EU made on 12 June. Can the Minister confirm that the Prime Minister expects the EU to water down its offer? If so, how does he think that will reassure British nationals living abroad, never mind EU nationals living in the UK?