argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Military Action Overseas: Parliamentary Approval — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): I have just said that these Christian leaders are under great pressure from the Assad regime to toe the party line, as it were, but the fact is that their responsibility is to protect their own communities, which are under unprecedented pressure. We have to take some account of the pressure on Christian communities Last week, when the Vatican all-party group was in Rome, we had a meeting on persecuted Christians in Syria. We met every single expert from the refugee services and from all around the world who look into this issue, and they all told us that bombing was a dangerous thing to do with regard to opinion in the middle east and pressure from Muslims on the remaining Christian communities. I was struck when the representative of the Catholic Church in Pakistan said that the Catholic communities there would get it in the neck even more because, unfairly, so many Muslims do not differentiate between Russian bombs, American bombs, French bombs and British bombs. They say that the misery in Syria has been caused by foreign Christian powers raining bombs on their communities. That might be an unfair point of view, but it is generally held in the middle east This point has not been made by anybody else in the debate so far: I accept that the Government were right to act, and that they have powers under the royal prerogative to act, but I do not believe that we should pursue any more our objective of trying to change the Assad regime. If we then do act for humanitarian reasons—if we intervene to deter a possible chemical attack—we will have much more credibility in the middle east, because we would not be seen to be taking sides. That is the way forward.
Military Action Overseas: Parliamentary Approval — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): Unfortunately I cannot give way because I am running out of time I have agreed with my right hon. and learned Friend, but I hope that when we debate these matters in future, we will remember this and avoid all hypocrisy. The fact is that as much as we detest Assad and as much as he is a dictator, none of us, as Christians, would want to live in an area of Syria that was outside Assad’s control, because he would protect us. That is a difficult thing to say in Parliament and not everybody will agree with it, but I have to say what I have to say.
Military Action Overseas: Parliamentary Approval — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: Law and Crime
William Nigel Paul Cash (Conservative, Centre-right): In view of the fact that the hon. Gentleman is invoking statute as a means of achieving his objectives, would he be good enough to explain that, effectively, this would mean surrendering national decisions of the utmost importance to the United Kingdom to the courts to decide, because that is where this would lead?
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight that, and I will come onto it later. I know that it is something my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has taken very seriously in the hate crime action plan and she is working with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service as well as providing more resources.
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Sheryll Murray (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my right hon. Friend surprised as I am that an Israeli Labour MP told me in Israel last week that the leader of her party has written and dissociated herself with the Leader of the Opposition—not the Labour party, but the Leader of the Opposition?
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Gentleman accept, however, that when people specifically target just the state of Israel, whether they consider the Government of Israel to have acted appropriately or not—only the Government of Israel; not the Governments of other countries around the world with whom they may have similar issues—that can be and very often is a cover for anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): The difficulty is this: when one makes in this Chamber a criticism of the Government of Israel, as I have done, one receives a number of unsolicited invitations to meet various people. Members need to be absolutely vigilant about those people, and what they have said and done, because there is a very grave danger of being lured into precisely the milieu to which the hon. Gentleman has referred.
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: International Affairs
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish (Conservative, Centre-right): On our recent visit to Israel, as my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Mrs Murray) said, we met an Israeli Labour MP who said that they were severing their links with the Leader of the Opposition, not with the Labour party. That is the issue and it has to be sorted out at the top of the Labour party to stamp out this anti-Semitism once and for all.
Livestock Worrying: Sussex — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: Agriculture
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear—or perhaps he will not—that I am not standing up to make an impassioned call for the nationalisation of all sheep farming. I congratulate him on securing the debate and he raises an important point; there is more sheep worrying and livestock worrying in Sussex, where both his constituents and mine have the opportunity to walk into open countryside. There is more sheep worrying in Sussex in the average year than there is in the whole of Scotland, and that is not acceptable. I am glad that he secured the debate to raise the concerns of many of our farmers.
Livestock Worrying: Sussex — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: Agriculture
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way again. He is being very generous, and, as a Member who represents a largely urban constituency, he is also very brave. None of us has suggested that it is the residents of Brighton who are worrying the livestock in the Sussex area I am sure that the hon. Gentleman supports the Take the Lead campaign, in which many of us became involved recently. Given that some 600 animals have been killed by dogs in Sussex in the last four years or so, the default position must be that dog owners put their dogs on leads when they are around livestock. They need to be educated about that, but if they do not comply, measures must be taken.
Livestock Worrying: Sussex — House of Commons, 2018-04-17
Topic: Agriculture
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman kindly mentioned me. I should declare an interest, as an urban shepherd in Brighton and Hove Many dog owners are not aware of the damage that their dogs can do. They think that the dogs will not attack sheep. However, a dog does not have to attack a sheep physically to worry it. Chasing sheep can be enough to cause miscarriage or even death, because they are very likely to have heart attacks as well.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): As you are aware, Mr Speaker, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is in the United States on departmental business, representing UK interests. I know that he has already written to you about that, and he sends his apologies to the House Last week, the Government launched a consultation setting out the policy framework for agriculture after the UK leaves the European Union. This Command Paper outlined a series of proposals to help farmers invest in their farms and become more profitable, to support new entrants coming into the industry and to support collaborative working in areas such as research and development.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish (Conservative, Centre-right): There was nearly a state crisis this morning: the pedal came off my bicycle at Vauxhall bridge. I managed to get here just in time I very much welcome the Command Paper. It talks much about having a greener and better environment for the future, but does the Minister agree that part of that agriculture paper must include the means of production—good-quality production—and our being able to increase, rather than decrease, the food that we grow in this country as we go forward with a new British agricultural policy?
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with the points that my hon. Friend makes. He and I both have a background in the farming industry, and we recognise the importance of this strategically vital industry for our country. He will know that we have a manifesto commitment to grow our agriculture industry and produce more food. Our consultation outlines a number of proposals, including improving both our productivity and research and development.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): Most of the food produced and processed in my Cleethorpes constituency is reliant on good supplies of fish. Can the Minister give an absolute assurance that the fishing industry will not be sold out in these negotiations as it was in the 1970s?
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): We have consistently been clear that when we leave the European Union, we leave the common fisheries policy. Under international law—the UN convention on the law of the sea—we then become an independent coastal state, and we will manage the fisheries resources in our exclusive economic zone and manage access to our own waters.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): We have been clear that we will maintain the total spending that we have on agriculture and the farmed environment until 2022. We have also been clear—our paper sets this out—that there will be a transitional period as we move from an incoherent system of area payments, which we have now, to one that is focused on the delivery of public goods. We recognise that there will need to be a gradual transition from the old system to the new.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): The EU’s common agricultural policy has been a disaster for the British dairy industry, because it has been designed in the interests of French farmers, not British farmers. How can we put that right after Brexit?
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very important point. The common agricultural policy has all sorts of inconsistencies. Having a one-size-fits-all agricultural policy for the whole European Union makes no sense at all, and as we leave the European Union and take back control of these matters, we will have the freedom to design an agricultural policy that works for our own farmers.
Leaving the EU: Food Producers — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes an important point. If we want to move to a position in which farmers are no longer dependent on subsidies, it is important that we support farmers to come together collaboratively, to strengthen their position in the supply chain and ensure that they get a fairer price for the food that they produce. We recently outlined a series of proposals for a statutory code on dairy and a statutory approach to carcase classification for sheep, together with a range of other options.
Groceries Code Adjudicator — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on extending the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): I have had regular dialogue with Ministers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator, and we recently had a call for evidence on the matter. In our response on 16 February to that call for evidence, we set out a range of measures to improve fairness in the supply chain and strengthen the position of farmers and small producers.
Groceries Code Adjudicator — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on extending the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not accept that there was no change. As I said a little earlier, we have announced a package of measures. It includes a £10 million collaboration fund to help farmers and small producers to come together, compulsory milk contracts legislation to protect dairy farmers, compulsory sheep carcase classification, a commitment to making supply chain data easier to access to improve transparency and market integrity and a commitment to reviewing whether more grocery retailers should come under the GCA’s remit.
Groceries Code Adjudicator — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on extending the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): When we looked at the evidence, we found that a lot of it concerned particularly vulnerable sectors, such as dairy and some of the other livestock sectors, which often end up becoming price takers because they do not have sufficient strength to deal with large processors. It was less an issue of the supermarkets and more an issue of the processors. We have decided that a better way to take this forward is to introduce other statutory codes that target the problem, rather than trying to change the GCA’s remit.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Last autumn, an independent working group was set up, as part of the litter strategy for England, to hold a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. That included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit return schemes. I have recently received the report, and I am considering the recommendations.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Part of the evidence that was submitted reflects the fact that councils offer a comprehensive recycling service at the kerbside. I am delighted to say that Rotherham has finally agreed to start collecting plastic bottles. We need to consider the approach carefully. I think that there is an appetite for a DRS, but the schemes that we have seen in other parts of Europe are very different, and we need a scheme that works for this country and achieves the outcomes that we all seek.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that question was a complete waste of space. The hon. Lady refers to powers. The Government have given councils the powers that they have been asking for to tackle littering and waste crime, so I think she is being rather ungenerous about the progress that is being made. Plastic has a role in safe packaging, but it has become endemic. That is why we are considering it carefully in the resources and waste strategy, which we intend to publish later this year.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Let us be clear: the people who drop litter are litter louts. I reiterate my phrase, "Don’t be a tosser!" because it does not help society to drop litter anywhere and everywhere. Let us get real about how we need to tackle that. I commend the work that Keep Britain Tidy does in encouraging litter collections. However, the hon. Lady is right: we need to sort this issue out in the first place. That is why DRS is being considered very carefully as part of our resources waste strategy.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Caroline Alice Spelman (Conservative, Centre-right): On International Women’s Day, I would like to be a bit more consensual and ask the Minister to applaud the campaign by our female colleagues to give up plastics for Lent and the Church of England’s initiative on practical suggestions for something that we can do on every one of the 40 days. Has the Minister given up something plastic for Lent? Will she join us in writing to manufacturers for whom there is no alternative to plastic to encourage them to find a sustainable solution?
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course a Church Commissioner would call upon God and the Church of England to inspire us. I am also one of the people who has taken the pledge to try to give up something plastic for Lent. I pledged to carry a water bottle around in my handbag—I am not going to produce a prop, Mr Speaker—and I have had to sacrifice my Marmite in the Tea Room because it is only sold in plastic sachets. We are all looking forward to the proposals from Parliament, because this does matter. The campaigns on passing on plastic and giving up plastic for Lent are partly about behavioural change among consumers. I believe that companies are starting to respond and we are starting to see changes, but the more consumers demand this, the quicker action will happen in the marketplace. I assure the House that this Government will take action.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Stephen Daniel Double (Conservative, Centre-right): A deposit return scheme is not just about raising recycling rates; it is also about educating and raising awareness among the public about the need to be responsible. In that vein, will the Minister join me in praising the many towns across Cornwall—Newquay, Falmouth, Penzance, Bude, and many others—that have declared their aims to become single-use plastic free? Does she agree that Cornwall is leading the way in raising awareness of this issue?
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Patrick McLoughlin (Conservative, Centre-right): Is my hon. Friend aware that in Ashbourne over the past four days, tens of thousands of plastic bottles of water have been handed out by Severn Trent because of its failure to reconnect the water supply? At the moment, the compensation level is £30 a day, which is woefully inadequate. Will she look at the specific case surrounding Ashbourne?
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): As I announced to the House the other day, I have asked Ofwat to undertake a review. I have also encouraged water companies to improve the compensation that they could discretionally offer. I expect that Severn Trent is already responding to the call from my right hon. Friend.
Bottle Deposit Return Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government have taken strong action on banning microplastics from certain products. We are still waiting for the other nations, but they have committed to making sure that that happens by June as well. On the right hon. Gentleman’s point about the Arctic ice, this is indeed a global matter. That is why we work hard with other nations through different forums, whether the OSPAR Commission on the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic, the G7, other agencies such as the United Nations, or of course our Commonwealth countries, which will be visiting the UK next month for the summit.
Leaving the EU: Policy Development — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Questions: If he will develop agricultural policy and environmental standards for the period after the UK leaves the EU in parallel with trade negotiations with the EU.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady will be aware, through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, we are initially bringing across all existing EU legislation as it pertains to the environment. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also outlined plans for a new environmental body, and we are in discussion with the devolved Administrations about their involvement and a UK framework in these matters.
Leaving the EU: Policy Development — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: If he will develop agricultural policy and environmental standards for the period after the UK leaves the EU in parallel with trade negotiations with the EU.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with my hon. Friend, who has a lot of experience in these matters and an understanding of the industry. He is absolutely right. There will be parts of the country where some farmers choose to do more by way of delivering environmental outcomes, and in other parts they may focus more on food production. Either way, we want a vibrant, profitable farming industry across our country.
Leaving the EU: Policy Development — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: If he will develop agricultural policy and environmental standards for the period after the UK leaves the EU in parallel with trade negotiations with the EU.
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have always been consistently clear that we will not lower our high animal welfare standards and high food standards in this country in pursuit of a trade deal.
Marine Environment — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Environment
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): Our seas and oceans are an integral part of our history, economy and way of life, and the "Blue Planet" series drew attention to how they are under threat. The UK marine strategy, which was reinforced in the 25-year environment plan, shows what we are doing to reduce harmful pressures and manage activities that have an impact on the marine environment.
Marine Environment — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): Our fishermen are strong custodians of the marine environment, and fishing communities in Moray such as Buckie, Burghead and Lossiemouth—to name but a few—are looking forward to this Government taking us out of the disastrous common fisheries policy. Does the Minister agree that leaving the European Union will provide fishermen in Moray, Scotland and the UK with a sea of opportunity, part of which will be protecting the marine environment to ensure that it supports the fishing industry for many years to come?
Marine Environment — House of Commons, 2018-03-08
Topic: Agriculture
Thérèse Anne Coffey (Conservative, Centre-right): As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister reinforced in the Mansion House speech, we will be leaving the common fisheries policy next year when we leave the European Union, and that gives us an opportunity as an independent coastal state to manage sustainably the fisheries that we have.