argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Transportation
Questions: Malton is widely recognised as the horse-racing capital of the north. The many racing stables and the hundreds of staff there very much welcome the introduction of the new horserace betting levy, which will bring up to £30 million a year into the industry. Will the Minister update us on the progress on its implementation?; Every gay player, coach and volunteer in every sport should be made welcome. Will the Minister join me in praising the leadership shown by rugby league in tackling homophobia in sport, on this the day that the Super League season kicks off?; English and Welsh wine is a great British quality success story and will be producing more than 12 million bottles by 2020. I know that the Secretary of State personally does her bit to boost wine consumption, but what is she doing to promote the use of English wine as standard in her Department and across Departments, and its tourist value in attracting visitors to our emerging wine regions?; If a broadband service is advertised as fibre, should it not be full fibre, and should not the service speed advertised be accessible by at least half of all those paying for it?; Melksham Town football club in my constituency is part of the very fabric of the Melksham community. It has inspired generation after generation to participate in sports and stay healthy, and fostered a sense of town pride. Will the Minister therefore join me in welcoming the opening of Oakfields, the home of Melksham’s football and rugby teams, thanks to a £7 million investment?; In 2020, as my right hon. Friend knows, Plymouth will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower setting sail to found the American colonies. What discussions has she had with the Secretary of State for Transport to make sure that tourists can get to Plymouth to celebrate this wonderful event?
Karen Anne Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): Last week, I had the honour of meeting the team who are putting together the Mayflower 400 celebrations. I also attended an event at the US embassy last summer where I saw a replica of the Mayflower that is going to be part of the celebrations that we look forward to in 2020. It is important that as many people as possible can visit those celebrations. I had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on this matter only last night.
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement—CETA—is a good agreement for the UK. It will promote jobs and growth and benefit consumers. The UK Government are fully committed to supporting such agreements while we remain an EU member. The investment protection provisions in CETA will have no impact on UK environmental legislation. They cannot force the UK or other parties to change their laws on the environment or any on other area of public policy.
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Enshrined in CETA and many other free trade agreements is the UK’s right to regulate in these areas, and that includes key environmental protections. There is nothing, for example, in the investment court system that would force the UK to change its environmental regulations. I notice, however, that the hon. Gentleman voted against CETA yesterday, in line with the Leader of the Opposition, but he may not know that when CETA was debated in Committee on Monday, the Official Opposition were actually in favour of it.
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): Has my right hon. Friend heard of CANZUK, and is he encouraged by it? This is the plan being proposed in the Canadian Parliament for a Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom trade partnership after Brexit. Does he share my enthusiasm for it?
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I have seen this proposal, and we are very enthusiastic about the future of UK trade with Canada. I repeat that we are currently very supportive of CETA going through. We think it is very important for the UK, for the European Union and for Canada, and we will continue to campaign for it to go through, not least in the face of the new-found opposition by Her Majesty’s Opposition.
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Gentleman very much indeed for that question. He is right that more Labour MPs—86—voted for CETA than the 68 who voted against it, with perhaps more than 100 abstaining. This agreement has been eight years in gestation. You would have thought, Mr Speaker, that the Opposition would have got their act together by now. On the point that the right hon. Gentleman made, I quote from one of his colleagues, who said: "If we don’t support a trade deal with liberal, Justin Trudeau-led Canada, who do we support trade deals with?"
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK environmental legislation of investment protection provisions in the EU-Canada comprehensive economic and trade agreement.
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an interesting point, and I think we will have to look at that when we come to it. There are a number of important aspects of CETA that we might look to replicate in a future deal, but, for the time being, while we remain a member of the EU, the UK remains strongly supportive of CETA going through I heard the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) say that he was the unnamed Back Bencher referred to in the "Politics Home" article. It is good to see that he is now named, and that he is supporting the Labour party’s traditional friends in Canada, the Liberal party.
Fair Trade — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Agriculture
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me join the hon. Lady in paying tribute to the fair trade campaign. It is very important in ensuring that farmers receive a fair price for their products, that agricultural workers receive better wages and that agricultural practices are made more sustainable. As Britain leaves the European Union, we will actually have greater freedom outside the common external tariff to be able to do some of the things she recommends.
Fair Trade — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Steven John Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): Whether we look at west African cocoa, east African coffee or Tunisian olives, time and again we find that the cause of unfair trade policy is the European Union. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that once we can set our own tariffs outside the common external tariff of the EU, we will be able to help those countries to trade their way out of poverty?
Fair Trade — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government are committed to an open and liberal trading system. One of the best ways to help poor countries is to have even greater liberalisation than we have today. When we are outside the common external tariff of the European Union, Britain will have the opportunity to act unilaterally, which will give us new opportunities, as my hon. Friend rightly suggests.
Fair Trade — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): We are already playing a full part in that. Britain played a major role in the World Trade Organisation’s arrangement that is going to come into effect in just a short time—the trade facilitation agreement. It will be worth about £70 billion to the global economy, and for some of the poorest countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, it will be worth about £10 billion. We made a major contribution to that, and we should be very proud of it.
Fair Trade — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
John Michael Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): I have a role as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Nigeria. In the context of fair trade, will the Secretary of State join me in encouraging the Nigerian Government to share the benefits of trade more widely with their people?
Space Exploration Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena (Conservative, Centre-right): It is really great to hear that the UK is fast becoming a world leader in the space sector. Will my hon. Friend inform the House about his efforts to secure foreign direct investment into the United Kingdom to support domestic growth in this industry?
Space Exploration Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of this sector. The numbers are absolutely fantastic: it has six times the average research and development investment, and it has 2.7 times the average productivity in the UK. During the past couple of years, the DIT has supported 19 successful inward investment projects in this sector, and we will continue to work with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to deliver the UK space innovation and growth strategy in the future.
Space Exploration Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (Conservative, Centre-right): Galileo is the satellite navigation system that is being put up by the European Space Agency and the European Union. That is one of the many things we have to negotiate over the coming years. The use of spectrum is incredibly important, because spectrum is limited. The Government will look at that among many other important things, but I assure the hon. Gentleman that spectrum is a very valuable asset for this country, and we will work with Ofcom to ensure that we get our fair share.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Since 23 June, the UK has continued to attract investment from global technology companies, including SoftBank’s purchase of ARM, Facebook expanding by 50% in the UK, Google pledging to invest an estimated £1 billion, Snapchat’s new global headquarters in London and more. This Department additionally promotes and showcases the UK’s leading technology capability through our overseas network, and via our recently launched digital platform, GREAT.gov.uk.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely correct and I agree with everything he said on the size of the UK capability, the size of the potential market and the need for a "Team UK" approach, which I spoke about recently when I visited his smart cities all-party parliamentary group just two weeks ago. In addition, I can announce today that two UK companies—Carillion and Zaha Hadid Architects—have secured a contract worth tens of millions of pounds to build a new headquarters in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, with support from UK Export Finance, which shows that the UK remains very much open for business.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Fortuitously, I was in the Chamber for the earlier Question Time and heard the right hon. Gentleman ask precisely the same question of the Minister for Digital and Culture. The UK is committed to implementing the global agreement, and to ensuring that it works for the UK once we transition outside the European Union.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the British Business Bank announcement of £1 billion of funding. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that the technology sector gets its fair share so that Britain’s leadership in the fourth industrial revolution can continue?
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Technology
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with my hon. Friend. I again praise his work on the fourth industrial revolution both in the House and beyond. He is a key advocate, not just in the UK but around the world, of ensuring that the UK takes advantage of its very great strengths in technology and its technological expertise.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very sympathetic to Glasgow maintaining its exports and capability in smart cities. The UK and the Department for International Trade follow a whole-UK approach, often working with key partners such as Scotland Development International. However, I would point out to the hon. Lady that Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom is more important. Some four times as much Scottish produce and capability is exported within the United Kingdom than to the European Union.
Technology Sector — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Macroeconomics
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department continually reviews its products and services to ensure that it meets its customer needs and represents good value for the taxpayer. Business planning will be completed very shortly, so we will be confirming events shortly.
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Building on my visit to Taiwan in September, we will continue to work with the Taiwanese authorities to address market access issues and to further increase our trade in this important market. The UK and Taiwan share a strongly favourable outlook on free trade and enjoy a robust trade partnership. Bilateral trade reached £5.9 billion in 2014, up 8% compared with 2010.
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: International Affairs
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman. The UK and Taiwan share so many commitments, including the importance of environmental protection and the importance of a free society. We also have very strong shared values of free trade, open markets and an openness to foreign investment. I had very productive talks with President Tsai in September. She is a big friend of the United Kingdom, not least because of her time as an undergraduate at the London School of Economics.
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: I know the Minister will be aware that back in 2008 Taiwan was granted Commonwealth Nations Research Society membership. As such, it will be looking to the Commonwealth Trade Ministers meeting in London in March. Will he confirm that trade with the Commonwealth is a top priority for the Government after we leave the European Union? Will he commit to ensuring that during the trade meeting many Members from all sides of the House can be involved to ensure key relationships with Commonwealth parliamentarians?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes. In terms of both trade with Taiwan and the Commonwealth, the Department remains extremely supportive of Members being involved. In relation to the Commonwealth Trade Ministers meeting, I very much hope the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will be involved in those discussions.
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: I know the Minister will be aware that back in 2008 Taiwan was granted Commonwealth Nations Research Society membership. As such, it will be looking to the Commonwealth Trade Ministers meeting in London in March. Will he confirm that trade with the Commonwealth is a top priority for the Government after we leave the European Union? Will he commit to ensuring that during the trade meeting many Members from all sides of the House can be involved to ensure key relationships with Commonwealth parliamentarians?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): When I held talks with the Taiwan authorities in September, agricultural produce was very much at the centre of those talks. We talked about pork and poultry exports, and we made real progress on Scotch whisky. Taiwan is Scotch whisky’s third-largest global market and we made important progress on it being certified by Taiwan.
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: I know the Minister will be aware that back in 2008 Taiwan was granted Commonwealth Nations Research Society membership. As such, it will be looking to the Commonwealth Trade Ministers meeting in London in March. Will he confirm that trade with the Commonwealth is a top priority for the Government after we leave the European Union? Will he commit to ensuring that during the trade meeting many Members from all sides of the House can be involved to ensure key relationships with Commonwealth parliamentarians?
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I know a lot of British businesses focus on the China market, for obvious reasons, but when I led a delegation to Taiwan in September, as chairman of the British-Taiwanese all-party group, I witnessed a vibrant economy. Does the Minister agree that if British businesses ignore Taiwan they are missing a trick?
Taiwan — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: I know the Minister will be aware that back in 2008 Taiwan was granted Commonwealth Nations Research Society membership. As such, it will be looking to the Commonwealth Trade Ministers meeting in London in March. Will he confirm that trade with the Commonwealth is a top priority for the Government after we leave the European Union? Will he commit to ensuring that during the trade meeting many Members from all sides of the House can be involved to ensure key relationships with Commonwealth parliamentarians?
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I totally agree. I think my hon. Friend and I were in Taiwan at roughly the same time back in September. I applaud the work he does for the all-party group. Taiwan has been a longstanding open market for UK goods and services, and we need to ensure that we work hard to remove the few remaining barriers. That was the purpose of the Joint Economic Trade Committee—or JETCO—talks in September. The message from this House should go out loud and clear to British businesses that Taiwan is a very good place for them to do their business.
New Business Markets: Cornwall — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to open new markets to businesses in Cornwall in (a) the food and drink and (b) other sectors.
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): The south-west FoodEx directory connects food and drink companies in Cornwall with buyers across the world. Local companies can also benefit from FoodEx workshops. Cornish companies in all sectors can access the full range of Department for International Trade services. We have launched the GREAT.gov.uk website, and our experienced international trade advisers are supporting new Cornish exporters to step into the global marketplace and helping experienced exporters compete in high-growth markets.
New Business Markets: Cornwall — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to open new markets to businesses in Cornwall in (a) the food and drink and (b) other sectors.
Derek Gordon Thomas (Conservative, Centre-right): In west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, a flurry of businesses have been producing food, drink and other goods. There is no doubt about the quality of their produce, but the reality is that very few of those products—food and drink—go beyond Cornish borders, let alone overseas. Will the Minister accept an invitation to meet these producers and help them to expand their markets?
New Business Markets: Cornwall — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Agriculture
Questions: What steps his Department is taking to open new markets to businesses in Cornwall in (a) the food and drink and (b) other sectors.
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (Conservative, Centre-right): As my hon. Friend knows, my family has roots in Cornwall that go back over 100 years, which I think means that we are now no longer incomers. The Secretary of State, of course, is a south-west MP and I believe he has met Cornish producers, and I am a frequent visitor to the extraordinary county that produces such fabulous produce. At the very first opportunity, I will go with my hon. Friend to meet his constituents and, indeed, people across the whole of Cornwall to explore ways in which we can push this fantastic county’s product.
New Zealand — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I launched a trade policy dialogue with the New Zealand Trade Minister last October to consider how we can strengthen our economic ties. Last month, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister met the Prime Minister of New Zealand and agreed that preparatory work should be undertaken on the potential for an ambitious new free trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand, once the UK leaves the European Union.
New Zealand — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sheryll Murray (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome the early and constructive dialogue with our colleagues and friends in New Zealand. Will my right hon. Friend do all that he can to explore every opportunity for bilateral trade with New Zealand, including the natural synergies between our rural economies?
New Zealand — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree. The UK exported over £1.2 billion-worth of goods to New Zealand last year, and opportunities for our rural businesses and farmers will be a very important part of our work as we take forward the dialogue with New Zealand, which I intend to visit over the summer months.
New Zealand — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Robert Alexander Courts (Conservative, Centre-right): This year the British New Zealand Business Association, which exists to develop trade between our two countries, reaches its centenary. As someone who has worked in New Zealand, I have first-hand experience of the warmth that exists between our two countries. Does my right hon. Friend agree that there is hope for, and that we look forward to, a great increase in trade between our countries in the years ahead?
New Zealand — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly hope that will be possible, given the freedom that we will have outside the European Union to negotiate such a free trade agreement. It is not just our two countries that will benefit; all countries around the globe will benefit from the new global Britain and our attitude towards global free trade, with all the benefits it brings, especially to the world’s poor.