argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Covid-19: International Travel — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Transportation
Grant Shapps (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady is clearly right to say that it was complex, confusing and difficult, as I mentioned in my statement. That was by necessity in many cases: we had to act over a weekend, and we had to change the law in a matter of four hours with the mink variant, I recall. That has necessitated a lot of discussions. I want to let her know that I have been in constant contact with, for example, Heathrow and the airlines. The aviation Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts), is doing that day in, day out, and we commit to redouble our efforts with them. Today is a watershed moment. Those are not my words, but those of Airlines UK, which has said that this is a real opportunity for the industry to get back on its feet and back into the air.
Covid-19: International Travel — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: International Affairs
Ben Spencer (Conservative, Centre-right): Throughout the pandemic, Labour has flip-flopped, calling for a pause on international travel, then opposing all and any restrictions. May I thank my right hon. Friend for ignoring its game playing—[Interruption]—and for his unalloyed support for international travel and a truly connected global Britain?
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman just spoke about the Government navel-gazing and having the wrong priority. Does he therefore agree that Nicola Sturgeon has absolutely the wrong priority? She was on TV again yesterday, saying that she is going to kick-start yet another campaign for independence, at a time when we should be focused on the economic crisis, the energy crisis, affecting all our constituents?
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Barry Daly (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman made reference in his previous comments to the impact on constituents of the cost of living. I therefore ask him to take this opportunity to tell the Labour Front Bench that Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester clean air zone, a tax on business and jobs in my constituency emanating from the Labour party, should not come into place—it should be scrapped. I would welcome the hon. Gentleman joining me in our joint campaign to improve the standard of living for constituents all across the country.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Labor
Duncan Charles Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): May I ask a quick question? Can the hon. Gentleman recall which of the following schemes rolled out since March 2020 he did not approve of: the job coaches or kickstart schemes; the restart schemes; the lifetime skills guarantee; the holiday activity fund; the household support programme; or perhaps we should just remember the furlough schemes that protected the jobs and livelihoods of millions of people throughout the United Kingdom? Did any of those schemes not help the Scots?
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Duncan Charles Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): It is interesting listening to the number of fiscal policies mentioned that are so terrible and have led to the United Kingdom’s recovery being so poor. Can the hon. Gentleman then explain why every economist predicts that the United Kingdom economy is expected to show the highest growth and bounce back of any nation within the G7?
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Daniel Robert Kawczynski (Conservative, Centre-right): One thing the hon. Gentleman has not mentioned in the course of his speech is the extent of the national debt. We have a debt-to-GDP ratio of over 100%, we have more than £2.4 trillion in debt and we are spending more on servicing the national debt than on the entire education budget—£55 billion. Will he not at least acknowledge that the extraordinary levels of debt incurred over the banking crisis and now the pandemic inevitably mean that the Treasury is unable to do straight away everything he seeks to have it do for our constituents?
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad to have this opportunity to respond on behalf of the Government. The UK economy is roaring back to life following the unprecedented challenges that we faced during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. It may have escaped the attention of Scottish National party Members, but job vacancies have hit record highs while the unemployment rate has fallen sharply. Our GDP has rebounded. We are set to enjoy faster growth this year than anywhere in the G7, and our economy is now bigger than it was before the pandemic Job numbers are rising, unemployment is falling and the economy is back to its pre-covid level, but that has not happened by accident. The economy has been able to bounce back so strongly and quickly only because of the decisions made by this United Kingdom Government. Let me remind the House of those decisions. The £400 billion of direct economic support has protected millions of people’s livelihoods in every part of the United Kingdom, with the furlough and self-employment income support schemes safeguarding, in Scotland alone, more than 1 million jobs. The success of our vaccine roll-out has meant that we have retained the most open economy and society anywhere across Europe. And our plan for jobs is creating work opportunities and ensuring that people have the right skills to get into work Those achievements are underpinned by the fiscal strength and stability of our economic union. That is why, at the autumn Budget, we confirmed that the devolved Administrations are receiving an extra £12.6 billion of Barnett-based funding this year, taking total block grant funding to £77.6 billion.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): What the hon. Gentleman misses is that a jobs-based recovery lies at the heart of this Government’s plan. If he cares to look at this Government’s record, as opposed to that of the Government in Holyrood, he will see that the United Kingdom Government outperforms Holyrood every day of the week on job creation, growth and stability, which, in the end, goes to the heart of all our constituents’ life chances Over the next three years, the Government are providing, on average, an additional £8.7 billion a year to the DAs on top of their annual £66 billion baseline. That funding equates to an average of £4.6 billion a year more for the Scottish Government, £2.5 billion more for the Welsh Government and £1.6 billion a year more for the Northern Ireland Executive. It will support the devolved Administrations as they shape the economic recovery and decide how best to invest in the vital public services on which people rely We are acutely aware of the cost of living challenges that people face. Inflation is expected to average around 4% this year, 2.6% next year and then to return to target by the end of 2023. It is true that almost every other developed economy is facing similar issues due to increasing global demand after the pandemic and a global spike in wholesale gas prices.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Contrary to that rendering of events, the challenges we face in relation to the supply of HGV drivers are those faced by countries across Europe. This workforce is predominantly elderly, and has been badly affected by the covid pandemic. Industries across the world, let alone Europe, continue to be affected by the same challenges that we all face of constrained supply and rising demand as the world wakes up from the pandemic. This has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit, and it is fundamentally misleading to suggest otherwise As I said to the House earlier this month, we are focused on easing the pressures caused by the cost of living wherever and however we can, and of course we are constantly considering what more we can do. I should remind the House that we are providing support, worth about £12 billion in this financial year and next, to help families with those challenges.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Social Welfare
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I recognise the passion with which the hon. Gentleman speaks in this place. I am happy to take away the issue to which he alludes and to look at it with my Department. However, the wider point stands: we are providing £12 billion this year and next. That is a huge package of support, targeted precisely at the issues that face this country and countries around the world To help working people, we cut the universal credit taper rate from 63p to 55p—that is a huge reward for making work pay—and increased the work allowance by £500 a year. That is a tax cut for nearly 2 million low-income families, worth £2.2 billion in the next financial year, or, on average, about an extra £1,000 in their pockets. Furthermore, from this April we will increase the national living wage by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour, benefiting more than 2 million workers across the UK. We have also frozen fuel duty for the 12th year in a row, which means that the average UK car driver will save about £1,900 compared to the level in 2010. All that builds on the help we have already provided elsewhere, such as the increase in the local housing allowance. We have increased it significantly Great Britain-wide, so that it stands at the 30th percentile of market rates, and we have made a commitment to keep cash levels at those higher rates in the future For those who needed extra help with their housing costs, we provided £140 million for discretionary housing payments in England and Wales this year; about 4 million people are being given help with their council tax bills; and we are investing over £200 million a year to continue the holiday activities and food programme for disadvantaged children in England. We are providing nearly £5 billion to help children and young people catch up on lost learning. On top of that, we are taking a range of further steps to relieve the financial pressures on the most vulnerable: for instance, we are expanding the Great Britain-wide warm home discount to about 780,000 additional households. In September we announced the £500 million household support fund to help vulnerable people throughout the UK with essentials such as energy, clothing and food bills this winter. Of course, we are also giving NHS workers throughout the United Kingdom a 3% pay rise in recognition of their service during the pandemic As I have said, the Government are striving to shield families from the rises in the cost of living, but as I also said a moment ago, the best anti-poverty strategy is a jobs strategy. That is why we believe that supporting, protecting and creating employment opportunities, and giving people the skills that they need, is economically right for this country. That vision is being turned into reality through our investment in the plan for jobs, which is benefiting people in every part of the United Kingdom.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): If we look at the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, we see that they are for 6.5% growth in 2021 and 6% growth in 2022. That is an incredibly strong economic recovery, and one of which we should be very proud. With regard to the Kickstart scheme, we obviously always want to encourage maximum uptake and we continue to work to refine that scheme and make sure it works to best effect, but it must be considered in the context of an unemployment rate that is now only just over 4%. We have a very tight labour market, and that very success is leading to some of the challenges that we face in getting people through every different scheme.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Labor
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. The concept of some kind of VAT windfall is fundamentally misleading. VAT is charged at 5% on energy and if people are spending more of their disposable income on energy and less on issues that are taxed at the full rate, the Exchequer gets less money rather than more, so it is a net cost to the Exchequer We have doubled the number of work coaches and we have provided vital help for those who have been unemployed for over three months through the job entry targeted support scheme, which is worth £200 million. Of course, we are not just helping people into work: we are also supporting them to develop the right skills so that they can adapt and thrive in the job market. In the Budget, we committed to increasing skills spending in England by £3.8 billion over the Parliament, and the plan for jobs is therefore giving people the invaluable tools they need to succeed.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): It is good to see the hon. Gentleman back in the Chamber. The reality is that nobody came into politics to raise the burden of tax on our society. We all feel that keenly, but we are equally clear that we face a £400 billion bill for covid costs. We have a clear programme of targeted investment in the NHS and in social care, designed to alleviate the backlog in treatment and the longstanding challenges that we know we face with an ageing society. We owe it to people to be candid that there are no easy solutions to how to pay for that. I certainly do not want—and I know the Chancellor does not want—to put more borrowing on to the books, when we know that those are structural challenges that need to be paid down, and therefore a tax increase is the most sensible and honest way for us to pay for that. In that spirit of total candour, that is why we are bringing that forward, and we believe that it is the right thing to do. The sadness is, of course, that the Opposition did not support us in that, and persistently criticise us for not spending enough on the NHS when they will not will the means for that investment Direct financial assistance, help to find work and support for people in every region and nation of the UK are just some of the ways in which the Government are aiming to secure a more prosperous future for this country. I note that the motion tabled by the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) calls for the Government to spend more. I should remind him that the devolved Administrations already have the power and the money to make spending decisions of their own. The Scottish Government have significant tax and welfare powers, so they can choose to raise more tax if they want to spend more on welfare For our part, we have shown unequivocally that we are not afraid to make the big decisions to do right for the people of this country. That is why we are investing £600 billion in the public sector over the course of this Parliament, on our health service, our education system, and securing our borders. That is why, at the spending review, we took the total we have committed to the economic infrastructure to £130 billion. That is why, to respond the hon. Gentleman’s point, we are spending more on the NHS as a result of the health and social care levy as well.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: International Affairs
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): I will begin by picking up a few remarks made by the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) in opening the debate. First, he criticised the Chancellor for not being here. I apologise for any harm that this does to his career, but I must say that I am delighted that my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury spoke for the Government in these opening speeches. It did irk me slightly that the hon. Gentleman felt he should highlight that the Chancellor was not here, because I remember being in Holyrood in the Scottish Parliament just a few weeks ago when—[Interruption.] SNP Members can laugh at this if they want, but we were discussing kids dying at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, and I led for the Scottish Conservatives, Anas Sarwar led for Labour and Alex Cole-Hamilton led for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Every party leader turned up to that debate with the exception of Nicola Sturgeon, who is the local MP in Glasgow and was the Health Secretary when that hospital was created. She has many questions to answer, but she could not even turn up to a debate about that. Not only that—she could not even be bothered to vote. When SNP Members pick fights and say who should or should not respond to these debates, they should remember what their own leader does in Holyrood Secondly, the hon. Member spoke about groundhog day. We are in groundhog day in Scotland because, in the run-up to another party conference and elections, we have got Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP yet again speaking about Scottish independence. She was on the TV yesterday saying that she is putting civil servants to work to get ready to fight the case for another independence referendum. Businesses in Scotland are still struggling as a result of restrictions put in place by the SNP. Even the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart), who is no longer in his place, said it was a fair point that they went too far before Christmas, yet Nicola Sturgeon thinks that now is the right time to recharge her efforts to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom. That is the wrong focus, and it is groundhog day all over again. Finally, the hon. Member for Glasgow East spoke about the economy and currency. The SNP Benches are very full, so I want to ask SNP Members this once more. They all support independence and want to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom, so who on the full SNP Benches can tell me what currency an independent Scotland will have? I will give way to the hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Steven Bonnar), who put up his hand—we stand up in this place.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): The Scottish pound—there we go. That has answered all the problems. There are no concerns about what the Scottish pound would be or when it would be introduced. I think that the muted response of the hon. Member’s colleagues tells him that that was not the best intervention to make. Yet again, none of them can answer that question. I have asked them many times before, but none of them can credibly say what currency an independent Scotland would have. I think that is telling.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): They are all excited now. I will give way to the hon. Member for Livingston (Hannah Bardell) in a moment, but we are speaking about the cost of living crisis and the SNP leader in Scotland wants to start the campaign to separate Scotland all over again. If Scotland were to separate from the rest of the United Kingdom—which I hope never, ever happens—surely the SNP can tell us what an independent Scotland’s currency would be.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Energy
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): I note, having asked the hon. Lady to tell me what currency an independent Scotland would have, that she failed to do so. She did, however, mention the White Paper, which was very detailed. It said that oil would be worth $114 a barrel. I am not sure that oil ever achieved that figure; it is certainly not worth that much at the moment. I really do not think that the White Paper is a strong argument for the SNP to focus on, but—
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I know that the hon. Member is having fun, but this is about the cost of living increase and not some possible referendum in Scotland, so could we get back to the subject matter, please? [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear!"]
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): SNP Members are cheering because they are hoping that I move on very quickly. Like any good official, I will follow the rule from the referee and agree to do so. However, I think that many people in Scotland will be watching and will have heard that not a single SNP Member was able to answer such a crucial question for Scotland’s future I welcome the opportunity to discuss an important issue for my constituents in Moray and for constituents across Scotland and the United Kingdom. Households are struggling with the rise in global energy prices; with inflation as a result of spending decisions taken by Governments across the world, including this Government, who have invested £315 billion to get us through the global pandemic; and, of course, with rising prices of essential items such as food because of continued supply chain issues, again as a result of the pandemic.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): It turns out that that was exactly the same question and the same point that the hon. and learned Lady has already made three times. She mentions the British Retail Consortium, but she also has to accept that there have been labour shortages and driver shortages in other parts of the European Union, the United States and many other parts of the world. I understand that it fits her narrative to paint her question in that way, but we also have to remember that these are global issues that Governments across the world are having to address Governments in this country have to think carefully about the effect that their policies have on family budgets. That is why I was amazed, but sadly not surprised, that there was not a single mention in the SNP motion calling on the nationalist coalition of the SNP and the Greens in Holyrood to take some decisions itself that could make an immediate and direct impact on the cost of living in Scotland. The SNP motion that we are debating makes reference to tax rises, which is very interesting given that for the past decade and a half SNP colleagues have been running the country that is the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Angus Brendan MacNeil) says it is about the rich, but it is not; it is about the 1.1 million Scottish taxpayers who earn more than £27,393. That is not rich; that is 1.1 million people across Scotland. Those who earn just over £27,000 are not the rich; people across Scotland are being punished by SNP decisions.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): I have listened carefully to the hon. Gentleman, and I make this point: the tax rises that his Government are introducing in Scotland have made Scotland the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom, and that is affecting nurses, teachers and police officers. That is who it is affecting right now in Scotland.
Cost of Living Increases — House of Commons, 2022-01-24
Topic: Government Operations
Douglas Gordon Ross (Conservative, Centre-right): I will give way in a second, if the hon. Gentleman will show that he stands up for his constituents, just like SNP council leaders have stood up to the Scottish Government and said, "That is a cut too far", and that they should change their view on the £371 million cut to local government.