argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Victoria Grace Ford (Conservative, Centre-right): When the hon. Gentleman says that he wants to stay in a customs union with the EU, will he confirm that he will continue to comply with EU state aid and competition law as a condition of staying in that customs union? I cannot find a single example of a country that can stay in the customs union while disregarding state aid laws.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (Conservative, Centre-right): I want to go back to the comments that the hon. Gentleman made about Sir Martin Donnelly, whom I worked with for a number of months; he is a civil servant of extreme ability and wisdom. When he made the banquet versus the packet of crisps analogy, I think he was looking to a certain extent at some of those simple gravity models used by the Treasury—the simple mathematical trade-off between tariffs with the EU and tariffs elsewhere What is missed in all this debate is the ability of the UK to find itself at the centre of a network of trade deals. For example, a US manufacturer might see the advantage in moving its manufacturing operations to the UK to take advantage of a UK-India trade deal, for example, if the trade relationship between the UK and India was greater and better than that between America and India directly. That is the unknown that we are struggling to analyse, to get the true comparison between one type of relationship and the other.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): The whole premise of what the hon. Gentleman is saying is based on figures that do not take into account at all of what the Prime Minister has set out to achieve, which is a special and deep partnership with the European Union. The figures that he quotes are the same figures that Scottish National party Members campaigned on during the referendum, when they predicted that there would be a recession and that the economy would fall off a cliff. They were false prophets then and they are false prophets now.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not want the impression to be given to this House that the recent figures published by the Exiting the European Union Committee were the same as the figures that were used pre-referendum. Two totally different economic models were used. It would be wrong for the record of this House to suggest that the figures used before the referendum were the same as the ones after.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn), who, as ever, was very eloquent. I heartily endorse his point about using multilateral institutions, but I fear that the failure of Europe to act in an appropriately tough way after the murder of Litvinenko may well have led the Russian state to think that it could have another go here. I would have argued for sanctions to be applied, particularly against Russia’s gas exports, as I think that that would have had a big impact. I support the right hon. Gentleman’s calls and the solidarity shown by Europe, but I ask it to go further and to consider strict measures against the Russian state I want to address the importance of not so much our trade in goods, but our trade in services, which has been under-represented in many of our debates on Europe. I do so particularly in the light of the rather aggressive statements by President Trump in the past few days. Services are vital for our prosperity. They constitute almost 80% of UK GDP and 80% of UK jobs, as well as 45% of our exports. A large proportion of our service exports go to Europe. In fact, this trade is worth £90 billion annually, which is more than the Government spend on transport, housing, the environment, industry, employment and agriculture combined. When we see it in those terms, we understand the importance of a deal for the service sector. That is not just about financial services, because it also includes sectors such as insurance, legal, cultural and digital services I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to an ambitious and comprehensive deal, which will be essential, as it will have to cover a range of sectors, including the service sectors, with their various requirements and needs. I therefore encourage Ministers to be bold. The exit analysis produced by a number of Departments, using the most up-to-date economic model, shows that the real threat to UK plc comes from non-tariff barriers. We can have a debate about the customs union, but I argue that it is non-tariff barriers that create the biggest threat to the UK economy.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of non-tariff barriers. The World Trade Organisation itself identified that there were 300 non-tariff barriers in 2010, and the figure rose to 1,200 by 2015. Does she agree that Great Britain can be a strong advocate of free trade in the WTO and can try to drive a reduction in not only tariffs, but non-tariff barriers?
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
John Robert Lamont (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to focus on the ongoing negotiations between Scotland’s two Governments on the powers set to be transferred from Brussels to the Scottish Parliament, which will have an impact on Scotland’s ability to do business and trade, especially if we get it wrong While those negotiations are ongoing, and in the light of the fact that the UK Government have now published their amendment to clause 11 of the EU withdrawal Bill, the SNP Scottish Government are rushing another Brexit Bill through the Scottish Parliament. The EU withdrawal Bill may have its faults, but it is at least legal; the same cannot be said of the SNP Government’s so-called continuity Bill, which is currently being considered by Holyrood. It has been ruled unlawful by the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer and strongly criticised as inconsistent by a range of experts, yet it is still being rushed through in a few days with minimal scrutiny by MSPs.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Paul Masterton (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the narrative appears to be being perpetuated that the Presiding Officer sat in his office one evening, read the draft Bill and reached the conclusion on competency on his own, as opposed to having received a range of extensive and incredibly high-quality legal advice from a range of Scotland’s leading law firms?
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Government Operations
John Robert Lamont (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The Presiding Officer has done this not in a vacuum but with the advice of the Scottish Parliament’s lawyers and others, and it is misjudged by the Scottish Government to think they can push ahead regardless of his view Just 11 MSPs are currently considering and voting on more than 230 amendments to the Bill in what was originally planned to be a single sitting that started at a quarter to six last night. Late nights may not be unusual here, but it is unprecedented in the Scottish Parliament for so many amendments to be given so little time to be considered. I remind Members that the Chamber of the Scottish Parliament is given only one opportunity to consider a Bill in detail, and that it has no revising Chamber to make improvements at a later stage. To force through so many amendments in so little time is not the way to legislate. The fact that Opposition MSPs were able to identify hundreds of problems with the Bill with only a handful of days in which to consider it should be a wake-up call for the Scottish Government.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
John Robert Lamont (Conservative, Centre-right): The legislation that created the Scottish Parliament is very different from that which created the Welsh Assembly. I do not know whether the powers are similar, but, having served in the Scottish Parliament for 10 years, I do know that it is for the Presiding Officer to determine whether Bills are competent to be considered by the Scottish Parliament, and the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer was very clear about the fact that this Bill was not competent If passed, the Bill would give Scottish Ministers a raft of powers, including the power to decide which bits of EU law they wanted to adopt in domestic law. Those decisions should rest with the Scottish Parliament, and that, I suggest, is the real power grab. It will do nothing to help Scotland to trade, or to protect businesses in Scotland that trade with the rest of the EU or, indeed, with countries around the world. The fact that the SNP Government are pushing the Bill through Holyrood, ignoring the views of the Presiding Officer and avoiding any meaningful scrutiny by MSPs, shows what the SNP really thinks of the Scottish Parliament and democratic accountability.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
John Robert Lamont (Conservative, Centre-right): We accept that the consent of the Scottish Parliament is required, but the hon. Gentleman’s party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, in Holyrood is deliberately creating the politics of grievance. She is creating division and deliberately not reaching that agreement, to stoke up what the Scottish nationalists think is going to get them to their ultimate goal: a second referendum on independence. We are having none of it; we are having absolutely none of it It makes sense to ensure that businesses do not face the risk of new barriers to trade with other parts of the UK. The Scottish Government accept that, for example, different labelling requirements or different regulations on pesticides across the UK would stifle trade and are not in the interests of Scottish businesses. So the only disagreement is over how this approach is implemented, which is hardly the making of a constitutional crisis and is hardly an excuse to push through unlawful and rushed legislation, as the SNP is currently doing in the Scottish Parliament.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Agriculture
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that. As is so clear, we are leaving the European Union and taking back control of the more than 200 nautical miles of our waters, giving us the opportunity to rejuvenate our coastal communities. We are supporting Scottish fishermen. The party that wants to sell them down the river back to Brussels, handing all the powers right back and keeping people trapped within the confines of the common fisheries policy, is every single Member from the SNP. I will take no lectures from those on the SNP Benches about the benefits of Brexit for fishermen.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): No. The figures that have been produced are not based on what the Prime Minister has said herself she wants to achieve: a deep and special relationship with Europe. None of the figures is based on that assumption There are huge opportunities for Aberdeen and the wider north-east to use our competitive advantage to seize the benefits of Brexit. We must set our sights on the future—a new global future. It would not be in our or the EU’s interests for there to be any unnecessary restrictions on trade. I am confident that the Prime Minister will deliver a new, bespoke partnership that will support our mutual interests. The UK is the world’s fifth largest economy, the fifth largest exporter and the second greatest soft power. Our worldwide presence is reinforced by our global brands, our creative industries and the reputation of our universities. Britain is truly global and we must be ambitious in order to maximise the golden Brexit trade opportunities that lie ahead of us.
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Paul Masterton (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the hon. Lady tell us how much influence the Welsh Government currently have in the setting of those frameworks within the EU and whether the EU obtains the consent of the Welsh Government when setting them?
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad that the hon. Gentleman agrees about trade liberalisation. Does he not agree, therefore, that as the EU is the most protectionist organisation there is, with high tariffs on imports coming into it, we will be better off out of it, so that we can help lead the world in liberalising trade?
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: International Affairs
Paul Masterton (Conservative, Centre-right): The Opposition amendments to the Scottish Government’s Bill significantly water down the massive power grab attempt by Scottish Ministers in relation to continuing alignment with the EU, which I think the Scottish Government want for five years, then five years, then five years. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those amendments to the Bill are a welcome defeat of the Scottish Government?
European Affairs — House of Commons, 2018-03-14
Topic: Foreign Trade
Victoria Grace Ford (Conservative, Centre-right): The problem with the EEA is that we would have to cut and paste all EU rules, especially on key sectors such as financial services. Would it not be better to fight for a bespoke deal?
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): We have agreed with the EU that we will continue to benefit from EU programmes until the end of the current budget plan. We have also reached an agreement on citizens’ rights, allowing EU citizens to continue to live here broadly as now, which helps to provide certainty to current staff.
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course people working in the university sector in Scotland, as throughout the United Kingdom, will be thinking about the future in what will be a time of some change, but it will remain the case that the United Kingdom, including Scotland, has an exceptionally strong message to give to the world on the strength of our institutions, on the attractiveness of coming here to study and on the attractiveness of partnering with our institutions on research.
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Energy
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): These are indeed important matters, and officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have spoken to academics from Scottish universities—including, I think, from the University of Dundee—about the future. It is important that we have a guarantee until the end of the Horizon 2020 programme. Of course, what happens with future programmes will be a matter for us to agree with the other nations.
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Robert Henry Halfon (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his new position. Has he had a chance to read the Social Market Foundation report, published today, on the problems of snobbery between higher education and technical education? Does he agree that universities need to do a lot more to embrace technical education students and degree apprenticeships and that financial incentives should go towards those universities that encourage degree apprenticeships and encourage students with BTECs into technical education?
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): I confess that I have not yet read this morning’s report, but I look forward to consuming it when I have the time to do so with proper attention. My right hon. Friend mentions something on which he has consistently campaigned throughout his time in Parliament, and it is so important that we do not have some sort of wall between the academic and the technical and vocational. Things such as degree apprenticeships are a great opportunity for more people to benefit from certain types of education and to make sure that we widen participation as much as possible.
Leaving the EU: Research and Staffing — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.; What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on future participation in EU research programmes and staffing levels in higher education.
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Horizon 2020 has worked very well for UK universities. In fact, we have the second-highest number of participants in those programmes of any EU state. Of course, it is vital and in everybody’s interest that we continue to work co-operatively with our near European neighbours on many things, including university research.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): In 2013, we published a new primary school curriculum that significantly raised expectations in both English and maths, and promoted the use of phonics in the teaching of reading. In 2012, we introduced the phonics check for six-year-olds. The results of the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study—PIRLS—showed nine-year-olds in England achieving the highest ever scores, moving England up from joint 10th to joint eighth out of 50 countries worldwide.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Michael James Tomlinson-Mynors (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for that answer. Thanks to some tough decisions by the Minister and sheer hard work by our teachers, reading standards are the highest for a generation. Sadly, disadvantaged children still lag behind, so what are he and the Department doing to address that issue?
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): The PIRLS survey links strong performance in the phonics check with high scores in the PIRLS text. Particularly pleasing is the fact that our rise in the global rankings has been driven by improved performance by low-ability pupils. We are now focusing on strengthening the maths, reading and writing elements of the early years foundation stage to help prepare children for year 1 of primary school. The attainment gap has closed by 10.5% at key stage 2, but we want to go further and close the gap altogether.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): I do regular phonics practice with my children, which, as the Minister has said, is helping children get better at reading. However, there does not seem to the same focus on practising core maths skills in primary schools. What is my right hon. Friend doing to improve maths in primary schools, especially the learning of times tables?
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for making sure her children learn their phonics, and she is right to emphasise the importance of children knowing their times tables by heart, up to 12 times 12 by the end of year 4 at the latest. That is why we are introducing an on-screen multiplication tables check for all pupils at the end of year 4 of primary school. The prize is to have all pupils leaving primary school fluent in their multiplication tables, ensuring they have the essential foundation for success in mathematics at secondary school.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): We have made it clear that attendance at school is vital. We changed the definition of "persistent absence" from 15% to 10%, and we have increased the fines that would be applied to parents who do not send their children to school regularly.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate all the teachers and pupils in Harrow on their receiving that accolade from the Education Policy Institute. We are spending record amounts on school funding—some £41 billion this year. No Government have spent that level of funding on schools in our history. That will rise further to £42.4 billion next year.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Mark Julian Francis Pawsey (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister will know that only 1% of children who move from mainstream to alternative provision during their GCSE years achieve good GCSEs, including in English and maths. What more can be done to support this important group of students?
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Government Operations
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not want the House to get the wrong idea; we seem to have gone from Harrow to Rugby, but that does not mean that others cannot take part. We are focused predominantly on the state sector.
Literacy and Numeracy — House of Commons, 2018-01-29
Topic: Education
Nicolas John Gibb (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) raises an important point. The standards of achievement in the alternative provision sector are not high enough. The children who attend those schools are vulnerable and we want to do more to improve the situation, which is why we have recently commissioned new research into the relationship between schools and alternative provision to find out what more we can do to raise standards.