argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Free Trade Agreements: Workers Rights — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (Labour, Centre-left): When I visited Washington DC with the British-American Parliamentary Group, I was told in no uncertain terms—I know that the Secretary of State had the same message at the Baltimore talks—that there could be no trade agreement with the United States that did not, first, protect workers’ rights and also reflect the workers’ voice. Will the Minister set out the detailed process by which he will ensure that British workers’ voices will shape the prospective deal with the United States and how those voices will be reflected throughout international discussions? I know that the Secretary of State’s predecessor met the American trade union movement. I think it is really important that British workers’ voices are reflected consistently in deals as well.
UK Arms Exports: Transparency — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Emma Louise Lewell-Buck (Labour, Centre-left): I heard the Minister’s response to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith), but the reality is that the changes to licensing criteria have reduced transparency and accountability. Can the Minister explain the rationale for changing Government guidance on granting licences from refusing a licence if there is a clear risk that items may be used in violation of international humanitarian law to if the Government determine there is a clear risk?
Barriers to Global Trade — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): What a load of bollards the Government are putting in the way of British trade with other parts of the world, and in particular with the European Union. Historically, loads of British orchestras, theatre groups, ballet groups and bands have toured easily across the whole of the European Union, and endless Committees have been told by Ministers that it is all being sorted out. The truth is that they are now prevented from taking that British export across the European Union. When is any one of these Ministers actually going to do something and get it sorted?
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): From swerving eight invitations to attend the International Trade Committee to avoiding bringing a debate with a vote to this Chamber before ratification, we have seen a truly shameless attempt from the Department for International Trade to dodge to any form of scrutiny of the trade deal with Australia. With the UK now negotiating membership of the CPTPP, I have a simple question: will the Minister promise that this House will be granted a full and timely debate before any deal is ratified—yes or no?
Australia and New Zealand FTAs: UK Food Sector — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: What assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of the Australia and New Zealand free trade agreements on employment in the UK food sector.
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): It has been revealed that when the Foreign Secretary was Secretary of State for International Trade she ignored advice from her officials that the Australia and New Zealand trade agreements would shrink our food and farming sectors. I think we can all agree that that is a disgrace—[Interruption.] I am glad someone got the joke. The food and farming sectors are already hurting due to severe labour shortages and rising costs, and these rushed trade agreements could be the final nail in the coffin. If the Foreign Secretary cannot be trusted to do the right thing for farmers, can she be trusted to run the country?
UK Exports — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am asking this question on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith), who is away on parliamentary business There is a concern among businesses that unlike its predecessor, the trade access programme, the current trade show programme will support a company only if it is exhibiting for the first time or venturing into new markets. We all know that marketing for export requires repeated efforts. There is evidence that there is now a drop in the number of UK exhibitors in some sectors, just when the Government are struggling to stimulate growth in the UK economy. Will the Minister now listen to businesses hoping to export, make the scheme more generous and widen the access criteria to allow businesses to benefit from the support by attending more than once?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): We Opposition Members have long argued that the Government are not doing enough to support exporters. It is now clear that the former Minister, the hon. Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer), absolutely agrees. He argued that the trade access programme is underfunded and said of it, "We support too few shows, we don’t send enough business, our pavilions are often decent but overshadowed by bigger and better ones from our competitors." He is absolutely right, is he not?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): The truth is that the Government have fallen behind woefully on their manifesto commitment to have 80% of UK trade covered by free trade agreements by the end of this year, and there is no comprehensive US trade deal in sight. Something has been going severely wrong. I welcome back the Minister for Trade Policy, the right hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt), after her efforts in the Tory leadership contest, but the Secretary of State is far less complimentary about the right hon. Member’s efforts in the Department. She said: "There have been a number of times when she hasn’t been available, which would have been useful, and other ministers have picked up the pieces." Mr Speaker—[Interruption.] Conservative Members shout "Shameful" at me, but these are the Conservatives’ words about each other, not my words. The reality is that it is the British economy that has been suffering. Our projected growth is the lowest in the G7 apart from sanctioned Russia. Is not the truth that trade policy is yet another Tory failure?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Foreign Trade
Questions: My constituency of Aylesbury has many brilliant businesses exporting their goods and services around the world. One example is Sterling Thermal Technology, which I visited recently and which manufactures bespoke heat exchangers. Many more would like to follow suit, so how can the Department help them to reap the benefits of Brexit and our new trade deals?; The Trade Remedies Authority has bizarrely recommended the dropping of anti-dumping duties on Chinese reinforcing steel bar, a move that will undermine UK manufacturers of the product and the whole industry. Will the Secretary of State call that in for investigation?; Only one in 10 British firms trades overseas, and exports are falling. Many of my Bath businesses have suffered significantly as a result. What steps is the Department taking to increase exports with the EU, our closest neighbour and, in the past, our biggest trading partner?; There was cross-party agreement during the urgent question earlier this week that Parliament has not been given the opportunity to properly scrutinise, debate or vote on the Australia trade deal, despite assurances from the Government that time would be made for debate. I heard the Secretary of State’s response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael). What assurances can she give that future trade agreements will make it to the Floor of the House for debate and a vote before they are ratified?
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): Small businesses in my constituency wanting to export to the European Union tell me that they have to fill in customs declarations of up to 70 pages. Why are the Government putting such barriers in the way of small business exports?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): Let us be clear: we are here because the High Court has ruled that the Government’s net zero strategy is unlawful and is in breach of the Climate Change Act. The Climate Change Committee, which the Minister cites, said only a few weeks ago that the Government "will not deliver Net Zero" on current projections. Not only have the Government failed to set out the detail of how they will reach net zero, but Ministers cannot even do basic maths, because, as the High Court made clear, adding up the emissions cuts in the strategy will leave a 5% shortfall. How embarrassing that his Department must be dragged to court to hear what we have known for months—that the numbers simply do not stack up This week has made it clear why we have to act now. The country has suffered through a sweltering heatwave causing fires across the country and infrastructure failure. But at a crucial time, this Government are directionless and collapsing in on themselves. The High Court has ordered that a revised strategy must be presented by next March. That will be under a new Prime Minister. Yet the current candidates have made their views on net zero clear. One has spent two years in the Treasury blocking climate action that might have saved the Government this embarrassment; the other wants to scrap green levies So forgive me if I have little faith that the situation is set to improve—but it has to. We need to insulate millions of homes to slash emissions and bring down bills. We need a green sprint for renewable energy to wean ourselves off expensive fossil fuels. Labour will deliver that, and more, with our £28 billion climate investment pledge. That is what the public want and what the planet needs, so will the Government get their act together, meet their legal obligations, and finally deliver the green future that we need?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Energy
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): Oil and gas giants have driven the climate crisis, yet one Cabinet Minister banked £1.3 million from an oil company while a Back-Bench MP, and another has accepted £100,000 from a firm run by an oil trader. I will be tabling a Bill to kick oil and gas money out of politics. Is it not time we did just that?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I do not recall so much complacency oozing from the Government Front Bench in a very long time. I do not know about the Minister’s background, but when I studied economics, I was impressed by what John Maynard Keynes said: "In the long run we are all dead." I believe the heat over the last few days means that 2050 will be too late for much of our population. We have to revise the target and move faster. There are some good things coming, but there are still so many closet climate change deniers in the Government and in the country. It is about time they opened their mind to the fact we now have to move faster and firmer.
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Energy
Barry Strachan Gardiner (Labour, Centre-left): The UK has the lowest tax take in the world from offshore oil and gas. Even with the temporary energy profits levy, the tax take will still be six percentage points lower than the global average, and the new investment allowance announced by the Government will compensate companies 91p for every £1 they spend on new oil and gas projects. Will the Government look carefully at the fiscal regime and abolish the obscene subsidy that is distorting investment into outdated fossil fuels instead of new renewables, which do not qualify for that investment allowance?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): I just remind the Minister that it was Labour’s Climate Change Act that called for those targets to be set—in section 4. However, it seems that this Government were asleep at the wheel, knowing that there is a 5% deficit in terms of being able to attain—this is what the judgment said—their net zero target. Therefore, the Government’s inaction has led to the decision of the courts. The Government’s inaction is also leading to the absence of a new green deal for York. We have been promised that by his Department, which supports 4,000 jobs and the upskilling of 25,000 people with a new green deal, yet the Minister has not come forward with the money. When are we going to get that?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Olivia Frances Blake Dagnall (Labour, Centre-left): I am surprised by the right hon. Gentleman’s response to this debate, because the summary of the findings highlights that the net zero strategy "did not reveal that the quantitative analysis put before the Minister left a shortfall against the reductions required by CB6" Does the Minister agree that this House should have known that and also known how the Government planned to mitigate that? Are they not embarrassed that they felt that they could hide such an omission from this House, where we hold them to account?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Energy
James Ian Mearns (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister refers back to the Labour Government in 1997. Can I just point out to him that that was 25 years ago, and that for the last 12 years his Government have been in power. So in those 12 years, what has been done to rectify this particular problem, apart from possibly one of the major things: a moratorium on land-based wind generation, which has been a complete and utter disaster from that perspective? Has the Minister been asleep at the wheel, or is he only just remembering 1997 now, not in 2010?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): There are two zero-emission policies that the Government could adopt to comply with the High Court’s request for a deliverable plan. One is a zero-emission home strategy. Since this Government have been in power, 1 million homes have been built without those standards in place, which makes a huge contribution to carbon outputs. The second is onshore wind, as my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns) has already mentioned. Why have the Government not taken on board the carbon savings that we could have if a significant amount of new growth in onshore wind could be invested in?
Net Zero Strategy: High Court Ruling — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Environment
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): The Climate Change Committee recently said that the Government had credible plans to reduce only 39% of UK emissions and that the UK was not on track to meet net zero. Now the High Court has said that the net zero strategy is unlawful. Is it not simply the case that the Government need to grasp the nettle, accept responsibility and just get on with making those detailed plans? When will the Minister do that?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Samuel Peter Tarry (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last year, the Government launched their national bus strategy and promised that it would be one of the great acts of levelling up. Over this weekend, the biggest cuts to bus services in decades will take place as recovery funding winds down. In South Yorkshire, a third of services will begin to be cut from Sunday. In the north-east, a swathe of cuts are due, and in West Yorkshire 10% of the network is at risk. This follows the Government telling 60% of local authorities in April that they would see no change in transformation funding whatsoever. Given this huge crisis facing the bus sector, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would be grateful if you could advise whether a Government statement will be required, and if not, what avenues I can explore to elicit an explanation from the Government forthwith, with these latest cuts just days away?
HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her Committee’s report. I have raised before the appalling human rights record of the Rwandan Government. From recent disclosures in High Court proceedings, it appears that Government officials and diplomats share those concerns and advised the Home Secretary accordingly, including of accusations that refugees are being recruited to conduct armed conflicts in neighbouring countries. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UK Government, in abdicating their responsibility to refugees whom they propose to send to Rwanda, both damage our reputation—I think the report mentions a significant reputational risk to the UK—and set a terrible example for other countries to follow?
HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): Ministers are probably in a better position than I am to answer the final part of the hon. Gentleman’s question—I am not party to those discussions with the French—but he is absolutely right about the importance of co-operation between the UK and France. We recognise that there is already some work going on, but we think it could be stepped up. We are also mindful that the French, at times, have not done as much as they could to stop the launching of these boats. We think that needs to be addressed, but the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: without co-operation, this will not stop. It is not just the French any more; other countries, such as Belgium, need to be part of these conversations too.
HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and questions. This statement is obviously about the report and the work that we undertook as a Select Committee over the past couple of years. It is fair to say that we were very disappointed that the Home Secretary was not able to come last week or this week to answer questions on a variety of issues. The Home Office will have to respond to our report: it has to do so within eight weeks—I think that is the normal timetable—although in the past that timeframe has been rather elastic and the Home Office has not always responded as quickly as we would have liked. This is an urgent matter, though, and the fact that other reports have come out this week will hopefully enable the Home Office, in crafting its response, to take a view about what is working, what is not working and what more it needs to do.
Human Rights Abuses and Corruption: UK Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): Will the hon. Lady add another country, Nigeria, to her list? It is nothing to do with religion in this case, but there was a terrible massacre on 20 October 2020. Tukur Yusuf Buratai and Ganiyu Raji were two of the officers in charge of the shooting on civilians at a protest on that day. Would she support adding them to the sanctions list?
Human Rights Abuses and Corruption: UK Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): Another problematic issue with the UK lagging behind others is that sometimes people move their assets in case the sanctions come to them as well. We have seen significant cases, one of which I raised with the Foreign Secretary when she appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee recently: in the case of Sistema, the individual simply gave half his material goods to his son and managed to escape the sanctions. Why are we so slow?
Human Rights Abuses and Corruption: UK Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend’s point, which emphasises the point that I made about acting multilaterally, quickly, urgently and in co-ordination We heard a lot from my hon. Friend and others about Hong Kong. The United States have sanctioned at least 11 officials—from Carrie Lam to Chris Tang—for their role in infringing on the rights of the people of Hong Kong. What is the Government’s trepidation about this? We can look at Ali Ghanaatkar in Iran or Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Sudan; the former was head of interrogations in Evin prison, while the latter is responsible for gross human rights abuses in Darfur. I have not even got time to mention the many examples that we have heard from across the middle east and the Gulf states. What of Alexander Lebedev—will the Minister clarify? We know that he has been sanctioned by Canada as a former KGB agent and known associate of Putin. Have we sanctioned him, and if not, why not We want the Government to make proper and far-reaching use of the Magnitsky regime that we adopted back in 2020, and indeed the country regimes, but that requires ambition, urgency and proper resourcing. The House has made its voice very clear today; there has been complete consistency across the House, as I hope the Minister has heard clearly. The protection and advancement of human rights should be at the heart of any British foreign policy, and I hope that the agreement that the Minister has heard across the House will result in action commensurate with the violations that are unfolding across the world today.
Human Rights Abuses and Corruption: UK Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): That is all very general, but may I ask the Minister about one specific case, which has been raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) and by the shadow Minister? I refer to the Lekki massacre in Nigeria. We know when and where it happened. A judicial inquiry is taking place. We know who was responsible. We know that people were killed by the military and the police there. Given all that, why have the Government not imposed sanctions in that specific case?
Human Rights Abuses and Corruption: UK Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister should bear in mind that he has managed to do that only because we have basically adopted all the EU sanctions, and all the Canadian and American sanctions, and that those run out in a few days, so he is going to have to do them all over again. It will not be the same number by the time we get back in September.
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Margaret Olivia Hillier (Labour, Centre-left): As a fellow London MP, I want to be clear with the hon. Member: no one wants to see buses cut. Is he asking the Government for more money for London to make sure that we backfill the loss of fares as a result of covid? That will mean that the buses do not have to be cut. The Government’s funding is causing the problem, so is he asking for more money?
Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment — House of Commons, 2022-07-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (Labour, Centre-left): Will the hon. Member join me in thanking the Government for dealing with the issue of extreme unction when it came to Sir David and setting up a commission to look at third-party access to crime scenes? They did that and it is now part of the guidance issued for all police forces throughout the country. I am grateful to the Government for that.