argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Sewel Convention — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: Government Operations
Gerard Killen (Labour, Centre-left): Tuesday was a low point in a long-running shambles for the devolution settlement. I have a lot of time for the Secretary of State, as I find him very constructive, but he is supposed to be Scotland’s voice in the Cabinet and his contradictions at the ballot box show that he has no idea what is going on. How long does he think he will be able to carry on while the Government are clearly taking no heed of what he has to say?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Sewel Convention — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (Labour, Centre-left): There is an important factor in the origins of the Sewel convention: the consent of the Scottish Parliament. As no agreement has been reached or consent given, will the details be published in the missing EU White Paper, which should have been published before any votes were taken in this House?
World Cup 2018: FCO Preparations — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): May I ask the distinguished Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee to reflect on the issues around future World cups? I was delighted to see that the Committee has asked the Government to produce documentation to go to FIFA and UEFA to see whether countries bidding for these major sporting events, including the World cup, are indeed suitable to host them. I also wish England all the very best in the World cup, partly—or maybe mainly—due to the fact that I have put some money on them. That is my Scottishness shining through. Will the Chair of the Select Committee reflect on whether the Government are doing enough to make the case—not just to UEFA and FIFA, but to other international bodies of major sporting events—that we should not be granting these major, worldwide events to countries that have problems with LGBT rights, black and ethnic minority rights, rights for women and so on?
World Cup 2018: FCO Preparations — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: International Affairs
Khalid Mahmood (Labour, Centre-left): I thank Committee members and the Chair for putting an excellent and comprehensive report together. Despite the expulsions that have taken place, is he comfortable that there are sufficient consular staff to meet the needs? If not, will he have discussions with the FCO team to ensure that there are? I hope that the England team will do excellently and come back with the cup.
Windrush: 70th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: Law and Crime
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. In the London Borough of Ealing, on the other side of London, we have had a Windrush physical memorial and events for kids in schools since 1998. Does she agree that the word "Windrush" is meant to be a celebration of the kinds of achievements she is talking about, but that it has now turned into one we associate with tragedy because of failures in the Home Office? We see it week in, week out in our surgeries—for example, in the applications that take so long to be processed even when people have paid for priority service. Does she agree that now more than ever the words of Lord Reid from our side—that the Home Office is not fit for purpose—apply?
Sound Reading System and Literacy — House of Commons, 2018-06-14
Topic: Education
Anneliese Jane Dodds (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for her very helpful remarks. However, the point I was trying to make about the sound reading system is precisely that it is not commercial. It does not have the commercial firepower behind it that is needed for its dissemination, yet it produces incredibly strong results. What more can we do to promote not-for-profit approaches, such as the sound reading system?
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-06-15
Topic: Government Operations
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree. The Bill sets up a process and attempts to change the culture of the services, and I hope that the Bill’s successful passage will not be the end of that process. The right hon. Gentleman’s point needs to be taken into account.
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-06-15
Topic: Law and Crime
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): As the Minister is present, it is probably best to allow her to speak for herself, rather than for me to attempt to interpret this on her behalf I wish to turn next to the amendments tabled by the right hon. Member for North Norfolk, many of which I support in principle, having raised a number of them myself at previous stages. I am broadly satisfied that many, if not most, of the points will be dealt with through guidance issued by the Department after the legislation, but I look forward to the Minister’s further comments and explanations on those points Important additions have been made to what falls under the definition of "use of force" as this Bill has developed. One is the use of "chemical restraint", which amendments 88 to 91, standing in the name of the hon. Member for Christchurch, would remove from the Bill. I am afraid that I cannot support those amendments, because the potential effect is that the Bill could limit the use of physical restraint, only to lead instead to an increase in the use of medication—for example, rapid tranquilisation. It is important therefore that the Bill covers all forms of restraint, both physical and chemical.
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-06-15
Topic: Law and Crime
Steven Mark Ward Reed (Labour, Centre-left): I look forward to hearing the Minister address that point because I believe that she has proposals on how we take this forward. May I just take this opportunity to welcome to the Chamber Seni Lewis’s parents, Aji and Conrad Lewis? Following the tragic death of their son in 2010, they had to fight for seven years, because of a botched internal investigation, to secure an inquest to find out what had happened to their son and why he had died, and to secure the modicum of justice that surely they, as bereaved parents, deserved right from the start.
Offenders’ Access to Education and Employment — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Labor
Questions: Female offenders often have complex needs and getting the right support in place can be vital in helping them to turn their lives around, so why have members of the Government’s advisory board said that recent announcements from the Secretary of State represent a missed opportunity and are simply not sufficient to achieve his ambitions?
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): Effective employment via the Through the Gate programme depends on effective community rehabilitation companies, which the Select Committee on Justice recently described as "wholly inadequate." What plans does the Secretary of State have to fix community rehabilitation companies in Through the Gate?
Youth Justice System — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What is the Minister doing on the mental wellbeing of first-time offenders? Has he spoken to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care about that?
Eleanor Claire Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): Howard League research shows that children aged 16 and 17 who are living in children’s homes are at least 15 times more likely than other children of the same age to be criminalised. What discussions have Ministers had with other Departments about reducing the number of care leavers in our justice system?
Youth Justice System — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What is the Minister doing on the mental wellbeing of first-time offenders? Has he spoken to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care about that?
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): The last inspection report on Oakhill said that there is no evidence that the 80 children held there are adequately cared for. Oakhill is managed by G4S. I have been asking parliamentary questions about whether G4S is meeting its contractual obligations there and the answers are revealing: "The Contract for Oakhill STC is between the Secretary of State for Justice and STC Milton Keynes Ltd (the Contractor), of which G4S is their Operating Sub-Contractor. We therefore do not have information on the proportion of contractual obligations that G4S has met." Does the Minister agree that that is yet more proof that outsourcing and privatisation should be ended in our prison system?
MOJ Staff on Low Pay: Wages and Conditions — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for her answer, but will she explain why the same workers are paid the London living wage in the Department for International Development? Does she believe that a cleaner in DFID is worth more than a cleaner in her Department?
MOJ Staff on Low Pay: Wages and Conditions — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): I regularly ask parliamentary questions about staffing levels and conditions at the private probation companies. The answers from the Department are shocking. None of the community rehabilitation company contracts specifies that CRCs must maintain staffing numbers at a particular level. When Ministers bailed out the private probation companies last year with another £342 million, they did not bother to make staffing levels a contractual obligation. Why not? Does the Department not care about accountability? Or is it because, in the Secretary of State’s privatised probation service, profits always come first?
Offenders: Help to Find Employment — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): The Justice Secretary will know that there is no women’s prison in Wales and I am not advocating that there should be one. However, that will mean that there are considerable issues of geography for some women who do commit offences, so can he set out how he is able to support women who do offend, who live in Wales and who wish to relocate there in order to find employment in communities that they know and in which they have often grown up?
Drones over Prisons — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Paul Daniel Williams (Labour, Centre-left): It is estimated that more than 200 kg of drugs were smuggled into prisons in England and Wales in 2016. What proportion of that 200 kg does the Minister estimate was delivered by drones? What else is happening to stop the use of other methods of delivering drugs into prisons?
Female Offenders — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Ruth Margaret Cadbury (Labour, Centre-left): Given that Baroness Corston’s seminal 2007 review of women in prison set out a clear case for the benefit of women’s centres and said that they should be at the centre of a successful strategy on female offending, why are the Government insisting on piloting this when we already know that it works? Is it because of lack of funding?
Female Offenders — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): New Hall, one of the largest women’s prisons, is close to my constituency. The message that I am getting from it recently is, first, about the evaluation of whether new prisoners are literate or numerate, and whether they have problems with autism. Secondly, it demands that all women prisoners should be safe and secure from sexual depredation when they are serving their sentence.
Female Offenders — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): The Government’s Advisory Board for Female Offenders identified £50 million that had been earmarked for building women’s prisons. Can the Minister guarantee today that all of that £50 million will be reinvested in the female offender strategy, or is this just another example of the Government’s refusal to properly fund that strategy?
Non-road Traffic Accident-related Personal Injury Claims — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Labor
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect on access to justice for people injured at work of his Department’s plans to raise the limit for non-road traffic accident-related personal injury claims on the small claims track.
Daniel Joseph Carden (Labour, Centre-left): In the light of the Supreme Court ruling on the Unison employment tribunal case, will the Minister think again? Increasing the small claims limit would remove the ability of many people injured in the workplace to pursue claims against their employees. The Minister will know from the Justice Committee’s report that litigation is the main driver for maintaining health and safety in the workplace.
Non-road Traffic Accident-related Personal Injury Claims — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect on access to justice for people injured at work of his Department’s plans to raise the limit for non-road traffic accident-related personal injury claims on the small claims track.
Gloria De Piero (Labour, Centre-left): In its report on the small claims limit increases, the Justice Committee noted the "compelling evidence of the obstacles that would be faced", and concluded that the changes would "represent an unacceptable barrier to access to justice." Will the Minister listen and think again before pursuing another attack on workers?
Probation Services — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): Last year, the Ministry of Justice bailed out privatised probation companies to the tune of £342 million, leaving the public to foot the bill for their inadequate work, which the chief inspector of probation found to make a negligible difference. Will the Minister commit today that there will be no more bail-outs for those privatised probation companies?
Probation Services — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): Why will the Secretary of State not accept the conclusion of the Conservative-led Justice Committee that this is, in its words, "a mess" and may never work? Why does he not stop throwing good money after bad, cut his losses, blame his predecessor and be applauded for bringing this vital service back in-house?
Probation Services — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour, Centre-left): Last year, as we have heard, the privatised probation services got a £342 million bail-out despite underperforming. There are press rumours that the contract will be changed again. Will the Minister give a commitment today that the privatised probation services will not get a penny more until the Government have held a review into the botched privatisation of probation services?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Virendra Kumar Sharma (Labour, Centre-left): The Government are conducting a review of the impact of the swingeing cuts to legal aid since 2012, but they have so far refused to say whether more funding will be made available for legal aid. Will the Secretary of State confirm that additional funding will be made available if it is found to be required, or is the review simply an exercise in moving legal aid funding from one cause to another?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Will the Minister give an update on how restorative justice programmes are being rolled out and how they are being used for public good and environmental measures?
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): In my first two questions today, I focused on the widespread failings of privatisation in our justice system. I have written to the Secretary of State about the close relationship that his Department has with outsourcing giant Serco, a relationship that is ever closer given that his new Minister was once its spin doctor-in-chief. Will the Secretary of State confirm to the House today that he has reorganised responsibilities in his Department, so that his new Minister in charge of youth justice will not be involved in any way in any of the young offender institutions that Serco manages?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Haines Burden (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I should be grateful if I could correct the record Last Wednesday, when I rose to ask the urgent question on Khan al-Ahmar that you had kindly granted me, I had just heard that bulldozers had arrived at the village, and that demolition had started. I reflected that in what I said Although demolition had indeed started at the nearby village of Abu Nuwar that morning, what I did not know was that the bulldozers had paused before commencing the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar. Whether that was because of the number of people who were there to protest—a number of whom were injured that day—or the presence of foreign diplomats, including those from the United Kingdom, I do not know. What I do know is that a court injunction has since been secured prohibiting the demolition until at least tomorrow. That makes the form of words that I used last week inaccurate, and I want to take this opportunity to correct the record In doing so, I thank Members in all parts of the House for raising their voices in opposition to the breach of international law at Khan al-Ahmar, which I am sure has helped to change the course of events in the past week. As the injunction is only temporary, however, pressure is still needed to keep the villagers of Khan al-Ahmar safe in the long term I am grateful for this opportunity to update the House, and to correct the record of last Wednesday’s exchanges.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Graham Eric Stringer (Labour, Centre-left): On this point at least, the Minister is making a great deal of sense. Does she agree that the Lib Dems are more interested in being good supporters of the EU than in being democrats? They are following the long tradition of the European Union, exemplified by referendums in Ireland. When the Irish people vote against various constitutional amendments, they keep having to vote until they get the right answer—the one that the EU wants. That is the policy that the Lib Dems are supporting now—"Keep voting until you agree with us."
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Chuka Harrison Umunna (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for giving way, but it does stink a bit of pot and kettle for her to claim that every party but hers is all over the place on this issue. If we are honest, there are divisions in all parties, just as there are in the country. Frankly, I do not agree with her argument that democracy is static. It is a dynamic thing, and there is no reason why people should not change their views as facts change May I ask the Minister about one particular fact? I am surprised that no one has taken her up on it. Can she please tell us what the resolution is to the Irish border issue? She wrongly stated that it had been resolved at the December Council. It was not. What is the solution to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland? The Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), who is sitting next to her, shakes his head. Maybe he can get up and tell us what the resolution is to this issue.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): Even by recent standards, this is a moment of extraordinary political chaos. Within the last 36 hours, the Prime Minister has lost her Brexit Secretary, her Foreign Secretary—although she probably welcomed that as much as the rest of the country did—and she has lost the support of her party. The Chequers proposals are clearly dead in the water, even before the White Paper is published and the EU has had a chance to respond. However, amid the turmoil and turbulence, it is comforting to see that there are still some certainties in politics.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): Give me a minute—let me at least get started, and then I promise I will give way. Today, before the House we have a Lib Dem motion calling for a coalition with a discredited Tory Government and a referendum on the EU. This is from a party that propped up the Cameron Government for five years.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): We have had our moments, I do not deny it, but we sit here as a shadow Brexit team that is still entirely intact from the date of formation. I look over to the Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), who now casts a lonely figure on the Government Front Bench, as the sole survivor on his own team The Lib Dems have been calling for a referendum on membership of the EU since 2009—I could find it as far back as that, but it may well go further back than that. The Lib Dems, with their usual political foresight, argued back then that only a real referendum could settle the question of our relationship with the EU once and for all. A decade later, they still think that another referendum is the answer. I am certain that, in 2028, Lib Dem MPs will still be debating whether they should call for another referendum. This motion is a kind of greatest hits of Lib Dem policies over the last decade. I can only assume that an earlier draft had a promise not to raise tuition fees, but that must have been ruled out of scope There is no parliamentary majority for the Prime Minister’s cumbersome and costly facilitated custom arrangement and it would be a nightmare for business. It would mean the UK acting as the EU’s customs official and it relies on technology that does not currently exist to make it work. For perhaps the first time in history, I agreed with the now former Foreign Secretary when he described it in his resignation letter as an "impractical and undeliverable customs arrangement unlike any other in existence", and these are the lengths that the Government have gone to in order to reject a comprehensive customs union.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): Our Front Benchers’ position is clear: we do not want an exit from Brexit. We respect the outcome of the referendum. I know that the Liberal Democrats do not approve of that position, but that is what it is.
Leaving the EU: Negotiations — House of Commons, 2018-07-10
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): No. Or would this just be a Brexit Government? Brexit is the most pressing issue facing this country, but it is not the only one, and the public would not thank us for ignoring the many wider issues we need to urgently tackle. I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman if he would still like to intervene.