argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Civil Rights
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I rise to speak to amendments 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in my name and that of my hon. Friends. We want to see the gold standard of the independence referendum applied to the European referendum. I hope that Members of the Official Opposition will vote with us tonight. Earlier we voted together and defeated the Government. That is what can be achieved when we stretch across and vote together. I hope that we shall be doing that later tonight One area that might help us to achieve that gold standard is votes for 16 and 17- year-olds, which is proposed in amendment 8. I know that we have discussed this matter before and I am glad that we will be able to vote on it tonight. There are benefits to involving young people at an early stage in the political process. Let us not forget that when we have a European Union referendum, those aged 16 and 17 will have to live with the consequences of that decision for a whole lot longer than many Members of this House. Let us consider some of the comments made by Members about the positive aspects of including 16 and 17-year-olds in the vote We will also consider amendment 7. I was grateful to the hon. Member for Ilford South (Mike Gapes) for his excellent contribution on votes for EU nationals. He talked about how Cypriots and Maltese can vote but not those of other nationalities. I mentioned the position of Christian Allard, the Member of the Scottish Parliament, who will not be able to vote. We should also consider the big contributions that EU nationals have made to all our constituencies. I am talking about the people from Poland, Ireland, Italy and from elsewhere in Europe The independence referendum had a significant impact, and I pay tribute to the people who campaigned for a yes vote, as well as to those who campaigned for a no vote. The turnout of 85% was extraordinary, as was the democratic journey that we made. I hope that Members from across the Chamber will learn the lessons from the independence referendum when it comes to voting this evening. I also wish to touch briefly on the issue of double majority. We have been told that we are in a partnership of equals in the United Kingdom. If we are, why should it be the case that Scotland—or indeed England, Wales or Northern Ireland—can be dragged out of the European Union against its will?
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Domestic Commerce
John MacKenzie Nicolson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am curious to know whether the right hon. Gentleman was as acutely aware of that bias among business leaders during the Scottish referendum campaign, when they were wheeled out repeatedly as part of "Project Fear" to hone their skills, which we will doubtless see much of in the coming months. I just cannot remember him being so outraged at the time. Perhaps he could confirm that.
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen Patrick Gethins (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with me and the leader of his party in Scotland that we also benefited from EU nationals having the vote in the independence referendum? It was a benefit then and could be a great benefit in this referendum as well.
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Civil Rights
John MacKenzie Nicolson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Since the right hon. Gentleman has raised the issue of intimidation twice, is he aware that the father of the chapel at BBC Scotland said that far from being intimidated by the protesters, the main intimidation broadcasters felt was in fact from the Better Together campaign? The father of the chapel has no dog in the fight, as I am sure the right hon. Gentleman knows.
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Civil Rights
John MacKenzie Nicolson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I ask the hon. Gentleman the same question I asked earlier—although I might of course have overlooked his comments on this on billcash.com? Does he now regret the fact that the Conservative party acted as a cheerleader for bias during the Scottish independence referendum, and does he accept that that set something of a precedent for one-sided BBC coverage in referendums?
European Union Referendum Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-07
Topic: Mixed Topics
John MacKenzie Nicolson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Would the hon. Gentleman accept, however, that apparently with the sole exception of the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood), there was broadcast silence from Conservative Members when there were dramatic examples of corporation bias during the Scottish referendum coverage? With all due respect, I never heard the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) utter a cheep in complaint about that, which makes us feel a trifle cynical about his motivation. One feels that it might just be about Europe rather than bias.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Visa Applications — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Immigration
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Next month marks 10 years of formal co-operation between the Governments of Scotland and Malawi, but I have heard from the Scotland Malawi Partnership that Malawian nationals are finding it increasingly difficult to apply for visas, making strengthening community links more difficult. Given that the partnership has told me that every part of the system seems to be becoming about charging more and delivering less, will the Minister meet me and representatives from the partnership to discuss those concerns in more detail?
Hate Speech — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the Minister agree that the Secretary of State’s speech to the Conservative party conference could itself be defined as hate speech, and that it did nothing for her bid for the leadership of the Conservative party and everything for a potential bid for the leadership of UKIP?
Refugee Crisis — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Immigration
Questions: Oldham and many other areas are under incredible financial pressure at the moment, but we want to do our bit to support refugees. What practical and financial support will be provided by the Government beyond the single-year funding that is currently provided, and will any such support reflect the good practice set out in the UNHCR’s gateway programme, which has shown the long-term benefits of financial front-loading?
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Today, The Times and The Guardian have published a statement signed by more than 300 leading lawyers, including 12 retired judges, a former President of the Supreme Court, former Law Lords, 103 Queen’s counsel and prominent academics, calling on the United Kingdom Government to take a "fair and proportionate share of refugees, both those already within the EU and those still outside it." They say that the UK’s "present offer" to take 20,000 is "deeply inadequate". Does the Minister and his Home Secretary think they are wrong?
Refugee Crisis — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Immigration
Questions: Oldham and many other areas are under incredible financial pressure at the moment, but we want to do our bit to support refugees. What practical and financial support will be provided by the Government beyond the single-year funding that is currently provided, and will any such support reflect the good practice set out in the UNHCR’s gateway programme, which has shown the long-term benefits of financial front-loading?
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If the Minister wishes to see the advert—I have a copy here—he will see that it was signed not by a person, but by 342 lawyers. Let me follow up with a second question. The Home Secretary suggested in her conference speech that she wanted to work with other countries "to review the international legal definitions of asylum and refugee status." Is she really wanting to dilute the international protection offered to those at real risk of serious harm or persecution?
Right to Buy — House of Commons, 2015-10-12
Topic: Housing
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Scottish Government have taken action to abolish the right to buy for housing association and local authority tenants. We arrived at that position after observing the frustration of local tenants who could not gain access to stock because it was being sold up year after year. The pool of stock available to housing associations—particularly in cities, where land was not in great supply—was shrinking year after year I consider public housing—social rented housing—to be a public asset, and an important part of the infrastructure of our country. Why would a housing association providing housing for people with particular needs, such as disabled people, choose to invest in more expensive housing if that asset would be lost further down the line? Why would anyone invest in houses if they were not going to see that return and why would we continue to have that policy in particular areas where there is not enough land to replace them? We would just lose the investment that is there Has the Minister given any consideration to how this policy in England will affect housing associations that operate on a cross-boundary basis? Sanctuary Housing was mentioned earlier; it is a housing provider that operates both in England and Scotland. Scotland has protected the right to buy; England has not. Has any assessment been made of how this will impact on Scotland?
Onshore Wind Power: Planning — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Public Lands
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will be aware of the case of the Binn eco park in my constituency. It has the support of the local community, and the developers worked diligently to secure planning permission from Perth and Kinross Council. Despite that support, the development is threatened by the regressive approach to support for renewable energy that the UK Government have taken, putting local jobs at risk. Will he look again at the case? The development has been penalised because of a responsible approach to community engagement on planning issues.
HMRC Offices — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Good-quality jobs at our local HMRC office—the largest employer in Cumbernauld—are in serious danger because of this Government’s drastic cuts, debt management privatisation and proposed office mergers. What will the Minister and the Secretary of State do to protect the jobs of hard-working HMRC employees and the local economies of towns such as Cumbernauld?
Anti-Semitism — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Kirsten Frances Oswald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Secretary of State will know that, in my constituency, I represent Scotland’s largest Jewish community. At the briefing that was mentioned by the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), I was pleased to hear about the very good inter-community relations and positive support from Police Scotland that exist in my area. Will the Secretary of State join me in applauding our Scottish Jewish communities for their great contributions to our country, and in deploring anti-Semitism and discrimination wherever they occur?
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Civil Rights
Joanna Catherine Cherry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Home Secretary for her statement, its tone and the care taken to address many of the concerns raised. I also thank her for the conversations I have had with her and her Ministers in advance of the publication of the draft Bill and for having confirmed to me that a Member of the Scottish National party will serve on the Joint Committee that will scrutinise it. I would be grateful if she could confirm that she will continue her open-door policy We have our political differences, and I am sure there will be some over the content of the draft Bill—as the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg) said, the devil is in the detail, so we will have to scrutinise it carefully—but I think we all agree that we have a responsibility to protect the rights of our fellow citizens while being realistic about the threats we face. We live in dangerous times, with threats of asymmetric conflict and an accelerating pace of technological change that unfortunately is often first embraced by those who mean us harm. It is only right when we discuss these issues that we put on the record our appreciation of those charged with keeping us safe—the police and the intelligence services—but we should also thank campaigning groups such as Liberty, Justice and Amnesty that remind us daily why it is important to protect our civil liberties, which were won and protected at the cost of the lives of the many people we will be remembering this Remembrance Sunday As David Anderson said in his report, the law in this area needs a thorough overhaul. We need a modern and comprehensive law that can cope with the challenges of modern technology while taking account of human rights and civil liberties, particularly the right to privacy. Only time and careful scrutiny will tell whether the draft Bill fulfils the aims he underlined, but I would be interested to hear if the Home Secretary thinks that the Bill meets his key recommendations Other countries are watching what we do, and it is important we get it right. SNP Members believe that access to private communications must always be necessary, targeted and proportionate, and I would be grateful if the Home Secretary could confirm that she agrees with us. Safeguards are crucial, and there is a debate about the oversight of access to communications, particularly about who authorises warrants. In common with many Members on both sides of the House, we hold that judicial oversight and authorisation might largely be the answer to the concerns, but we are concerned that a hybrid system—involving both political and judicial authorisation—might add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and lead to error and delay in urgent situations. Can she give us any comfort in that regard?
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): A few weeks ago at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the Government’s QC, Mr James Eadie, seemed to argue—on the Home Secretary’s behalf and at public expense—that modern technology had rendered the Wilson doctrine impractical, and that it was not up to much anyway. Now that the doctrine has been reborn in the Home Secretary’s statement, will she say what has happened to modern technology over the past few weeks that has now made practical what was impractical? How will that protection extend to journalists, campaigners and whistleblowers who may be contacting their MP or MSP?
Policing — House of Commons, 2015-11-04
Topic: Other
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that it is somewhat ironic that the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Melanie Onn) criticises him for cherry-picking from a survey when that is exactly what the motion on the Order Paper does? It picks one line from any number of different points in the survey. In fact, if we cherry-pick in such a way, we can make surveys say anything we want. We might even be able to find one that says that the Labour party is a credible political force.
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): We managed two debates in this House last week without a single reference to dehumanising language such as "swarming" and "swamping". We have not managed that today. The next time the Home Secretary hears such language, will she undertake to say something and take a stand against it, instead of ignoring it as she did today?
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Elizabeth Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): A gold command team has been set up to look at how we offer people support when they are here. Can they also look at the welcome people get the minute they set foot on UK soil? As the Secretary of State has said, we are taking the most vulnerable people and they need to know they are welcome here. I was struck by what happened in Germany, where people seemed to come out spontaneously and welcome people to their country. It is important that we do the same—important that the people of these islands can express their support and important for the people arriving as well.
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Last week, the Prime Minister told us that his Government have also looked at Save the Children’s proposals concerning the 3,000 Syrian children already here in Europe, and said that they will continue to discuss that. Is the Secretary of State able to provide more information on that point?
Migration — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Immigration
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the Secretary of State agree that our refugee family reunion rules are too restrictive to be appropriate for use in the current crisis, and that the procedures for applying are too bureaucratic? Will she work with expert organisations to extend their scope and simplify the procedures so that those for whom the UK is clearly the appropriate place of refuge are able to get here safely?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Civil Rights
John MacKenzie Nicolson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): May I raise with the Prime Minister disturbing reports of the firebomb attack that took place in the early hours of this morning against the Al Sarouk cultural centre in Bishopbriggs, which is used by my Muslim constituents? May I also alert him to the grotesque racist attack faced by my colleague, Humza Yousaf MSP, on social media? Will he join me in condemning some of the inflammatory statements in the press that attempt to link innocent Muslims with extremism?
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is precisely because 16 and 17-year-olds had the biggest stake in the future of the country that it was important for them to have a vote in the referendum?
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I rise to speak in support of the comments made on this side of the House about votes for those aged 16 and 17. It is odd that the House of Lords, the unelected Chamber at the other end, should have become the defender of the right of young people to vote in this country. Its wise intervention should be maintained, however, because our experience in Scotland of having 16 and 17-year-olds voting has been very positive It is interesting that, since my election to this House in May, every opportunity to discuss the matter has been met with the comment that it is neither the time nor the place to debate it. I should like to ask the Minister when the right time and place would be, because we should seize every opportunity to have these discussions. There is always a good time to get people involved in politics and in voting. Starting at local level, where local services are delivered to young people, is a good way of getting them involved because their schools, youth services and other local services are relevant to them at first hand. They can see what local government does and get directly involved in it It is interesting that lots of Members have mentioned the referendum. In my experience, speaking to young people during the two years that we spent debating the referendum was incredibly positive for their engagement. Anyone who saw the debate that filled the Glasgow Hydro arena with young people will remember that it was one of the best in the whole referendum campaign, with incredibly engaged young people making incredibly valuable contributions The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, has become converted to this argument. She has said: "I’m happy to hold my hands up and say I changed my mind. I’m a fully paid-up member of the ‘votes at 16’ club now, for every election. I thought 16 and 17-year-olds were fantastic during the referendum campaign. I can’t tell you the number of hustings and public meetings I did, and some of the younger members of the audience were the most informed." That tells us everything we need to know about how young people ought to be engaged in politics and why they need to be.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): There would be public health concerns relating to the alcohol question, and those are entirely different from democratic concerns. The right hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) talked about party manifestos. If 16 and 17-year-olds were able to vote, perhaps they would campaign on issues such as those, but we do not know whether that is the case because they do not have the right to vote in elections to this place or to local authorities, which have licensing powers The Minister mentioned that parties that included votes at 16 in their manifesto had not been particularly successful. I have to correct him on that. The Scottish National party had that proposal in its manifesto and we were very successful. I know that 16 and 17-year-olds welcome and respect the rights and responsibilities that we have placed on them. If they are going to be subject to taxation, it is perfectly reasonable that they should have the right to vote Turning to some of the other matters under discussion, I am a huge supporter of the single transferrable vote, the system under which I was elected as a councillor. The introduction of that system made a huge difference to the local authority of which I was a member. Before the introduction of STV in Glasgow, only four of the 79 councillors represented the SNP; when the STV election was held, we fielded 22 candidates and we got 22 candidates elected The result of these changes can be seen in the Electoral Reform Society’s report of 2010, entitled "Working with STV". It used Glasgow as a case study and interviewed officers from that council, one of whom stated that Glasgow "has a council again". There is proper debate and scrutiny. More recent work by the Electoral Reform Society on the need for electoral reform has found that councils that do not have a system such as STV can become one-party states with uncontested seats and, in the worst cases, there is a risk of corruption due to the lack of scrutiny of council decisions.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Civil Rights
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Does the hon. Lady accept that in the absence of any other Bill, strategy or proposals for bringing about votes at 16 and 17, this measure is the best we can do in the meantime and that we should support every step to move the issue forward?
HGV Drivers — House of Commons, 2015-12-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): With 45,000 qualified professional drivers needed to fill the skills gap in the HGV industry, will the Minister confirm whether the HGV driver standard has been approved as part of the Trailblazer apprenticeship programme? Will companies be able to use that funding to pay for licence acquisition?