argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady makes an important intervention. When policy is made at speed, it is a huge challenge, as the House knows, to ensure that we understand where the lines are drawn correctly. All the way through this difficult time, with the changes that have been required, the Government have tried to target the interventions and the support in the best way to cover the most people who need it The hon. Lady’s point about fraud is hugely important. As we hopefully move from a direct intervention model to one of recovery, there will be a huge focus on fraud. The permanent secretary of my Department was before the Public Accounts Committee yesterday with some hon. Members present to talk about that subject, which demonstrates its importance in the future Let me turn now to another substantive part of the motion, business rates, which are a favourite topic for Labour party Opposition day motions. There are constant suggestions for changes. On some days the suggestion is to cut business rates, on others it is to reform them. Occasionally, when the Opposition are feeling very bold, they say that we should scrap business rates.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): I will not give way now, but perhaps in a moment Months after those bold statements began to be made during last year’s Labour conference, we are still yet to hear the detail of how Labour will meaningfully reform business rates.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): The only detail that we seem to know about in Labour’s plans to reform business rates is a sixfold increase in the digital services tax. One thing we know about the digital services tax is that Amazon, for example, passes it straight on to consumers, which is exactly what it did. The other thing we know is that it does not apply to Amazon’s direct sales, so those plans will hit small businesses and consumers. Is that not the wrong emphasis for reforming business rates?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Shaun Stephen Bailey (Conservative, Centre-right): I am probably going to be quite parochial in my comments, but I have the pleasure of representing the beating heart of the Black Country and its industrial base I cannot deny the unprecedented support—which we have heard about from Conservative Members—that the Government have provided to businesses, and particularly to businesses in my constituency. We have heard about the £407 billion of support provided overall and about the £1 billion for hospitality. We have also heard about the importance of integrated investment. My hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Julie Marson) made a really good point when she talked about the integrated nature of investment when it comes to things such as our town centres. Wednesbury in my constituency has benefited from £3.6 million for its heritage action zone, which will mean businesses are invested in for the future Our problem in Sandwell—keeping things parochial—was not Government support getting to Sandwell but Labour-led Sandwell Council not paying businesses. I hope there are members of the Labour national executive committee on the Opposition Benches, because I have to say to them: get a grip on Sandwell Labour. It is not to my political advantage to ask the Labour party to get a grip on Sandwell Labour, but I plead with it to do so. When I challenged the council on the payment of business grants, the deputy leader said, "That’s not nice, Shaun." What is not nice is that the businesses crying out for this support are not being paid, and it is not because of the Government. If my hon. Friend the Minister had not ensured the money got through to the frontline, I would have been straight there to make sure it was paid to the local authority. Local authorities are delivering it, and it is the leadership of the Labour party in my local area that caused those issues We need to think further, too. I agree with the hon. Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) on buying British. She is absolutely right that procurement has to be about ensuring we make the best of the goods we produce domestically. [Interruption.] The hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) asks why we did not push it. Well, we are. I am saying it right now, and I am agreeing with the hon. Member for Llanelli, too. We have to have a procurement policy that makes the most of those goods Just like the hon. Member for Aberavon, I represent an area with a strong industrial base and well-established industrial SMEs that really need this support. As we build the funding and support structures, one thing I have noticed at times is that we miss out established SMEs. I have SMEs such as Pattern Fasteners in Oldbury that are investing in the area. As we build these structures, we need to make sure such businesses do not miss out because the thresholds are too high or because the structures are targeted at much larger companies and organisations This Government have supported business. I do not deny that there is more to do, but I thank them for the support they have given to my communities.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Howell (Conservative, Centre-right): I of course recognise the hardship that businesses are facing through the pandemic, but if the Government had followed the Opposition’s advice, we would have been in a lot worse state—back to circuit breakers and stage 4 in July last year. The Government paid out £70 billion—I repeat that: £70 billion—in the job retention scheme. The hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) described that as "money wasted". This feels very much like the Leader of the Opposition’s comments when he described moving the Treasury to Darlington as "not levelling up", but "giving up". It shows a shocking lack of appreciation for the number of jobs and businesses that were protected and saved through this scheme Like my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Julie Marson), I have met multiple businesses in my Sedgefield constituency that have outlined how grateful they are for the Government support they received over the course of the covid-19 pandemic, and how it has meant they have been able to keep their businesses open and employees in work. This has extended from both small local shops such as Aycliffe Framers to international suppliers such as Gestamp, which employs over 1,500 people in my constituency Having spent my life prior to coming to this place as director of a manufacturing business, I, like everyone who owns a business, know what matters is profit—sales less cost—but also clarity, and Ministers coming to the constituency to meet businesses helps them to understand what is happening. I have been delighted that so many of the Business team and the International Trade team have been to NETPark—North East Technology Park—in Sedgefield to understand what those businesses really need and how we can help them best. That contrasts massively with when I spend my time on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. With the exception of the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones), who is the Chair and has to come, Labour Members’ attendance has been woeful. How they can say that they are interested in business, when they do not even come to a Select Committee I do not know. Members of the shadow Cabinet have described business owners as "the enemy". How can a party with views like that be trusted with British business?
Solihull Police Station: Proposed Closure — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Other
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister is responding brilliantly to the debate, but can I just be quite clear that everyone in Sutton Coldfield is against these monstrous proposals? The only people I can find in the entire town who are in favour are the two Labour Birmingham city councillors.
Armed Forces Pay — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Leo Docherty (Conservative, Centre-right): As I said, we have to take note of the fact that service personnel benefit very significantly from subsidised food and accommodation, a non-contributory pension and allowances. Many young soldiers are also taking advantage of the opportunity to get on to the property ladder through the Forces Help to Buy scheme, which has been a great success.
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Joseph Roberts (Conservative, Centre-right): As my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Clwyd (Dr Davies), mentioned, the new helicopter programme could be significant in north-east Wales and generate around 400 jobs at Airbus directly, should its bid be successful. Will the Secretary of State confirm when the process is scheduled to be completed and when he expects the helicopters to come into service afterwards?
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point. Whoever wins this competition, it is important that they contribute to the prosperity and job opportunities for UK citizens wherever they may be. I am not interested in "here today, gone tomorrow" suppliers for this. We want to enhance British industry and make sure that these helicopters are properly made and put together in this country. Once the competition is complete, we hope to have the medium-lift helicopters in service from the middle of this decade.
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew James Bridgen (Conservative, Centre-right): I was pleased to read last week of a new five-year, £460 million logistics contract that has been issued which should deliver the MOD £54 million of efficiency savings a year. Will the Secretary of State outline what the new logistics information system will mean for jobs in the UK, and specifically, jobs in the east midlands?
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mark Julian Francis Pawsey (Conservative, Centre-right): As joint chair of the all-party group on manufacturing, I know that Jack Dromey would have appreciated the emphasis today on manufacturing and UK jobs. The national shipbuilding strategy sets out an ambition to support UK manufacturing by boosting innovation, skills, jobs and productivity across the UK, in addition to ensuring the construction of ships’ hulls in British shipyards using British-sourced steel. Will the Secretary of State confirm that every encouragement will be given to UK-based companies to add to the UK content of these new vessels by supplying the systems and equipment that go hand in hand with them?
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (Conservative, Centre-right): Desperate Let us start with the first point. The Sentinel is not an early-warning radar, which the E-7 Wedgetail is. If we are going to say that I retired one platform capability and replaced it with another, let us try to make sure that we replace it with the right type of capability, otherwise someone will be flying the wrong plane in the wrong place at the wrong time—but then I suppose we should not really be very surprised by Labour I entirely understand the NAO’s observations. There are, absolutely, a great many things to put right, and in putting them right, yes, we cancel programmes that we cannot afford, yes, we retire capabilities that should have been retired previously, because that is called putting your house in order. Otherwise, we end up with an NAO ruling that "The MoD has a multi-billion-pound budgetary black hole which it is trying to fix with a ‘save now, pay later’ approach." That was the NAO’s report on the Labour Government in 2009, and the "pay later" is what we are now living with.
Ajax Programme: Cost — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): As reported by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority in July 2021, the budgeted cost of Ajax is £6.354 billion to manufacture the vehicle and bring it to full operating capability and for its first period of service. Forecasts are updated twice yearly and our current forecast is that we will deliver under budget at £5.915 billion, though that is subject to change. That includes our £5.5 billion firm contract with General Dynamics.
Ajax Programme: Cost — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Julia Dinenage (Conservative, Centre-right): I would also like to express my condolences on the loss of Jack Dromey, who made his maiden speech the same day that I made mine. I was very fond of him I have no doubt that some of the procurement processes that were inherited from the last Labour Government led to some of the flaws in the Ajax programme. I say that because it is emblematic of a catalogue of wasteful decisions such as the selling off of the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in 2009 for £3 million when it had reportedly been valued at £52 million. Could the Minister please assure me that the MOD’s procurement and disposal decisions, such as that involving Fort Blockhouse at Gosport, will maximise the benefit for the taxpayer and for local communities?
Relocation from Afghanistan — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): Clearly the movement of any vulnerable Afghan or British national from Afghanistan to the UK requires the co-operation of a third country. In the UK’s case, this has mostly been through Pakistan and we are very grateful to our friends in Islamabad for working with us. More than 2,000 people have come to the UK since the end of Operation Pitting, and we continue to work with partners in the region to facilitate the exit of more, through more routes.
Relocation from Afghanistan — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Immigration
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): I fear this may be a red herring, inasmuch as indefinite leave to remain is an automatic part of the ARAP scheme. More than 5,000 ARAP-eligible personnel were brought out during Operation Pitting, and around 1,100 of the 2,000 who have come out since are also ARAPers. About another 150 or so ARAP principals from the original cohort who actually worked for us and were approved during Operation Pitting are left in Afghanistan, and we continue to work to bring them out. Of course, we are getting applications all the time. The ARAP entitlement is absolute and is not time limited. We will bring out anybody eligible who applies.
Ukraine: Territorial Integrity — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Gagan Mohindra (Conservative, Centre-right): I associate myself with the comments about Jack Dromey Does my right hon. Friend share my gratitude to the excellent staff at Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood in my constituency for their superb leadership and focus on our overseas operations?
Future Soldier Programme: Army Estate in Wales — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Other
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): I am aware of the discussions and the proposal and I have seen some suggestions, but I am not in a position to give any detail to my hon. Friend at the moment. I will look into it and write to him.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: The Future Soldier programme has delivered significant investment for Wales, not least the extremely welcome decision to keep Brecon barracks open. May I invite the Secretary of State to come to Brecon and visit the home of the Army in Wales so that he can see the operational significance of the barracks?; We clearly face heightened risk and instability on multiple fronts. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on our readiness to deal with multiple potential flashpoints in different arenas simultaneously?; I am proud to have Erskine veterans home in my constituency. I am also proud of the Scottish Government’s veterans fund and their appointment of a Veterans Commissioner. Does the Minister not feel that that should be replicated elsewhere on these isles to ensure that the veterans community are properly represented in decisions taken affecting their welfare?; Strengthening our defence relationships in the Indo-Pacific will be essential to help maintain peace and stability in the region. In that regard, what are we doing to strengthen our defence relationship with Japan?; We now know that on 25 October, the RAF carried out a targeted drone killing in Syria. Is that not a major shift in policy? Why was Parliament not informed? When will the Secretary of State set out the legal basis and criteria for that strike?; The rise of terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa is continuing and poses a strategic threat to the United Kingdom. In that context—given that the United States is probably downgrading sub-Saharan Africa, and only France is totally committed—what actions will the UK take to bring our allies together on this issue?
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman has already decided how our competition will end, which is unwise. We have multiple potential providers of a vessel that needs already to have been built, so we are going through a buying process and we will see how that procurement exercise ends.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Immigration
Questions: The Future Soldier programme has delivered significant investment for Wales, not least the extremely welcome decision to keep Brecon barracks open. May I invite the Secretary of State to come to Brecon and visit the home of the Army in Wales so that he can see the operational significance of the barracks?; We clearly face heightened risk and instability on multiple fronts. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on our readiness to deal with multiple potential flashpoints in different arenas simultaneously?; I am proud to have Erskine veterans home in my constituency. I am also proud of the Scottish Government’s veterans fund and their appointment of a Veterans Commissioner. Does the Minister not feel that that should be replicated elsewhere on these isles to ensure that the veterans community are properly represented in decisions taken affecting their welfare?; Strengthening our defence relationships in the Indo-Pacific will be essential to help maintain peace and stability in the region. In that regard, what are we doing to strengthen our defence relationship with Japan?; We now know that on 25 October, the RAF carried out a targeted drone killing in Syria. Is that not a major shift in policy? Why was Parliament not informed? When will the Secretary of State set out the legal basis and criteria for that strike?; The rise of terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa is continuing and poses a strategic threat to the United Kingdom. In that context—given that the United States is probably downgrading sub-Saharan Africa, and only France is totally committed—what actions will the UK take to bring our allies together on this issue?
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member makes a very important point. I ask all Members of this House to reach out to their local authorities, because a lot of local authorities’ words have not been matched by action. I have made available nearly 500 married quarters to those individuals. Of course, very few local authorities were prepared to take up the available married quarters in which to place the refugees. It is important that we all get our local authorities to pull together alongside the rest of the Government.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Housing
Peter James Bottomley (Conservative, Centre-right): I will co-operate, Mr Speaker, and may I say, through you, to the Mother of the House, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), that the tributes to her husband Jack Dromey for his work on people’s interests at work and at home will be long remembered, together with that of David Amess, who for 20 years worked on the all-party group on fire safety and rescue with Ronnie King and others I believe that this is another step forward that is greatly welcomed and greatly needed, but I think the extension of the liability to 30 years is wrong for those who knew that what they were doing was wrong: 30 years may be fine for those who did it by mistake, but for those who knew what they were doing, there should be unlimited liability both in time and in money I hope that the Secretary of State will have a roundtable. If he wants to take over the all-party group roundtable for a summit on this, he can pick up some of the other issues that no doubt he has been working on, but which, to keep his statement reasonable, he may not have covered today One problem is the insurance premiums paid by leaseholders for a property they do not own, which may have gone up from an illustrative £300 a year to £3,000 a year. I believe that the Association of British Insurers should be told that the Competition and Markets Authority will look to see whether there is price gouging, in simple terms, and, that if there is some kind of catastrophic reinsurance needed, the Government should help them to make communal arrangements to deal with that, because insurance premiums should come down to the £300 they were before The last point of very many I would like to make is that the Treasury will expect to get the benefit of the levy and tax towards the £5 billion already announced, and the contributions that will come in from developers will relieve burdens on residential leaseholders, but the Government should also get the VAT on money that is spent, which is 20% of the total cost. If the total cost comes down from £15 billion to, say, £12 billion, my right hon. Friend can calculate and discuss with the Treasury how much extra the Treasury is getting. The Treasury should not be making a profit out of all this catastrophe.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Housing
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Father of the House for his questions. He is quite right that Sir David Amess, before his sad death, was one of the most prescient and most effective campaigners for improved building safety. His memory is very much in my mind The Father of the House makes a point about the need to potentially look at unlimited liability for those who consciously and deliberately operated in a reckless fashion. I will consider that and I am sure it will be considered during the passage of the Bill. On his point that we should work with others, particularly the broad leasehold community who have done so much to identify the way forward, we absolutely intend to do that. The point he makes about insurance premiums is absolutely right. That is why my noble Friend Lord Greenhalgh will be talking to Baroness Morgan of Cotes and others in the Association of British Insurers to ensure that more insurers, like Aviva, do the right thing. I very much note his point about VAT and Treasury contributions. In the ongoing conversations we have with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I will reflect on the very important point that he made.
Building Safety — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Housing
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for her points. We certainly will work with the devolved Governments. Of course, the residential property developer tax, like all UK-wide taxes, is distributed appropriately in line with the Barnett formula and other requirements, but we will certainly work with devolved Governments. I should say that I am very grateful to the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive for the work they have already done on this issue. We all have much to learn from one another.