argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure the hon. Lady that we have a hit list of oligarchs and Duma members—those key personnel we are talking about. We will be announcing those as we build the evidence and case against them, but we need those cases to be legally watertight—that is what is important—so that when we hit them, the hit sticks.
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): We have announced more than 120 businesses and oligarchs who have already been sanctioned. There is a list that we are working through, and we will be announcing more as soon as the evidence is ready.
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): We have worked very closely with the Treasury on this package of sanctions, and we are certainly looking at tackling every possible route that could be used to undermine the sanctions, one of which is cryptocurrency.
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is correct about Navalny; he ought to be released. We have seen a terrible suppression of democracy, and we have also seen a terrible suppression of information in Russia, but despite that, we are seeing people in Russia come out on the streets, and we are seeing public figures speak out against the regime. That takes incredible bravery, and I congratulate them. I am humbled by the people in Russia who are prepared to risk their lives to stand up for freedom.
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Immigration
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): It is appalling to hear about the horrific situation that the family of the right hon. Gentleman’s constituent find themselves in, and we must be welcoming to refugees from this appalling, pre-meditated war created by Vladimir Putin. I will take his inquiry to the Home Office and get him a response.
Sanctions — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): This really pertains to a number of questions that have been asked. What we are doing in building up our evidence cases about the oligarchs is sharing information with our G7 allies, so we are working together and getting that information quicker. That work is already under way. That taskforce already exists. Of course, alongside the legal services, the public relations services and the accountancy services, we will look at the insurance services that these oligarchs rely on. This is all about being able to do this quicker, because every single country has the same issue. The US takes time to build up cases against oligarchs because generally their organisations are so complex and opaque. The work that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is doing on the Economic Crime Bill will also help to make it easier for us to understand their corporate structures.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend’s remarks. I pay tribute to him, and to Members on both sides of the House, for the excellent work that they have done in ensuring that the measures have been introduced in a timely way. I look forward to working with him to ensure that we have a good regime. Let me also point out that we have £63 million in the spending review to deal precisely with the funding of Companies House.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure that my answer will not satisfy the right hon. Lady, but I am pleased that we are introducing this legislation, and I look forward to working with her and colleagues on both sides of the House in ensuring that it is right. As for the cap on unexplained wealth orders, I think it will be the subject of plenty of discussion imminently, when we introduce the legislation.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): What the right hon. Member says about Companies House reform is not accurate at all. This set of measures will be the biggest reform to Companies House in 200 years. It is something significant. It has not been done in 200 years and it is something which we are very proud to have expedited—[Laughter.] I would have thought there would be a bit more recognition of the fact that this is vitally important legislation that is going to be brought in in a timely way.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): The Secretary of State is right to draw a distinction between that which needs to be done immediately to deal with the appalling behaviour of Putin and his cronies and the long-term reforms that are really important to the business structures of the United Kingdom, for our competitiveness and for company law as a whole, which should rightly not be rushed. In relation to the more urgent and pressing matters, will he undertake to work closely not just with the City but with the large amount of expertise we have in financial and legal services? For example, the Financial Markets Law Committee and others have a great deal of expertise, particularly around such issues as crypto-currency, and we need to harness that. The City and the financial sector want good regulation, because it is in Britain’s interests to have a clean and effective set-up and we should not be misled by those who suggest otherwise.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right. This idea that the City of London does not want regulation is a travesty and a disgrace. It is a slur on the reputation of our financial services. He is also right to say that there is a distinction to be drawn between what needs to be done immediately and can be done expeditiously, and other matters that need a great deal of thought and consultation, on which I am happy to engage with him and other colleagues.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to make a point about donations to political parties. We all know that we do not have state-funded parties. Any citizen can fund and give donations to political parties. I also want to say gently that not every single person of Russian origin is an oligarch. People come here—many of them have British citizenship—and they give freely of their funds.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Housing
Mark Julian Francis Pawsey (Conservative, Centre-right): It is good that the measures will be with us tomorrow, but my constituents who have gone through the process of buying a property will find it hard to appreciate how, over many years, we have allowed the acquisition of UK property to hide wealth that has often been illegally obtained. Can my right hon. Friend reassure them that these new measures will bring this kind of activity swiftly to an end?
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. That is the point of this raft of measures. We want to shine the light of transparency on these transactions and to minimise the likelihood of people using our property and our goodwill to hide their ill-gotten gains.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I am delighted to accept the hon. Lady’s warm words on the Bill. I am delighted that she is supporting it enthusiastically, and I am happy to engage with her on the passage of the Bill and to examine the amendment she has referred to.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome the creation of a register of overseas entities. Could my right hon. Friend give us a sense of how long it will take for an effective register to be created? Post legislation, it will presumably take months to establish the register, bearing in mind there are 95,000 foreign-owned properties in England according to the Land Registry and the Government propose to give those owners 18 months to register their ownership Secondly, further to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr Djanogly), although I strongly support reform of Companies House, today a small businessperson in this country can pay £12 to register their company in less than 24 hours. Whatever we do must be as burden-free as possible to help small businesspeople and entrepreneurs to thrive.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He says it may take a few months to get the register up and running, and I am trying to make the process as quick and effective as possible. He also mentions that we must not have a disproportionate effect, that we must not overburden small business people and people who want to incorporate and set up businesses, and we will not be doing that. I would be happy to work with him, as he did brilliant work in government, to make sure the Government get this right.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, because clamping down on illicit international flows of capital is a good thing. Another good thing is open, legitimate global capital markets, where the City of London excels, supporting entrepreneurs in our country. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that, in bringing forward his legislation and the White Paper, he will pay due regard to the positive aspects of international capital, as well as clamping down on the illegal ones?
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Public Lands
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. I am not embarrassed at all in agreeing with my hon. Friend that London is a hub of international capital, which is one of the great strengths and glories of our economy. I will do all I can, as I am sure he will appreciate, to make sure we protect that precious heritage.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I fully accept the hon. Gentleman’s point and I wish to put on record the fact that I corrected myself immediately—having said "the Ukraine", I changed it to "Ukraine". He makes a perfectly legitimate point about that little bit of grammar and the definite article, which is very important. On the speed with which we have brought forward this legislation, I wish to pay tribute to him and to Conservative colleagues, some of whom are no longer in their place, as they have led huge amounts of work and cross-party engagement. I am delighted that now we can expedite bringing this Bill forward.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been very clear that it is the responsibility of every Member of this House to engage with these issues. I have not been informed about that interdiction by my Department and I would love to hear more about it. However, as I have said, every Member of this House has an obligation to engage directly with those tackling these kinds of abuses.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): I have answered this question before and I say, once again, that not everybody of Russian heritage giving money to any political party is an oligarch. I appreciate that the hon. Lady is not saying this explicitly, but the implication is that they are, and I reject the premise of the question.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
John David Penrose (Conservative, Centre-right): I warmly welcome these measures, particular the register of overseas entities. As has been widely said, some of us have been waiting for that for a very long time and it is hugely welcome, not just in here, but right the way through civil society outside this place. We cannot sanction an oligarch unless we know where he or she has stashed their money, and this register will make a big difference. May I push the Secretary of State a little further on his response to the question put by my right hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick) about how long it will take once this new legislation is in place to clean up all the rubbish that is currently on the register, in order to make sure that we have something that is both clean and useful, and we do not have a case of "garbage in, garbage out."?
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very good case. There are two aspects to this. Clearly, there is the immediate signalling aspect, which will affect people’s decisions in the here and now. There is also the task of getting the register up and running, which may take a few months. I am open to working with him to make sure that we do that as quickly as possible.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Duncan Charles Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased to have so much in common with my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone), as I too am a former chartered accountant. The reforms to Companies House could not come soon enough—just getting a fictitious audit report removed proves incredibly difficult these days, so this legislation is much needed. However, if we are to empower Companies House to root out the corrupt filings, it must have the resource because, as we have heard, it is by no means a small issue. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that we will have not just the powers, but the resource, the tools and the capability to carry out those actions?
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have said to the House, we are introducing legislation and, in the customary way, there will be plenty of scope for right hon. and hon. Members to move amendments and to tweak the legislation in any way they see fit.
Corporate Transparency and Economic Crime — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): As I have said a couple of times, we did lead the way on SWIFT. I think that has been very effective in terms of the response of the German Government and my understanding is that they have shifted. I make no apology for defending London as a hub of capital, but we need to root out kleptocrats and dirty money.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the right hon. Member for giving me forward notice of her point of order. Clearly, this is an incredibly distressful time for so many people, but the Chair does not audit the accuracy of what hon. Members, including Ministers, say in the Chamber. Having said that, those on the Government Front Bench will have heard the right hon. Member’s point of order and, if the record needs to be corrected, I am sure it will be. Should a Home Office Minister or the Home Secretary want to come to the House and make a statement later today or at some stage in the future, the House will be notified in the usual way.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I apologise for not having given you prior notice; the reason is that, while the Secretary of State has announced emergency legislation for tomorrow, as far as I am aware we have had no business statement changing tomorrow’s business, and I do not know how amendments will be made. Will a statement be made today so that the House will know how it can deal with tomorrow’s urgent business?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I will just check with the people who know what is going on. It may well be that there will be a business statement either later today or very soon, in order to facilitate the business that the Secretary of State has announced.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am sorry, but I thought we were told that the House was expecting emergency legislation tomorrow. It seems that this is not going to happen tomorrow and I have perhaps misunderstood.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Kwasi Alfred Addo Kwarteng (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. As my hon. Friend knows, there are three different stages to a Bill—introduction, publication and then Second Reading and further stages—so Second Reading will not be happening tomorrow.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Lords amendment 70, Government motion to disagree, and Government amendments (a) and (b) in lieu Lords amendment 72, and Government motion to disagree Lords amendments 114 to 116, Government motions to disagree, and Government amendments (a) and (b) in lieu Lords amendment 141, and Government motion to disagree Lords amendment 142, and Government motion to disagree Lords amendments 3 to 57, 59, 60, 108 to 113, 117, 147, 153 and 154.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Richard Michael John Ogilvie Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for what the Minister has said, particularly about the early amendment on spiking. On this particular offence of misogyny, can we have it on the record in this House that no one in this House has any time for misogyny? The issue is purely one of law and what will be most effective. Everything that my right hon. Friend the Minister has said in answer to my neighbour, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South Swindon (Sir Robert Buckland), is extremely relevant. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that some police forces, such as my own—Gloucestershire constabulary—are recording data on this and believe it to be useful? I hope he agrees that that could be an encouraging form of evidence towards the aggravating factor he referred to earlier.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): All I can do for the hon. Lady is quote from the Law Commission’s report, which I assume she has read, extensive though it is. It specifically states: "We recognise that many people may disagree with our conclusion and find it difficult to understand given the prevalence of sex and gender-based violence and abuse…our recommendations have been decided…on the strength of the evidence and policy considerations before us." I hope she will understand that notwithstanding the division of opinion there may be, the fact that the Law Commission—after three years, and with weighty legal minds—disagrees with this move, along with large women’s organisations, such as Rape Crisis, means that in all conscience we cannot support an amendment that they say will make things worse. We have to commit ourselves to making things better and by other means, as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South Swindon (Sir Robert Buckland) has pointed out. That is exactly what I am doing today.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry, but I am not sure that the Government ever made that promise. [Interruption.] Hold on, I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has read the Law Commission’s report. Has he read it?
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Other
Nigel Martin Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. Members should stand only if they want to take part in debate on the first group of amendments, not the second or third groups. We are time-limited, so perhaps Members could focus on the duration of their speeches as well as on the content, to give an opportunity for other Members to take part.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Siobhan Kathleen Baillie (Conservative, Centre-right): Girls from Stroud High School got me into their school to talk about the public sexual harassment that they receive—often daily and often in their school uniforms—which is outrageous. Under the "Everyone’s Invited" campaign, many schoolgirls—and schoolboys as well—have reported exactly what they experience. Does my right hon. Friend agree that while the comments that we have heard from the Minister are incredibly positive, we must recognise that the calls for such changes come not just from this place or from adults but from young girls everywhere who are experiencing really tough times?
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — House of Commons, 2022-02-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Christopher Laurie Malthouse (Conservative, Centre-right): This is an important issue and I am grateful to the hon. Lady, but I just wanted to point out to her that the Law Commission said in its consultation paper that it thought it might be possible to overcome the challenges involved in excluding certain violence against women and girls contexts and there would still be value in including sex or gender within hate crime laws for the remaining criminal contexts. It specifically considered the notion of carve-outs. However, following further reflection and analysis, and with the benefit of detailed and thoughtful consultation responses, it now believes that all the possible models to do so create more problems than they solve. So the Law Commission did look specifically at this model of carve-outs, and indeed it specifically considered the option of the full recognition of sex or gender in aggravated offences, with enhanced sentences on the same basis as for other recognised characteristics.