argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Unaccompanied Child Refugees — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
Yvette Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the announcement this weekend of an agreement to transfer a Syrian teenager from Greece under the Dubs scheme. I wrote to the Home Secretary about that case on 7 August. The boy has been locked in a police cell in Greece because there was no other safe accommodation for him, even though a local council here had offered a place. I understand that he still has not been given a transfer date, so I hope that the Minister can look into that urgently. However, given that we still have 280 empty local council places, 90 of which were supposed to be filled by people from Greece, and given that there are around 3,000 lone child refugees in Greece, does he agree that it is not good enough for only four eligible children to have been identified in Greece? Does he agree that we cannot carry on with just a blame game between Britain and Greece and that urgent action must be taken to change the scheme so that more children can come?
Indefinite Leave to Remain — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): One wonders how long many of those cases are waiting. So often, we are told the cases are complex and, after maybe a year or two, the Department still cannot make a decision. Furthermore, even when people have won their appeal, they find it takes six or nine months to get a reply, and then their documents very often get lost, or they get their passport back without having their visa stamped. I recognise the Minister inherited this mess, but his reply seemed complacent on actually sorting it out.
Leaving the EU: Immigration Rules — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): The all-party parliamentary group on migration, which I chair, recently conducted research asking a whole range of businesses about their labour needs and the effect of Brexit. Those businesses uniformly told us that it is not just a case of access to highly skilled labour but many jobs that are characterised as low skilled would also be difficult to fill if they could not access the EU labour market. Will the Home Secretary consider that report? What assurances can she give businesses across a whole range of sectors, from food processing to construction to care?
Immigration Detention Centres — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
Mohammed Afzal Khan (Labour, Centre-left): Last week, the chief inspector of prisons reported that the survivors of torture, rape and trafficking are still being locked up in Yarl’s Wood detention centre. That corroborates what was set out by Stephen Shaw and many others. Why is the Home Office failing to implement the policy for adults at risk in immigration detention and why are vulnerable people still being detained?
Net Migration Target: International Students — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
Joanna Meriel Stevens (Labour, Centre-left): Recent polling by ComRes shows that much of the British public do not consider international students to be immigrants, and they want to see them work for a period here to contribute to the economy. Will the Minister commit to increasing the UK’s post-study work opportunities so that we can continue to attract the brightest and the best students to the UK after Brexit?
Net Migration Target: International Students — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): But should the Minister not take the student figures out of the immigration figures, because students do not come here as asylum seekers? They actually come here and contribute to local economies, so there is a contradiction in the Government’s position.
Net Migration Target: International Students — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Immigration
Diane Julie Abbott (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will be aware that the Financial Times reported on 8 November that an ally of the Home Secretary is in favour of removing international students from the Government’s migration targets. Some people suspect that the unnamed ally may, in fact, be the Home Secretary herself. Whether or not that is the case, the Minister has conceded that international students make an enormous contribution not just to academia but to the economies of our university towns. Will the Government listen to voices on both sides of the House and remove international students from the migration target?
Student Loans Company — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Gordon Marsden (Labour, Centre-left): This announcement was snuck out over the November recess on the same day as the Secretary of State for International Development resigned. Since last Monday, two articles in The Times have raised severe questions about the process. Why, in the Minister’s letter to me on 17 October, sent six weeks after I wrote to him about the SLC, did he refer to the suspension of the chief executive as a neutral act that did not imply wrongdoing, when he was actually made fully aware of the allegations against Steve Lamey in June, as his written reply has told me Will the Minister publish the findings of the performance review of the SLC, issued two months before the suspension, in which, as The Times says, Steve Lamey was rated "outstanding"? Was the Minister aware at the time that Mr Jenkins’s report on Mr Lamey had concluded that he was "making a real and positive difference" to the Student Loans Company, and was a popular and effective leader who staff found supportive, before the decision was made to sack him? Will he also publish the findings of the internal investigation, in which 52 of 58 allegations against Mr Lamey were dismissed, so that all Members can understand the issues at the SLC Who appointed the chair and the other three board members of the SLC, and what were the criteria and processes for those appointments? Can the Minister confirm that Simon Devonshire, the board member who heard and dismissed Mr Lamey’s appeal, and David Gravells are also members of the same venture capital trust The lack of proper co-operation between the SLC and HMRC has led to significant overpayment of debts. Can the Minister tell us how many overpayments amounting to more than £10,000 have been made since 2015-16? I have just been told that the Government have tacitly admitted their failure in this regard by saying that from 2019 onwards, HMRC and the SLC will co-operate on these matters. However, that does not address the fact that Mr Lamey and the HMRC’s permanent secretary have blamed each other for the issue. Mr Lamey has claimed that he asked for real-time updates that HMRC would not share. Who is telling the truth The BBC’s "Panorama" has raised questions about private providers of courses in which students have fraudulently enrolled in order to claim loans. How much has been paid to students of private higher education providers who were subsequently determined to be ineligible in the last five full financial years, and what mechanisms are there to enable the misused taxpayer money to be reclaimed? In the light of all that, will the Government now suspend the sale of a further chunk of the student loan book The Minister recently admitted that changes in interest rate thresholds on student debt would cost £175 million by 2020. Can he tell us where the money will come from? Given that tens of thousands of graduates are footing the bill for SLC failures, what confidence can Parliament have in the competence of this Minister, who is the key shareholder in the Student Loans Company?
Student Loans Company — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister mentioned denigration, but no Opposition Member would denigrate the Student Loans Company. In fact, the SLC has offered a good service to many students and parents. If we compare it with our commercial banking sector, in which so many people should have gone to prison, the SLC has done very well indeed. Is there some secret agenda here? This Government are about to sell off £4 billion of student loans, and who is leading that consortium? It is British banks led by Barclays.
Student Loans Company — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): This chaos at the SLC adds insult to injury for those who are paying off these huge debts following graduation. A constituent who came to see me last Friday showed me his SLC statement. He is a paramedic who is doing an important, highly-skilled job in our emergency services. He completed his training with more than £28,000 of debt. He has paid off £1,084 since April 2016, but the SLC has applied £878.10 interest during that period. He said to me, "It’s no wonder graduates are tempted to leave the country." What would the Minister say to him?
Student Loans Company — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister seems complacent about the extent of fraud. He can report to us only the amount of fraud that is known about but, by their very nature, the people who carry out fraud are devious. Did the "Panorama" programme suggest to him an area of fraudulent activity of which he was not aware before? What action did he take in response to what was exposed by that programme?
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister referred to the Bill’s ability to deliver in all possible circumstances. Is he aware of the report by the Home Affairs Committee and of discussions with HMRC about concerns over its capacity to deal with various customs arrangements? The report says that the Home Office is providing only an extra 300 staff by 2019, yet HMRC says that it needs 5,000 additional staff to cope with a changed customs regime. What assessment has he made of how many new staff are required and what they will cost?
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister assure us that the Bill, which, of course we do not have but which he is saying we will be able to see—although not until we have debated this paving resolution—will contain arrangements for sanitary and phytosanitary regulatory checks at Dover and the channel tunnel entrance and exit? They are not there at present and if we were going to institute customs checks, we would similarly have to institute those regulatory checks. Has Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs allowed for that in the budget as well?
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I anticipated that intervention, although not quite so early in my speech. I return the hon. Gentleman’s compliments—he is one of the nicest gentlemen in this House. The Labour party’s position on the customs union is that we want the UK to have tariff-free access to the European Union throughout the transition period, with the added option of the UK staying in the customs union. That is the position of our Front-Bench team. It is perfectly clear and chimes perfectly well with amendments (e) and (f) I am disappointed that the amendments in the name of the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) were not selected. She has done a lot of work to bring the Ways and Means motion to the House, and I think the arguments advanced reflect the fact that we both want our country to stay in the single market and the customs union, not for ideological reasons, but because we know that the businesses of Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South require us to stay. It is impossible to suggest that the United Kingdom should have exactly the same benefits of the single market and the customs union, with a frictionless border and tariff-free access, but not keep the customs union and the single market on the table. It makes no sense.
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I am tempted to say that is because they are all quackers, but I am sure that would not go down well and I gave up on the bad jokes some time ago. My hon. Friend is right: the Government are actually arguing for the single market and the customs union, but do not want either. That is why the Bill on the customs union, which will be published tomorrow, will show clearly that the Government are hell-bent in the negotiations with the EU to take us off a cliff edge. No deal is probably their preferred option, and that is what they are promoting in the Ways and Means motion.
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): Indeed, and I will come to more of those arguments later in my speech. The Foreign Affairs Committee, of which I am a member, visited the border regions in Ireland and Northern Ireland just last week, and one of the key concerns we heard from the businesses that employ many thousands of workers on both sides of the border was that they use the UK as the transit route into the European Union. We are the landing strip for all the goods they export through the United Kingdom into the European Union, because it is the fastest way; the alternatives are not suitable for their businesses. It will be exactly the same for businesses in Coventry, in Aberdeen and in Edinburgh South. The hon. Member for Aberdeen South spoke eloquently about the Scotch whisky industry, which we all defend and champion. That industry needs easy access to the markets in which it sells its products, so it too is pushing for as close a deal as possible to the customs union.
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I am glad my hon. Friend makes that point because the Scotch whisky industry is not just a Scottish industry. It is a UK-wide industry involving bottling, packaging and delivery companies—a whole UK supply chain. If the main driver of that supply chain, which is the whisky coming out of Scotland, is disturbed, the jobs in my hon. Friend’s constituency are potentially disturbed, too.
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): Well, it is jobs, isn’t it? [Hon. Members: "Nine hundred jobs."] Yes, 900 jobs, and maybe even more, if we include the knock-on effect. So the Government have just given up 900 jobs; that is the start—the tip of the iceberg. If the pharmaceuticals industry cannot get equivalence with the current customs union, how many more jobs will go in that industry? Before everybody says, "Oh, you’re just a remoaner"—
Duties of Customs — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Louise Joyce Ellman (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that the very serious problems for businesses that she is so ably identifying have implications for the whole of a local community? As companies get into great difficulties and jobs may be lost, that reduces spending power and affects the whole community and the services there.
Committees — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): With the leave of the House, we will take motions 2 to 5 together Ordered, Northern Ireland Affairs That John Grogan be a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Procedure That Ronnie Cowan be discharged from the Procedure Committee and Alison Thewliss be added Public Accounts That Stephen Morgan be a member of the Committee of Public Accounts Women and Equalities That Tonia Antoniazzi be a member of the Women and Equalities Committee.—(David Evennett, on behalf of the Selection Committee.)
Companies House and Transgender Persons — House of Commons, 2017-11-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): I commend the right hon. Lady for securing this Adjournment debate. I met one of my local trans support groups in Cardiff and they shared with me many of their concerns. Steps such as the one we are discussing can go a long way in reducing stigma. Does she agree that there have been some unpleasant headlines in certain media outlets in recent weeks and that many trans people feel very stigmatised because of some of the ill-educated and ill-informed debate that goes on in the media?
Leaving the EU: Agreement — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Questions: If he will publish the assessments carried out by his Department on the potential effect on the UK of exiting the EU without an agreement.
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The Government are hiding the true facts about Brexit from the British people. Using this information, the Government are making contingency plans for a failure to make a trade deal, but how can businesses, public services and devolved Administrations make their plans if they do not have the same information?
Euro Clearing Market — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): But it is not just that the euro clearing houses deal with transactions worth €1 trillion a day; it is also the fact that 100,000 jobs in the financial sector could be at risk if Brussels decides that, because of systemic risk, the clearing houses have to move within the EU. May I urge the Minister to take this seriously and to enter into negotiations to ensure that we protect this vital industry?
Transitional Arrangements: Timetable — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Eleanor Patricia Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The Chancellor has described the proposal for a transitional arrangement as a "wasting asset" for businesses: the arrangements will become less valuable the longer it takes to negotiate them, as they will cease to provide certainty about the future. Does the Secretary of State agree with that assessment? Will he therefore rule out lengthy negotiations over the terms of the transitional arrangements?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stella Judith Creasy (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for showing that time does not always mean talent. I am hoping he can help answer a question that my constituents keep asking: how much is all of this going to cost us? Departments do not seem able to answer that, and I have been asking them. Some of them think they are not paying anything at all, whereas others think everybody else is paying. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy says it has received extra cash to pay for the impact of the Brexit negotiations; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says it does not know how much any of this is going to cost; the Department for Communities and Local Government says it is expecting the Treasury to pick up the tab; and the Ministry of Defence says it is not spending anything because it expects there to be a deal and so no funding is required. This is a bit of a mess, so can this Secretary of State commit to publishing, by Department, by year, details on how much money has been put aside for the cost of negotiations and whether that money is from the Department or from another budget?
Catalonia — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): A lot of fake news has come out of Catalonia, not least regarding the number of casualties, which was grossly inflated by the Catalan authorities. It was reported on the television that one woman had had every finger broken, one by one, by the police, but she later went on television herself to say that this was simply untrue—that none of her fingers had been broken. Will the Minister assure us that if in this country a councillor were to agree an illegal budget they would be pursued by the law, that being the law of this land, and that we will respect the law of other countries when it is pursued there?
Catalonia — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): There are lessons that could be learned from this situation. There are many reports that the economic impact on Catalonia will be catastrophic, with many businesses leaving the region as a result. Will the Minister have a chat with his Treasury colleagues and commission some work on the economic impact of this illegal referendum and what it will do to the Catalonian economy?
Sentencing — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): As one of 22 Members who voted against the blanket ban in 2011, this small step forward is mildly welcome to me, but will the right hon. Gentleman accept that it is a missed opportunity better to align sentencing objectives with the right of a prisoner to vote? In particular, as he said in his statement, reinstating the civic right of voting is consistent with a rehabilitative approach. Where rehabilitation is identified by a sentencer as a specific sentencing objective, should not that sentencer also have discretion to consider the individual’s right to vote?
Sentencing — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Mixed Topics
Elizabeth Anne McInnes (Labour, Centre-left): This Government have introduced a system of universal credit on the basis that it mirrors the world of work, so why will they not use the same logic and consider that prisoners should be prepared for life outside prison by maintaining their civic right to a vote?
Sentencing — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Civil Rights
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, was one of the 22 who back in 2011 voted against a blanket ban, and I have not changed my view since This is a tiny concession from the Government; it is the bare minimum they could get away with. I believe that when we imprison somebody we deprive them of their liberty, but we do not deprive them of their rights. Why does the right hon. Gentleman feel so threatened by that idea?
Unaccompanied Child Refugees: Europe — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Immigration
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Lady, my near neighbour, is making an excellent speech and I commend her for the excellent work she has done on this issue. Is she aware that, back in 2015, 100 families in the city of Cambridge volunteered to host refugee children? Does she agree that the Government need to be much more creative and to respond more positively to the kind of generosity that we see, not just in my city but in cities and communities across the country?
Unaccompanied Child Refugees: Europe — House of Commons, 2017-11-02
Topic: Immigration
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the hon. Lady on the manner in which she is opening this debate. She alludes to whether there might be scope for us to remain in Dublin III even after we leave the European Union, but does she share my curiosity, which the Minister may address in due course, about whether we could continue with Dublin III arrangements even if we are not party to any potential Dublin IV arrangements?