argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): Certainty for the future is precisely what the proposals deliver, and they were extensively consulted on for a couple of years before coming into effect. We are providing exactly the certainty that the hon. Gentleman wants As is characteristic of the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman), she made some fairly thoughtful comments about the importance of ensuring that the tax code is not overly-complicated. She will be aware of the work that we are doing with the Office of Tax Simplification. I was grateful for her at least partial welcome for some of our anti-avoidance measures which, as many Members rightly pointed out this afternoon, have brought in £160 billion since 2010 My hon. Friend the Member for Braintree referred to the Bill as "gargantuan." Having spent what feels like most of my life reading every syllable of it, I think that is a rather polite description of this colossus of a Bill, which has 760-odd pages. He mentioned Morecambe and Wise, and it was a nice touch to characterise the way in which the Opposition play the same old tunes. For the Government, of course, the tune is "Bring Me Sunshine". We believe in an economy that works for everybody; we believe in bright, sunny uplands; we believe in possibilities, we believe in the future; and, above all, while I am a Treasury Minister, we believe in fair taxation My hon. Friend was also right to mention the £160 billion. He particularly stressed the importance of getting away from the corrosive message of always beating up those who are an apparently easy target. We need to talk our country up, not do our country down.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I think I have answered that question. It is probably time to move on Even with these protections in place, non-doms who become deemed UK domiciled will be protected from tax, as I have said, only on income and gains that remain in the trust. Any moneys withdrawn or benefits provided will lead to a tax charge on the individual. This is a fair system that has been carefully considered and consulted on since it was announced more than two years ago. It is simply unnecessary to introduce legislation to place additional bureaucracy and additional reporting burdens on HMRC, which already scrutinises non-doms’ compliance with the UK tax regime Government amendment 17 will remove and correct a minor inaccuracy in schedule 8 to ensure that the policy is delivered as intended. The change applies to part 4 of the schedule, on the cleansing of mixed funds. For the purpose of these rules, a qualifying individual is one who was not born in the United Kingdom and whose domicile of origin is not in the United Kingdom. The amendment simply corrects the Bill by replacing "or" with "and" when defining a qualifying individual. I therefore urge the House to accept the amendment These reforms have been carefully drawn up to ensure that we get the right balance between protecting the public finances, remaining internationally competitive and showing how much we value the contribution of non-doms in the UK. I therefore urge the House to reject new clause 1.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): Some 85% of payments under the £30,000 threshold are not touched by these changes. Where there is the potential for manipulation of amounts above £30,000, does the hon. Lady not agree that that potential tax avoidance loophole should be closed?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Labor
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Just so that our constituents appreciate what is happening in the broader context, does the hon. Lady welcome the announcement that was made in September by the presidents of the employment tribunals of England and Wales that, in each of the three bands for injury to feelings, the maximum award is rising?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Labor
Antoinette Geraldine Sherratt (Sandbach) (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Lady put in that category, for example, Fred Goodwin, who received a £2.7 million advance on his pension as part of the package he received when he left the Royal Bank of Scotland?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): Government amendments 12 to 16 fix a small technical error that could otherwise result in an outcome that was not intended. They will ensure that landlords who stop renting out a property and move in rather than sell it are not unintentionally disadvantaged when using the cash basis I now turn to the Opposition’s amendments. New clause 4 requires the Chancellor to review the impact of the provisions on households at different levels of income, the impact on people with protected characteristics, and regional impacts. The Treasury considers carefully the impacts of its decisions on individuals and groups with protected characteristics in line with both its legal obligations and its strong commitment to promoting fairness. The Government have published distributional analysis of measures contained in the Finance Bill in the "impact on households" document which accompanied spring Budget 2017. The Treasury and HMRC also published tax information and impact notes for individual tax measures that include an assessment of expected equalities impacts. I therefore urge the House to reject new clause 4 The Bill includes provisions for the introduction of Making Tax Digital programme. The tax gap resulting from errant carelessness currently stands at £9.4 billion. The Government’s plans for Making Tax Digital aim to address the tax gap and provide a more modern digital service that will help businesses to get their tax right. However, as discussed in Committee, it is also important to do this in a way that works for business. My announcement of 13 July allows a small business more time through a phased implementation of Making Tax Digital. This change has been widely welcomed and stakeholders are now working hard to prepare for MTD Opposition Members have, as we have heard, proposed amendments that would make three changes to the implementation of Making Tax Digital. First, they propose that the programme should be delayed until 2022 at the earliest. As I have said, I have already made changes to the timetable of Making Tax Digital, so that businesses have longer to prepare. Secondly, Opposition Members are seeking to prevent mandatory quarterly updates for VAT under MTD. Most businesses paying VAT already report quarterly. Businesses that are mandated to use MTD for VAT will not be required to provide updates to HMRC more frequently than they do currently, or to provide any more information. Finally, the Opposition have pressed for a report on the suitability of software at least 90 days before MTD for income tax is mandated. The Government are already committed to ensuring that a full range of software is available for MTD and that these have been tested thoroughly. I therefore urge the House to reject the amendments tabled on these clauses.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Nigel John Mills (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend to the Minister the better solution to this issue: making the online marketplaces themselves liable for the VAT on sales outside the EU. In the Public Accounts Committee, Amazon thought that that was a better solution and it would be happy to implement it. The EU wants to do it. The Government have consulted on split payment. Is it not time to push ahead to ensure that we get all the revenue we deserve and need?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-10-31
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend rightly raises one of the approaches that could be deployed to ensure that VAT is paid: the split payment system, whereby the platform itself is responsible for collecting the VAT and passing it on. That is certainly something, along with other measures, that we are considering It has been a pleasure debating this group of amendments. I hope that hon. Members are satisfied on the points we have discussed and I urge the House to reject the amendments and new clauses tabled by Opposition Members.
Royal Mail Privatisation — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): Almost all Royal Mail’s 142,000 staff are on permanent contracts and earn above the living wage. Employees own 12% of its shares, and it has been a Times top-50 employer for women for four consecutive years. The Government will protect workers’ rights, ensuring they keep pace with the changing labour market.
Royal Mail Privatisation — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Government Operations
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): I heartily agree with the hon. Gentleman’s celebration of our postal workers today. As he says, they will deliver in all weather to 29 million addresses across the country over the festive season. I cannot agree, however, that renationalisation is the answer. Royal Mail is in negotiations with the Communication Workers Union, and progress has been made following mediation by Professor Lynette Harris. I assure the hon. Gentleman that there would be a great loss to the postal workers, who, let us not forget, own 12%—
Royal Mail Privatisation — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The pension scheme, if left unchanged, would result in virtual bankruptcy for Royal Mail. It would require an injection of £1.3 billion annually, against profitability of approximately £700 million. I think he can do the maths himself.
Royal Mail Privatisation — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Technology
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very good point. When Royal Mail was privatised, Amazon was one of Royal Mail’s biggest customers; Amazon is now one of its biggest competitors. So he is absolutely right. More investment in technology and modernisation is required if Royal Mail is to maintain its market position.
Electric and Autonomous Vehicles — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Transportation
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has made an excellent point. Part of the programme involves test beds to demonstrate the new technologies. The demonstrations will be open to the public so that they can see for themselves, and they will begin in Milton Keynes, Greenwich, Bristol and Coventry. However, people are already experiencing these technologies through satnav, cruise control and automatic parking, and I hope that increasing exposure will reveal their benefits.
Electric and Autonomous Vehicles — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Technology
Alan Mak (Conservative, Centre-right): Britain has the potential to be a world leader in developing the new regulatory standards that will govern electric and autonomous vehicles. Will the Secretary of State work with industry, and with other Departments, to ensure that Britain leads the world and that other countries adopt our standards?
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Macroeconomics
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): We know that the best way to improve our productivity is by investing in research and development, improving the level of skills in our workforce, upgrading our infrastructure, creating an attractive environment for new and growing businesses, and making sure that every place in the country can prosper. That is exactly what the industrial strategy does.
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Technology
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): No: if the hon. Gentleman reads the strategy he will see that there is a commitment to the biggest increase in research and development funding, both private and public sector, that we have ever had in this country. It has been the foundation of our success, and I hope the hon. Gentleman will join me in welcoming the progress we are making to be even better at it.
Industrial Strategy — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Technology
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): I do agree with that, and I commend my hon. Friend as the former life sciences Minister who saw before many people the opportunities of the strategic approach. I think he has been honoured this very week by the learned societies for his contribution to promoting science in Parliament, and I congratulate him on that. He is absolutely right that we need to build on these successes. The life sciences sector deal is a demonstration that a long-term strategy can have immediate benefits; we have had more than £1 billion of investment on the basis of the confidence that the sector has in the strategy we have set out.
Renewable Energy (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): Over a third of projects supported by contracts for difference are located in Scotland. In October, we announced plans to allow wind projects on the remote islands of Scotland to compete for support in the next auction. We have submitted a notification of our plans to the European Commission.
Renewable Energy (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Environment
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): Like the hon. Lady, I commend what the European Investment Bank has done, but the Government are totally committed to renewables and to our own investment in getting a carbon free environment in the way that has been very successful over the last few years.
Renewable Energy (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Stephen Charles Kerr (Conservative, Centre-right): Can the Minister confirm that up to £557 million will be made available for less established renewable electricity projects as part of the clean growth strategy, and that projects in Scotland will be able to compete for their share of that fund?
Renewable Energy (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
James Stephen Heappey (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my hon. Friend agree that the key is policy certainty, to enable our growing green finance industries to come forward to finance these initiatives themselves, so that the initiatives do not need to rely on Government subsidy?
Taylor Review — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that this much-needed report gets the consideration it deserves and that we take action where needed. In the industrial strategy, the Secretary of State took responsibility for improving quality of work in the UK and continued an important dialogue on this issue. We will publish our full response shortly.
Taylor Review — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): That will be something that we consult on as we consult on the vast majority of the other proposals in the Taylor review. Taylor acknowledges the excellent track record of employment in terms of new jobs, but as the right hon. Gentleman rightly points out—and the TUC endorses this—there is an issue with insecure work and far too much risk being transferred to the employee.
Taylor Review — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): The Taylor review says that the same basic principles should apply to all forms of employment in the UK. Does my hon. Friend see paid time off for women attending antenatal appointments as a basic principle, and does she agree that, for health reasons, the law needs to clearly extend that principle to all female workers?
Taylor Review — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend gets to the nub of many of the Taylor review’s recommendations. It is important that decent employment standards are maintained and that consumers are offered new opportunities, and we will be reviewing the proposals.
Taylor Review — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Labor
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): I await the publication of Sir David’s strategy for dealing with labour market enforcement, which we expect to see in the first quarter of next year. I am pleased with his appointment, and he is doing a great job so far of bringing together the enforcement agencies at the Government’s disposal to ensure that they work even more effectively in the pursuit of non-compliance with the law.
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): We are leading the world by ending unabated coal generation in Great Britain by 2025, and our consultation document published last year set out our estimate that that could guarantee savings of up to 124 million tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2016 and 2030.
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.
Colin James Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): Further exploration of the North sea for oil and gas was given a boost in the Budget. Gas is a lower emitter of greenhouse gases and is a better alternative to coal, so will the Minister focus on oil and gas in particular when developing the industrial strategy?
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): We absolutely will. While the move towards clean growth is clear, the White Paper sets out that oil and gas remain one of the economy’s most productive sectors and refers to the intelligent use of its assets and expertise. I thank my hon. Friend for joining me on a visit to Aberdeen; we saw the prospects for the green economy, where sweating the assets is already leading to innovation.
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Environment
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.; The good people of Frome are leading the way in moving to a low-carbon economy. We have ambitious plans to be carbon neutral by 2046, when all the energy needed to live, work and travel will be provided by renewable sources. May I invite the Minister, or indeed the Secretary of State, to Frome in sunny Somerset to hear this story first hand and see how these ambitions are being realised?
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend should be reassured that nothing would please me more than coming to Frome in Somerset to see the work that he has done locally. The clean growth strategy sets out how the UK is leading the world on carbon emissions, and we have set out how the Government will invest more than £2.5 billion in low-carbon innovation between 2015 and 2021.
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.; The good people of Frome are leading the way in moving to a low-carbon economy. We have ambitious plans to be carbon neutral by 2046, when all the energy needed to live, work and travel will be provided by renewable sources. May I invite the Minister, or indeed the Secretary of State, to Frome in sunny Somerset to hear this story first hand and see how these ambitions are being realised?
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is probably aware that we commissioned the Helm review of all the different costs of energy. We believe in a mixed use strategy for energy, and he must also understand the employment and economic advantages of the development of alternative energy sources, quite apart from the carbon-free advantages.
Carbon Savings — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Energy
Questions: What estimate he has made of the potential carbon savings due to result from phasing out the use of unabated coal from electricity generation by 2025.; The good people of Frome are leading the way in moving to a low-carbon economy. We have ambitious plans to be carbon neutral by 2046, when all the energy needed to live, work and travel will be provided by renewable sources. May I invite the Minister, or indeed the Secretary of State, to Frome in sunny Somerset to hear this story first hand and see how these ambitions are being realised?; Does my hon. Friend agree that, notwithstanding his comments, wind energy requires a subsidy, realignment of the national grid and extra money for back-up sources when the wind is not blowing? Does that not mean that the electricity will be far more expensive than that which is produced by gas or coal?
Richard Harrington (Conservative, Centre-right): There is a lot of chuntering from a sedentary position, which I will not take any notice of. I would like to answer the question if Opposition Members will allow me My hon. Friend should know that the cost of renewable energy is coming down. The cost of electricity from offshore wind farms, for example, has halved in price since they were first introduced. The Opposition may interpret this to mean that my hon. Friend is wrong. I would say that he is not wrong but he needs further education on this subject, and I will be delighted to meet him at any time to discuss it.
Small Business Sector — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Macroeconomics
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): Through the industrial strategy we will drive over £20 billion of investment in innovative and high growth businesses. We will increase the national productivity investment fund to £31 billion. We are working to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises win more public sector contracts to enjoy the benefits of that investment.
Small Business Sector — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Agriculture
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): We will be publishing our response to this year’s consultation on the future of the Groceries Code Adjudicator early next year. I have already committed to meeting my hon. Friend to discuss this with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my hon. Friend Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), and I look forward to that meeting.
UK Automotive Sector — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Technology
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right on that, and the commitment we have made to being the world centre for research in new battery technology, through the Faraday challenge, is already commanding attention right around the world. The investment in skills that accompanies this strategy will make sure that her constituents and others in the region will benefit from the jobs that result.
UK Automotive Sector — House of Commons, 2017-12-12
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gregory David Clark (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the importance of ensuring that the agreement we reach will be free not only of tariffs but of the types of frictions he describes. It is important for our successful industry, and not just the automotive sector, that that is the deal we conclude. I hope he will welcome the progress that was made towards that deal last week.