argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU-UK Partnership: EU’s Mandate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: International Affairs
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): I am looking forward to addressing precisely that point. I do understand why the Minister is so keen to talk about the process. It is because he does not really want to address the substance of the negotiations. Let me just say a further word on the consultation with the devolved Administrations, because that may be his perspective, but it is certainly not the perspective of the devolved Administrations themselves who feel that the engagement has been cursory, and has not been meaningful either around the negotiating mandate or in updating them on the progress.
EU-UK Partnership: EU’s Mandate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: International Affairs
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): I do indeed, and that is a concern that has, I think, been widely expressed by others as well. Indeed, it reflects the Government’s approach to this Parliament. They keep us a little bit informed, with a written ministerial statement here and there, but there is no meaningful engagement Parliament must be given the opportunity of holding the Government to account for the pledges they made to the British people in the election to which the Minister referred. At that election, the Conservative manifesto promised an "oven-ready deal". That deal was the new withdrawal agreement and political declaration that the Prime Minister triumphantly renegotiated in October 2019.
EU-UK Partnership: EU’s Mandate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: International Affairs
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman has set out the clear Government policy that they will not accept the adjudication of the European Court of Justice, but in any agreement—and we all hope an agreement is reached—there will have to be a dispute resolution mechanism. It would be helpful if he could tell the House his views on what kind of mechanism that would be and whether there might be a place within that for independent arbitration to deal with disputes. Given that he has just argued that EU member states have got away with state aid to the disadvantage of the UK, is he satisfied that the Government are asking for sufficient reassurance from the European Union that that will not happen in future under any agreement that is reached?
EU-UK Partnership: EU’s Mandate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: Macroeconomics
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), who must represent one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. Sadly, I do not share his Panglossian view of where we are with the negotiations I tend to agree more with the former leader of the hon. Gentleman’s party, who asked the Prime Minister yesterday about the sorry state of manufacturing at the moment and the risk to car companies such as Nissan, with a possible 10% tariff to be levied if this does not go right. The purchasing managers index is down to 40, indicating contraction. We know that that is, in recession terms, a very serious position for manufacturing. The Governor of the Bank of England has described our economy as potentially going towards a depression rather than just a recession. This feels to me less like a Panglossian rebirth and more like a second punch in the face after covid. I am very concerned about the sanitary and phytosanitary arrangements, which are not yet pinned down. I hope that the Minister will be able to clarify where she thinks we are on food standards. We have the gold standard at the moment, but we read in the newspaper concerns about the quality of imported food. What is her view of where we are with that negotiation Will the Minister also outline whether she believes we are likely to veer away from the excellent environmental protection standards in the European Union in order to save some of our businesses, which will be severely at risk? Will we cut corners on workers’ rights? Has she had conversations with the TUC about protecting the rights of workers? Obviously, statements were made about that in the last Parliament, and it was something that we debated a lot. However, given the way the economy is going at the moment—possibly even towards a depression—will the Government cut corners on important questions such as environmental protections and workers’ rights We have talked a lot this afternoon about Northern Ireland. Will the Minister please give businesses there clarity? They are not just important for communities in Northern Ireland; when we go to the shops and buy a bar of cheddar, which is our most popular cheese, we are buying it from farmers in Northern Ireland, so we all have an interest in getting these details right We know that the Prime Minister’s promise of an oven-ready deal with no checks at the border in Northern Ireland was a fiction. We now know that new red tape and rules will be introduced for the business community, much of which is small and medium-sized enterprises. Even a small amount of red tape can tip a small business into a problematic area, so please may we have some detail on that in writing, so that Members can disseminate it to those small businesses that are worried about it In conclusion, I beg for some pragmatism and not just an ideological approach to this important area. Given that we are in a seriously problematic area for our economy, we need to stop being ideological and be much more pragmatic.
EU-UK Partnership: EU’s Mandate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: International Affairs
Paul Christopher Blomfield (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Main Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House, having regard to the constitutional and legal functions enshrined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, urges the Government to conduct its negotiations with the European Union with the fullest possible transparency to facilitate essential parliamentary scrutiny; also urges the Government to make regular progress reports on the negotiations, including on stakeholder contributions to the consultation on The Future Relationship with the EU: the UK’s Approach to Negotiations, and to address the issues identified by the European Scrutiny Committee in its Fifth Report of Session 2019–21, HC 333, as matters of vital national interest.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2020-06-04
Topic: Government Operations
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): Before I call for the motion to be moved, I understand that Chris Bryant has withdrawn his amendment and has made that clear Ordered, That the following order be made and have effect until 7 July 2020: (1) Members may participate in proceedings on Questions, Urgent Questions and Statements virtually, by electronic means approved by the Speaker (2) Virtual participation in accordance with paragraph (1) may only be permitted by the Speaker in respect of Members who have self-certified that they are unable to attend at Westminster for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic. The arrangements for self-certification shall be set out by the Speaker.—(Mr Rees-Mogg.) Proxy Voting (Extension) [Relevant Documents: First Special Report from the Procedure Committee, Procedure under coronavirus restrictions: the Government’s proposal for proxy voting for shielding Members, HC 429.] Resolved, That this House agrees that a Member who is unable to attend at Westminster because they themselves are at high risk from coronavirus for reasons that they are either ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ or ‘clinically vulnerable’, may arrange for their vote to be cast by proxy; and accordingly directs the Speaker to amend the pilot proxy voting scheme, in accordance with paragraph (5) of the Resolution of the House of 28 January 2019, as amended on 16 January 2020 (Proxy Voting (Implementation)).—(Mr Rees-Mogg.) Proxy Voting (Temporary Standing Order) Ordered, That the temporary Standing Order (Voting by proxy for parental absence) be amended as follows: In the title delete "for parental absence" Delete paragraph (1) and insert: "(1) A Member may, by reason of absence from the precincts of the House: (a) for childbirth or care of an infant or newly adopted child, or (b) because they themselves are at high risk from coronavirus for reasons that they are either ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ or ‘clinically vulnerable’, arrange for their vote to be cast in accordance with this order by another Member acting as a proxy (a proxy vote)." In paragraph (9) delete "and the Resolution of the House of Monday 28 January 2019" and insert "the Order of 4 June 2020 (Proxy Voting (Temporary Standing Order)), and the Resolutions of the House of 28 January 2019 and 4 June 2020".—(Mr Rees-Mogg.)
Covid-19: Domestic Violence — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Jessica Rose Phillips (Labour, Centre-left): Between 2015 and 2019, despite domestic violence cases rising by 77%, charging fell by 18% and conviction by 20%. In 2018-19, there were almost 60,000 reports of rape to the police, but less than 1,800 were charged and less than 1,000 convicted. The number of cases of rape referred by the police for charging decisions fell by 32% in 2019. How does the Secretary of State account for her Government’s performance in the falling rates of charge and conviction in sexual and domestic violence?
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Rachel Louise Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary recently stated in its annual assessment of policing that policing and some other public services are closely linked, and that the level of investment in one public service will have an effect, good or bad, on another, referring to health, particularly mental health, drug and alcohol services, housing and social services as examples. What assessment has the Minister made of the huge detrimental impact that covid-19 has had on local authorities responsible for these services, and the fact that many local councils, including Luton Borough Council in my constituency, are being forced into making significant in-year budget cuts, thus having an impact on local policing?
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Money for additional police officers is welcomed across the board, even though it does not take police numbers back to pre-2010 levels. Surely the Minister would acknowledge, though, that baseline budgets in police forces are being cut again this year, and capital funding is almost non-existent, so unless the Secretary of State is able to win more money for policing generally, forces will be unable to keep the officers they have got.
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): Lancashire has been allocated funding of £4.3 million to deliver an additional 153 police officers by the end of this financial year, but that award reflects a part-year cost, as 153 officers cannot be employed for the whole year because the cost is £9.8 million. So will the Minister commit to providing the full funding for 2021-22, and for future years, to sustain these additional officers?
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): Recently, coastal communities such as West Kirby and Caldy in my constituency have seen huge numbers of visitors in search of relaxation and exercise. This has placed additional strain on Merseyside police, which has been working hard to respond to the concerns of local residents about crowds on beaches and in parks. Merseyside police estimates that the cost of the pandemic to date is £4.1 million, due to overtime, the cost of PPE, specialist cleaning and lost income. Will the Minister give an assurance that Merseyside police will be reimbursed for these costs?
Police Funding — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Ann Jones (Labour, Centre-left): On the one hand, the Prime Minister has hailed an end to austerity and promised 20,000 new frontline police officers, and on the other, we had alarming reports at the weekend of forces facing up to 15% cuts. Covid, on top of 10 years of austerity, has created a perfect storm for police funding, with lower council tax coming in, the costs of PPE and lower income from some of their sources, such as airports and large events. I have heard from multiple sources that essential staff jobs will have to be cut, meaning that frontline police officers will end up covering non-frontline roles, which is completely the opposite of what the Prime Minister intends. One senior police officer said to me this morning, "This looks like austerity by the back door." Can the Minister commit today to plugging the funding gap from council precepts to guarantee there will not be a need to cut police staff?
Covid-19: Public Order — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Conor Patrick McGinn (Labour, Centre-left): I fully agree with the Home Secretary about supporting the work that the police do to maintain public order, but I cannot help but feel that although the Home Secretary talks a good game, we have not seen much evidence of action. We have seen a marked decline in the number of public-order trained officers and police support units on this Government’s watch, and the recruitment that she talks about simply will not replace that decline and will take a lot of time. What is the Home Secretary doing now—today—to support chief constables to deal with these pressures and to ensure that our frontline officers have the proper resources and the training they need?
Sexual Exploitation of Children: Organised Gangs — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Deborah Champion (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful that the Home Secretary takes this topic seriously. We in Rotherham are very fortunate because we have National Crime Agency to deal with past cases, but will she also look at cases across the country, the resources that police forces have there and the local authorities that have to step in and put the child protection and victim support in place, as there is not enough nationally?
Online Harms: Social Media — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Technology
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): It has been more than a year since the Government published their online harms White Paper and yet there is still no proper protection in place. Instead, all we have had are delays, ministerial briefings about potentially watering down the sanctions within the White Paper, and continued intensive lobbying by tech giants, which are still failing to remove harmful content and disinformation. That really is poor, so can the Minister update the House about what conversations she has had with social media companies about taking down harmful content and when exactly will the online harms Bill finally be published?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Social Welfare
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): We all want more people training and entering the care sector at a decent wage, but there are more than 100,000 vacancies in England alone today. Some of us in the House do not need reminding of how important and skilled care workers’ jobs are, but that does not always seem to be the case for the Government. I would like to extend an invitation to the Home Secretary. I will convene a meeting of a delegation of care workers, alongside their trade union representatives, to help to provide a better understanding of the incredible jobs they do. Would she care to join me? I am sure she would find meeting frontline care workers incredibly useful when sitting there deciding how skilled people’s jobs are.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Cleveland has the third highest violent crime rate in the country and ranks sixth highest nationally for offences involving knives and sharp instruments. The most serious violent offences are also increasing at a higher rate than the national average, despite the excellent work by our new chief constable. The Government have granted £100 million to 18 police force areas and PCCs deemed to have a significant problem with serious violence. Why has Cleveland not been included?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexandra Mary Davies-Jones (Labour, Centre-left): It is clear that child victims of domestic abuse who do not enter a refuge often require extra support, which is regularly being overlooked. Will the Home Secretary confirm what specific resources are available to those children to ensure that their needs are met?
Sale of Arms: War in Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade if she will make a statement on her decision to resume the sale of arms to the Saudi-led coalition for use in the war in Yemen.
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question, although I am sorry the Secretary of State cannot be dragged here to explain her own decisions. There is certainly much explaining to do. In my limited time, I have five questions for the Minister and one specific request First, we welcome the Secretary of State’s assessment of possible violations of international law in Yemen, but can the Minister explain why his brother Ministers have been telling the House for the last five years that such an assessment was impossible for Britain to make, and that it could be made only by Saudi Arabia itself? Were those Ministers simply wrong Secondly, the Secretary of State has concluded that where international law was broken in Yemen these were "isolated incidents". Can the Minister tell us how many such incidents were identified, so that we can understand how they define the word "isolated"? Thirdly, the Government say they have found no patterns of civilian infrastructure being targeted. Can the Minister therefore explain why, for 17 months at the start of the war, Saudi planes systematically destroyed Yemen’s means of food production, bombing farmland, markets, milk plants and fishing boats? If that is not a pattern, what is Fourthly, as well as deliberate targeting, the Minister will know that the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas is in itself a war crime, but the Government say the Saudis could not have meant to break international law because their violations "occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons."—[Official Report, 7 July 2020; Vol. 678, c. 339WS.] Does the Minister not agree that that sounds like the very definition of the word "indiscriminate" Fifthly, the Government have concluded that Saudi Arabia has both the intent and capacity to comply with international law, but if that is the case, will the Minister explain the cause of the occasions on which it has failed to do that Finally, it would help all of us to understand the Government’s decision if they would agree to publish the full assessment that underpinned it, including the analysis of each so-called isolated incident. If the Minister believes this decision is not just moral and lawful but correct, then surely he has nothing to fear from publishing that assessment and letting us all decide for ourselves.
Sale of Arms: War in Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade if she will make a statement on her decision to resume the sale of arms to the Saudi-led coalition for use in the war in Yemen.
Ruth Lorraine Jones (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, am disappointed that the Secretary of State is not here this afternoon to answer this urgent question herself. She based her decision on a detailed assessment of all the alleged incidents where international humanitarian law has been violated in Yemen, so let me ask the question again: will the Minister ask his boss to publish that assessment, so that the people of the UK can see the evidence and be able to judge whether the Secretary of State is right simply to dismiss those violations as isolated?
Sale of Arms: War in Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade if she will make a statement on her decision to resume the sale of arms to the Saudi-led coalition for use in the war in Yemen.
Florence Eshalomi (Labour, Centre-left): A number of my constituents in Vauxhall have written to me about their concerns about the devastating conflict in Yemen. We must acknowledge and speak out about the immense human cost of this war. It is one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world and we know that thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed, including women and children. Now 20 million people face food insecurity and 10 million are at risk of famine. That suffering is unimaginable. We know that the coalition has conducted numerous and indiscriminate air strikes, in violation of the laws of wars, using munitions sold by the US, the United Kingdom and others. How can the Minister be confident that the arms sold by the UK will not be used in similar attacks?
Sale of Arms: War in Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade if she will make a statement on her decision to resume the sale of arms to the Saudi-led coalition for use in the war in Yemen.
Stella Judith Creasy (Labour, Centre-left): Given that the United Nations Refugee Agency reports that, over the past five years, more than 3.5 million people in Yemen have been displaced as a direct result of the civil war there, the Minister will understand the concern about the resumption of arms sales. He tells us that he cannot share with us the specific details on which the Government have made the assessment to resume those sales, but he could set out for us what he means by the "genuine intent" that he believes is behind the Saudi Arabian decision on human rights, and what might change that. Will he do so?
Sale of Arms: War in Yemen — House of Commons, 2020-07-13
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade if she will make a statement on her decision to resume the sale of arms to the Saudi-led coalition for use in the war in Yemen.
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): More than five years of death and destruction in Yemen has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the Yemeni people are rightly looking to us to show compassion and leadership. Despite compelling evidence that the Saudi-led coalition has violated international humanitarian law, a day after the Government finally held Saudi Arabia accountable for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, they announced the resumption of arms sales for use in the war in Yemen. Can the Minister see that this all makes the Government’s avowed concern for human rights look inconsistent, if not downright hypocritical?