argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Human Fertilisation and Embryology — House of Commons, 2015-02-03
Topic: Health
David John Barrington Burrowes (Conservative, Centre-right): We are here today to consider the regulations. The explanatory note says that the debate gives Parliament the opportunity to consider whether the new techniques are safe enough for use in a treatment setting. I said in a point of order at the start of the debate that I did not believe that we had had sufficient opportunity to make that decision today—sufficient opportunity, yes, to consider the passionate views of those mothers about whom we have heard today, who are at risk of passing a serious disease to their children, and also to consider on behalf of the country the prospect of our being world leaders in permitting human germ-line genetic modification. I say "genetic modification" because that is what it is. We need a clear and honest debate A number of scientists have accused the Government of dishonesty for trying to redefine what we are here for today, which is to debate whether to permit genetic modification. Only last week, the United States Institute of Medicine said that what we are discussing today are "assisted reproductive methods involving genetic modification of eggs and zygotes for the prevention of mitochondrial disease." The HFEA, too, accepted honestly on its website that whether we go for PNT or MST, they are both genetic modification I do not know how many Members have read the regulations. This is not a wide debate about mitochondrial donation or about the principle. It is specifically about the regulations. They make it clear that the procedures entail a cell nuclear transfer, which alters the nuclear DNA in the egg that the DNA is transferred into. It is clear that mitochondrial DNA makes up part of the human genetic code. This technology that we are debating modifies that code by separating nuclear mitochondrial DNA. Regulations 4 and 7 make it clear that this is a complete transfer of nuclear DNA into the donor’s egg or embryo. The Government should admit that the interaction between mitochondria and nuclear material is not clear. We cannot say with certainty that these techniques will not affect the characteristics of children In conclusion, the Government said in their consultation response that this is about providing greater understanding of the ways in which mitochondrial DNA mutations are passed down from mother to child. In many ways it is an experiment, or a wider trial, and it is a trial that I do not think we should go ahead with. It is unprecedented in the world. Some might say that it is leading the pack, and others might say that it is leaving us out on a limb. Ethically, it breaks international norms. Legally, we have heard about the directive. With regard to safety, the tests are not yet complete. Members might think "Not yet" or "No". Either way, please vote against the motion.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology — House of Commons, 2015-02-03
Topic: Health
Jane Ellison (Conservative, Centre-right): I will try to touch on some of the points raised in this high-quality debate, in which views have been expressed on all sides of the argument. I will deal first with the technical questions. I really cannot add to the excellent explanation that the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes) gave of the Zhang et al study from China. She was precisely right and explained it very well In answer to an earlier question, we are satisfied that regulations are necessary and that they are not ultra vires. The clinical trials directive is not relevant in this context. It is part of a suite of EU measures that set out common rules across Europe to ensure the free movement of safe medicines in the EU. Mitochondrial donation is not a medicine, so those provisions do not apply. The follow-up assessment of the treatment’s efficacy is part of good clinical practice.
Rural Phone and Broadband Connectivity — House of Commons, 2015-02-03
Topic: Culture
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (Conservative, Centre-right): I am listening with interest to my hon. Friend’s passionate speech. May I add culture to the list of things that are missing out? In Kimmeridge, a remote part of South Dorset, they will be building, with lottery money, a new museum for fossils collected over 30 years by Mr Steve Etches MBE. They were promised broadband for this new, all-singing, all-dancing museum in 2016, but they have now been told that they are not going to get it. The effect on this small community is devastating.
Rural Phone and Broadband Connectivity — House of Commons, 2015-02-03
Topic: Culture
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry to hear the case my hon. Friend describes, but it is emblematic of a much wider problem. I certainly share his view that culture should be added to the list of deficits created by lack of coverage.
Private Members’ Bills — House of Commons, 2015-01-22
Topic: Health
Questions: If he will review the effectiveness of the procedure for tabling money resolutions for private Members’ Bills; and if he will make a statement.; If he will review the effectiveness of the procedure for tabling money resolutions for private Members’ Bills; and if he will make a statement.
Simon Hugh McGuigan Burns (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend reflect on the answer that he gave the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy)? Even if there had been a need for a money resolution for the Bill promoted by the hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford), it would have been totally wrong to bring one before the House, because the Bill is based on an utter fallacy and on misinformation, as no privatisation of the health service is planned under this Government.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope you will allow me, Mr Speaker, to welcome the new Minister for the Armed Forces and the new Minister for defence personnel and veterans, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Mark Lancaster), to their places Work has now begun on the 2015 strategic defence and security review, led by the Cabinet Office, and we expect the review to report towards the end of the year.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): The savings announced last week were in-year savings that do not affect the core baseline defence budget, from which we will negotiate spending for the next three years; they do not affect manpower numbers; they do not affect our commitment to increase the equipment programme by 1% ahead of inflation; and they will have no effect on current operations. The strategic review on which we have now embarked will be, quite properly, aligned with the spending review, because defence, to be deliverable, has to be affordable.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
James Gerald Douglas Howarth (Conservative, Centre-right): Surely my right hon. Friend must accept that, as the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) made clear, we need to establish the security requirements—the strategic prospects for the United Kingdom in a very dangerous world. I am extremely alarmed, as others are, at the prospect of another Treasury-driven review, at a time when we face a much more dangerous world than we did in 2010.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: The Secretary of State will know that the defence industry contains 300,000 jobs, 55,000 of which are reliant on exports. Will he guarantee that the impact on employment will be included in the SDSR?
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely. This five-yearly review gives us the opportunity to look again at our defence industry to see how it is competing with our major defence competitors and whether enough is being done to advance those exports in certain markets, and to ensure that our smaller and medium-sized companies also enjoy the benefit. The defence industry is a major employer and this will be a key part of the review.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: The Secretary of State will know that the defence industry contains 300,000 jobs, 55,000 of which are reliant on exports. Will he guarantee that the impact on employment will be included in the SDSR?
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): Successive Governments have supported the renewal of our nuclear deterrent that has helped to keep this country safe, and we are committed to replacing all four Vanguard submarines with new submarines that will serve this country until at least 2060. The deterrent is a major employer. Thousands of jobs are at stake in Faslane, in the hon. Gentleman’s own constituency, so I hope that he will consider the consequences of his policy on his own constituents.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: The Secretary of State will know that the defence industry contains 300,000 jobs, 55,000 of which are reliant on exports. Will he guarantee that the impact on employment will be included in the SDSR?
James Whiteside Gray (Conservative, Centre-right): When the SDSR finally arrives, it must incorporate three promises: the Prime Minister’s promise during the general election campaign that there will be no cuts whatsoever in the regular forces; the promise that the Prime Minister made shortly after the last election that there will be real growth in defence spending; and the promise recently reiterated by the Secretary of State about the 1% increase in real terms in defence equipment spending from now onwards. Given those three commitments—leaving aside for a moment the 2% commitment to NATO—where will the Secretary of State find any cash at all to save if he is asked to by the comprehensive spending review?
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: The Secretary of State will know that the defence industry contains 300,000 jobs, 55,000 of which are reliant on exports. Will he guarantee that the impact on employment will be included in the SDSR?
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right that he and I were elected on a mandate to replace the nuclear deterrent with four new nuclear ballistic submarines; to maintain the current size of the regular armed forces; and to increase our spending on the equipment programme by inflation plus 1% each year. It is our task now in this review to ensure that those commitments are held to and that our armed forces have the equipment and the resources that they need.
Strategic Defence and Security Review — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: The Secretary of State will know that the defence industry contains 300,000 jobs, 55,000 of which are reliant on exports. Will he guarantee that the impact on employment will be included in the SDSR?
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the shadow Defence Secretary for what he said and congratulate him on hanging on in there, at least for the moment. I thank him for his tribute, which I hope the whole House will echo, to the crew and the air crew on HMS Bulwark. I visited Bulwark myself on Saturday afternoon and saw at first hand how the crews were preparing to cope with this extraordinary number of migrants who need rescuing from the sea. As far as the strategic review is concerned, I have set out the timetable to the House today, and the scope and the ambition of the review, which has already started and will be concluded towards the end of this year. We will also consult key external voices, such as academics and those in other areas who have something to contribute to the review. I hope that will include the hon. Gentleman.
ISIL (Iraq) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK contributes significantly to the coalition against ISIL by providing sophisticated aircraft such as Tornado, Reaper, Rivet Joint and Sentinel from across the middle east and Cyprus to support Iraqi ground forces. We lead the coalition’s counter-improvised explosive device training programme and have trained more than 1,400 Iraqis in counter-IED and other infantry skills. Yesterday, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd West (Mr Jones) will have heard, we offered to expand that counter-IED and other training to additional coalition training sites.
ISIL (Iraq) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
David Ian Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): Major General Tim Cross, who was the senior British officer involved in post-war planning in Iraq, attributed the fall of Ramadi to a lack of will or, as he put it, "moral cohesion" on the part of Iraqi forces. What is my right hon. Friend’s Department doing to help promote that moral cohesion in an Iraqi army that frequently heavily outnumbers its ISIL opponents?
ISIL (Iraq) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): The partners in the coalition and Prime Minister al-Abadi recognise that the Iraqi security forces need support to help them take the fight to ISIL on the ground. That is why we are contributing not simply to air support but to the building partner capacity programme, which aims to boost the capabilities and confidence of the Iraqi security forces.
ISIL (Iraq) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced at the weekend, we have offered a further 125 troops to join the coalition troops training the Iraqi security forces, including more than 60 counter-IED trainers. Those additional troops will be the first UK personnel deployed to training sites outside Irbil or Baghdad and, subject to the needs of the coalition, will take our presence in Iraq to more than 275 troops. As well as further counter-IED trainers, we are offering specialist training in areas such as medical skills, equipment maintenance, manoeuvre support and information operations.
ISIL (Iraq) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): We have begun the training of moderate Syrian forces in bases outside Syria and a number of people are contributing to that training. Progress will depend on identifying suitable moderate forces that are prepared to take the fight to ISIL, particularly in the north of Syria, and ensuring that once they are trained they are ready to rejoin that fight. We are making that contribution to the training effort being led by the Americans and proposed for four different sites, all outside Syria.
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I join my hon. Friend in her tribute to the 37 Signal Regiment, which has deployed personnel on operations to Afghanistan, as well as on recent exercises in Belize, Gibraltar, Germany and Cyprus, and has provided essential work to the civil authorities in the UK. Army reserve units are paired with, and train alongside, regular units and, when required, may deploy with them—in 37’s case, with 16 Signal Regiment, as she knows. Reserves have the same access to equipment and technology as their regular counterparts, and receive high-quality, challenging training, including more opportunities to exercise overseas.
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Nicholas Soames (Conservative, Centre-right): May I first congratulate my hon. Friend on his tremendous support and enthusiasm for the reserves, which is very well taken? He is aware of my connection with the Royal Yeomanry, but is he aware that it is the best recruiting regiment in the reserves? That is not just because it has made good use of what the central facility provides but because it does a lot of it itself, and takes a lot of trouble over recruiting. Will he emphasise to all the other reserve units that they can do a great deal themselves to encourage people in their regimental family to get more people into the reserves?
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I am always delighted to take a question from my right hon. Friend, whose illustrious grandfather was a long-serving member of the Territorial Army. He is quite right about the Royal Yeomanry’s achievements. I visited it twice in the past year, and in many ways it is a trailblazer. The key point that he makes about empowering units to do more to help themselves, including devolving some of the marketing budgets—something that we have begun to do—is very well taken.
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not have the exact age of reservist recruits, but the current average of the Army Reserve is 37. If the hon. Gentleman is thinking of joining, I am sure we can put him in touch with somebody.
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: Recent personnel statistics show that nearly a third of the armed forces are dissatisfied with military life, so what provisions are in place to ensure that this troubling figure is reduced?
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): There is no single bullet. The armed forces have come through a difficult time, with a combination of downsizing of the numbers in the Army as a result of the £38 billion black hole, and the end of operations in Afghanistan, which for many young men and women was an attractor. But measures ranging from the purchase of new equipment to an almost unparalleled number of overseas exercises, together with a fresh look at the terms and conditions of service, are all designed to address the issue that the hon. Gentleman points to.
Reserve Forces (Recruitment) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Questions: Recent personnel statistics show that nearly a third of the armed forces are dissatisfied with military life, so what provisions are in place to ensure that this troubling figure is reduced?
Julian William Hendy Brazier (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his welcome, and the same applies to him. It is always a pleasure to spar across the Dispatch Box. The Conservative manifesto was clear about expanding the number of reservists across the three services to 35,000. The funding is there through the £1.8 billion that was provided over a 10-year period, and the current strengths are running ahead of schedule in all three volunteer reserve services.
Ebola — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Penelope Mary Mordaunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I would like to make the House aware that I have a declarable interest as a member of the Royal Navy Reserve. The Navy is investigating the most appropriate way for me to remain a reservist for the duration of my appointment as Minister for the Armed Forces. I will update the House in due course I thank my hon. Friend for enabling me to pay tribute to our armed forces who have served on Operation Gritrock, one of the most challenging operations in recent times, during which our medical professionals demonstrated tremendous skill and courage. Recent statistics show just 12 new cases of Ebola a week, well down from the more than 500 in November last year. The World Health Organisation currently assesses that Sierra Leone will be free from Ebola in a matter of weeks, and I am sure the whole House will want to join me in thanking our armed forces and our MOD civilians for all they have done in achieving that.
Ebola — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Penelope Mary Mordaunt (Conservative, Centre-right): As I speak, we have over 3,600 personnel deployed on 21 operations across 19 countries. We are actually doing more operations, although they might not have the profile of some recent operations, so our armed forces are still incredibly busy. We are also regenerating capability that was lost under the Labour Administration.
VJ Day — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Mark Lancaster (Conservative, Centre-right): As this is my first Defence Question Time, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Although I remain a member of the Army Reserve, I have requested that I be placed on the unposted list for the duration of my appointment as a Defence Minister The MOD will be supporting the national commemorative and thanksgiving events that will take place in central London on Saturday 15 August. The Government are committed to providing their full support to those events, which will provide an opportunity for the public, and the nation at large, to honour and pay their respects to those who fought during the far east campaigns.
VJ Day — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Mark Lancaster (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point. He will be aware of the Government’s commitment to the cadet forces expansion programme. We increased the number of cadet forces by over 100 during the previous Parliament, and we are committed to increasing it to 500. I am a great fan of the cadet force, having previously been a member of it, and am determined that we should expand it.
Defence Spending (NATO Target) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): We will be spending 2% of GDP on defence this financial year. Spending beyond that will be determined in the spending review. The Government were elected with a mandate to maintain the size of our regular armed forces, increase the equipment budget in real terms every year and replace our four nuclear ballistic submarines. Those commitments will secure the shape and power of our armed forces throughout this Parliament.
Defence Spending (NATO Target) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Keith Robert Simpson (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, but I think he is aware from the comments already made that there is deep concern on both sides of the House about the fact that the Prime Minister, having asked other NATO countries to commit themselves to spending 2% of GDP on defence, is unable to commit to that beyond 2015-16. I hope we will all urge the Secretary of State to make certain that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is aware of that concern, given the threats that have been outlined and the fact that our capacity to deal with them is stretched pretty thin.
Defence Spending (NATO Target) — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Michael Fallon (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me assure my hon. Friend that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is fully aware of the commitments that were made at the NATO summit and has been even more fully aware during recent negotiations over the in-year savings, which have not taken us below 2%. It is important to note, though, that seven of the 28 NATO members do not even spend 1% on their defence and 20 of the 28 do not even spend 1.5%.
Armed Forces Covenant — House of Commons, 2015-06-08
Topic: Defense
Mark Lancaster (Conservative, Centre-right): The armed forces covenant is one of this Government’s most important priorities; I will endeavour to drive it forward with the same passion and commitment as my predecessors. This year sees the implementation of a permanent commitment to the covenant through a £10 million per annum fund. Over the coming months, we will focus on how best to communicate the aims of the covenant and continue to work with industry and the voluntary sector to ensure that it goes from strength to strength.