argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Procedure and Privileges Committee — House of Lords, 2022-05-16
Topic: Government Operations
John Eric Gardiner (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, before I speak to the Motion, I wish to comment briefly on the committee’s seventh report, which was originally tabled for today’s Order Paper. That report contained recommendations arising from the revision of the Companion to the Standing Orders. Late last week, a number of noble Lords expressed concerns to the Lord Speaker and me. After careful consideration, I decided to withdraw the Motion from the Order Paper to agree the committee’s seventh report. The Procedure and Privileges Committee will be invited to look again at these issues, and a further report will then be brought to the House for consideration I turn to the Motion before your Lordships today. This report by the Committee invites the House to agree that, "as a reasonable adjustment, Baroness Thomas of Winchester be authorised to call on an assistant to support her in delivering speeches while participating remotely." This is precedented; the House agreed a comparable adjustment in 2012 to allow the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton, to call on assistance when speaking in debates here in the Chamber. I hope that noble Lords will join the committee in supporting such rare and bespoke adjustments to ensure that disabled Members can continue to make a full contribution to the work of the House. I beg to move.
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-10
Topic: International Affairs
David Lawrence Lipsey (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, when the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, came into the Chamber, I do not think that she was expecting to have to move any amendments, and when I came into the Chamber, I certainly was not expecting to speak on any of them. But in a few sentences I would like to inject a broader perspective At the moment, we see a conflict between democracy and totalitarianism in Ukraine such as we have not experienced since the end of the Cold War. Democracy must win. But at this very perilous moment, the Government are introducing measures to shackle the independent Electoral Commission and put in its place the will of government Ministers. The Minister may say that they have no intention of doing anything naughty, but I would not trust him on that and, even if I did, I certainly would not trust every subsequent Government to go the same way. This is a disgraceful proposal. It undermines the democratic case that we are making to the world, and I hope that the Committee will have none of it.
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-10
Topic: Government Operations
Claire Fox (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I appreciate that I am surrounded by Labour noble Lords who object to what I am saying. One of the great advantages of votes for women was that occasionally we get to say the odd thing that does not go with the grain I am raising the problem that the Electoral Commission is not necessarily all good. I want to say this about it. There was a great deal of dissatisfaction about the Electoral Commission’s lack of independence in its response to the 2016 referendum, which I referred to in my Second Reading speech. Such were the concerns about the bias of the Electoral Commission in that period that it had to apologise for the bias of many of its members. This is not me saying it—I am quoting the Electoral Commission, which we are all told we have to listen to The bias led to many voters feeling that the Electoral Commission was not fit for purpose and was in fact biased against their wishes as an electorate in that referendum. Many of those people were not Tory cronies but Labour voters—Labour voters who may no longer be Labour voters because they became disillusioned by the fact that the Labour Party told them they had got it wrong, they were duped and they needed to think again. While the Labour Benches are very keen on democracy, they were less keen on the democratic decisions of many of their voters in 2016 and subsequently At the very least, therefore, it is important that we look at the role of the Electoral Commission critically and seriously. I do not think the way the Government have gone about reforming it will clarify or help things. I will make those points another time. But to say, as has just been said by a number of noble Lords, that we have a responsibility to take the Bill and thwart it, scupper it, throw it out and all the rest of it, seems to me rather to fly in the face of democracy. A little humility is maybe needed to remember that the plans for the Elections Bill were in the Conservative Party manifesto—which noble Lords will be delighted to know I did not vote for, before they all start Nevertheless, I clocked that they were there. We in this House are unelected legislators and need to take at least a smidgen of note of what the electorate might consider priorities. Not everything is a Conservative Party plot but one reason many people voted for the Conservative Party in 2019 was that they felt abandoned by the opposition parties.
Ukraine Update — House of Lords, 2022-03-10
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Austin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, the Minister is completely right: it is not for Britain or anyone else to negotiate away parts of Ukraine. I applaud the military assistance provided by the Government to the people of Ukraine and ask what more we can do to meet the central request in that remarkable address by President Zelensky the other day, which is to keep Ukrainian skies safe. As I say, I very much welcome the assistance that has been provided and the new equipment that was discussed yesterday, but if the Americans are not prepared to facilitate the transfer of those Polish jets to the Ukrainians, what might we be able to do, with other countries, to assist the Poles in making those planes available to the Ukrainians?
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
John Eatwell (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I think the noble Baroness would agree that the electoral issues in Northern Ireland are rather different from those in the rest of the United Kingdom As I have just said, studying a phenomenon over time requires a careful disaggregation of the effects. Looking at the gross numbers does not tell you anything. Specific studies which carefully disaggregate the impact of particular measures are necessary. I find it difficult to see how one can sustain the argument that introducing a particular impediment to vote will have a zero effect As I was about to say, at Second Reading the noble Lord, Lord True, in what I call precautionary mode, referred to locking your door to prevent burglaries even though your house has not been burgled. However, it is striking that if you go to the Isle of Sark, where there are no burglaries, no one locks the door. It is the presence of burglars that encourages people to lock their door. If the incidence of fraud is one, as the noble Lord, Lord Woolley, told us, and the cost now is £180 million, or whatever the number is, to prevent one occurrence, is that value for money?
Highway Code (Rule 149) — House of Lords, 2022-04-06
Topic: Transportation
Brian Mackenzie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I am delighted to support the regret Motion in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh. I was weaned on the Highway Code, and when I was taught to drive by Durham Constabulary many years ago the Highway Code was an integral part of the training Your Lordships will know that the Highway Code is not law. A breach of the code is not a crime per se. However, it is important to understand that a breach of the Highway Code can be used as evidence to support a prosecution for the commission of an offence such as careless driving or dangerous driving Obviously, the code needs to be revised from time to time, and the public are entitled to think that a new code will reflect the realty of life on our public roads. Furthermore, I recently spoke on an Oral Question on e-scooters, when I described their introduction on public roads as "a catastrophe waiting to happen".—[Official Report, 8/2/22; col. 1390.] There have been a number of deaths already during the pilot use of e-scooters, and there appears to be little or no guidance or regulation available on their use. Privately-owned scooters cannot be used on public roads, but this appears to be more honoured in the breach than the observance This is an area of road safety that is crying out for regulation and guidance. In my view, it is the greatest threat to public safety in a generation. There have been two changes to the Highway Code recently, within weeks of each other, presumably requiring additional print runs, and yet there is no reference to e-scooters in the new code, as the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, said The Highway Code should be taught in schools—I hope it is. In any event, it should cover contemporary changes in the use of the road before they are implemented. The current, updated code fails massively in this regard, and I ask the House to support the Motion in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh.
Highway Code (Rule 149) — House of Lords, 2022-04-06
Topic: Transportation
Christopher Holmes (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I rise to support my noble friend Lady McIntosh and commend the way she introduced her regret Motion. There are over 1 million privately owned e-scooters. Does my noble friend the Minister really believe that all of these e-scooters are being ridden on private land? Is it not time that the Government got serious about e-scooters and what is actually happening out there? Similarly, even in the trial areas, does the Minister really believe that e-scooters replace journeys that would otherwise have been taken by car? It is a completely different way of getting around Since the pandemic, the number of e-scooters and cyclists has dramatically increased, shooting through crossings and red lights. Does my noble friend the Minister not think that it would be a good idea to increase the level of vigilance and pulling people over? I know my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham is a bicycling aficionado. Perhaps he could be used in an advertising campaign to promote proper, responsible cycling on our roads In conclusion, can I ask my noble friend why this opportunity with the Highway Code has not been taken to address the issues around e-scooters raised by my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering? It sems an ideal opportunity and, having not addressed it in this current draft, I assume we will be looking at future action that will have to be taken. To build on what the noble Lord, Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, said, e-scooters are not a catastrophe waiting to happen; it is happening right now.
Queen’s Speech — House of Lords, 2022-05-12
Topic: Law and Crime
Brian Mackenzie (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): May I just finish with one final question to the Minister? The gracious Speech stated that the Government will "support the police". In the noble Lord’s reply to the debate, will he indicate when and in what way?
Ukraine — House of Lords, 2022-02-24
Topic: International Affairs
Charles Hay (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I must say, it was good to hear of the strong co-operative approach with our European friends and neighbours; I very much welcome all that was announced today. Less good, however, was today’s news that one of the armoured columns started the morning in Belarus. The Belarusian leadership has been acting as cheerleaders from the side for Mr Putin on this. Can the Leader comment on that and confirm to us that the sanctions regime that will hit Belarus will be equally as tough and strong as the one that will hit Russia for this infamous act of brutality?
Ukraine — House of Lords, 2022-02-24
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Austin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, can the Leader tell us what support the Government will provide to the BBC World Service so that the citizens of Russia can continue to receive accurate information from the free and democratic West? Can she assure the House that Putin himself is on the list of people to be sanctioned? I underline the importance of making it absolutely clear to the Russian military, Russian officials and the security services in Russia that they will be held to account individually for war crimes committed during the invasion of Ukraine.
Independent Review of Children’s Social Care — House of Lords, 2022-05-24
Topic: Social Welfare
Manzila Pola Uddin (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, Josh MacAlister’s report demands good practice, which actually exists in many parts of our country—I declare my interest as a social worker who worked with child protection and disability services for many decades. I acknowledge all that good practice; nevertheless, there were 206 serious safeguarding incidents involving child deaths in just one year, 2020, and we have known other very serious cases, so something is going very wrong. Those of us on the front line have always known what Josh MacAlister has argued, which is about early intervention and the serious impact and ramifications of closing Sure Start and other services, so will the Minister ensure that the national implementation board takes on board not just the voices of young people but those of parents, who have had a terrible time at the hands of inexperienced social workers?
The Politics of Polling (Liaison Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2022-05-19
Topic: Government Operations
David Lawrence Lipsey (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I thank the Minister for that thoughtful reply. I particularly thank noble Lords for the extraordinarily kind remarks they made about me personally, especially when, if I had popped it, they might not be kept in this House on a Thursday afternoon when the last summer sun is shining outside. I have always sworn never to use the phrase "the House of Lords at its best", but I tiptoe near that by saying that this has been like an excellent webinar on the present state of polling, and I appreciate it To correct any misapprehension, I should say that I am not at all Pollyannaish about polls. I worry about their vulnerabilities, and in particular, to introduce one final new point, I am worried about their dirty little secret: essentially, the percentage of the public who agree to respond to pollsters’ questions keeps on falling, and as you get dodgy social media the whole time, people are more and more fearful of committing their views, and that will make it much more difficult to predict in the future. This is a concern that I know everybody in the industry shares, that everyone reading polls should share, and which we need to keep a careful eye on This is not the last word. We are not in a bad place today; we are in a better place than we would have been without these reports and the consequent action. However, we have not yet reached the sunny uplands for ever, and we need to keep our eye on what is going on and be ready to act if things start to go wrong in a way that genuinely endangers our democracy.
Procedure and Privileges Committee — House of Lords, 2022-02-22
Topic: Government Operations
John Eric Gardiner (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I am most grateful to the noble Lord for giving me this opportunity because, as stated in the report, the recommendation is: "To mandate the House of Lords Commission, once the pass-reader system is ready" We need to get the passes system up and running and, as I said, be absolutely clear with a number of trials, not only for your Lordships, but for the doorkeepers and the Administration, so that all will flow well. I cannot give a precise date because we obviously also need to take into account any prevailing public health situation issues. What I can say is that six months from the time of operation of a voting system beginning is a very reasonable time, during which we would consider as a committee how it is working. I hope that is helpful to the noble Lord and your Lordships.
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I am most interested in the way in which the noble Lord analyses this. Is he essentially saying that this Bill is giving too much power to judges—power that ought to be vested in Parliament—and that a judicial review reform of this nature goes far too far and that judges should not be allowed to have these powers in case they exercise them inappropriately?
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I thank the noble Lord for giving way. Of course, new subsection (8)(f) refers to "any other matter that appears to the court to be relevant." So a court can decide that there are other matters that it thinks are important. This is not restricting or fettering the discretion of the court. Why is it so offensive?
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I feel tempted to respond to the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Beith. It is absolutely true that this particular form of words does not find its way into our report in any way. That, of course, does not necessarily mean that it is a mistake to include it in the Bill The noble Lord, Lord Anderson, gives a choice that is not very inviting: either this is a mere surplusage, in which case it should go, or it is potentially something that an inexperienced judge might get wrong or feel compelled by to make an order that he or she would not otherwise want to make. I wonder if that does not slightly overstate the case. I should say that I am not wholly convinced of its necessity, but I do not think it anything like as damaging as has been described After all, before you even get to the question of whether the court is to make a quashing order, a considerable number of hurdles have to be surmounted, as do a number of considerations which we have canvassed during the course of the debate. So, if the "interests of justice", or whatever term that the judge directs himself or herself to, have allowed them to reach the conclusion that it is not appropriate to make a quashing order, this question of a presumption, whether it is a weak or a strong one, simply does not arise. Of course, the judge can also simply say, "Well, I take into account subsection (9), but I don’t see a good reason for making the order", having regard to whatever it might be. I do not see it as quite the same hurdle race that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, described it as. I will listen carefully to the Minister on why it is in there. I do not think it particularly harmful, but there is, as it were, enough here to allow the judges to do what is fair without necessarily including this particular presumption.
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): Perhaps I might briefly add to that point before the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, speaks. An absolutely classic example of legislating for discretion would be Section 33 of the Limitation Act, which courts are applying every single day of the week, which lists a large number of factors which the court may take into account and concludes by saying that it may take any other thing into account. Although I absolutely take the point made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, there is nothing particularly unusual about setting out in detail the discretion and then, nevertheless, allowing the court to take into account other matters.
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I do not want to repeat what I said at Second Reading. Suffice it to say that I referred to what Lord Carnwath said in a lecture, essentially that the decision in Cart was incorrect and needed to be reversed. That line of argument was supported by the recently departed—in the physical sense, I hasten to add—noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, and by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead The question is whether the decision was correctly reached. If one follows the story of Cart, which we did with some care, looking at the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Laws was the first judge to break what had been a consensus that the decisions of the Upper Tribunal should not in any way be subject to challenges by way of judicial review.
Judicial Review and Courts Bill — House of Lords, 2022-02-21
Topic: Law and Crime
Edward Faulks (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): The noble and learned Lord does not mischaracterise the conclusions we reached at all. Quite rightly, we emphasised the respect of the various parts of the constitution to each other and the importance of that. However, he omits to mention a fact we stressed: none of the judges who made a submission to us ever suggested that, when Parliament thought a decision was wrong, it was not appropriate to legislate to reverse the effect of that decision. To suggest that does not do violence to any of the principles that we identified—I think the noble and learned Lord and I would agree about those principles. As for the hourly rate of judges, with great respect, whether they are remarkably good value for what they do does not alter the fact that, if something is bad law, it needs reversing.
Schools Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2022-06-13
Topic: Education
Claire Fox (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I am familiar with what is happening in education at the moment, and John Locke and JS Mill are nowhere near it. The point I was suggesting is that, if they were, they should be taught to everyone. Opting out is fine; on other amendments, we are going to go on to talk about parents opting out of different things—that is fine. I was worried about secular assemblies; that filled me with horror. Maybe children could go and listen to some classical music or something that would be more productive. That was my concern on that matter.
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
Charles Moore (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): My Lords, I have been affected by the debate this evening. I was intending to speak—if I was going to speak at all—in a rather different way, because I have anxieties about the way that the Government introduced this legislation, at the point when they brought in all the material about the form of election. But I have been stirred by the other side of the argument, because something that I feared has definitely now come about: the people arguing against the Bill are really trying to bring back proportional representation, as a much wider piece of argument, into the whole of our public life and our electoral system—
Elections Bill — House of Lords, 2022-03-23
Topic: Government Operations
Charles Moore (Non-Affiliated, Unknown): I listened closely to the noble Lord’s speech, and it is perfectly true that he made a very long and important argument about the specifics, but he also expressed a general preference for proportional representation I wish to make a very simple point, which I think came across very well in what the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, said. He described how, even under the strict chairmanship of Lord Jenkins, it took 12 months of what he called "immense complication" to look at these issues. That is precisely the problem with all this. It is dangerous to confess to ignorance in this very learned and expert House, but despite covering politics in various ways for 40 years, I have never been able fully to understand or explain all the different voting systems that clever people keep coming up with, and that is an argument against them. If somebody who is paid a salary to try to understand these things still finds them complicated, there is something wrong with them. All right, I am stupid, but I make the point that it is very important for the buy-in of a democracy that people can understand what is being said, what is being offered and how to perform the operation they are invited to perform. They can do so under first past the post, but under proportional representation they cannot, broadly speaking. Therefore, I oppose these amendments and support the Bill.