argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Employment and Support Allowance: Underpayments — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Government Operations
Melanie Onn (Labour, Centre-left): Given that fraud and error payments are usually published in official Government statistics together, is the Department planning on making sure that they are published separately so that the public are clear that the error lies with the Government and not with individuals claiming falsely?
Employment and Support Allowance: Underpayments — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Social Welfare
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Many of my constituents fall into debt through arrears of payments, whether of universal credit or of other benefits, particularly PIPs. Can we not reduce the waiting time for people on universal credit from five weeks to two weeks, or even a week, because some of them are in destitute situations?
Relationships and Sex Education — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Education
Lucy Maria Powell (Labour, Centre-left): I wholeheartedly welcome the Secretary of State’s statement today. I know that these are not easy issues to navigate, and he is doing a really good job of it. With that in mind, I urge him to keep going, because there will be those who say that they want exceptions or want to exclude their children, or that their school is somehow different. I have visited many schools, as I am sure he has, where the majority of children are Muslim or of other faiths. They deliver teaching on LGBT bullying, LGBT awareness and all those issues extremely well, resulting in very well rounded children, so the Secretary of State will have our full support if he wants to continue doing this work.
Relationships and Sex Education — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Education
Emma Elizabeth Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and the impressive range of reforms that he is introducing, but will he say something about how the increasing number of children who are being home-schooled will benefit from these reforms?
Relationships and Sex Education — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Education
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome today’s announcement about specialist subjects and new learning, but constituents have come to me both applauding these changes and raising concerns. What will the Department be doing to bring parents alongside schools, so that they can assist in their children’s learning?
Relationships and Sex Education — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Melanie Onn (Labour, Centre-left): Nearly 750 children across my borough of north-east Lincolnshire have been exposed to domestic violence in the past year, and it is essential that all children understand what constitutes a healthy relationship and recognise unduly coercive and violent behaviour so that they do not go on to repeat it. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating North East Lincolnshire Council, Women's Aid and the NSPCC on the work they do, day in and day out, in my constituency and across my borough in schools and family hubs to protect, inform and support Grimsby’s children and families?
Relationships and Sex Education — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Education
Gerard Killen (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome what the Secretary of State has said about LGBT education, but does he think there are any circumstances in which a school should be allowed not to teach that element of the curriculum? I went to a faith school, and I do not want to be flippant about the sensitivities, but having absolutely no LGBT sex and relationships education did not make me any less gay. Every child in every school has a right to that education.
Trade Remedy Measures: UK Interests — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Labor
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State please explain to the House why the Trade Bill is taking so long to gain Royal Assent? Will he also list which trade unions he has included in his consultation on the trade remedies strategy?
Trade Remedy Measures: UK Interests — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State and the House will be aware that trade remedies can equally be imposed against the UK. He will also be aware that in the event of a no-deal Brexit we are likely to see—according to the British Retail Consortium—trade measures linked to WTO tariffs and new regulatory checks hit the cost of sourcing food from overseas by up to 40%. Given that his Trade Remedies Authority is not likely to be able to do anything about that, would it not be a good time for him to announce that he will join other Cabinet Ministers in insisting that the Prime Minister takes a no-deal Brexit off the table this week?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Environment
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): The truth is that the statutory instrument will not be able simply to cut and paste the REACH database into UK law. We cannot cut and paste the chemicals framework established by the EU into UK law because it regulates, evaluates and authorises chemicals, and that is significantly different. That is why the Minister is asking this House to establish a UK chemicals database and asking the UK industry to make significant contributions towards that. That is the case, is it not?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Environment
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): A little earlier, the Minister talked about a section—forgive me, but I do not have the exact number—relating to the disposal of PCBs. Is she saying that different regulations will apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and, if so, will they be to higher or lower standards, or the same?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): I am not terribly sure that the Minister has reassured the hon. Member for Hendon (Dr Offord). I want to know how we will ensure that the British regime will actually parallel the regulations and approvals of Europe so that we can have the trading arrangements that are critical to areas like mine on Teesside.
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Environment
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister will be aware that my Committee, the Environmental Audit Committee, held an evidence session in December 2018, subsequent to our report published in 2017, in which we heard from Elizabeth Shepherd, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. She is one of the UK’s leading experts in chemical regulation, and she said: "The UK regulator, HSE, is no longer involved in the evaluation of substances. HSE has, to date, played a very active part in evaluating chemicals… the chemicals that were assigned to HSE for the 2018-19 period have been moved away from the UK already to other evaluating authorities. Businesses are concerned that they will lose the insight that participation gave them and the opportunity to influence the shape of regulation." We are losing our influence, are we not?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Agriculture
Sue Hayman (Labour, Centre-left): I am afraid that that is not the information I have been given. As I said, the Minister did not rule that out to the Lords Committee, and when I went to Brussels to visit the REACH team, they confirmed that they believed this would be the case. Will the Minister categorically confirm whether these proposals have the potential to lead to further animal testing?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Agriculture
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend has triggered a memory that I thought I had buried. On the animal testing point, when our Committee held an update hearing in December, one concern raised was about where the intellectual property that UK companies have submitted into the REACH database lives. There was a great deal of concern that the Minister’s reassurances that companies could just go and get that intellectual property, which they have paid for and registered, out of the database is problematic, because it is now owned by REACH, and once the UK leaves, we ironically will not have access to our own intellectual property. Does that not show the complete misunderstanding of the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) of how the world trades in chemicals, on which REACH sets the global standard?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Environment
Sue Hayman (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for making that important point, and I will be interested to hear the Minister’s response If we voted to pass this SI, we would be voting for legislation that is likely to increase animal suffering through duplicate testing. It would also mean that critical decisions on chemicals were made by a body with little experience and layers of accountability and scientific expertise stripped away. Greener UK has said: "As currently drafted, the chemicals SI significantly weakens the regulation of chemicals, including those with links to cancer and hormone disruption." How can we responsibly let this secondary legislation pass, in the light of these serious and grave reservations? Does the Minister recognise those risks, and can she guarantee that British people will continue to receive the same health and safety and environmental benefits that we currently do as a member of REACH In a no-deal Brexit scenario, we would become a third party to REACH on 29 March, with all existing REACH registrations and authorisations held by UK companies becoming immediately invalid. Companies wanting to continue to export into the EU would need to transfer their registrations to EU-based companies or rely on their customers making importer registrations.
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Labor
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making a good and interesting point. This issue does not only cover products and the environment. We have industries that use very dangerous chemicals, to say the least. It is important that we have the highest standards, if for nothing else than to protect people’s rights at work. Does she agree?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Sue Hayman (Labour, Centre-left): I completely agree. In fact, representatives of trade unions have made exactly that point to me, and they have deep concerns about this Companies wanting to transfer their registrations would potentially need customers to make importer registrations. That could lead to serious ramifications down the supply chain and interruptions to the many billions of pounds’ worth of trade between the UK and EU.
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Foreign Trade
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; she is making an excellent speech and being very generous with her time. I wanted to intervene on the Minister on the issue of grandfathering rights. Is not the truth that British companies are now in an invidious position where, if they want to keep trading with the EU after exit day, whenever that may come—goodness knows what will happen in the next 48 hours, let alone the next five weeks—they will have to transfer their registrations to an affiliate in the EU? How can they then grandfather those rights into the UK’s chemical regulation system when they have given them away in the European Union?
Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Environment
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, have been contacted by Rolls-Royce and Make UK, the former Engineering Employers’ Federation, which says that the chemicals affected—these in-flight chemicals, if you like—are a range of chromates using coatings, sealings, paints, primers and touch-up preparation, including chromium trioxide, which is used in the chrome plating industry and is significant for the automotive supply chain. It says that limiting the use of these substances would affect a wide range of component part manufacturers, processing houses, and maintenance and repair facilities, as well as other equipment manufacturers. This is exactly what the Environmental Audit Committee warned about two years ago: market freeze, where we simply freeze our automotive supply chains. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that in a heavily regulated industry such as aerospace people cannot just switch suppliers from one day to the next?
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I was about to come to exactly that point The Macpherson report presented 70 recommendations to the Home Office, police forces and other public bodies. Baroness Lawrence told us that she had tried to find out how many had been implemented before coming to see our Committee, but had struggled to find the information that she needed. She said: "It seems as if things have become really stagnant and nothing seems to have moved" So are we really learning the lessons?
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): That raises a question about the Metropolitan police: why has it taken them about 20 years to start an inquiry into, according to the press, between 10 and 12 officers? That suggests to me the Metropolitan police have still not got on top of this problem.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): Yes, the Committee has heard that there is disproportionality in disciplinary procedures. That is bad for the individuals, but also sets a tone and sends a message to other officers or would-be officers that their experience will not be a positive one. It fundamentally undermines the authority and legitimacy of police forces for them to fail to represent the communities they serve. Let’s face it, I am not the first person to stand up in this place and cotton on to that fact; how many people over the last 20 years, and probably the 20 years before that, have stood up in this Chamber and said that? But what are we actually doing to change this? People will look to us for leadership and expect that we effect change.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Centre-left): May I echo others’ praise of my hon. Friend for securing this debate? One of the most senior BME officers to serve in the Metropolitan police was Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, who led the police in the London Borough of Harrow. The Minister will remember his excellent service in our communities. He has said publicly that he launched a mentoring and support programme for other officers from a BME background and had that initiative rubbished by senior officers. Is that attitude not part of the challenge we face, and should we expect not only Ministers but senior figures in the Metropolitan police to continue to challenge it?
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree. I dare say I may have taken part in this at some point, but as a body politic we have a dishonest conversation about stop-and-search. When we are in a community hall faced by parents or individuals who are angry about disproportionality we wring our hands and say it must change, but the moment something happens—somebody is stabbed, for example— we run to this place or the nearest camera and say, "Oh goodness, this can’t happen this way; we have to do more stopping and searching." We must have an honest conversation in this country. My right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) has been steadfast in this regard for many decades; we could all learn something from that. We ought to have a much more mature conversation with people in our community I can offer some hope from my own police force of Nottinghamshire. Our stop-and-search rates are among the lowest in the country, but due to intelligence-led use of stop-and-search powers our current 41% arrest and positive outcome rate is one of the highest in the country. We should reflect on that: one of the lowest stop-and-search rates produces one of the highest success rates. It is probably not a major surprise that our excellent police and crime commissioner, Paddy Tipping, who is behind this, was also involved in setting up the Macpherson inquiry. He gets it, and we now need more people to join him Finally, before I sit down and give others a chance to speak, I want to turn to governance and oversight. Earlier, I referred to Baroness Lawrence’s frustration at the difficulty in finding out what progress has been made against the Macpherson report’s recommendations. We as a Committee intend to address that by writing to the Home Office and other bodies to ask for updates against all 70 recommendations. Frankly, though, the Government should not be leaving this to us. They have been criticised for a lack of governance and oversight. The Stephen Lawrence steering group was disbanded many years ago, and in 2012, Bevan Powell called for the re-establishment of a pan- Whitehall group to restore trust between the police and communities.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee for that intervention. She and I and many others were keen for this debate to take place now, around the anniversary of the inquiry, rather than around Stephen Lawrence Day, because the family are very clear about what they want the day to be, and about the positives to be gained from it. I am glad that we are able to honour it in that way, and I will certainly be participating fully and supporting the family in their really important goal I shall quote something that Bevan Powell said to us, and this is certainly something for the Chair of the Committee to consider. He stated: "The only time the police seem to respond to the recommendations and the associated issues that came out of Macpherson is when there is a Home Affairs Committee or a public inquiry of some sort. That cannot be the case." Our Committee’s recent report, "Policing for the Future", criticised the extent to which the Home Office had stepped away from policing policy, with the Department being widely criticised by policing stakeholders and the National Audit Office for its lack of leadership. I am glad to see the Policing Minister in his place. I know that he is a man motivated by a strong sense of duty and decency and a believer in the importance of public service. In that spirit, I say to him that we are crying out for someone on the Government Front Bench to grab hold of the lessons learned from the Macpherson inquiry and to finish the job, audit progress, reconvene a steering group and drive this forward. I really would not worry about the partisan risk in doing that. Frankly, there will be enough blame to go around: we will all have our share.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander James Jorden Norris (Labour, Centre-left): I appreciate that intervention from the hon. Gentleman. That lack of confidence has been seen across the piece. All young people have less confidence in the police than we do, on average, and that is a toxic situation. It means that reporting is not as strong as it could be, that people are not as willing as they should be to say when they are scared for their own safety, and that they are less likely to think of the police as a profession that is for them. The situation is toxic across the piece During our careers, a lot of us will have had a "never again" moment. Perhaps it has involved sitting with a bereaved parent talking about the loss of their child. That happened to me in my first couple of months as a councillor in 2011. I sat there feeling impotent, and I wished I could take the pain away, but I could not. At that time, I thought "never again", but that feeling dissipates over time. I have to tell colleagues and friends today that this is what "never again" is. It is grasping the moment and using our privileged position to say, "Here are 70 ways in which we were told that things would be better, but we have not finished the job yet. We must stand up and use our privileged position to do those things." It is time for that now: not just words, but actions.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Gordon Martin (Labour, Centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that a really good training process will have enough leeway to ensure that people who do not make the grade do not end up as police officers and that in order to do that we need the resources to recruit slightly more police officers than we actually need?
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): I am really interested in what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the types of training that police officers should have. I very much believe that training needs to happen in every tier within the police force. I am interested to hear about other forms of training, about how he thinks that training should and could be delivered and about how it would be resourced. In Lewisham, an organisation called Second Wave engages with young men and women within the community. It is a drama group, but it delivers training for police officers and it pairs up training with new recruits. The organisation has been flagged up as providing excellent training and, clearly, it is something that we should consider further.
Macpherson Report: 20th Anniversary — House of Commons, 2019-02-25
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Gordon Martin (Labour, Centre-left): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that much of the focus on the problems of gang violence and young people being targeted by criminals has fallen on the police force? However, an awful lot could and should have been done with youth and social services that might have helped to prevent some of the violence that we are seeing now.
EU Withdrawal Agreement — House of Commons, 2019-01-23
Topic: Foreign Trade
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): May I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s comments about Steffan Lewis? He and I worked together as young researchers in the National Assembly for Wales. We must remember the words of our colleague Jo Cox that we do have a lot more in common across this House and across the devolved institutions Will the Secretary of State simply rule out now, and make representations to the Prime Minister to rule out, no deal, so that the automotive industry in Bridgend—Ford in Bridgend employs many of my constituents—can have certainty beyond March? This continuing planning for no deal is providing no certainty to anybody.
EU Withdrawal Agreement — House of Commons, 2019-01-23
Topic: International Affairs
Christina Elizabeth Rees (Labour, Centre-left): I echo the words of the Secretary of State with regard to Steffan Lewis and Emiliano Sala The Secretary of State voted for the Prime Minister’s disastrously flawed withdrawal agreement—he was one of the few, not the many. Will he explain why the Government pretend that nothing has changed, despite their suffering the biggest defeat in parliamentary history?