argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Civil Rights
Narendra Babubhai Patel (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I had amendments that the Minister responded to at the Dispatch Box and I accepted her explanation at the time. Now I take the point that the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, is trying to raise, that those principles that she enunciated about data protection included the Caldicott principles. As that reassurance was given at the Dispatch Box, I think it will cover the issue.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Other
Igor Judge (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I have already spoken warmly about the efforts by the noble Baroness, Lady Blackwood, and referred to us having a little touch of Blackwood in this House. Let it continue. I should like what has happened today to be habit-forming.
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Other
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): Perhaps I may add a few words to those of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge. I was particularly concerned by Clause 5(3), as the noble Baroness may remember, and am delighted to see it removed because, as worded, it gave rise to a lot of problems. Together with the other amendments proposed, there is considerable improvement and I am most grateful.
Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) (No. 2) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-03-12
Topic: Housing
Paul Anthony Elliott Bew (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I support the two Bills and thank the Minister for arranging the briefing from his officials in the Northern Ireland Office yesterday. During that discussion, I was struck by a point already raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, this evening: the possibility of a University of Ulster medical school in Magee. The cost mentioned in yesterday’s meeting was £30 million. I asked officials about the cost of the current inquiry into the Scappaticci affair, which according to press reports has cleared £35 million, but no one knew the answer I am here making a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Empey, which is that the expense of these legacy inquiries really mounts up. In principle, at least, obvious social goods for the future of Northern Ireland might be obtained if money was not going in that direction on the dramatic scale it has in the past. The Bloody Sunday inquiry, for which I was proud to be an historical adviser, has cost £200 million and is still going on. At the time of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, I did not believe that we would still be having these inquiries, and there are many more to come unless, somehow or other, we get a grip on this. Otherwise, there will not be a medical school in Magee or many other social benefits in Northern Ireland in future I have one more point to make to the noble Lord the Minister. I think he is perfectly aware that Northern Ireland housing associations are restricted in their operation by a definition from the Office for National Statistics. This issue was raised in the other place when the legislation was debated, and on 6 March the Secretary of State seemed to hold out the prospect of legislation, although the situation was not made completely clear. I am pressing the noble Lord on the issue of timing. Can we have action before the summer? I understand that he may need to write to me. This is a way to expand social housing, affordable housing, in Northern Ireland without putting any pressure on the block grant. It would therefore be very helpful if progress could be made in that area.
Brexit: The Customs Challenge (European Union Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2019-04-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Hugh Dykes (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, in this House we are fortunate to have had many reports about Brexit and all its complications from the various sub-committees and the main European Union Committee. I am sure we are very grateful to all Members who have worked hard on those reports. They are of immense detail and complexity, but also immense conviction and persuasion. That does not gainsay my feeling at the end of reading them all carefully, which I try to do if I can: one comes to the inevitable conclusion that there is no substitute for actually staying in the European Union I very much congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, on leading this discussion of the report and the other three members of the committee who have spoken so far. I thought the concluding remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, on the numbers were very relevant and need looking at again. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Horam, for his words highlighting the dangers and difficulties of producing the customs union concept in the way that my great friend Kenneth Clarke was trying to explain properly on the radio this morning. He did a very good job but there are many minuses as well as many pluses On the report itself, I agree very strongly with all the remarks made by the three ensuing speakers, with their worries and anxieties about what this all means. I hope the Minister will kindly look at the report’s conclusions, on page 48. I am particularly concerned about paragraph 191, which states: "The UK Government’s estimate that 96% of UK goods trade would be able to pay the correct or no tariff up front and not go through the repayment mechanism has been challenged. We call on the Government to clarify the methodology it used to arrive at the 96% figure" Then, on a totally different subject, paragraph 193 states: "We welcome the Government’s stated intention to uphold current UK food standards and not lower them in free trade agreements with third countries" All that is a danger if we go ahead with this matter. I beg to differ, and conclude with a few remarks about the broader scene now facing us in what is yet another—although not the final—emergency, drastic week for this House, and particularly for the House of Commons.
Brexit: The Customs Challenge (European Union Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2019-04-01
Topic: Other
Hugh Dykes (Crossbench, Unknown): I am sorry to interrupt the noble Lord, as I agree strongly with his words, but in the context of what he was saying two sentences ago can he estimate the number of people who accompanied Nigel Farage on his long trip from Sunderland?
Brexit: The Erasmus and Horizon Programmes (European Union Committee Report) — House of Lords, 2019-04-01
Topic: Other
Karan Bilimoria (Crossbench, Unknown): I am extremely sorry and thank the Minister for giving way. I asked quite a few pointed questions and he has not answered any of them. I would be grateful if he could write to me, copy in all Members who have participated and put a copy in the Library of the House.
Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Other
John Anderson (Crossbench, Unknown): I think that every Member who has taken an interest in this has been in the Chamber, so the Minister can probably be allowed to continue. That is my view, but other Members may think differently.
Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Immigration
John Anderson (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, following on from the point made about stamps in passports, and as a procedural point, would the Minister confirm that all persons exiting the UK are now properly registered as having left the UK? There was a point in recent times when that was not the case. There were stamps for entry, but I understand not for exiting. Clarification at an appropriate time would be helpful.
Jurisdiction and Judgments (Family) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-03-18
Topic: Domestic Commerce
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, the amendment which the regulation seeks to make is obviously highly desirable. However, I have a question for the Minister, because I cannot for the life of me see how it achieves its purpose in expanding the financial remedies available under domestic legislation. As far as I can see, the only passage which might possibly have a bearing is Regulation 2(2)(a), where we are told that the words, "in relation to matters relating to maintenance", are being deleted. Without more context, it is extremely difficult to see whether this achieves what the regulation seeks to do. I am happy to take the Minister’s assurance that it does, or perhaps he can explain it a bit more. It is characteristic that these instruments are so economically worded that, without a whole lot of legislative material in hand, it is sometimes hard to make sense of them.
Liaison Committee Report — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Other
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): I assure the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, that although I am a member of the committee I am not a political member at all. When I look at the subjects, politics simply does not come into my choosing. I confess that I did my best for him to enable the subject to get some kind of an airing—in a way that he did not accept—by trying to put it into post-legislative scrutiny. It was very much second best, but I was trying my best in the atmosphere I was party to. Politics did not come into it. If you look at the successful candidates, they were of very high merit. I am afraid that the problem is that it is always a competition. There may be other ways of handling that competition but, in the end, no subject has priority over the others: they compete according to the rules set out by the Senior Deputy Speaker.
Liaison Committee Report — House of Lords, 2019-03-28
Topic: Other
Colin MacKenzie Low (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I, too, am a member of the Liaison Committee and want to echo what other noble Lords have said in tribute to the work of the members of staff who support the committee. They do so in an extraordinarily professional way. The scoping reports that they produce on the various suggestions that have been made are of an exemplarily objective character. I get no sense of any attempt to lead the committee. If one gets any sense from reading the briefing papers in advance of the committee that their reports tend in a particular direction, I can only say that it is not uncommon to be disabused of any initial impressions one might have gathered from reading the papers as soon as one turns up to the committee. There is very lively debate on the proposals made and the supporting reports produced by the members of staff, which often leads to a change of view. We should not worry on any account that the staff have any undue influence over the conclusions that the committee reaches.
Religious Persecution — House of Lords, 2019-07-11
Topic: Immigration
Andrew Fleming (Crossbench, Unknown): I realise that the Minister may be about to answer the point, but the reason there are no Christian refugees accepted is because they are not safe in the refugee camps. Is she about to deal with that?
Privileges and Conduct — House of Lords, 2019-04-30
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ruth Deech (Crossbench, Unknown): The point I actually made was about the difficulty of defining acting on your personal honour. I also remind the noble Baroness, who once had a very senior position at the BBC, that even the BBC, one of our most independent and proud organisations, known around the world almost as much as this House, had a very incestuous complaints-handling scheme. In the end it was handed over to Ofcom, because that is the way things are going. Even the BBC had to accept that.
Overseas Students: TOEIC Tests — House of Lords, 2019-04-30
Topic: Immigration
David Hugh Alexander Hannay (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am entirely prepared to await the reports now under consideration which the Minister says will be the object of Statements in both Houses when their conclusions are reached, but could we please not elide the action taken quite correctly by the coalition Government to close down a huge number of dodgy language schools—which all of us strongly supported and where we believe a good job was done—with what is going now? Let us start a little bit later than that and see what is being done now. For example—perhaps the Minister could reply to this, too—it is not sensible to create the impression that a huge number of people on education visas are overstaying. We now have statistical evidence that it is a tiny number, yet for years Home Office Ministers stood at the Dispatch Box saying that it was a huge number. The interest of our universities, which are a major national asset, was not well served by stories of the sort that we are hearing now. As I said, it is perfectly reasonable for the Minister to say, "Wait, please, till the NAO has reported; wait till the Home Secretary has had a glance at that", but can we not rake over all these old stories when we come to the report but start from somewhere a little nearer the present time?
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-07-10
Topic: Other
Nuala O'Loan (Crossbench, Unknown): I just want to ask the noble Lord a question. Can he explain why Sinn Féin should come back to the negotiating table, when it got what it asked for? Why should it come back? There is no reason whatever.
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-07-10
Topic: Civil Rights
John Taylor (Crossbench, Unknown): I require clarity on this. Is it correct—or did I misunderstand the Minister’s initial statement—that he has been having meetings with the honourable Members from the other place, Creasy and McGinn, and trying to facilitate amendments to this Northern Ireland Bill about abortion and same-sex marriage?
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill — House of Lords, 2019-07-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nuala O'Loan (Crossbench, Unknown): I do not want to be difficult, and I thank the Minister for giving way. If I want to table an amendment, draft it on the basis of the Bill before us and then something different is produced, my amendment will be pointless. What about the report of the Constitution Committee, which said that law relating to Northern Ireland should not be dealt with in this rushed way, and that it is totally unacceptable?
EEA Nationals (Indefinite Leave to Remain) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2019-07-19
Topic: Immigration
John Anderson (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords I was in two minds about the need for the Bill brought by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, as I was unsure how elements were different in their effect from what the Government have already guaranteed through the pre-settled and settled status scheme. However, listening to the noble Lord’s introductory remarks, and given the current vagaries of the political arena—and this is a political matter—I have been persuaded otherwise It has always been a source of constant amazement, tallying the anomaly of decision-makers professing a global outlook for this country while being insular in approach. Not much need be said in support of the Bill, as it is not as if, from the word go, the Government have not been counselled—in this place and elsewhere. We all want the best for the UK, but—the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, captured the situation—we should be magnanimous and practical, we should consider the national interest, we should consider the uncertainty it causes and the plight that further uncertainty would cause, we should not fall foul of moral ineptitude but beware not to create a latter-day partition of sorts—not our finest moment Obstacles to working this out are time, political will and legal uncertainty—to which I may add that personal experience of the immigration decision-making process taught me that there is ill in the system. The rights situation and precarious status should be removed. It ill befits a country that prides itself as a global leader It should be noted that a number of EU countries—in my case, Portugal—have rightly acquiesced on citizens’ rights, whatever the UK’s upheaval. Who knows? It may well be that the UK will want to ally itself strategically to the EEA and EU in one form or another—so best not to upset the apple cart with aspects identified by the noble Lord, Lord Oates I ask for clarification on one point for the record: the question of who constitutes a family member who could accompany. The Minister may wish to comment on that point In conclusion, the time to address this is now. For reasons I have put before the House and so as not to leave anything to chance, I commend the Bill and encourage your Lordships to fast track it to the next stage.
Chair of the European Union Committee — House of Lords, 2019-09-09
Topic: Other
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, on behalf of these Benches, I too welcome the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, to this very important post. I think we can all agree that a safe pair of hands is required in these uncertain times and he can undoubtedly provide us with exactly that quality; I too wish him well for what lies ahead. I join others in paying tribute to the work that has been done on behalf of these Benches by the noble Lord, Lord Boswell. I take particular pleasure in doing so because it was invariably from these Benches that he addressed the House when he was presenting the reports of his committee, as he felt it was appropriate to do. As has been said, he presided over his committee, to the work of which he was utterly devoted, with great skill and authority; these qualities came through time and again when he was presenting these many reports Behind the scenes, both at home and abroad, the noble Lord worked tirelessly and always with good humour to maintain his committee’s authority and reputation. It is no exaggeration to say that, having earned the support and admiration of his colleagues, he transformed the work of the committee. He gathered so much into the committee itself, on top of what was being reported to it from its sub-committees. Instead of sitting once a month as was the position to begin with, latterly it was sitting each week and perhaps even more often than once. That is some testament to the qualities that he brought and the importance he attached to its work. The noble Lord was particularly keen to stress—I am sure he would like me to mention this—that leaving the EU ought not to mean that his committee should cease to exist. That was his response to the challenges of Brexit, along with all the others mentioned. The House owes much to his initiative and dedication. His voice is always a pleasure to listen to and his presence always commands attention. There is so much about his chairmanship to admire and for which to be grateful. I join all those who have already spoken in extending to the noble Lord our warmest thanks and good wishes.
Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition — House of Lords, 2019-07-16
Topic: Civil Rights
Frances D'Souza (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, at a time when the UK needs to do all it can to boost its reputation for upholding the rule of law, and when it is possible that next week we will have a Prime Minister who has publicly condoned waterboarding, could the Minister reassure the House that any forthcoming Statement will be the result of examination of and statements from all witnesses to these practices?
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2019-07-24
Topic: Other
James Hope (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am a latecomer to these engagements, but I want on behalf of these Benches to pay my own tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, for his time working with me as Chief Whip. We have had a very straightforward relationship and a position of mutual trust which has been of great benefit to me. As a newcomer to the political scene in this House, it has been of enormous encouragement to me to deal with him and I am most grateful.
Message from the Queen — House of Lords, 2019-11-05
Topic: Other
William Peel (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I have the honour to present to your Lordships a message from Her Majesty the Queen, signed by her own hand. The message is as follows: "I have received with great satisfaction the dutiful and loyal expression of your thanks for the Speech with which I opened the present Session of Parliament".
Tributes to Mr Keith Phipps — House of Lords, 2019-11-05
Topic: Other
Igor Judge (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, on behalf of the Cross-Benchers, I enthusiastically support what has already been said. But the three words I want to use have not been used: "Salubritas Et Industria". For the benefit of the Cross-Benchers, that is Latin. It is the motto of Swindon Town Football Club. I say this with feeling, because the most important game in Swindon Town’s football history was a 4-3 win in a playoff for promotion to the Premier League in 1993. It was one of the greatest games ever played at Wembley. Swindon scored three goals by half-time; they were home and dry. The opposition scored three goals, so it was 3-3. Then the ref gave a penalty to Swindon Town. The opposition team was Leicester City—my team since I was a boy. I have always had my doubts about that penalty, but for today I will say, as Mr Ranieri once said, "If the ref says is a penalty, is a penalty". The result was that Swindon went up to the Premier League, and within a very few months, on the wings of that great triumph, Mr Phipps came here. Here he has stayed Industria et salubritas. Looking at my own translation, "industria", as we are all well aware, means work. We have had nothing but work from him, whenever it has been needed. "Salubritas" means health; as we wish him a diminution in his work, we on the Cross Benches wish him all possible good health and a serene, peaceful retirement.
Intelligence and Security Committee Report — House of Lords, 2019-11-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jean Coussins (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, I am sure the report may well be sensitive but, as I understand it from the exchanges in this House yesterday, all the relevant security agencies have already given their approval for publication. Why does the Prime Minister not have confidence in their judgment?
Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019 — House of Lords, 2019-11-05
Topic: Civil Rights
Mary Watkins (Crossbench, Unknown): My Lords, as a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, I have had the opportunity of carefully considering these regulations. There are, without doubt, still imperfections with regard to the conversion of opposite-sex civil partnerships to marriage, as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, outlined so well. However, we need to proceed so that people who wish to have a civil partnership but are of the opposite sex are not disadvantaged. The noble Lord, Lord Collins, gave me some time at lunchtime to discuss this, because I feared that he might want to hold it up. His remarks, and those of the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, this afternoon brought home to me how very fortunate I was 38 years ago to be able to marry the person I love, and that other people were unable to form similar relationships because they were of the same sex. I thank those noble Lords for their generosity and support in enabling people of opposite sexes to have a civil partnership if they wish to, often for very personal reasons. I know of one person who was married but in a very abusive relationship who feels she could never marry again but would like a civil partnership I greatly appreciate that your Lordships do not want to hold this up, despite the fact that there remain some inequalities, which it is essential that the next Parliament resolves. I ask the Minister to ensure that opposite-sex couples will be able to form civil partnerships by the end of this year.