argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Social Mobility Commission — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Social Welfare
Thelma Doris Walker (Labour, Centre-left): With all the board members of the Social Mobility Commission resigning, and with a new report released today by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showing that the number of lone-parent families in poverty has increased by 5% since 2010-11, does the Minister agree that the Government’s ambition for social mobility has failed?
Social Mobility Commission — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): The former commission was valued across the political spectrum for its independent advice. Can the Minister assure us that in contrast to Norwich’s social mobility opportunity board, where a crony has been appointed, he will consider allowing a Select Committee to appoint someone to this public position?
Social Mobility Commission — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Education
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister confirm whether he or the Education Secretary has had the chance to speak to any members of the board since their resignation and to establish whether the wholesale closure of our children’s centres across the country, including the 25 in Warwickshire, contributed to their resignations?
Social Mobility Commission — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Social Welfare
Rupa Asha Huq (Labour, Centre-left): The commissioners who have resigned claim there is a lack of Government seriousness on social mobility, as evidenced by the fact that the millennials are the first generation ever to earn less than the previous generation. Is what pushed the commissioners over the edge the fact that, under this Government, things can only get worse?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Peter John Kyle (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. After incessant briefing for the past two days that the Prime Minister and the Government were close to a deal, it has emerged in the past few seconds that she is going to come home empty-handed, with no deal. This shambles puts into perspective the constitutional settlement for our country, so can we expect her to make a statement tomorrow?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Michael John Gapes (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The media are reporting that a Europe Minister is at this moment briefing Conservative MPs about what has been happening in Brussels. Do you have any indication whether Members of the other parties will be given a briefing or a statement by the Brexit Department about issues such as regulatory divergence?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): It is a pleasure to serve under your guidance, Mrs Laing. I will speak to new clauses 64 and 65, as well as to amendments 42 and 337, which stand in my name and those of my right hon. and hon. Friends New clause 64 would establish a collaborative procedure for the creation of UK-wide frameworks. It would require that the Secretary of State must lay before each House proposals for replacing European frameworks with UK ones. We need those frameworks to enable the functioning of the UK internal market; to ensure compliance with international obligations; to ensure the UK can negotiate and enter into international treaties, or, if we leave the customs union, trade agreements; to enable the management of common resources; to administer and provide access to justice in cases with a cross-border element; and to safeguard the security of the UK. The frameworks will have a significant impact on the carefully constructed devolution settlements in the Union. They must be created in collaboration with the devolved Administrations The birth of devolved Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was a significant change to the running of the United Kingdom. The then Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, battled to extract powers from Whitehall mandarins, who attempted to cling on to them. Then, as now, the default position of Whitehall is to hold on to power whenever possible. There are those who believe that this pro-Whitehall centralising tendency, on display yet again in clause 11, is evidence of the Tories’ reluctance to engage with devolved Administrations, or, even worse, that it signals a persistence of their initial opposition to devolution as a point of principle I am pleased to say that I am not one of those people. I believe we have come a long way since 1997, thanks in large part to the persistence of Donald Dewar and others. I sense that the Government’s decision to withhold retained EU powers in Whitehall is not an anti-devolution stance, but instead one of the clearest indications yet that the Government are just not coping with the task of Brexit. The Government simply have not had the ministerial headspace—or, as Alan Milburn said, the bandwidth—to engage with the consequences of Brexit for the established, yet still young, devolution settlements now in place.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): I completely agree with the point my hon. Friend is making so eloquently. Does the news from Brussels in the last few minutes about the complexity of the negotiations not show that the Bill, and the whole process of Brexit, will have far greater consequences for our country, not just for the economy but our whole constitutional settlement and the way we run our affairs here in these islands? The very serious consequences needed to have been much more clearly thought through by the Government.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): I encourage Ministers to listen very carefully to what my hon. Friend says. Like me, he has a deep concern about what clause 11 may mean for the devolved Administrations. We watch with alarm the statements being made today. We hope the position is clarified very quickly.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right. People voted for these powers to be devolved and it is wrong for the Government to attempt to use Brexit as an excuse to bring them back to London The historian Professor Tom Devine called Scottish devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament "the most significant development in Scottish political history since the union of 1707." The Conservative party may have been opposed to devolution in the 1990s, and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Administrations may not have been conceived of in the early ’70s, but they are now an important and respected integral part of the constitutional architecture of our country The Good Friday agreement could never have succeeded without devolution to Northern Ireland, and, in the view of many of those involved at that time, the fact that devolution to Scotland and Wales took place at the same time as the Good Friday negotiations helped to ease some misgivings about the process Two nations of our Union voted to remain in the EU and two voted to leave. Our nations are run by different parties with different views about what Britain should look like after Brexit. The challenge for the Government therefore is significant. Just because it is challenging, however, does not mean the Government should attempt to take shortcuts that undermine the credibility, autonomy or sharing of decision making that are now an accepted feature of our democracy.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): We will have to wait until later this evening to see which Lobby they choose to walk through. I, like my hon. Friend, was encouraged by some of the comments from Ruth Davidson and her hopes for the new group of Conservative Tory MPs, but we shall see if they live up to the billing she has given them Whether they want to or not, the Government must adapt to the very different constitutional circumstances that now exist. They are very different from those that existed before 1973. Clause 11, which is intolerable to the devolved Administrations, sets it as the default that powers currently exercised in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast within EU frameworks will be ripped away and held in London. First Ministers are calling this a Whitehall power grab.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): I think that the hon. and learned Lady has not—if I may be polite—quite grasped what we are talking about. We are talking about a framework, within which the devolved Administrations currently make decisions, that is held now at the EU level. Our desire is for a UK framework that enables those decisions to continue to be made by the devolved Administrations. It is very different from saying, as I anticipate some Government Back Benchers will claim, "Well, the powers are currently held in Brussels, so why is everybody so worried about it?" Actually, the decision making is held in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Susan Elan Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that in Wales devolution actually came in two tranches—in 1997, but also in 2011, when Wales voted overwhelmingly for full law-making powers—and that any rolling back of those powers would be simply unacceptable and anti-Welsh in the extreme?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Vernon Coaker (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is talking about the UK framework and the devolved Administrations. Would she care to comment on the quite astonishing scenes we have witnessed today? It is apparent that the Government have not spoken to the Northern Ireland First Minister about what should happen with respect to any deal. If we are to have special arrangements—or special alignment—between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland, what is wrong with giving the whole UK that special alignment? It is called all of us staying in the customs union.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is highlighting the alarm with which we are witnessing the statements coming out today—the confusion, the briefing, the counter-briefing—and with which we contemplate the destabilisation, particularly in Northern Ireland, that could result. We are deeply concerned about it. I will resist making any specific comment until we have a much clearer picture of the situation, but I am sure that every Member will want to ensure that the negotiations proceed this week and that there is a clearer outcome. The Prime Minister has asked for that to happen at the end of the week. We are expecting a full statement tomorrow, and we look forward to it. I am sure that some very serious questions will be asked of the Prime Minister tomorrow about the conduct of the negotiations.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): Is there not a really important point that the Government seem to forget? When they are negotiating about a border, or no border, or about divergence from or convergence with a regulatory framework on the island of Ireland, they must speak to the First Minister of Wales as well, because the vast majority of the exports from Ireland into the rest of the European Union go through Wales. There is no point in coming up with a Bill that simply ignores the devolved Administrations.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that the Government seem to have acted in a rather high-handed way with all the devolved Administrations on a matter that is so fundamental to the future of the citizens of this country.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): I sincerely hope that that will not be the outcome, but I have to admire the hon. and learned Lady’s ability to spot an opportunity and take it. The Government have never argued that these powers need to be in London or that they intend to hold on to them permanently. Rather, it seems that they feel that tackling the undoubted complexities of considering how to make new arrangements with the devolved Administrations post Brexit belongs in the "too difficult" pile—something to be put off until there is more time and there are fewer distractions. However, there are no time limits on when the Government will cease to hoard the powers. While the hard-line Brexiteers on the Back Benches are promised a time and date—to the very nanosecond—for when they will see powers returned from Brussels, the nations of our Union are told to wait indefinitely. The people of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland deserve better from the Government The Government agree with Labour and the devolved Administrations that frameworks are needed—I think—and new clause 64 assists them by outlining how that can be achieved. The presumption should be that powers remain devolved as is the case now, and that UK frameworks are created to co-ordinate policy in some areas through negotiation with the devolved Administrations. To do anything else would turn back the clock on devolution—impossible—and cause untold damage to important relationships between Parliaments As well as having the motivation and attention to address this issue, the Government need to trust the devolved Administrations. That is why our proposal makes explicit the obligations on each Government and the nature of the frameworks needed. So far, the Government have not exactly shone in their endeavour to develop a UK-wide approach to Brexit, so new clause 65 helps by putting the Joint Ministerial Committee on a statutory footing It is important to reflect on the absence of representation from Northern Ireland on the JMC. The suspension of the Executive is deeply regrettable, and permits the neglect of the needs, concerns, ambitions and hopes of the people of Northern Ireland. Their voices must not go unheard at this most critical of moments, but need to be amplified, as it is they who have the most to lose from a chaotic departure from the EU.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): The new clause is not intended to cause conflict—we already have a certain degree of conflict between the Administrations—but, rather, to remove that conflict, and to provide a mechanism by which issues can be resolved. Hearteningly, the JMC seems to have started to function rather better than it did when we last went around this particular issue. It has issued statements that explain how it wants these frameworks to be established, so it does not seem to be too much of a leap to write that into the Bill. The right hon. and learned Gentleman will probably remember our attempt to put the JMC on a statutory footing when we considered the article 50 Bill, but this time the Brexit negotiations are upon us. The Government have lost their majority since our last attempt, so I encourage Ministers to take a more conciliatory approach this time. New clauses 64 and 65 would force the Government to respect both the devolution of decisions, and those who are responsible for taking the decisions.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that the JMC should be producing communiqués that give the public and this House slightly more information? The communiqué published on 16 October merely stated the attendees and apologies, and concluded: "Ministers noted the positive progress being made on consideration of common frameworks" Does my hon. Friend agree that we need slightly more information?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): On the point about conflict that was raised by the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), it seems to be the way in which the Bill has been structured that creates the conflict. The Government could have done this differently. They could have said, "You can have all the powers back and we will hold a veto." The question is about getting agreement on the frameworks when they are necessary. The two new clauses to which my hon. Friend is speaking seem to me—and, I am sure, to many people—to set out a really practical way of bringing the two sides together to get those agreements. That is the route by which we will find a way through this problem.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Government Operations
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): I understand what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but I think he is dancing on the head of a pin. We want the creation of the frameworks to be done collaboratively by the devolved Administrations and the Government.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Agriculture
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): The Joint Ministerial Committee said that it wanted frameworks to be created in this way, I think at the time when the right hon. Gentleman was a Minister, so I really do not understand what his objection is today We need look no further than Wales to learn of the practical benefits of devolution. It is right that Cardiff should decide the best way to support farmers in Wales, within an agreed framework but according to their needs and priorities. Jobs Growth Wales has so far supported the employment of 17,000 young people using European funding. That decision would not have been possible if the arrangements proposed by the Government had been in place at the time. When I was first elected, the Tories and the Lib Dems scrapped the almost identical future jobs fund in 2010. Such decisions were devolved for good reason, and we will support the devolved Administrations in keeping them. Amendments 42 and 337, alongside new clause 64, would allow the Government until the end of the transitional arrangements to create UK frameworks. I want to make it clear to the Minister that in tabling these new clauses and amendments, Labour is attempting to assist the Government by enabling the devolved Administrations to be engaged in decisions that have a direct impact on their people. If the Government accept our criticisms and proposed improvements, Ministers will find that they have a less turbulent time in the months ahead. Do the Government really think that it is wise to pass a Bill to which the devolved Administrations are so hostile? Ministers need to focus on negotiating the best possible deal for all the people of the UK, not on embroiling themselves in constitutional rows with Edinburgh and Cardiff.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman appears to be making light of the powers coming back from the EU. The Welsh and Scottish Governments were promised that the powers would go to those Administrations. The powers cover a huge number of areas. The Scottish Government reckon there are 111 returning powers, and the Welsh Government reckon the figure is 64. A huge number of areas are coming back here, rather than going to where devolved competence exists. While he is at it, will he tell us which way Monmouthshire voted in the EU referendum?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: Environment
Madeleine Moon (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman was a Member of the Welsh Assembly for some considerable time. Is he saying that if he were still there he would not be arguing in Wales, in the Welsh Assembly, for the powers in the 140 distinct policy areas that have devolved responsibility, many of them in relation to the environment, to come back to the Welsh Assembly? Would he be happy for the Westminster Parliament to make those decisions on behalf of Wales?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): I was happy to put my name to amendment 72 because it is not about whether we want this Brexit Bill to go forward or not—a leaver or a remainer could support amendment 72—but about respecting the constitutional settlement and respecting the rights of the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-04
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, whose amendments I will support this evening; I believe the SNP will be supporting Labour’s. In that spirit of consensus, may I probe a little further into what he is saying about the independence referendum? I have still to find anyone who supports independence who can explain to me how they think the EU single market is such a good thing but the UK single market is not.