argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Edward Jenrick (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that while much has been said in recent weeks about the importance of working with others across the aisle in the national interest, not everyone seems to like that in practice? Does he agree with the words of Ronald Reagan, I think, who said that someone you agree with 80% of the time is 80% friend and ally, not 20% enemy?
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I confess that I had never heard that extremely good quotation before. I am grateful to my hon. Friend and I will use it shamelessly My hon. Friend is quite right. Having sat for four years in a coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats, I am happy to admit that there will be times when one has very strong disagreements with people in another party but can still work alongside them in the interests of the country as a whole. That is a duty that we should all take on board.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): That is not part of the agreement, so it is not directly relevant to my statement today, but I am sure that the House will have heard my hon. Friend and will no doubt wish to discuss those matters further.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I think the hon. Gentleman was in election campaign mode for a moment there. I gently remind him that no hon. or right hon. Member should be named in this place—perhaps least of all the Prime Minister. It was to the Prime Minister that he was referring; no name is required.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): There has been much reference to the national interest this afternoon, and I commend my right hon. Friend for doing a deal with the DUP in the national interest. However, given this crucial time in our history and the challenges that lie ahead, does he agree that now is the time for Labour to work constructively with the Government for the greater good of the nation, not to seek to score political points?
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Nigel Paul Huddleston (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the First Secretary agree that it is perfectly sensible that there should be a consultation on VAT rates in tourism in Northern Ireland? Uniquely within the UK, it has a land border with another country that has a lower VAT rate on tourism—9%—and is therefore currently at a competitive disadvantage.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very pleased that, as the hon. Gentleman will know, talks have already started on the Belfast city deal, which I hope can be concluded as fast as possible so that Belfast can enjoy the benefits that other cities, including Glasgow and Cardiff, already have. Apart from anything else, it would be a good symbol of the United Kingdom Government acting in the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome another of my hon. Friends to his place. He is exactly right. The city deals and the city region deals have proved one of the most successful innovations of this Government. I look forward to the people of his constituency benefiting from them, as people in constituencies across the UK already have.
Northern Ireland — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Civil Rights
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome this agreement, but does the First Secretary of State agree that the injustice—because that is what it is—of women from Northern Ireland who seek terminations being charged to have them on the mainland by the NHS is nothing at all to do with this agreement? It is an entirely separate matter. To that end, does he agree that the Government should consider this matter, because it is not fair that women from Northern Ireland seeking terminations should be charged by the NHS here in this country?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): There will be no more tragic matter treated of in this House in this Parliament than that which is before us now, in consequence of which I want every Member who wishes to contribute to the exchanges to have the opportunity to do so. It might, however, help the House if I point out that there are a would-be 52 contributors in the debate to come. As a result, there is a premium upon brevity from Back and Front Benchers alike, now to be brilliantly exemplified by the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith).
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
George Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my right hon. Friend for the action he is taking, the urgency with which he is seeing this process through and the way he wants to drive it through, but to return to the points raised by the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman, there is one issue we need to revisit in parallel and to get on with as fast as we can. My main concern is that, as we look at the cladding and all the other issues, such as the windows in these tower blocks, which can explode into flames if they are made of the wrong type of glass—that is often overlooked among the other things, such as the fire doors—we should really ask ourselves the simple question, and have a real review into, whether it is necessary any longer in many cases to have these older tower blocks, and whether we would not be better off taking a very strong decision to bring some of these tower blocks down and to provide much better, much more family-friendly low-rise, or even council house, accommodation. Will my right hon. Friend comment on that?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for his remarks— he makes a very good point. Our most urgent work right now is to make existing tower blocks safe, but there are also longer term consequences, and that includes looking at our whole approach to social housing and the quality of social housing.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady for all her important points and questions. On funding, we have made it clear that all the local authorities and housing associations absolutely must do all the necessary work, and we will work with each of them to make sure they have the funding they need if funding is preventing them from doing that work On the tenancy agreements for the Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk residents, the terms will be the same or better, whatever housing they eventually receive—whether it is temporary or permanent On Scotland, the hon. Lady made a good point. Scotland has already identified around 500 high-rise buildings with cladding, but none of them has ACM cladding. Scottish building regulations certainly deserve a closer look, and as we do a wider review, we should certainly take that into account.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Mark James Harper (Conservative, Centre-right): The most worrying thing in the Secretary of State’s statement was when he said that none of the examples of cladding so far had met the requirements in the building regulations but had clearly been fitted to buildings. May I urge him to make that the first thing he asks his independent expert advisory panel to look at? If we have widespread non-compliance with existing building regulations, that is the most urgent thing we need to deal with to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy elsewhere in the country.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with my right hon. Friend. That is a very urgent question that is already being looked at. Once we have the independent panel established, which will be from tomorrow morning, that is one of the first things it will be tasked with.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Immigration
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I thank the hon. Lady for the reassurance that she has been providing to her constituents, many of whom are looking for support from across Government and elsewhere. She has been a very reassuring figure locally, and I thank her for that On her particular question on immigration, I can absolutely give her that assurance. We have already made it clear that any information that anyone coming forward provides either to Government or local government will not be used for any kind of immigration check. That has been put in a letter that has been given to every affected family. If the hon. Lady has some further suggestions about how we can get that message out, as I think we should follow up on those, I would be very happy to listen.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the rapid pace of testing of the cladding. It is shocking to hear that so many tower blocks are unsafe. We have heard about the situation in Camden, where tower blocks are being evacuated. Does my right hon. Friend expect other councils to manage evacuations of tower blocks?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Public Lands
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Thankfully, no other councils have come forward so far with a need to have an evacuation. There are many more tests to take place, so I do not want to prejudge them, but hopefully what has happened in Camden will be a rare occurrence. As I said earlier, in the case of Camden, in particular, the cladding was a trigger for further fire safety inspections, but it was the massive failure of those further fire safety inspections that caused the evacuation.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Public Lands
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course, local fire and rescue services must have the resources that they need, but in the assessment that was done with Camden in recent days, there is nothing to suggest that that was the issue that might have led to an evacuation. As the hon. Lady is rightly concerned about her constituents, I am sure that she will be hugely concerned with what has come out of the fire inspection report on the towers in Camden, particularly the issue around the fire doors. I am focusing my efforts right now on making sure that Camden can get all that remedial work done, with significant help from Government to ensure that those fire doors are in place as soon as possible.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nigel Paul Huddleston (Conservative, Centre-right): Regrettably, it would appear that unsafe cladding is widespread. It exists where there are Labour councils, Conservative councils, and councils of other colours; it was put up during Labour Administrations and Conservative Administrations. Does the Secretary of State share my concern and regret, therefore, to hear some party politicisation of this tragedy, and hope that we can all work together across parties to make sure that it never happens again?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Other
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree very much with my hon. Friend. As I said in my statement, clearly some things have gone drastically and catastrophically wrong. It has happened over a number of decades. If we are going to put that right, we can do it if we all work together.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Maria Frances Lewis Miller (Conservative, Centre-right): May I commend my right hon. Friend for his extensive statement to the House? All our thoughts must still be with those affected by these dreadful events. I welcome the systemic testing of cladding material. What would be the legal ramifications if landlords failed to make use of that service or, indeed, to ensure that their property is safe? Secondly, does my right hon. Friend agree that local authorities should review the use of high-rise accommodation for disabled and very elderly people?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me start by addressing my right hon. Friend’s final point about disabled and very elderly people. Of course, special circumstances will be required in situations such as evacuation in case of fire. That should certainly be taken into account by local fire services looking at those buildings and carrying out a further inspection. On the legal ramifications, if a landlord does not submit something for testing when there is good reason to do so, it is the legal responsibility of every landlord in the country, whether the property is social or private, to make sure that it is safe in every way for tenants, and there will certainly be action.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Public Lands
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I thank the hon. Gentleman for the work he has done over a number of years to promote fire safety. He has secured this evening’s Adjournment debate, to which my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, will respond. I am sure that will enable the hon. Gentleman to further explore his question and others. In the light of the tragedy, this particular panel will possibly have a broader remit, and its membership might also be broader, including through taking on international experience.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani (Conservative, Centre-right): The horror of Grenfell Tower will remain with victims and their families and friends for generations. Will my right hon. Friend expand on the role of the victims unit, in particular the work it is doing with children who have lost a parent and those adults who have lost the English-speaking member of their family?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Immigration
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The victims unit, which is now based in my Department, has a number of officials from at least six Departments. The idea is that if any victim, family member or friend has any issue that central Government can help with—it might relate to immigration, tax and benefits or housing—they would have to deal with only one individual, making it much easier for them.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I reassure the right hon. Gentleman that funding is already being provided by central Government in certain circumstances. We have made it clear that if there is an issue and the remedial work to make a property safe cannot be done immediately, as was the case in Camden, the local authority should not hesitate but should take action immediately, regardless of cost, to make residents safe. When the local authority needs funding support, we will work with it and provide that support.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Robert Alexander Courts (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Secretary of State for his full and detailed statement. I am sure that all Members on both sides of the House are united in their determination that the horrific events at Grenfell will never happen again. I am enormously encouraged by the announcement that there will be a full public inquiry. Will the Secretary of State give a commitment that that inquiry will not be allowed to drag and that it will happen as soon as possible? We need answers, and quickly.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend refers to the public inquiry that was announced by the Prime Minister last week. It will be a judge-led fully independent inquiry. We should not prejudge the terms of the inquiry because they will be set by the judge. The issue of timing is important, but it is also important to ensure that the victims are properly represented, as the Prime Minister has promised that they will be.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady is right to raise that issue, and the police report on Grenfell Tower rightly focuses on it. I will not say anything more about Grenfell Tower, as it is important that I do not get involved in that, but, more broadly, it is possible that a test could show that cladding was category 1, which is the correct type, but that the insulation was the wrong type. Since the police report, we have worked with the Local Government Association to update the advice that is going to local councils. We are looking at what is the best way to respond and to ensure that insulation is also looked at properly.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew James Bridgen (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend share my disappointment that this tragedy has been politicised so heavily by senior members of the Labour party? How long does he think the public inquiry will take to come to conclusions? Is there any evidence that the panelling has been used in countries other than ours?
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): What the public want to see—this is what they are seeing today in this Chamber—is everyone working together. The timing of the public inquiry will be up to the judge, but it is hoped that the judge might see fit to produce an interim report that we can act on much more quickly.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I can only repeat what I said earlier: whether it is removing cladding, taking other necessary action to improve the fire safety of buildings or rehousing, local authorities should get on with it, just like in Camden. The first thought there was not, "How exactly are we going to fund this?" The council rightly got on with action and made the tenants safe. The Government will then work with those local authorities that cannot afford that to provide necessary support.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): On the timeline, the offer of temporary accommodation will be made within three weeks. On permanent accommodation, we have already found a number of units. Some people are starting to look at them, and my expectation is that we can hopefully do that within months and move very quickly, as long as that is what the tenants want. I, too, welcome the hon. Lady’s experience at Shelter. She may be aware that Shelter is giving tremendous help on the ground in Kensington to a lot of the tenants who have concerns over whether temporary really means temporary, and I hugely welcome that.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will know that, as we speak, it is a legal requirement for local authorities and housing associations that they ensure that the homes they offer to tenants are fit for habitation. They should be meeting those requirements already. I gave the example of Camden; it should already have been meeting those requirements. Despite that, if authorities and associations are not able to do that from their current resources, they should get on with the job and meet those requirements, and we will work with them and give them the support they need.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady raises a very important point. This is often the case, although not exclusively. Many leaseholders have removed fire doors, which is clearly not acceptable. I believe that all the legal powers are in place. Certainly, one of the lessons of this tragedy—this is certainly what we have seen in Camden—is to make sure we take a much greater interest in enforcement.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that we are clear on this. The coroner did not say in her 2013 report that all high-rise buildings should have sprinklers; she said that they should be considered where they are appropriate.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Birmingham City Council, like every other council, has a legal responsibility to its social tenants, so it should do whatever it believes is necessary. As I have said before, if there is an issue with funding for necessary works, we will provide the support
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. One of the lessons from this tragedy and what we are learning now is that we should look at the private sector much more carefully, including estate management companies.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure the hon. Gentleman that my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary and his Department are speaking to not just the manufacturer of the fridge-freezer concerned with regard to Grenfell Tower but a number of other manufacturers of white goods, some of which already have products on recall. The pace of recall is, frankly, far too slow, and my right hon. Friend is taking that very seriously.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): Following the Prime Minister’s statement, I sent a letter to every Member of Parliament and every Member of the other place on Friday; it has gone out. I believe I have answered the question on funding.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Public Lands
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we should certainly do whatever is deemed necessary by the local fire and rescue service—the fire safety experts—and ensure that we take all the action they recommend to keep our citizens safe.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): The conversations I have had with the Chancellor reflect what I have said at the Dispatch Box today. If any local authority or housing association needs funding help for any necessary works, we will support them.
Grenfell Tower Fire/Fire Safety — House of Commons, 2017-06-26
Topic: Housing
Sajid Javid (Conservative, Centre-right): First, we are reminding all the owners of those properties of their existing legal responsibilities. We have done that through their trade organisations, letting agents and other bodies. Secondly, we have made our testing facility available to all of them free of charge. We will keep monitoring that, but right now my absolute priority has been the more recently clad buildings held by local authorities and housing associations that have cladding similar to what was at Grenfell Tower.