argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jonathan Cruddas (Labour, Centre-left): That is a good point. What are they doing to build a more mixed economy that is more resilient and is not prone to the catastrophic speculative attacks and collapse in lending that we saw at the back end of 2008 It is not just in times of crisis that we suffer from our lack of a stakeholder banking sector; it is a problem for us in good economic times too. Research by NEF has found that stakeholder banks devote twice as much of their balance sheets to real-economy lending as commercial banks. Meanwhile, commercial banks invest more than twice as much in derivatives trading. Stakeholder banks also outperform commercial banks on lending to small businesses in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, perhaps because they are rooted in local communities and can invest in local relationships, or because they do not have to worry about satisfying shareholders with double-digit quarterly returns. All this might help to explain why the UK banking system is the least effective in the G7 at supporting the real economy, with just over 20% of bank lending going towards productive activity, compared with more than 60% in Germany. Obviously, financial crises are the other side of the same coin, since the types of unproductive and speculative lending that dominate our banking system will tend to blow up bubbles which inevitably burst I could go on to list many other measures on which stakeholder banks appear to do better: higher customer satisfaction, higher deposit rates, lower loan rates, bigger branch networks, more job creation, and so on. Suffice it to say that if we want banks that put customers first, support the economy and manage risk sensibly, we could do worse than look to our European neighbours. I invite the Minister to publish the opposing evidence. Let us lay it out and have a discussion about the comparative views on the evidence underlying our public policy.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jonathan Cruddas (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman seems to be hiding behind one example when all the evidence across western market economies suggests that more co-operative banking does indeed have a part play in creating a more resilient modern capitalism What does all this mean for RBS? The Government have presented an artificial choice between business as usual with taxpayer ownership and business as usual with private ownership. This could be deemed outdated thinking. We need so much more imagination and so much more ambition if we are really going to build a better banking system. We urgently need to nurture new kinds of bank that exist in almost every other developed economy—banks that are rooted in local communities, accountable to more than quarterly profit figures, focused on supporting real economic activity, and run with an ethic of public service attached to them. The reason this debate is so obviously important is that with economists the world over warning that the next financial crisis could be just round the corner, the stakes literally could not be higher.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is setting out an alternative view that RBS has changed and been reformed, but did not the LIBOR exchange rate-rigging scandal happen after it became a publicly owned bank? Has anything fundamentally changed in the bonus culture that drives such risk-taking and does not support jobs in the real economy?
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is saying that RBS has changed and improved its culture, but in The Times this week there was an article suggesting that it has been falsifying the mis-selling data that it has been giving out. I wonder what has actually changed if it is still misbehaving and, in effect, telling these porkies. Surely, in that case, it has not reformed itself and is just the same as it always has been.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): It think we could be convinced if the number of loans being given to small businesses since 2008 had rocketed. Instead it is flat because, quite rightly, the banking sector is looking inwards, although that is not to be encouraged. What incentive can Government policy create to make banks lend to the small businesses that keep our constituencies going?
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Adrian Edward Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): I broadly agree with the hon. Gentleman’s thesis, but I do not think that he would agree with mine: that if we had the sort of financial services industry that was focused in the right direction, it would not really matter anyway what progress they were making.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Adrian Edward Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman’s intervention reinforces the sheer incoherence, inconsistency and irony of the Government’s policies towards the financial sector I want to speak for a few moments about small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government talk about rebalancing the economy, first from service industries to manufacturing and then from London and the south-east to other regions. If we look at the economy, we see that that must be done through SMEs. They constitute 90% of our businesses, 60% of employment and 50% of output. Although those in manufacturing may represent only 12% of our total GDP, they are hugely significant and crucial to driving up productivity and in our export performance, which are key pillars in driving forward our economy It would be reasonable to look at our financial services sector to see what it delivers to help to drive forward the economy. Finance and investment are the fuel for this engine of growth, but the problem is that the fuel is flowing in exactly the wrong direction. Despite Government schemes to boost investment loans to small businesses, the number of such loans has declined. The level of lending is highest in London, which has the smallest manufacturing sector and the largest service sector, and lowest in the regions, where there is a higher proportion of manufacturing. Take my own region of the west midlands, the region with the highest manufacturing output: it receives 9% of investment while London receives 20% As was articulated by my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton, one of the reasons behind the situation is the decline of branch banking. We have an over-centralised system. The demise of local banking and the growth of digitalisation have led to a consequential reduction in the local knowledge and insight required to understand the needs of both local communities and local business.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kelvin Peter Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): The problems around the world derive from the fact that we have a globalised financial system with no boundaries between countries, so money can flow freely around the world. Had we been insulated from what happened in America, we might have survived rather better.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that RBS made mistakes. It is still making mistakes, while largely in public ownership, in relation to funding for small businesses and branch closures. Does he not think that before it is returned to the private sector, if that is going to happen, it has to prove that it can run itself competently in the interests of its customers?
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): I think that there have been changes, but as I said earlier, in an intervention, the fact that RBS is back again, and possibly about to be investigated for yet more fraud, does not exactly encourage me to think that those changes have been deep enough As I was saying, the sale of RBS was announced not to Parliament, but to a white-tie dinner full of City grandees, in a speech that also promised the City a "new settlement" on financial regulation. We are now starting to see what that "new settlement" looks like, with the Government caving in to economic blackmail from the likes of HSBC, which threatened to move its headquarters unless key post-crisis measures such as the bank levy and the ring fence between retail and investment banking were watered down—that, I think, answers the point made by the hon. Member for Horsham (Jeremy Quin); with the competition authorities ruling out action to break up big banks, even though they acknowledge that their customers are getting a raw deal; and with rumours that the Chancellor personally arranged the sacking of Martin Wheatley, the head of the Financial Conduct Authority, who has a reputation for being tough on bank misconduct Some commentators have even suggested that the Government’s desire for a quick sale of RBS is partly responsible for their magnanimous attitude towards the big banks: that the Government do not want to do anything that could damage the bank’s share price in the short term. If that were true, it would be incredibly short-sighted. We would effectively be trading in the chance to build a genuinely safer banking system in our haste to return to the pre-crisis status quo.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making some excellent points. Does he agree that when RBS was mainly in the public sector, both the present Government and the coalition missed an opportunity to try to act responsibly? An organisation called Move Your Money—it is run from my constituency, and I think that it was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Kate Osamor)—represents and campaigns for consumers, but it needs a partner in the banking sector that will do what local businesses and local people want.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): I entirely agree. When we listen to the debate, we begin to feel that the Government are acting not in the interests of consumers, but in their vested banking interests. That seems to be their priority. We seem to be back to the pre-2008 mentality that the banks should be given whatever they want and we can have economic growth built on a house-price bubble fuelled by an oversized banking system without worrying too much about rebalancing our economy towards manufacturing or what we will do when the whole house of cards inevitably collapses We should consider, however, the effects on ordinary people like Andi Gibbs in my constituency who owned a business pre-crash. He was in effect mis-sold products by RBS and ended up with the now infamous global restructuring group. He not only lost his business; he lost his home, his wife, his family and his mental health. This is the price people pay when we do not get the banking system right. We now have a fantastic opportunity to get it right, and we must not squander it.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Anthony Lewis (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, and I agree we should be looking closely at the retribution that should be dished out to those who in effect ruin people’s lives; that is right and proper Successive attempts to persuade banks to lend more to small business have fallen flat, with some, like the enterprise finance guarantee scheme, actually being abused by RBS to exploit its small business customers. There could hardly be a clearer illustration of the fact that we have failed to get to the root causes of the problems in our banking system. The Chancellor and the banks may want us to move on and forget about the crash, but the British people have not forgotten. Whether it is mis-selling of PPI, mistreatment of small businesses or rigging the LIBOR and foreign exchange markets, they do not see that banks have really changed The warning signs of another crash are building. We may not have long to make sure our economy is better prepared than it was the last time. The Bank for International Settlements recently warned that we are living in "a world in which debt levels are too high, productivity growth too weak and financial risks too threatening." In the UK, household debt is rising again, with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting that, by the end of this Parliament, it will be higher than it was in 2008. Just last week, UBS warned that the London housing market is the most overvalued in the world and is in "bubble-risk territory". In other words, the so-called recovery is not a sustainable one based on higher wages, higher productivity and creating new green jobs. Instead it is being driven by consumer spending propped up by ever-growing household debt, and fuelled by a banking system that still finds it more profitable to inflate house prices than to lend to productive businesses Having successfully rebranded a crisis caused by too much private debt as a crisis caused by too much public debt, the Government are now presiding over a new debt bubble that threatens to do exactly the same as what happened in 2008. Maybe instead of continuing to rely on the same institutions that got us into a mess in 2008, we should be promoting new types of bank, with ownership structures and business models that clearly distinguish them from the status quo: banks that are not beholden to the need to maximise profits, but which have a social mission and can genuinely put customers and the economy first. Our stake in RBS gives us a unique opportunity to do this When the history of this period is written, will the current Government be remembered as one who learned the right lessons from the crash, or as one who turned a blind eye and squandered the opportunity to build a better banking system?
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Kate Osamor) on securing this debate, and thank the Backbench Business Committee for giving Members time to discuss this important and topical issue in the Chamber. I am pleased that so many have taken part. It is a real pleasure to join the Minister and to respond on behalf of the Opposition for the first time in the Chamber We have discussed a proposal that asks the Government to consider suspending the further sale of their shares in RBS while a review is conducted of the UK’s financial sector and the case for new banking models. It is a simple motion and all Opposition Members support it This discussion of the causes and consequences of RBS’s bail-outs and of the Chancellor’s ongoing plans to sell off RBS, with a resulting cost to the taxpayer, has also been an excellent opportunity to discuss the future of RBS and of British banking as a whole, including the new models and structures that may benefit the British economy. The Government must engage in this debate, as my hon. Friend the Member for Dagenham and Rainham (Jon Cruddas) so effectively set out in his speech Labour Members want a thriving and dynamic banking sector that will best deliver for the economy and the electorate as a whole. In government, Labour decided to bail out RBS. That was a big decision—a £45 billion decision—but it was the right one given the calamitous situation in RBS, which my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) outlined so effectively. According to the National Audit Office, the decision was justified, and the price was backed by Institute for Fiscal Studies, but the scale of the bail-out—the money invested on behalf of the taxpayer—means that we cannot so lightly take a simple decision to return to business as usual The Chancellor argued in his Mansion House speech earlier this year that "the easiest path for the politician is to put off the decision" I believe that the Chancellor has taken the easy decision to return, as I have said, to business as usual. The former shadow Chancellor my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) said at the time that "taxpayers who bailed out the bank will want their money back… The Chancellor needs to justify his haste in selling off a chunk of RBS" Both those points still stand: taxpayers still want their money back, and the Chancellor must still justify his haste Let us be clear that we cannot afford to get this sale wrong. The evidence of the Move Your Money poll, which was presented to us in the media this morning and by my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton, shows that the public think the Government are getting it wrong: 82% of those polled agree, given their own interest as the majority shareholder in RBS, that this should operate in the public interest, and 58% believe that the bank should be restructured to serve local economies throughout the UK.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): Order. I hope the hon. Gentleman is reaching the conclusion of his conclusion because we are way over time and there is a full debate to follow. If he could finish his speech now, I would be grateful.
Royal Bank of Scotland — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): The scale of the bail-out and the money invested on behalf of the taxpayer mean that we cannot take a simple decision lightly and return to business as usual. The Labour party wants a thriving and dynamic banking sector that will best deliver for the economy and the electorate as a whole. We do not accept that the case has been made to sell the bank off now—at significant loss to the taxpayer—and that is why we support a full, independent review of all the options before further shares are sold, and we encourage MPs to support the motion.
Dog Meat Trade — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend agree that there are two aspects to tackling this problem—first, persuading some countries to make the dog meat trade illegal; and secondly, putting pressure on countries where the trade is illegal to enforce the law?
Dog Meat Trade — House of Commons, 2015-11-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen James McCabe (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend that it is probably not appropriate to think we can tell other countries what to do, but is it not reasonable to tell them what the reaction of the British public will be if the sorts of things they are doing, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) referred, become public knowledge?
NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc.) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Lady has twice mentioned the need for charities to be free from regulation and Government involvement. Will she study the recent history of Kids Company, which has been accused of many abuses, and certainly a great waste of public money, as a result of lax regulation and the permissive attitude of the Conservative party and the Prime Minister?
NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc.) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): I apologise for missing the first 14 minutes of the hon. Gentleman’s short speech. He has discussed copyright law, and I know that he is an expert on company law. Does he have expertise on patent law, and will he stay in the Chamber to debate the next Bill? It would be helpful if he curtailed his speech and brought that expertise to bear on the next Bill so that we could have a proper debate and listen to his eloquent speech.
NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc.) Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Edward Howarth (Labour, Centre-left): I just want to say what I would have said had the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Antoinette Sandbach) allowed me to intervene. First, I associate myself with everything she said about Alder Hey hospital, because many of my constituents have good reason to be grateful for the services it has provided over many years. Secondly, although I am not opposed to the Bill, I want to point out that trustees—I speak as a member of a board of trustees for a charity in my constituency—in addition to exercising independence, are expected to behave responsibly. My concern about unlimited liability is that when trustees do not behave responsibly—we have seen the recent example of Kids Company—they will not necessarily be penalised in any way. There is a slight problem if trustees do not behave responsibly.
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Other
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): I am disappointed by what we have heard so far from the Minister. If he will not listen to me, will he listen to his hon. Friends on the Government Benches who have made a plea for the Bill to go through to Committee? He talks about difficult decisions, and the Prime Minister and his colleagues have been at the Dispatch Box saying that there are difficult decisions to take. I ask the Minister to take a difficult decision by doing a U-turn and supporting the Bill.
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Other
Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (Labour, Centre-left): Will the right hon. Gentleman accept two points? First, he made clear his objections to the Bill, and they were firmly answered by the expertise of the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Whitford). Secondly, the Government have had a chance to put forward a non-legislative solution to the problem in the past year, but they have completely failed to do so, so why is he still refusing to allow the Bill to proceed to Committee?
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): I have long known the right hon. Gentleman and greatly respect him, but today the House has spoken on this with one voice, from both sides, with expert opinion and personal opinion. Only one voice has been silent in this debate, and that is the voice of the industry, the ABPI, which has an interest in its profits. Is its plea to keep its profits intact the only reason he is making this piffling objection to the Bill?
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Other
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, the Minister said earlier that, according to the procedure of this House, he is able to speak until 2.30 pm. I think that is incorrect. Can you give me some guidance? If the Minister sat down one minute before 2.30 pm, would my hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) be able to put the question so that we can have a vote and the democratic will of this House can be heard?
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): I think what is happening is that the Chamber is getting very passionate and very heated. Members on both sides of the House ought to calm down the debate a bit. We are discussing very serious matters and we are being watched not just by people in the House but by people outside the House as well. I think all of us need to calm down a little bit.
Off-patent Drugs Bill — House of Commons, 2015-11-06
Topic: Other
Matthew Thomas Pennycook (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister has been exceptionally generous in giving way. I hold him in very high regard personally. However, given the weight of evidence that has been brought to the Chamber, he is doing himself a disservice. I appeal to him personally, as someone who has constituents who would benefit from the Bill, to allow it to go to Committee.