argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s concern for reducing gas and electricity bills for his constituents and all our constituents, and we are willing to consider anything that can be done to keep bills low this year. Our proposals would take £200 off everybody’s bill and £600 off the bills of those who need support the most. Labour thinks it is only right that cash from the companies that have done well from this price spike should go back to hard-pressed families, yet this Government seem to think differently. In fact, the Education Secretary said on Sunday that he thinks that oil and gas companies are "struggling", even when they are expected to report "near record" incomes this year. Struggling—really? The people struggling in our country right now are those seeing their bills going up and up.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): Literally no one would want that, Madam Deputy Speaker. I look forward to seeing the leaflets in Stoke-on-Trent at the next election and seeing how the hon. Member will justify not voting to keep VAT down on gas and electricity bills for his constituents In April we will see a national insurance hike and a council tax hike, and gas and electricity bills are going up too. Together we can today force the action that would reduce those bills for all our constituents—for people across our country—and ease the burden of a cost-of-living crisis that is spiralling out of control. The Prime Minister seems to think that a cost-of-living crisis is when he cannot find a friend to pay for the luxury refurbishment of his flat, but for working people in our country it means struggling to pay gas and electricity bills. When it comes to the energy crisis, as with so much else, the Conservatives have been asleep at the wheel, and now it is ordinary people who are picking up the bill for their failures There is a clear choice with today’s vote: MPs can either vote for this motion, allowing us to bring forward legislation to cut VAT on household energy bills from 5% to 0% for one year, or they can vote against it and block bringing in the practical, automatic and immediate support that would give security to all our constituents. People will soon be hit by yet more rising bills, rising prices and rising taxes. These are the everyday worries that politics must address. People want a Chancellor who understands this and has a practical plan to help. The Chancellor might not care about turning up the heating, but the very least he could do is turn up for this debate and take the action needed to help our constituents.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister heard me speak earlier about Gillian Fish from my constituency, who has seen her dual-fuel bill jump from £39 to £94 a month, leaving her with just £33 for food and travel. What has he got to say to her? We have given the House our answer to the crisis; what is the Government’s answer to this crisis for Gillian?
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Housing
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): I am interested in the Government’s estimate of the cost of transitioning a typical three-bed semi to a zero-carbon home using that fund. How much would it cost to put in an air source heat pump and all the necessary insulation to make it effective in the way that the Chief Secretary described?
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): Far too many people of my age lived through the harsh cold winters of the Thatcher Government. That was to be expected in the Tory Britain of the ’80s and ’90s, but several decades later it is no better: children are having to grow up facing exactly the same hardship. How did we get here? The Office for National Statistics reports that two thirds of people say that their cost of living has increased in recent weeks. Come and ask people in Tooting market or on Balham High Road: they will say that the choice is between heating and eating—between freezing and going into debt A single mother got in touch recently. She is a housing association tenant, but because of the increase in gas prices, her property’s managing agent is demanding more than £1,300 up front for the year; otherwise she will be disconnected in February. She has had to tell the managing agent that she can afford only £40 a month. This is my question to the Minister: what should I tell that single mum? How will her children sleep at night I know what it is to be cold in my own home. My brother, my mum and I gathered around the only heater we had for moments of relief from that gnawing, biting cold that saps energy and robs concentration. I know how hard it is on children to do homework when they are freezing, or to hear their mum awake at night worrying about how to keep them safe and warm. With the perpetual fear of debt and disconnection in the background, every moment of every day is consumed by uncertainty. A home should be a place of warmth and security; the Conservative cost-of-living crisis has filled millions of people’s homes with anxiety and cold.As an NHS doctor in A&E, I and my colleagues see older people and young children coming into hospital with burns on their skin caused by electric heaters and painful scalds from burst old hot water bottles. As people cannot afford to heat their homes properly, they turn on electric heaters for a little warmth—just as I did when I was growing up—and more of them are getting injured and ending up in A&E. What a terrible indictment of this Government’s failed energy policy What should the Government be doing? Well, Labour has a plan: removing VAT on domestic energy bills, expanding the warm homes discount for all working people on universal credit, and reducing the level of the price cap by £94 for a typical customer. [Interruption.] It is interesting hearing the opposition chuntering from a sedentary position.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): No, you are my opposition Regardless, my opposition are chuntering from a sedentary position, proving once again how absolutely out of touch they are with ordinary working people, who are feeling the cold, and who are going to A&E with their toddlers with third degree burns. The Government have an opportunity today to do something about this. Why do they not act? They should stop playing games and vote with us. Why do they not do something to help the families huddled around heaters, the pensioners shivering under blankets and the children growing up in the cold, and why do they not care?
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Grahame Mark Morris (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. In another place, those who were last will be first. It is an honour to follow my hon. Friends the Members for Leicester East (Claudia Webbe) and for Birkenhead (Mick Whitley) This issue, the cost of living, shows the disconnect at the heart of Government and the realities on the ground for the vast majority of people, including many in my constituency. When the book is finally closed on the last chapter of the Conservative Government, they will leave a legacy of insecurity—the gig economy, zero-hours contracts, fire and rehire and the loss of workplace rights. Sadly, the Conservative party will be remembered as the party of child poverty, food poverty, fuel poverty and homelessness. We see that in the growing queues for food banks, the rising levels of private debt, and the unprecedented numbers of people sleeping rough on our streets. The political choices of the past decade have not put the resources of the state behind addressing these critical issues. Working families are facing tough choices this winter, and, in the months ahead, many will be pushed below the poverty line.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Mixed Topics
Catherine McKinnell (Labour, Centre-left): Like many colleagues, I visited many small businesses in my constituency just before Christmas on Small Business Saturday. Although they were really pleased with the support, they also described the immense challenges they face and have faced over the past couple of years. High energy bills and inflation are clearly having a big impact, but it is set to get even worse with the increase in national insurance we are expecting in a matter of months. Surely my hon. Friend agrees that the Government cannot expect businesses to keep shouldering extra burdens without putting more support in place.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Mathew Richard Allen Rodda (Labour, Centre-left): I will be brief, as I appreciate the pressure on my hon. Friend’s time. He is absolutely right to point out the link between household expenditure and businesses. In Reading and Woodley many businesses in the hospitality sector’s supply chain have been badly affected. We have a thriving microbrewery industry, and these hard-working brewers are badly affected by rising energy prices, and they have been badly affected by the difficulties that affect the whole hospitality sector, but they have received less support from the Government. Does he agree that the Government need to listen to businesses and to think about the whole business community, not just certain parts of it?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and really pleased to come in when he is talking about business rates because for both the hospitality sector and the retail sector—two sectors that are crucial in my constituency and so many others—business rates are one of the biggest barriers to growth and to survival.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I am particularly pleased I gave way to my hon. Friend because I drive through Chesterfield when I am going from Stalybridge to London, and I pay tribute to him and his local colleagues for the work they have done. He is absolutely right that our promise on business rates is to replace an outdated system that does not work with one that is fit for the future. That means rebalancing rates so that bricks-and-mortar businesses do not lose out to online firms and making sure we encourage, rather than disincentivise, investments in new plant and machinery.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Minister recognise the anger and upset of excluded businesses that have been unable to get any support, such as those in the coach industry and many others, especially when they see the amount of fraud involved in some of the online loan schemes that the Government have introduced? Further to that, I raised the issue of fraud involved in loans coming from the Government in the Treasury Committee, but I did not feel that there was a fervour or desperation to deal with and tackle the issue. Will the Minister talk about how the Government will recoup some of the money that has been wasted on fraud and how they will ensure that excluded people get the support that they need to get through the pandemic too?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): I have a better memory than the Minister, because I remember when George Osborne stood at that Dispatch Box in 2015 and said almost exactly the same thing, so we have been waiting six or seven years for business rates reform under the Government. We will wait another two years until my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) is on the Government Front Bench to actually get the change that our businesses need.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Emma Ann Hardy (Labour, Centre-left): Many hon. Members have said that SMEs are at the heart of their constituency, and I want to mention a fish and chip shop called Goldenfry, which is highly recommended. If Members are ever in the city centre of Hull, they should pop in and get a portion of fish and chips. The business has really struggled because of the covid pandemic and the lack of footfall into the city centre, and it has had difficulty getting back on its feet, but the business has not just complained; it has set up a scheme so that people can go in and buy an extra portion of fish and chips to donate to a person or family without the food they need That shows the kind of community we have in the city of Hull and in our SMEs. We look after our own and we look after each other. Excuse the pun but, when the chips are down, we are still there and we still help each other. A local businessman told me this important lesson, "Emma, if you ever want to get support from business, look at those businesses that have people born and bred in the city of Hull, because they will always go the extra mile and do so much more." Unlike the hon. Member for West Bromwich West (Shaun Bailey), I pay tribute to my Labour-led Hull City Council for being one of the fastest councils in the country in giving out the Government grants On the support provided to businesses, as the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn) said, we cannot ignore those that have been excluded or gone without any support whatsoever. As I mentioned in my intervention, businesses are angered when they see money wasted by the Government through fraud and through the track and trace schemes that did not work—when they see money, to quote the Prime Minister, "spaffed up the wall" by the Government when they have gone without. There is a real sense of injustice and unfairness, which I hope the Minister recognises as a serious point, especially when we look at sectors such as the coach industry On energy costs for businesses, I hope the Minister will look again at Labour’s plan for the contingency fund. There is a local business called Rhythm & Dreams, which is a wonderful dance club where young children can practise their dancing. It won my small business award just before Christmas, and it is a great organisation. The woman who owns the company contacted me to say how rising energy costs are affecting her business, because of course she wants to keep her dance studio warm. She has lots of people coming and going. She has seen huge rises in her costs, but she is not seeing the same increase in income as people are still hesitant about returning to mixing with others. We need to consider targeted and specific support for businesses that are struggling with energy costs Although I recognise the support the Government have provided, they could have targeted their money much more successfully. I hope they will not continue to exclude those who have been missing out on support for so long.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Other
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): I will try not to cut the time limit, but I may have to at some point, so I encourage people to stick to their three minutes and, if they take interventions, to still stick to three minutes.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): As someone who spent 20 years in business, including running two businesses, prior to coming into this place, there is a great deal I would like to say today, but the restrictions we have on time mean that I am going to restrict my remarks really to the hospitality sector. There are many different sectors that have had a really difficult time during the pandemic. I am concerned about the self-employed, particularly those who find that they have become a bad credit risk in the eyes of the bank because they availed themselves of one of the Government support schemes. I am very concerned about the high street. Anyone who takes a trip to almost any high street in the land will see that the pandemic has increased the pace of shop closures. However, I do want to touch particularly on the hospitality sector, as the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) did just a moment ago. This crucial sector employs almost 3 million people, it delivers £66 billion of revenue and pays tens of billions of pounds in taxes. I do not want anyone to think that, because the Government decided not to close the hospitality sector in the run-up to Christmas, English publicans, restaurant owners or hoteliers were therefore the lucky ones. The truth is that many organisations in this sector had a massive reduction in their business over Christmas—they saw cancellations of Christmas parties—and while the sector may not have been forcibly closed, their takings were well down, and many providers told me they had taken on staff on the basis that it would be the busiest time of the year, only to find it much quieter than normal Business rates is a crucial issue. Everyone listening to this debate today will have heard a very clear message: the Labour party is the party of reform of business rates, and the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) made it absolutely clear that the Tory party is the party of a temporary discount and stick to the same old system. This system penalises pubs, it penalises the hospitality sector, it penalises manufacturing and the high street, and it protects the internet businesses that do not on the whole put as much into the economy as those sectors. I support what we are proposing here today.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Mary Kelly Foy (Labour, Centre-left): I am immensely proud to represent Durham, and part of what makes it so special are the wonderful independent businesses that are the pride of our high streets. We have fantastic pubs, such as the Fram Ferment, the Dun Cow Inn and the Browney. We have lovely shops that are unique to Durham, such as Wing and a Prayer, Elvet & Bailey and Discovering Durham. La Chocolatrice makes incredible chocolates; Circle Vintage and Pears Boutique sell quality clothing; and I will not even get started on how much I love our indoor and outdoor markets I reference those places because Durham’s high streets are home to a higher-than-average number of independent shops, which we cannot afford to lose. The decline of the high street is undeniable. As the Durham Business Improvement District points out, nowhere represents that better than Silver Street. It was once the artery that ran to the beating heart of our city, but it is now littered with empty shops and serves as a sad reminder of the struggle that many bricks and mortar shops face Although the pandemic has accelerated the decline, it started long before 2020. It will come as no surprise to my constituents that the north-east has the highest vacancy rate in England. There are many reasons for the high street’s struggle, but chief among them are sky high business rates. What I am hearing from businesses in Durham is that the priority must be levelling the playing field between high street businesses and online and out-of-town retail That is why I am glad that the Opposition are calling for business rates to be cut immediately in ’22-’23, funded by a one-off rise in the digital services tax. When we are in Government, we will scrap the outdated business rates system entirely and replace it with the fundamentally reformed business rates property tax. Independent businesses in Durham are ready to bounce back. The only question is: will the Government let them?
Prayers — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): I regret to have to report to the House the death of a friend, Jack Dromey, the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington. I know hon. Members in all parts of the House will join me in mourning the loss of our colleague, and in extending our sympathy to the hon. Member’s family and friends. I invite all Members to join me in one minute’s silence in memory of Jack The House observed a one-minute silence.
Prayers — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): I also wish to assure the House that there will be an opportunity for all of us to pay tribute to Jack at a later date, to be determined in consultation with the family. Members wishing to send letters of condolence to the family can do so via the Speaker’s Office, who will collate them and pass them on. I am sure we all extend our deepest sympathy to Harriet, a friend of all of us. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."]
UK Defence Jobs — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Luke Pollard (Labour, Centre-left): Devonport is the UK’s premier naval base and dockyard. Will the Secretary of State present plans to recycle the 13 rotting nuclear submarines that are tied up alongside it? That would not only be good for the environment but good for Devonport, freeing up dock space, and good for jobs as well.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-01-10
Topic: Immigration
Questions: The Future Soldier programme has delivered significant investment for Wales, not least the extremely welcome decision to keep Brecon barracks open. May I invite the Secretary of State to come to Brecon and visit the home of the Army in Wales so that he can see the operational significance of the barracks?; We clearly face heightened risk and instability on multiple fronts. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on our readiness to deal with multiple potential flashpoints in different arenas simultaneously?; I am proud to have Erskine veterans home in my constituency. I am also proud of the Scottish Government’s veterans fund and their appointment of a Veterans Commissioner. Does the Minister not feel that that should be replicated elsewhere on these isles to ensure that the veterans community are properly represented in decisions taken affecting their welfare?; Strengthening our defence relationships in the Indo-Pacific will be essential to help maintain peace and stability in the region. In that regard, what are we doing to strengthen our defence relationship with Japan?; We now know that on 25 October, the RAF carried out a targeted drone killing in Syria. Is that not a major shift in policy? Why was Parliament not informed? When will the Secretary of State set out the legal basis and criteria for that strike?; The rise of terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa is continuing and poses a strategic threat to the United Kingdom. In that context—given that the United States is probably downgrading sub-Saharan Africa, and only France is totally committed—what actions will the UK take to bring our allies together on this issue?
Rachael Helen Maskell (Labour, Centre-left): As a fellow trade unionist, Jack Dromey was a dear friend. His final fight in this place was for Afghan refugees, 13,000 of whom are languishing in hotels—not exactly a warm welcome. Can the Defence Secretary say exactly how he is deploying the defence estate and Annington Homes to ensure that we home these refugees?