argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Of course we will have a very close relationship with all European projects—whether on research, science, education, or whatever it might happen to be. I will be very happy in due course to share with the hon. Gentleman and the whole House where we are on the political declaration. The objective of the changes to the political declaration is really to set out the difference in this Government’s approach to the future relationship on trade and the customs union, and to set out our ambitions to do global free trade deals.
Brexit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Law and Crime
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): In thanking the Prime Minister and colleagues, I would just say that there are issues of substance and issues of tone. The substance of policy is absolutely not a matter for the Chair, but I would like to say that the tone of yesterday’s very important debate on the Government’s Domestic Abuse Bill, and the tone of the exchanges today, represent a huge improvement on last week. I thank the Prime Minister and colleagues.
Women’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Social Welfare
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not want to make this a partisan issue. We can have a debate on this subject, and there have been some cuts to support services that have obviously not been helpful and will have some of the long-term impact that I have mentioned. I have visited, and even opened in my time as Minister, several children’s centres, and many of them do a fantastic job. But many were not doing a fantastic job and were failing to do a job of work for the 15% of the most deprived communities for whom they were originally most intended. The failure to comprehend the importance of children’s centres is to put too much trust in bricks and mortar. Many of the outreach services that went with children centres were more important, and they were not getting out enough. We have children’s centres that have worked really well in my constituency, and we have not closed any in West Sussex, largely because we put them in the right places and turned them into what I call a Piccadilly Circus of services. They have district nurses, health visitors, mental health nurses and social workers hot-desking and sharing information about various families, especially vulnerable children and others, to give a wrap-around, comprehensive support mechanism. The challenge so often for children’s centres is getting the parents—particularly dads—to come across the threshold. Some children’s centres do that really well, but many do not. I know about the importance of children’s centres, but I also know some of their weaknesses. It is the services they offer and the outcomes they achieve that are so much more important than the amount of bricks and mortar that exist to provide them.
Women’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Macroeconomics
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): Nice try. West Sussex was the least funded shire county in the whole of England. Do not try and tell me that supposedly affluent areas such as West Sussex have not faced financial challenges. I do not know about the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, but the gap between the per capita funding that children get in my constituency and many of the London and other municipal boroughs is substantial. It is a question of how that funding is used and prioritised.
Women’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Social Welfare
Timothy Paul Loughton (Conservative, Centre-right): That shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I declare an interest because this was my issue. Where children are placed is not necessarily a reflection of how many children are in the care system in that authority. Children in care placed in other authorities, such as Kent, where accommodation is cheaper than in London, are paid for by the placing authorities, and they can cause challenges to the host authorities. That is a wholly different issue. The original point that the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith) made was that children’s centres are part of the solution. We need children’s centres with well-trained people offering well-targeted support services to those who need them, but saying that this is purely a numerical issue, because now we have 3,200 children’s centres as opposed to 3,500, is missing the point. It is about the quality of the care offered to those who most need it I will wrap up now—as I see you want me to, Madam Deputy Speaker—by touching on a couple of other points affecting older girls. They include the impact of bullying, social media and bullying online, peer pressure relating to body image, the reports by groups such as the Girl Guides and the surveys showing the number of young teenage girls who do not like their appearance and would, if they could, pay for plastic surgery, which is hugely alarming. We have to give young women in particular the confidence to be able to say, "I am who I am. This is who I am, and if you don’t like it—tough." That is something that we have a major role in getting across in society, and frankly social media need to be part of those positive messages. We still have problems with the internet and social media companies hosting sites that masquerade as sites giving advice to people with eating disorders, but which are in fact malignly encouraging anorexia and things like that.
Women’s Mental Health — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Law and Crime
Jacqueline Doyle-Price (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman puts it very well. In those instances, we are just doing harm. We should be able to identify when somebody needs help. Just taking them away and putting them in prison without any programme of support only puts them on a conveyor belt to more offending. We need to make sure we are picking people up. There are some fantastic tales of how people do that. I once met a lady who had been convicted of drink driving after she reported herself. She had gone through a period of grief. What good would it have done to make her serve a prison sentence? It would have compounded her grief; she would have been away from her family; and she would have lost her job and probably her home—if she was renting—which would only have put her on a conveyor belt to disaster. We must be much more enlightened and make sure that our prisons are for people who are going to harm society, not people who are harming themselves I could say so much more, Madam Deputy Speaker, but time is limited, so I will finish there.
Ministry of Justice Spending — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Law and Crime
Chris Ian Brian Mynott Philp (Conservative, Centre-right): I would love to, but I only have a few seconds left. I would love to take an intervention from the hon. Gentleman on a future occasion On less significant offenses, I recognise the extremely high reoffending rate—60%—that Members referred to. As the Minister responsible for sentencing, I will look very carefully at expanding trials in which treatment, in particular for drug addiction, alcohol addiction and mental ill health, is put at the heart of sentencing and rehabilitation. There is much more we can do to learn from those trials and from countries around the world where more effective treatment is the key to reducing reoffending rates. That is my personal commitment to the House this afternoon It has been a great pleasure to participate in the debate. I look forward to hearing the Select Committee Chairman conclude it.
Ministry of Justice Spending — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Law and Crime
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): This has been a valuable debate. I thank all Members who participated in it. Some powerful messages have been sent. I recognise the Minister’s good intentions and good will on this topic, and I know he will take those messages away. I hope they are taken away beyond the House too, because we need a better public debate about the importance of our justice system and how it is integral to the way we see ourselves as a society. I hope that, in the future, that makes the climate and the task easier for those who want to see funding used in the right way—effectively and efficiently—and given the right priorities. I welcome the Minister to his role on his debut at the Dispatch Box. We have probably given him a fair bit to think about, and I am sure he knows that it comes with the health warning that we are likely to return to these topics before too long Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the spending of the Ministry of Justice.
Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Reform — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Transportation
George William Freeman (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a great pleasure and privilege to open the batting in my new role as Minister for the future of transport with you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, as umpire, even if not before a packed Chamber—I am more of a night watchman covering for the Minister for taxi regulation I thank the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) for his kind words, and I congratulate him on his assiduous pursuit of this issue in his time in the House. I know how strongly he feels and how widely he is respected across the House for his work, particularly through his chairmanship of the all-party group on taxis, of which you, Madam Deputy Speaker, are also a supporter. I know that you have taken a close interest in the issue I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on bringing this debate at the perfect time, as the Government are thinking about their legislative programme. I am particularly delighted to be responding on behalf of my noble Friend the taxis Minister and in my capacity as Minister for the future of transport—a new role at the Department for Transport—responsible for using our research and development budget, procurement and regulation to drive decarbonisation and digitalisation and to tackle disconnection in the Department As this debate and the hon. Gentleman’s work have shown, the 360,000 licensed taxi and private hire drivers in England play an important role in our transport system, meeting those journey needs that mass transit does not. They help people to reach shops and vital services and they get people home safely at night. As he and others highlighted and attested, they often offer those services to communities free of charge—gratis Taxis and private hire vehicles provide a particularly important service for disabled passengers, supporting their independence, allowing them to get to work, shop and visit friends and family—things that most of us are lucky enough to be able to do without a second thought. We know that disabled passengers make twice as many taxi and private hire journeys as non-disabled passengers. For those reasons and many others, the Government want the sector to thrive so that it can continue to meet the public’s needs and expectations There is clearly a problem. We agree with the comments made tonight and those made elsewhere in the House that the legislation that governs the taxi and private hire vehicles sector needs reform. That has been driven by a series of issues: the pace of innovation in mobility; the out-of-date nature of some of the legislation; the urgency of the decarbonisation, digitalisation and automation revolutions; the safety of passengers; and the need to ensure accessibility for those who suffer from disabilities.
Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Reform — House of Commons, 2019-10-03
Topic: Environment
Jonathan George Caladine Lord (Conservative, Centre-right): Woking has introduced some class-beating emissions standards for vehicles. I am sure I am not alone in hoping the Minister might give some comfort to other towns and cities that they will also be able to have clean air from their taxis in the years ahead.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The distinction traditionally made between development, environment and climate is a false distinction. Unless we tackle climate change, there will be 100 million more people living in poverty in the next 15 years. I returned this morning from New York, where I have been discussing with the Secretary-General of the United Nations our commitment to greening our development spending to ensure that everything that we spend is Paris-compliant, to double the amount the Department for International Development will spend on environment and climate, and to double the effort we are putting into this subject.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Environment
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): It is clearly true that many of the people who are suffering most are from some of the poorest countries in the world that emit very little carbon, which is why a great deal of our emphasis is on the question of resilience. I have just returned from Kenya, for example, where we are working with pastoralists whose grassland is being eliminated and with people in Lamu who are losing mangrove swamps. Such countries are not emitting carbon but are suffering from its effects.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Environment
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The question of water security is absolutely central. It poses the danger of conflict, for example in the Indus valley and along the headwaters of the rivers that flow into Egypt on the Nile. It is also an area where technology can help, however. We have become much better at preventing water waste. In many developing countries, 50% of the water is wasted; technology is part of the answer to this problem.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Environment
Rachel Helen Maclean (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend has made it clear that some of the poorest countries in the world will be the most affected by climate change. I hope to visit Bangladesh in September as part of a delegation; what will his Department be doing to help countries such as Bangladesh mitigate the effects of severe weather, including the monsoon season?
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The Department for International Development has partnered the Government of Bangladesh for many years, particularly because of the very severe impacts of flooding. We should pay tribute to the improvements in Bangladesh. In floods in the 1970s, more than 100,000 people could be killed in a single event; a similar event today would kill only a few hundreds. That is a huge tribute to Bangladesh’s improvement in resilience and also in emergency management.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): We will be doubling the overseas development fund, which will be spent particularly on climate resilience, and Britain will be co-hosting with Egypt the UN summit on climate resilience in September. That was the focus of my discussions with the UN Secretary-General yesterday, and indeed at the Abu Dhabi summit two weeks ago.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Technology
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): Blockchain technology has very interesting potential. I recently saw in World Food Programme distribution in camps in Jordan how blockchain is dropping the price by tens of millions of dollars a year. However, there are still some risks attached to such technology.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): There are three things that we hope will embed the priority. First, this is a whole of Government approach. The Prime Minister announced at Osaka that we would be the first major international development agency to be fully Paris-compliant. Secondly, we have now announced from this Dispatch Box and inserted into our planning that we will double our spend on climate and the environment. The third thing is to ensure that we have the experts on the ground. In Kenya, for example, the focus is on environmental experts, and in Ethiopia it is on forestry experts. It will be funding, Government strategy and staffing that will make the difference.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Agriculture
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that agricultural practice and land use are key to mitigating the effects of climate change? Will he say something about the training programmes that DFID pays for and that are doing such good work in helping people to understand the way forward?
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Agriculture
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): DFID is doing an increasing amount of work on that issue. For example, its agricultural extension work is helping farmers to work out how to produce crops without depleting the soil or using excessive water. Perhaps the biggest challenge in agriculture is the relationship between pastoralists, particularly people herding cattle and oxen, and sedentary communities right the way across Africa, where climate change and agricultural practices are leading to conflict from Nigeria to South Sudan.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Environment
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): The shadow Secretary of State is absolutely right to say that there have been significant issues around some of the climate funds. We feel that a lot of progress is being made, and the most important thing is to find real investable projects on the ground. A lot of that relates to issues of governance.
Climate Change — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): No, we will not. The reason is that there are issues of capacity in both the World Bank and the UN. The key point here is not the ideological choice of the channel through which we pass the money but the capacity to manage these projects responsibly.
Malnutrition — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK Government are working closely with the Government of Japan to ensure that next year’s summit secures meaningful and transformational commitments from Governments. We have invested £2.6 billion in this area since the last summit, and we are considering what offer the UK Government will make to next year’s summit.
Malnutrition — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is right to highlight this important issue. I am pleased to be able to tell him that, since his visit, the work we have been doing in Zambia specifically, which has reached more than 1 million people, has reduced the level of stunting to 35%, but clearly that still leaves a lot more to be done.
Malnutrition — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK was very proud to present its voluntary national review at the UN yesterday—[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] It is a strong document and was warmly received. It clearly outlines where we have made enormous amounts of progress and where there is more progress to be made, including further cross-governmental working.
Yemen — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the population requiring humanitarian assistance, which is not helped by the fact that the operating environment for humanitarian organisations is exceptionally difficult. We call on both parties to the conflict to comply with UN Security Council resolution 2451 by facilitating safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.
Yemen — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is absolutely right to be concerned about those who have disappeared. Along with multilateral organisations, the United Kingdom is at the forefront of mechanisms geared towards ensuring that we know where crimes are potentially being committed and, in the fullness of time, that we are able to follow up on that. I hope that she will approve of the level of support that this country is giving as the penholder and as a major financial contributor to the humanitarian situation in Yemen.
Yemen — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew William Murrison (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will probably be aware that we have had discussions on that with the World Food Programme, which is a major operator in the situation in Yemen. We support the intent of the World Food Programme, in particular its director David Beasley, to ensure that aid gets to where it is supposed to go, rather than into the pockets of Houthis and others. That process is in its early stages, but it looks like it is being successful and will restore the full effect of the World Food Programme to Sana’a and other areas as soon as possible.
Public Services: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The UK is committed to supporting countries to achieve the global goals, including through the development of strong public services. We are working with low-income countries to raise and manage public revenues and to invest in education and health systems to provide essential public services for all.
Public Services: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): I am very pleased to say that we have taken probably the most powerful practical step of all by setting up a specialist tax department—the hon. Gentleman rightly highlights the issue—within the Department for International Development. We are spending £47 million to help low-income countries increase their tax revenues, and every £1 we put in has raised revenues by £100.
Public Services: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: Education
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise this important issue, and we continue to work in countries where we can help with some of the sexual and reproductive health interventions he describes. In addition, he will be aware that the Girls’ Education Challenge is helping 1.5 million adolescent girls, who have often had children at a very young age, to stay in education and get the education that will help to improve their lifetime earnings.
Public Services: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Louis David Fabricant (Conservative, Centre-right): Good public services need an effective civil service to supervise them. What discussions has the Minister had with the Cabinet Office and my noble Friend Lord Maude about the provision of an effective civil service in developing countries?
Public Services: Developing Countries — House of Commons, 2019-07-17
Topic: International Affairs
Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend will be aware that the UK has long-standing partnerships with a range of developing countries. Indeed, it forms part of our work when we award Chevening scholarships, for example, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; scholars have to commit to going back and helping to deliver services in their country.