argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Finance (No. 2) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Macroeconomics
Anneliese Jane Dodds (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend. In fact, a problem that underlines our productivity gap is the worryingly low levels of private investment in our economy, which is reducing efficiency and places Britain outside the sphere of many comparable nations on investment. Sadly, the Government did not grasp that problem in the Budget The Opposition are calling for a review in the absence of the ability to call for more wide-ranging changes to the Bill given the Government’s unwillingness to table a general amendment to the law motion as part of this Finance Bill. That is unfortunate given the lack of new measures in the Bill, the limitations of the measures that are included, and the fact that much of the Bill represents a cleaning-up of previously announced but ill-thought-through measures. I will deal with each of those matters in turn It is, to say the least, regrettable that Members from across this House are unable to introduce new measures to the Bill. Labour’s tax transparency and enforcement programme sets out several areas where the Government should be taking action to tighten up our leaky ship, but we see no such ambition from the current Administration. Again, there is an unwillingness to engage with those who do have the energy and expertise to promote new measures When it has been possible for Members to amend Finance Bills, they have often done so to good effect. So it was that my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) amended what became the Finance Act 2016, giving the Government the power to introduce public country-by-country reporting and requiring multinational firms to indicate their profits, staff and tax paid in the different jurisdictions in which they operate. The measure is already in practice in the banking and extractive industries, where it has effectively promoted tax transparency and has offered a lot of evidence and information that has been very helpful to investors in those fields, but Members on both sides of the House who are keen to see the Government use the powers already available under the 2016 Act to make country-by-country reporting public, and who believe the Government should be playing a leadership role in this area, are sadly emasculated by the Government’s unwillingness to allow colleagues to table proper amendments to this Bill.
Finance (No. 2) Bill — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Macroeconomics
Anneliese Jane Dodds (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend on that. There is a particular onus on the Government to be steadfast and clear in their rejection of those legal challenges and the problems they potentially pose to our democracy. Of course it is just the BBC and The Guardian that have been threatened with legal action, not any of the other 90 or so media outlets based in other countries. It is UK-based firms and media organisations that have been threatened with that action, so I hope the Minister will make clear to us today whether or not he agrees with Appleby’s threat of legal action against those who revealed the details of the Paradise papers in the public interest Many of the measures in the Bill intended to prevent aggressive tax avoidance and evasion do not go far enough. I have already referred in this House to clause 21, which seems to adopt a confusing new approach to measuring profit shifting, rather than aiming to reduce it per se. Yet again, there sadly appears to be deafening silence here concerning the need for tax simplification, with only minor measures that do not meet the required standard of a thoroughgoing, holistic assessment of the overall impacts of tax reliefs, which we desperately need in this country if we are to have proper Government accounting Finally, we see in the Bill a number of additional measures that seem intended mainly just to clean up previous mistakes by this Government, many of them following criticism from Labour Members. In clause 35 and schedule 10, for example, we find anti-avoidance provisions in relation to payments and benefits made from offshore trusts, no doubt reflecting the concerns we raised about the potential misuse of offshore trusts by non-doms. Let us be clear, before this issue crops up yet again in this debate: this Government have not abolished long-term, non-dom status. The new measures do not apply to those whose parents are non-doms, as is often the case, and a 15-year window is provided for individuals to get their affairs in order. In another example, clause 28 closes the loophole introduced by the coalition Government in 2011 that allowed foreign companies to hold on to an asset-stripped subsidiary for six years until they were then able to claim loss relief in excess of any genuine economic loss to the group. Again, the measure tidies up a problem that was created previously by those involved with this Administration To conclude, this Finance Bill was a chance for strong action against aggressive tax avoidance and evasion, but, sadly, we have here a paltry Bill, which some Conservative Members have praised in some of these debates for being thin. It is not thin because it is concise; it is thin because, sadly, just like this Government, it is lacking in ideas and ambition. We need a change now, more than ever.
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael John Gapes (Labour, Centre-left): I broadly support the Minister’s proposals, but how can we be sure that adding organisations to the list in any way makes our authorities effective in combating them, given that in the last few months terrorist organisations have been parading openly with their flags—in Arabic—in the centre of London, and prosecutions have not occurred?
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Macroeconomics
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Lady should look at the detail of today’s announcement. No extra Government funding has been announced at all. What is happening is that the cash from central Government is being kept flat and her local taxpayers will be asked to fund the gap.
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime
John Francis Spellar (Labour, Centre-left): The overwhelming evidence from senior counter-terrorism officers is that much of the useful information they gather comes from ordinary beat police officers who are involved in their local communities. Is not it therefore deplorable that the Government have cut funding to the Metropolitan police in particular and are thereby denuding that capability?
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): From a sedentary position on the Treasury Bench, the hon. Gentleman says that I was wrong, but I was not. In Durham and other places, the flat budget for police funding from central Government will have to be made up by local taxpayers. Taking into account the pay increase and inflation, that will amount to a real-terms cut.
Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): For counter-terrorism, the Minister is correct; there will be more money for counter-terrorism. But unless he can read the tea leaves and predict that every single policy authority will put the maximum on local precepts, he cannot give the undertaking on frontline policing that he has just given.
Law Enforcement Co-operation and Border Control: Schengen Information System — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making some very important points. Does she not agree that this puts paid to the crazy suggestion of having no deal, because getting a deal on a security treaty will be absolutely crucial to the safety and security of this nation?
Law Enforcement Co-operation and Border Control: Schengen Information System — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: International Affairs
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right that no deal is simply not acceptable for security or for data, which I will come on to shortly The Minister mentioned that four non-EU countries are members of SIS II, which is absolutely right. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein participate by virtue of their membership of Schengen. These non-EU member states are bound to avert any substantial differences in the case law of the ECJ, and they are required to implement structures and procedures that keep pace with changes in the Schengen rulebook. If they do not do so, their agreements will be terminated.
Delegated Legislation — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Government Operations
Rosalie Winterton (Labour, Centre-left): In that case, I will take them all separately Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Constitutional Law That the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Specification of Devolved Tax) (Wild Fisheries) Order 2017, which was laid before this House on 14 September, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Government Resources and Accounts That the draft Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 (Audit of Public Bodies) Order 2017, which was laid before the House on 11 September, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Town and Country Planning That the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2017, which were laid before this House on 19 October, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Local Government That the draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017, which were laid before this House on 13 November, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) The Deputy Speaker’s opinion as to the decision of the Question being challenged, the Division was deferred until Wednesday 20 December (Standing Order No. 41A). Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Local Government That the draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2017, which was laid before this House on 13 November, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) The Deputy Speaker’s opinion as to the decision of the Question being challenged, the Division was deferred until Wednesday 20 December (Standing Order No. 41A). Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Environmental Protection That the draft Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017, which was laid before this House on 27 November, be approved.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) Question agreed to. Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Financial Assistance to Industry That this House authorises the Secretary of State to undertake to pay, and to pay by way of financial assistance under section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982, compensation to eligible energy intensive industries in respect of a proportion of the indirect costs of funding the Renewable Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed In Tariffs (FIT) totalling more than £30 million and up to a cumulative total of £565 million maximum.—(Chris Heaton-Harris.) Question agreed to.
Waste Incinerators in Sowerby Bridge — House of Commons, 2017-12-19
Topic: Environment
Holly Jamie Walker-Lynch (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition opposing the proposed waste incinerators in my constituency, which has been signed by 148 people in addition to the 246 people who have signed the petition online The petition states: The petition of residents of Sowerby Bridge, Declares that Calder Valley Skip Hire Ltd have submitted an application for an Environmental Permit for an incinerator at their site at Mearclough Road; further to planning applications for another incinerator at their Belmont site at the other end of Sowerby Bridge; further resulting in increased levels of air pollution affecting a number of schools in the local area; further to causing more pollution in Air Quality Management Areas; further that traffic congestion would worsen as lorries bring waste to the site; and further to the site having recently flooded any future development could result in waste entering the river The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to take all possible measures to prevent these waste incinerators being placed in the Sowerby Bridge area And the petitioners remain, etc [P002092]
Libya — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Fabian Hamilton (Labour, Centre-left): When challenged about his recent "clear the dead bodies" remarks, the Foreign Secretary said that his only critics were those with "no knowledge or understanding of Libya." Can he therefore respond to Guma el-Gamaty, the head of the Libyan Taghyeer party, who said: "Libyans fought and died fighting Islamic State in Sirte…Many remain where they fell…It is insensitive to talk about those bodies as if they are some obstacle to British businessmen enjoying beer and sunbathing. The very least he should do is apologise to the families of the young men who died" Will the Foreign Secretary now directly apologise to those families today?
Kashmir — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Helen Elizabeth Hayes (Labour, Centre-left): In the context of continued reports of human rights violations in Kashmir, will the Minister commit to placing human rights and a peace process for Kashmir firmly on the table as part of any new trade and labour market negotiations with India and Pakistan?
Kashmir — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): There have been threats from both sides to target nuclear facilities, and talks at the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation have broken down, so what exactly will the Government and the Foreign Secretary do to defuse those tensions and promote dialogue?
Somalia — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Like the Minister and the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (Sir Henry Bellingham), I offer my condolences to the people of Mogadishu following Saturday’s terrible incident. Al-Shabaab, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, has recruited fighters from this country in the shape of Thomas Evans and Samantha Lewthwaite, who were killed in 2015. What guarantee can the Minister give that people trained by terrorist groups such as al-Shabaab are not allowed back into the country, and that the authorities will come down on them if they do come back?
Khalid Mahmood (Labour, Centre-left): On behalf of the Labour party, I associate myself with the comments about the despicable act by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu. Together with our European partners, we must step up our efforts to destroy that organisation and to help Somalia to achieve lasting peace and stability. To that end, will the Minister assure the House that, whatever the terms of our exit from the European Union, our joint efforts with the EU in Somalia will carry on in exactly the same way?
Cyprus — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Daniel Joseph Carden (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for that answer. It is disappointing that the talks have collapsed, but more progress seemed to have been made than at any point previously. Will he continue to work to put the human rights of all Cypriots at the top of the agenda?
West Bank — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for that answer. I recently visited the communities of Khan al-Ahmar and Susiya in Area C of the west bank, both of which are under threat of demolition. I was surprised that both have received significant investment from the EU and therefore from the British taxpayer. Will the Minister tell me what representations he has made to the Israeli Government about that?
Russia — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I urge the Secretary of State and his whole team to reread George Kennan’s famous 1947 article on containment, because Kennan predicted that the then Soviet Union, now Russia, would come forward to destabilise Europe, the United States and Japan. Will the Secretary of State also note what Hillary Clinton said yesterday: there is "a new…cold war and it is just getting started."?
Counter-terrorism — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Following last year’s decision to strip the Foreign Office of its responsibilities for co-ordinating the UK’s diplomatic counter-terrorism relationships, what reassurances can the Foreign Secretary provide that his Department’s unique expertise in this area is not being lost?
Hurricane Support — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: I should like to recognise the significant effort that our servicemen and women and others are putting into the momentous task of the relief effort. After the emergency response is over, it is crucial that there is sustained support. What will the Secretary of State’s Department be doing to ensure that crucial infrastructure such as health and education get fully back up to speed?
Helen Catherine Goodman (Labour, Centre-left): Following the hurricanes, the British overseas territory has a reconstruction bill of about £4 billion. The Government are providing grants to the Dominican Republic, but seem to be relying on private sector loans for the British Virgin Islands. With the loss of EU funding, is it not time that the Government stopped trying to fiddle the definition of overseas aid and set up a dedicated scheme and used the contingency reserve for the first year?
Rohingya People — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Gerald Jones (Labour, Centre-left): We are seeing the heartbreaking pictures and hearing the tragic stories of the plight of the Rohingya people on a daily basis now. Will the Minister increase his representations? Specifically in the light of the evidence of the atrocities by the Myanmar armed forces, does he feel that the decision to lift the EU sanctions against the military regime was premature?
CHOGM — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Elizabeth Anne McInnes (Labour, Centre-left): The nation of Sudan may have expressed its interest in joining the Commonwealth, but will the Minister make it clear that, despite Donald Trump’s recent lifting of sanctions on Sudan—a decision welcomed by this Government—there is no way we will allow into the Commonwealth a Sudanese regime that continues to brutally persecute ethnic and religious minorities and to perpetrate the most outrageous abuses of human rights?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with the Foreign Secretary’s comments on the terrible events in Somalia In March, the Foreign Secretary told this House that the Labour party had been "far too pessimistic" about Donald Trump. He said specifically that the nuclear deal with Iran "was going to be junked", but "it is now pretty clear that America supports it."—[Official Report, 28 March 2017; Vol. 624, c. 116.] Does the Foreign Secretary think that those comments perhaps demonstrate that he has a lack of political judgment?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Even if the Americans have 100% reliable intelligence to find every single nuclear site and rocket launcher in North Korea, the regime has thousands of guns mounted in caves near the border ready to bomb Seoul. In these circumstances, will the Foreign Secretary encourage the Trump Administration to pursue diplomacy in Korea, as in Iran? To coin a nostrum, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): At our last session of questions, the Foreign Secretary agreed with the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) that if the EU demanded a single penny in the Brexit divorce bill, then they could "go whistle". A month later, the Foreign Secretary said—[Interruption.] I appreciate that accountability is difficult for the right hon. Gentleman, but he ought to listen. He said: "We are law-abiding, bill-paying people" who will "meet our legal obligations as we understand them", so can he clear up this issue today? Does he accept that there will be a divorce bill or not, and if so, how much should the bill be?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Even if the Americans have 100% reliable intelligence to find every single nuclear site and rocket launcher in North Korea, the regime has thousands of guns mounted in caves near the border ready to bomb Seoul. In these circumstances, will the Foreign Secretary encourage the Trump Administration to pursue diplomacy in Korea, as in Iran? To coin a nostrum, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): Let me just quote again from the last session of Foreign Office questions, when the Foreign Secretary told the House: "There is no plan for no deal".—[Official Report, 11 July 2017; Vol. 627, c. 141.] Five days ago, he said that "we must make the right preparations…for a no-deal scenario." We know that the Cabinet cannot stop fighting about the Brexit that they want, but it would be a start if our flip-flopping Foreign Secretary could stop fighting with himself.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Even if the Americans have 100% reliable intelligence to find every single nuclear site and rocket launcher in North Korea, the regime has thousands of guns mounted in caves near the border ready to bomb Seoul. In these circumstances, will the Foreign Secretary encourage the Trump Administration to pursue diplomacy in Korea, as in Iran? To coin a nostrum, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): I have not asked the question yet, Boris. Which is it: the Telegraph article or the Florence speech—the lion roars or the lion wants to stop this malarkey? Apart from his own fading ambitions, what exactly does the Foreign Secretary believe in?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: International Affairs
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): As evidence mounts that leaving the EU with no deal would involve an unacceptably high price, it is also clear that although the Prime Minister’s speech in Florence improved the atmosphere, it has not broken the logjam in the negotiations. Will the Secretary of State tell the House what the Government now propose to do or to offer so that the talks can move on to phase 2 and in particular to the nature of the transitional arrangements, for which British businesses are waiting because they urgently need to know that those arrangements will happen and what their terms may be?
EU Exit Negotiations — House of Commons, 2017-10-17
Topic: Foreign Trade
Patrick Bosco McFadden (Labour, Centre-left): I have sympathy with the Secretary of State because he has to come here every month to report on negotiations that resemble the holding pattern at Heathrow airport, where the planes go round and round but never actually move forward. May I return him to this crucial issue of no deal? Members of his party have spent the past two or three days touring TV studios saying that they are relaxed about that outcome, yet the Resolution Foundation and the International Trade Policy Observatory have today published a report saying that it would mean added costs for families of between £250 and £500 per year, with the burden falling most heavily on families in the midlands and the north. Is he relaxed about that kind of additional burden on hard-working families?