argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Abortion Regulations: Northern Ireland — House of Lords, 2020-06-08
Topic: Civil Rights
Alfred Dubs (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I should first declare an interest in that I am an active member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. I chair one of its committees and we did a report a couple of years ago on abortion. We covered both Northern Ireland and the Republic. I will ask two questions. First, does the Minister agree that it is disappointing that for women in Northern Ireland there is still a state of uncertainty as to where they stand legally as regards their right to abortion? There are doubts about how it should work and differences in different parts of Northern Ireland, depending on which trust areas they live in. Secondly, will he further confirm that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has a key role to play in all this? It has responsibility for the rights of women. Has he been in touch with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to see how it is developing and taking this issue further?
Abortion Regulations: Northern Ireland — House of Lords, 2020-06-08
Topic: Civil Rights
Peter Hain (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, will the Minister agree that, because abortion is now legal in Northern Ireland, women there are entitled to the same rights and, above all, services as women in all other parts of the United Kingdom, and that we have to implement these regulations setting out the legal framework that will bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of UK and meet the requirements of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights?
Victims of the Troubles: Payment Scheme — House of Lords, 2020-06-08
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Murphy (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, all of us are deeply disappointed at the delay in compensating victims of the Troubles. Will the Government therefore now urge the Northern Ireland parties to agree to give compensation immediately to the vast majority of victims, many of whom are old and sick, and separately to resolve the problems regarding that small number of people about whom there is disagreement? Also, will the noble Viscount accept that the United Kingdom Government should take their part in sharing the funding of this vital scheme?
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-04-29
Topic: Other
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Virtual Proceedings of the House of Lords will now begin. I remind Members that these proceedings are subject to parliamentary privilege and that what we say is available to the public both in Hansard and to those listening. I remind participating Members that their microphones will be set to mute and that they should unmute their microphones shortly before we reach their place in the speakers’ list. Members are asked not to use the group chat function The Virtual Proceedings on the Private Notice Question will now commence. I will call the Private Notice Question in the normal way. I will then call on the Minister to make the initial response, and then call the noble Baroness who asked the original Question to ask her supplementary question in the usual way. The Minister will again respond, and I will then call in turn those noble Lords asking supplementary questions as listed on the speakers’ list. Please ensure that questions and answers are short. I apologise in advance if it is not possible for everyone to be called. I ask each speaker to ensure that their microphone is unmuted prior to asking a supplementary question. Each speaker’s microphone will be returned to mute once their supplementary question has finished. In accordance with guidance agreed by the Procedure Committee, if Members are not listed, it is not possible to ask a supplementary question or to take part in proceedings.
Public Services: Update — House of Lords, 2020-04-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister’s comments about the support from the voluntary sector—it is terribly important—but I do not know whether he is aware that the hospitality sector is failing quite dramatically. An awful lot of employees are on zero-hours contracts, and there are reports of them having to sleep rough in London and many other places because they cannot afford their rent. The problem is that there are no hotels, shops, restaurants or cafés open that might give them some food, there is nowhere for them to stay because they cannot afford the rent, and of course the public toilets are shut—so it is very different. Of course, these people do not always know the normal way in which local rough sleepers go about things. Could the Minister talk to local authorities and try to instruct them to open public toilets, encourage the voluntary sector and get the day centres open so that these people can at least survive until there is a better chance of getting a new job?
High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-03-05
Topic: Other
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): That, as proposed by the Committee of Selection, the following members be appointed to the Select Committee: Brabazon of Tara, L, Goddard of Stockport, L, Haselhurst, L, Hope of Craighead, L (Chair), Horam, L, Liddle, L, Snape, L That the quorum of the Committee be four; That the Committee have power to meet outside the Parliamentary Estate; That the evidence taken by the Committee be published, if the Committee so wishes; and That the Report of the Committee be printed, regardless of any adjournment of the House.
High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill — House of Lords, 2020-03-05
Topic: Other
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their good wishes to the committee—I am sure that it will accept that with alacrity. Its purpose is to consider petitions against the Bill submitted by those directly and specifically affected by it. When it has finished its work, the Bill will return to the House for further consideration in the normal way. The committee can consider only those issues brought to it by the petitioners As noble Lords know, the principle of the Bill was agreed by the House when it gave it a Second Reading on 9 September last year; the House subsequently agreed to its revival on 25 February this year. On the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, any proposal to make major changes to the route would require an additional provision which committees in the second House do not normally consider. This committee would not be empowered to consider a proposal amounting to an additional provision unless the House instructed it to do so Finally, the chairman of the committee is the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, with whom I have worked for the past three and a half years. He is rigorous, logical and very courteous, and he ensures that every detail is analysed. We have every confidence in this committee doing its work under his chairmanship.
BBC and Public Service Broadcasting — House of Lords, 2020-03-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Foulkes (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I am grateful to speak in this debate and I join in the justifiably effusive congratulations to my noble friend Lord Young. This has been one of the most impressive and informed debates I have sat through in this Chamber, and we have many impressive ones—it has been really tremendous The role of public service broadcasting is a crucial issue. I highlighted it recently in a report I was privileged to prepare for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on threats to media freedom throughout Europe. As I reported, public service broadcasters are under increasing threat from the growing number of authoritarian Governments in Europe today, and now, sadly, we see it happening here in the United Kingdom, as my noble friends Lady Liddell and Lord Puttnam said. As was made clear to me by MPs from all over Europe at the parliamentary assembly, the BBC is seen as the gold standard in public service broadcasting As my noble friends have said, the BBC is under attack in different ways: the principle of funding through the licence fee, in particular; but also, as others have said, in the despicable way of passing the buck for free TV licences for the over-75s, which is and ought to be the responsibility of the Government, and the Department for Work and Pensions in particular. It is disgraceful that that buck should be passed to the BBC. It will have a huge impact on vulnerable pensioners up and down the country, particularly those who fall just short of qualifying for pension credit but are by no means well off. It is those people who will be hardest hit by the changes, contrary to what was in Tory manifesto, which promises older people "the security and dignity they deserve" Loneliness is a critical issue facing older people. It is an issue I have raised previously, in this Chamber and in my work as chair of Age Scotland, and it is one that the Government pretend to be concerned about. Research by Age UK found that more than 1 million people say that TV is their main source of company, yet the lack of responsibility from the Government to honour their promise to support older people who rely heavily on TV has been rightly met with overwhelming dismay and disappointment. That 2019 manifesto said: "We recognise the value of free TV licences for over-75s", yet the Government still continue with the nonsense that their licences should be funded by the BBC, despite the widespread opposition Another worrying aspect of this approach is that asking the BBC to take on this responsibility must be incompatible with data protection laws, as well as being a time-consuming and costly exercise. Above all, I fear that some pensioners who will, in fact, remain entitled to free TV licences will nevertheless pay the fee for fear of prosecution, the resultant fines and even the threat of imprisonment if this remains a criminal offence. It is outrageous that the Government should put the most vulnerable people in our society in this position.
BBC and Public Service Broadcasting — House of Lords, 2020-03-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
George Foulkes (Labour, Centre-left): We are now into March. This scheme is supposed to come into operation in a couple of months, yet we do not know how it is going to operate, who is eligible or whether the data protection laws will come into it. The last time I raised this, the noble Baroness said that she was disappointed that the BBC had not taken the funding on board. What is happening in relation to sorting this out?
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Other
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Virtual Proceedings of the House of Lords will now resume. I remind Members that these proceedings are subject to parliamentary privilege and that what we say is available to the public both in Hansard and to those listening and watching. Members’ microphones will initially be set to mute, and the broadcasting team will unmute their microphones shortly before we reach their place in the speakers’ list. When Members have finished speaking, their microphone will again be set to mute The Virtual Proceedings on the Private Notice Question will now commence. I will call the Private Notice Question in the normal way and supplementary questions will be asked in the order shown on the speakers’ list. Please ensure that questions and answers are short; there are many speakers on the list and more will be called if the answers are short. Each speaker’s microphone will be unmuted prior to asking a supplementary question and returned to mute once their supplementary question has finished.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Other
John McFall (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the Virtual Proceedings on the debate in the name of the noble Lord, Lord True, will now commence. This is a time-limited debate and, as shown on the Order Paper, unless any noble Lord objects, the time limit is two hours I will first call the noble Lord, Lord True, in the usual way. The question will then be put. Then I will call each speaker on the list in the usual way. Each speaker’s microphone will be unmuted prior to speaking and returned to mute once their speech has finished.
Budget: Economic and Fiscal Outlook — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Immigration
Joyce Gwendolen Quin (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, in last year’s debate, my noble friend Lord Davies of Oldham said in winding up that "we are not in normal times."—[Official Report, 9/4/19; col. 463.] He spoke of what he saw as the threat to our economy. I must say that his words seem even more apt in today’s dramatic circumstances In the short time available, I will limit myself to asking a couple of questions and raising a couple of issues to which I hope the Minister will be able to respond when he winds up. First, given that we have left the EU and that we will no longer be part of a freedom of movement system which I believe has brought benefits to our economy and our citizens over the years, I urge the Government to look at changing what seems to be their current approach to immigration. While we all hope that British people will be able to find jobs in our economy, in the post-Brexit world there are some sectors—particularly agriculture, the hospitality industry and, not least, our health and care sectors—where workers from outside will be necessary and, I hope, welcome. For example, the president of the National Farmers’ Union has talked of needing workers: from fruit-pickers on the one hand to specialised vets on the other. Yet, it seems to me that the Government’s talk of favouring "the brightest and best" and those with high earning capacity is much too rigid. We will need to be much more flexible in our immigration policy than the Home Secretary currently seems prepared to be Secondly, all the previous predictions by Conservative Governments in recent years have shown that being outside the single market will involve some harm to the economy, particularly if we leave without a deal. The worry is that this will come on top of Covid-19 and its aftermath. As ever, I am particularly concerned about my own part of the country, the north-east of England, which has had a greater dependence on EU exports than any other region in recent years. I hope the Government will stand by their commitment to levelling up across the country and tell us—perhaps the Minister could do so when winding up—what they are going to do for the north-east Finally, now that we are outside the EU and having to forge a new economic relationship with it, I urge the Government to be motivated not, as so often in the past, by political views within their own party, but solely by what they consider to be in the economic interests of our country and its people as we strive to move forward.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Other
Richard Oliver Faulkner (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the virtual proceedings on the Motion in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, will now commence. This is a time-limited debate and the time limit is one and a half hours. I will first call the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, in the usual way. The Motion will then be moved. Then I will call each speaker on the list in the usual way. Each speaker’s microphone will be unmuted prior to speaking and returned to mute once their speech has finished.
Employment Allowance (Increase of Maximum Amount) Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Denis Tunnicliffe (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I thank the Minister for presenting the regulations and I can assure her that we on this side will not oppose them. However, they raise a number of interesting points. The noble Lord, Lord Wei, said that they will have an impact, but perhaps we should think about their impact in a more holistic way over the longer term, because a much bigger issue is the long-term effect of the coronavirus outbreak I am particularly concerned, as were the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, and the noble Lord, Lord Wei, about the impact on the hospitality and leisure sector. It is clear that it will be one of the last sectors to recover, but it plays an incredibly important role in our society. It creates good jobs and is a great source of pleasure for many people. It is therefore important that the Government bear the sector in mind and take a rounded approach. They need to make sure that the businesses operating in it do not go bust so that they can recover and thus provide pleasure for people, as well as employment I also regret that these regulations, which cost about £450 million per annum, come with no analysis of the benefits. I checked with the appropriate contact named in the Explanatory Memorandum and was assured that the Government do not have an estimate of how many employers might take on more staff because of this measure Finally, it seems to me that the scheme must have problems with respect to fraud. It is important that the Government have thought this through and have appropriate mechanisms to ensure that fraud is deterred. With those few comments, I repeat that I have no objection to these regulations and wish them well.
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Other
Genista Mary McIntosh (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the Virtual Proceeding on the Statement will now commence. I will call the Statement and the Minister will repeat it in the usual way. I will then call the Front-Benchers and the Minister to respond. After that, we begin the period of Back-Bench questions, which has been extended to 30 minutes. I will call each Back-Bench Member on the speakers’ list to ask a supplementary question and the Minister to answer. Each speaker’s microphone will be unmuted prior to their supplementary question and returned to mute once their supplementary question has finished.
Covid-19: Department for Work and Pensions Update — House of Lords, 2020-05-05
Topic: Other
Genista Mary McIntosh (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, we have reached the end of the speakers’ list for the Statement well within the allocated 30 minutes. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. The day’s Virtual Proceedings are complete and are adjourned.
Port Examination Codes of Practice and National Security Determinations Guidance Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-07-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Mann (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on her work and success in bringing this forward. To assist with balance in the debate, I shall challenge her on the decision on NSDs being extended from two years to five years In my view, five years is insufficient; 15 years would be a far more rational timescale. The idea that this impinges on civil liberties to an extent that is problematic for society is a nonsensical argument when one considers the amount of data that Facebook, Google and other internet companies have on all of us with electronic devices. I would feel more comfortable if it were a 15-year period. rather than a cut-off at five years. Perhaps the Minister would like to comment on why it is only an additional three years. Indeed, I would be much happier if we were to bring in a biometric ID card, which I think would be hugely popular among the population of this country because of its positive security and other implications My other question to the Minister relates to staffing, particularly with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit and the potential for a level of diversion of staff and staff attention at that time. Are we sure that we have enough staff working at our ports? My fear is that we do not and that we are not sufficiently well resourced. Will the Minister make the case strongly to the Treasury that a larger budget is required, in the knowledge that many in Parliament would support that larger budget to secure our borders?
Port Examination Codes of Practice and National Security Determinations Guidance Regulations 2020 — House of Lords, 2020-07-10
Topic: Civil Rights
Jonathan Toby Harris (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I draw attention to my interests as set out in the register. The Government have responded to concerns raised in your Lordships’ House about the safeguards accorded to journalists in protecting their sources. That is why we have these revised codes, balancing the protection of the country against the legitimate rights of journalists. That is all very welcome, but I return to the question that I have raised before in your Lordships’ House: how will this work in practice I should say at the outset that I believe in the importance of a free press that holds those in authority to account and acts in the public interest—but that does not mean that everything that all journalists do is automatically honourable. I am aware of instances where journalists have knowingly and illegally received information that is rightly secret and have gone ahead with publication, while knowing how damaging that is to the nation’s security However, I have a more fundamental question for the Minister. How does an officer at our ports know that someone is a journalist? What constitutes a journalist, so that they may be subject to the extra protections of paragraphs 42 and 52 of the Schedule 7 code? How can prior independent or judicial authorisation be obtained when the officer stopping an individual does not know that they are about to claim to be a journalist? If the individual stopped declares that he or she is a journalist, what defines that person as a bona fide journalist We can now all be citizen journalists. We can all blog, post on YouTube and tweet, and I accept that some very important material has rightly been put into the public domain through such routes. But what makes a citizen journalist? Could it be just one blog post or one tweet, or merely the intent to post? Does this mean that anyone stopped at the border can self-define as a citizen journalist and refuse to hand over material? How can we prevent the abuse of these protections for legitimate journalists by individuals with malign intent?
Arrangement of Business — House of Lords, 2020-07-10
Topic: Other
Richard Oliver Faulkner (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, the hybrid sitting of the House will now resume. Some Members are here in the Chamber, respecting social distancing, and others are participating remotely, but all Members will be treated equally. For Members participating remotely, microphones will unmute shortly before they are to speak—please accept any on-screen prompt to unmute. Microphones will be muted after each speech. Please be patient if there are any short delays switching between physical and remote participants. Please keep questions and answers short.