argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Kenneth Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): Has my right hon. Friend seen the report by the London School of Economics this morning demonstrating that wages in this country have continued to rise strongly since the first flood of arrivals to this country from Poland and elsewhere, and that the fall in wages in recent years was plainly caused by the deep recession—the worst since the second world war—in 2007? This refutes other anti-immigrant arguments that some of the Brexiteers keep using in the present campaign. Does he accept that the real migrant crisis facing him and this country is the problem of how to deal, in a civilised and effective way, with the flood of people coming from war and anarchy in the middle east and north Africa, and that the problem is not Polish construction workers and Romanian nurses, who make a valuable contribution to the economic life of this country?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I must confess that I have not had the opportunity to see the LSE report to which my right hon. and learned Friend has referred, but I shall seek it out after I have left the Chamber. He clearly makes a strong point about the challenges we face in dealing with the migration crisis, and obviously the Government are taking clear steps, both in region and in Europe, to respond to and deal with that. On the issue of new EU members, the Government are clear on how we would use our veto if we were not satisfied with the terms on which a country was to join the EU—in terms of convergence with the economies of the EU and those issues, which we recognise, of free movement. We have that veto and will certainly use it, if we are not satisfied with the terms of entry.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. As I have myself been reminded, Members will, I am sure, have it in the forefront of their minds to refer to national insurance numbers in the context of this urgent question. That is at its heart, as I feel sure Dr Eilidh Whiteford is well aware.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): As a Government, we have always been clear that we want to attract the skilled and the talented, the brightest and the best to contribute to the UK’s economic growth. We therefore have a very clear policy for visa nationals from outside the EU in response to that. When it comes to the EU, what we are more concerned about is the perhaps artificial draw that might come from benefits, and we also want to ensure that we have a skilled workforce in the UK to meet the needs of the economy. That explains the Government’s important work on apprenticeships through the apprenticeship levy and indeed the skills levy that we will introduce in respect of skill visas. We want to provide people from this country with the right skills to meet those needs so that we are not overly reliant on labour from outside the UK.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): The publication of the NI figures is simply one more confirmation that there is no chance—zero—of us fulfilling our promise to the British people to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands, unless there is a restriction on the free movement of labour within the European Union. The Minister mentioned the renegotiation, so will he tell us why the Government did not attempt in any way to get a reduction in that free movement as part of that renegotiation?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): We remain focused on reducing net migration to those sustainable levels, and my right hon. Friend well knows that the renegotiation to which I referred brought about the welfare brake and indeed improved competitiveness across the UK by dealing with unnecessary bureaucracy. If we look at the differences between economies across the EU, we can see how that reformist agenda that the Prime Minister has championed is essential. As I have said, we are taking steps within the UK to ensure that we have the right skills for the UK workforce as well.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has made his point in his customary colourful way, but the facts that we see before us show that national insurance numbers—which, after all, are what the urgent question was about—are not a good measure when it comes to the long-term issue of migration. The hon. Gentleman may be more interested in talking about snowflakes and union recognition, but I think that those are matters for another debate.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure that I saw the Minister last night at the world premiere of "Brexit: The Movie". Unfortunately, it is not a war film A few months ago, the Prime Minister was telling us that unless he got his way on migration, he would consider leaving the European Union. That involved a minor change in migration figures and controls. The Prime Minister now says that if we left the EU, there might indeed be a third world war. I have a graph here, so that Members can see the difference between the two figures. Does not that mismatch show that we have no idea of the net migration figure? Migration is out of control. We need to regain control of our borders, and that is what the Minister should have done by means of an emergency brake.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I was not at the opening night of "Brexit: The Movie" to discover whether my hon. Friend had a starring role in it, so we shall have to wait and see The Office for National Statistics makes very clear that, in its judgment, the passenger survey is still the right way of assessing net migration, and that is the measure that the Government will continue to use.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Bernard Christison Jenkin (Conservative, Centre-right): May I remind my right hon. Friend that the report produced by the Public Administration Committee during the last Parliament cast grave doubt on the accuracy and reliability of the immigration statistics? The annual passenger survey is just that: a survey of a sample of passengers entering the United Kingdom. Those statistics may well be "the best way" of measuring our immigration, but the Committee decided that they were not a reliable way of measuring immigration, and the very large rise in national insurance numbers shows that there is something else going on May I also remind my right hon. Friend that the last census showed that the British population was larger by 467,000 than the Government had understood it to be, and that a very large proportion of that was due to unrecorded immigration? We do not have control over immigration into this country, because all EU citizens and their dependants have the right to come here, and the Government have no means of excluding them even if they are criminals and terrorists.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): We do, in fact, exclude from the EU those who may be involved in criminality or terrorism, and the Prime Minister’s renegotiation has actually strengthened our ability to remove them. As for the annual passenger survey, the Office for National Statistics has made it very clear that it remains the best measure for determining net migration. The national insurance numbers do not provide such a measure. I am sure that the ONS, as an independent body, will continue to review the position and assess what improvement may be made, but today it has been specific in stating that the passenger survey is the most effective measure.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Damian Howard Green (Conservative, Centre-right): This is going to be a slightly different question from the one you were expecting, Mr Speaker. I am delighted that the Office for National Statistics has published this report to bust the myth that these national insurance numbers expose something about the immigration system. The report states explicitly that the main contributors to these national insurance numbers are people who are here for less than a year and will therefore not be included in the Government’s immigration targets and have nothing whatever to do with them. To be kind to those who are arguing the case for Brexit, I think they believe that short-term migrants are as bad as long-term migrants in many cases. That being the case, will the Minister acknowledge that many groups of short-term migrants—including 27,000 teachers, 28,000 care workers and 60,000 seasonal workers in the farming industry—do tremendous things for this country, both in our public services and in the private sector?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for making that clear point. He recognises, as I do, the benefit that we gain from the short-term migration of EU workers. Others who fall into that category include students on short-term courses, short-term contractors and, as he has pointed out, seasonal workers. The point is that this migration is short term: those people leave and therefore do not contribute to the long-term pressures.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important that we focus on the issues at hand this morning—namely, the national insurance numbers and the best measure for assessing long-term migration. That is what the Office for National Statistics has clearly set out, and that is the issue that we should focus on. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the national insurance number system, but clearly that is not the best mechanism for assessing the overall impact.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
John Charles Baron (Conservative, Centre-right): These figures clearly lay bare the fact that the Government are powerless to control EU immigration for the benefit of our public services. How do the Government justify our present immigration system, which unfairly discriminates against economic migrants from outside the EU? Would it not be better, on leaving the EU, to design a fairer immigration policy with a level playing field for nationals of all countries, some of whom might be better qualified?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I will leave it to the hon. Gentleman to make the case for having a visa system for all EU nationals, which is what he appears to be suggesting. The Government have a clear approach to controlling migration from outside the EU through our skills-based visas and through other routes, as well as to dealing with the pressures that we have highlighted, with economic competitiveness and with draws such as the welfare system.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
John Philip Glen (Conservative, Centre-right): I recognise what the Minister has said about the reliability of the national insurance figures as a measure of immigration, but he must accept that there is significant uncertainty and ambiguity in the perception of the complete picture. Given the significant pressure on public services, I urge the Minister to respond to those concerns and perhaps outline what he thinks could be done to provide a more balanced overall picture of immigration and to address the grave concerns out there.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): Obviously, one of the key elements is that we need a strong economy to be able to support our public services. As for the pressures on particular communities, the Government are introducing a controlling migration fund to assist those that may be specifically affected by population increases linked to migration, and we will continue with reforms to control migration.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I will certainly ensure that his comments about people’s ability to obtain national insurance numbers are passed on to colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions. I point the hon. Gentleman to the ONS’s clear statement on the lack of a connection between national insurance numbers and long-term migration and to what I have already indicated about the best measures.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): It is quite clear from the Minister’s answer to the urgent question that there are more EU migrants here at any one time than was previously thought. That is now not in doubt. I suspect that the Minister is a good poker player, because he can clearly bluff and misrepresent the facts.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): Indeed, Mr Speaker. What I was trying to say, clearly rather clumsily, was that the Minister would be a very good poker player. He is an excellent Minister, and I want to give him some career guidance. The Prime Minister clearly requires that immigration numbers come down to the tens of thousands, but these NI numbers prove that that cannot possibly happen while we are in the EU, so could he advise the Prime Minister to change his position on the EU and recommend that people vote to come out, and the Minister can keep his job?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Robert John Blackman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend has given an exposition of the position. However, there is clearly large-scale EU migration to this country by people who want to work, and our public services and many of our service industries depend on those people coming to do those jobs. In my constituency, the number of EU nationals has grown from 1,000 in 2010 to 10,000 in just five years. It cannot be said that that is not a long-term trend, because it clearly is. At the same time, when it comes to people from the Commonwealth, some of my constituents cannot get their relatives in and businesses cannot get skilled people in to do jobs that are required.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): Clearly, the net migration statistics show the challenges that remain in relation to both EU and non-EU migration, and how those numbers continue to be much higher than we want them to be. That is why we continue on our reform agenda. On visas from outside the EU, we have the shortage occupation list to prioritise those skills that are particularly needed, so that visas can be granted where there are gaps.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Marcus John Hudson Fysh (Conservative, Centre-right): The statistics published today show that the number of national insurance numbers has risen exponentially since 2003, from just over 100,000 to 700,000. I do not believe that what the Minister has said about the data clarifying the issue is the case, because there is a variation in the estimate for the short-term element of more than 200,000. The Government think that, over the next 14 years, 3 million more people will come here from the EU to settle on a long-term basis—at current rates, the figure will be 5 million. This has a tremendous impact in every constituency, including mine, on housing, jobs and services. I just ask: do the Government not care about that?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. May I gently point out that listening to and observing our proceedings today are quite a large number of schoolchildren? If they asked questions in class that are as long as the questions we are getting today, they would probably be put in detention.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly would not want to end up in detention, so I shall try to be as brief as I can in my answer. Let me direct my hon. Friend to the report, as it says that short-term migration to the UK "largely accounts for the recent differences" on the number of long-term migrants and that the international passenger survey is the "best source of information". Clearly, we care about pressure on public services, which is why I have consistently made the point during this urgent question about the continued reforms that the Government are making to control migration.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative, Centre-right): That last question warranted not a detention but a gold star. I am a great believer that the waves of migration that our country has had have been unbelievably beneficial for the country I am proud to represent in this place. However, I am disappointed with the Government, because on 10 March I asked for these numbers to be released and yet for some reason, through the cloak and daggers and smoke-filled rooms behind different Ministries, these supposedly benign figures could not be released at that point. Why was that?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Mixed Topics
Henry Edward Millar Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): Is the IPS not, by definition, random and self-selecting? Is not the best way to measure the number of people in this country to ensure that passports or identity cards are swiped on the way into it and on exiting it?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): The ONS clearly says that the IPS is the best measure available to assess our long-term net migration numbers. We will continue to see how issues such as the availability of exit check data may help to enrich and support the ONS’s analysis, but its report’s conclusions today make it clear that the IPS remains the best measure.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): National insurance numbers are obtained only by those who want to work legally and pay their tax or claim benefits. Inevitably, some EU nationals will be in the UK working illegally. What assessment has the Minister made of the number of EU nationals working cash in hand without a national insurance number, taking the jobs of our constituents? What is he doing to prevent illegal working by EU nationals?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point about illegal working. It is why the new Immigration Bill, which we have been debating this week, includes new measures to target those engaging workers who do not have those rights to be here. Indeed, we will continue to work across government with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions to better identify those who are not complying with the rules and to take firm action against them.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Matthew Robert Warman (Conservative, Centre-right): In my constituency, Boston has seen the highest level of eastern European migration anywhere in the UK, driven largely by seasonal work. I agree with the Minister that NI numbers would be a terrible way of measuring migration in an area such as mine, but does he agree that, in areas that have seen unusual concentrations of migration, we do need a better way of measuring migration if we are adequately to plan for public services?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): Although I entirely recognise the point that my hon. Friend makes about the particular pressures that certain areas in the UK have experienced as a consequence of migration, I also recognise the benefits that are attached in terms of the contribution to our economy. It is why we are seeking to introduce the controlling migration fund, which will assist areas that are experiencing that growth in population linked to migration.
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
Steven John Baker (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government’s case rests on ignoring the arguments set out by my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions earlier this week, particularly in relation to people shuttling to and fro for a few months at a time. That is a problem that the Minister’s case would ignore by looking at the passenger service. If he will not listen to my right hon. Friend, will he at least listen to Lord Rose, the chairman of the pro-EU Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, who told the Treasury Committee that the wages of the lowest paid would rise if we left the EU and took control of migration?
EU Migrants: National Insurance Numbers — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Immigration
James Peter Brokenshire (Conservative, Centre-right): Assessing the pressure on the population is about long-term net migration. That is the clear measure that we use, and that is the UN definition. It remains absolutely the appropriate way to assess those issues in respect of the potential growth in population and it is why we do remain focused on the measure that the ONS has clearly set out today, which is the passenger survey, and that assessment of long-term net migration.
BBC — House of Commons, 2016-05-12
Topic: Other
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): Order. I would point out that the opening exchanges between the Secretary of State and the shadow Secretary of State have absorbed no fewer than 33 minutes, so I look first to the author of the textbook on brevity, from whom other right hon. and hon. Members should take their cue, Mr John Redwood.