argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
British Citizens Imprisoned Overseas and Coronavirus — House of Commons, 2020-03-02
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Even allowing for probable under-reporting, the rate of death from coronavirus in Iran is probably the worst in the world, currently running at about 7%. Of course, our concerns are primarily with Nazanin and her family, but they must surely reach all the people of Iran as well. In expressing those concerns and in seeking to find a way to bring those people some relief, will the Minister undertake to work not just through the normal channels of diplomacy, directly and bilaterally, but with our many other friends in the Gulf region who are well suited and well placed to assist?
UK-US Trade Deal — House of Commons, 2020-03-02
Topic: Technology
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There is a lot of disquiet being expressed about digital services and tech companies, and their use of personal data. I note from the larger document that was published today that a lot of the public consultation also expressed concerns about personal data being used by US firms. What guarantees can the Secretary of State give to the House that the personal data of UK consumers will not be subject to any fewer protections than they currently enjoy under the general data protection regulation?
Medicines and Medical Devices Bill — House of Commons, 2020-03-02
Topic: Agriculture
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The provisions on veterinary medicines are essentially a straight lift from the human medicines part of the Bill. There is one significant difference, of course: animals that have been prescribed and administered medicines are put into the food chain. With regard to withdrawal periods, that, in turn, can have a significant impact on the access to markets of exported meats. Will the Minister consider later an amendment to clause 8(2), to provide at least some regard to the commercial position of the end meat products?
Conduct of Business After the Whitsun Recess — House of Commons, 2020-05-20
Topic: Government Operations
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Thank you for allowing this urgent question, Mr Speaker. I do not want this debate today to be all about Members of Parliament. Let us remember what has brought us to this point. Yesterday, the number of recorded deaths from covid-19 reached 35,341—a rise of 545 from the day before. Today, the Government’s response to that is to insist that Members of Parliament should undertake non-essential journeys—in my case, that is almost the entire length of this country—to stay in second homes. When that was done by leading Government advisers, it led to their resignation. If ever there was a case of do as I say and not as I do, then this is it None of us is blind to the inadequacies of online scrutiny. Like many Members I find it stilted and artificial, but if it is a choice between that, and putting the safety of Members, their families and the staff of the House at risk, that is no choice at all. This system should end only when it is safe to do so—and safe for all Members, not just those who live within driving distance of Westminster As trade union representatives explained to the Commission yesterday, the House of Commons is supported by approximately 3,000 employees. Is the Leader of the House really satisfied that we can bring MPs back from 2 June while discharging our duty of care towards those staff? How many staff will be able to return to work without risk to themselves or those with whom they live It is widely reported that the motivation for this over-hasty return is to get a support pack behind the Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoons. Today, it has even been reported that yesterday, the Leader of the House suggested to the Commons Commission that to get more MPs in, perspex screens should be installed between the Benches and between Members—someone has obviously told him how things are being done in Tesco these days. In recent weeks we have demonstrated that the business of this House can be done from behind a screen, as we do right now, but it is from behind a computer screen, not a screen of perspex, the only purpose of which would be to shield the Government from scrutiny and the Prime Minister from ridicule. The Leader of the House must think again.
Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Approach — House of Commons, 2020-05-20
Topic: Macroeconomics
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Twice this year, I have come to Northern Ireland oral questions and asked both the Minister and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the same question: will there be checks? Twice I was told no, but now the Minister today is saying, yes, there will be checks in some form. Will his colleagues come to the House to correct the record and also to detail their assessment of the financial impact such checks are likely to have on the Northern Ireland economy?
Covid-19: Prison Staff and Prisoners — House of Commons, 2020-04-27
Topic: Law and Crime
Christine Anne Jardine (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): There is grave concern about the potential transmission of covid-19 among both prisoners and prison staff. Organisations such as the Prison Governors Association, the Howard League and the Prison Reform Trust are all urging the Government to go further and faster in reducing the prison population. Will the Government consider urgently ending overcrowding by releasing prisoners who are on short-term sentences and suspending any new short sentences to slow the spread of covid-19?
The Economy — House of Commons, 2020-04-27
Topic: Labor
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I welcome the micro-loans scheme, but may I press the Chancellor to do more for the self-employed—in particular the self-employed who are not in his scheme, many of whom have only modest incomes, such as cleaners, builders, taxi drivers and musicians? Such self-employed people often work through limited companies, relying on dividends for income, and are getting little or no help, with devastating consequences. I know that the Treasury is worried about fraud, but I wrote to the Chancellor on 8 April with a Liberal Democrat proposal to help those self-employed people and protect the taxpayer. Will he please now help self-employed people who are dependent on dividends, before it is too late?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-06-22
Topic: Education
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Today is Windrush Day, and I hope the Secretary of State will join me in paying tribute to all those from BAME backgrounds who teach in our schools and are staff in our schools. Has he read the letter I sent him, signed by Members from across this House, asking for a review of the curriculum in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement, so that it better represents all communities across the whole of our country?
Reading Terrorist Attack — House of Commons, 2020-06-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): May I add my voice and that of my party to the expressions of sympathy for all those whose lives were touched by this dreadful incident and condolences to all those who mourn the loss of a loved one? Three months after I was first elected to this House in 2001, we saw the horrific events in New York and Washington on 9/11. That was followed by emergency anti-terror legislation. I struggle to think of a year since in which we have not had anti-terror legislation of some sort, but still the problem continues. I think we can be fairly certain that, if the answer to this problem were to be found in a formulation of the law, we would have found it by now. As the Home Secretary considers the formulation of a new counter-terror and counter-extremism strategy, we need the involvement of people who do not have any skin in the game—who, in the nicest way possible, have not been part of the failure that has taken us to this place. In particular, can that strategy be informed by an honest assessment of what it will do to end the radicalisation of those in prison?
Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2020-06-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): That is one example that backs up the justification from the shadow Home Secretary earlier about why we should be dealing with individual applications from individual countries, so I see the hon. Member’s point as an argument in favour of the amendments that the Lords brought forward last week But we are discussing this Bill, which on paper is very limited in scope but which we know could be used more widely at the start of next year to create extradition arrangements with EU countries if those other fast-track deals are not done. Given the sombre statement that we have just had from the Home Secretary about a suspected terrorist act on our own soil, and the importance of ensuring justice for all those affected by that incident, it seems barely believable that we are now discussing an incredibly limited Bill that might, albeit not by design, become a poor and incomplete replacement for the European arrest warrant, our best crime-fighting tool, which we might lose in just six months, putting the UK at risk of becoming a "honeypot" for Europe’s criminals.
Official Development Assistance — House of Commons, 2020-07-06
Topic: International Affairs
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Back in April, the International Development Secretary commented that there should be regular reviews at ministerial level of what different Departments were doing with their official development assistance. In the light of the upcoming merger between the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will the Minister set out what conversations he has had with the Foreign Secretary about ensuring that any official development assistance programming from his or other Departments is transparent and subject to scrutiny?
Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime — House of Commons, 2020-07-06
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I too thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement and congratulate him on what I think will be seen in years to come as a watershed moment in the development of human rights law. He is absolutely right to focus on the most clamant cases that he has listed in early designations today, but I hope that frees up time and resource within the Foreign Office to turn attention towards China, and particularly to those in Hong Kong, for whom sanctions of this sort would appear to be the logical next step The Foreign Secretary rightly outlines and refers to the role of the courts in due process and ensuring that proper safeguards are put in place. There is another element, which is the role of this House in that regard. Others have referred to the Select Committees. The one Select Committee we are missing at the moment is the Intelligence and Security Committee. Does he agree that the announcement he has made today, which has been so widely well-received around the House, demands the early constitution of the ISC?
Carer’s Allowance — House of Commons, 2020-05-11
Topic: Social Welfare
Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My constituent, Natalie Hay, is a full-time unpaid carer for her son, who has Lyme disease and ME. She is entitled to that paltry £67 per week as long as she does not earn any more than £128 per week, but with the pandemic, she is having to shield her son and home-school two children and has lost all respite care and additional support, so a few hours’ paid work is out of the question. She feels completely forgotten about by the Government. Does the Minister think it is possible to live on the equivalent of £1.91 per hour, and will he commit—
Sino-British Joint Declaration — House of Commons, 2020-05-11
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Beijing’s top political office in Hong Kong recently referred to pro-democracy protesters as a "political virus" and declared itself as being entitled to interfere in Hong Kong as it sees fit—clear breaches of the joint declaration. What plan do the Government have to help British national (overseas) passport holders in Hong Kong, should the deterioration of relations continue?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-03-17
Topic: International Affairs
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Foreign Secretary is absolutely right: repatriation is a complex and costly business. But that is surely exactly why it should not just be left to individuals and why there must be a leading role for Government Like many MPs, I have had representations this morning from constituents. Some of mine are on holiday in Morocco and now find themselves stranded. The ambassador’s Twitter account is telling them just to go to the airport with their passports and tickets and see what they can fix up when they get there. We realise that the consular services are under stress, but surely at this moment they have to have every possible resource to provide the best possible information for our constituents.
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-03-17
Topic: Agriculture
Timothy James Farron (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I have written to the right hon. Gentleman about my constituent, Eddie, who is 19 and stranded in Morocco, and I hope he will intervene to bring him, and others, home. Travel is also vital for the nation’s supplies, and 45% of the food that Britain eats comes from overseas and is imported. Will the Government do two things? First, will they make a statement, very soon, to say how they will protect those supply lines to give the nation confidence in its food supplies? Secondly, will they do everything they can to back Britain’s farmers so that they can increase production to keep us all well fed?
Economic Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Edward Jonathon Davey (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Our economy is suffering a heart attack, one deeper and bigger than in 2008, so the Chancellor has a serious responsibility and he deserves constructive engagement from everyone in this House, including my party. His main task is to ensure that there is confidence among the business community and the British people. I have to tell him that although he has made a good start, this is still very much a work in progress. His package for the business sector was large, but may I urge him to say far more about the loan terms he is putting forward? Many small businesses will be very worried about taking on this debt. May I also urge him to go much faster to give confidence to the ordinary people who are suffering in our constituencies?
Economic Update — House of Commons, 2020-03-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): I obviously welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to making sure that jobs are saved and that people can stay in work, but I wonder whether he agrees that by structuring his package around loans rather than grants, he actually loses some control over what the money is spent on. Therefore, he cannot be certain that the money is going to be spent most effectively in pursuit of this objective.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation: UK Response — House of Commons, 2020-06-02
Topic: International Affairs
Layla Michelle Moran (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As far back as 1989, the late, great Paddy Ashdown called on the Government to institute safeguards just in case one day China not just overreached but breached the joint declaration. We now potentially find ourselves in that position. Hongkongers are finding that the world is shifting beneath their feet, with nowhere to go. I understand that former Foreign Secretaries have written to the current Foreign Secretary, asking him to set up an international contact group to look at international human rights and also a lifeboat policy for Hongkongers. Has he considered their call and will he set up such a group?
Covid-19 Response — House of Commons, 2020-06-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Sarah Jane Olney (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): A great deal of work has been done by local policing teams in Richmond and Kingston to inform my elderly constituents about the risk of scams both online and over the telephone. What shall I tell my constituents to look for, if they are contacted by a contact tracer, before disclosing personal data?
Proceedings during the Pandemic — House of Commons, 2020-06-02
Topic: Government Operations
Alexander Morrison Carmichael (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): The Leader of the House, in introducing the debate, suggested that we should deal in some facts, so for the benefit of the record, I want to state a few facts of my own. In order for me to get here today, it required a journey of 18 hours, starting with an aeroplane, a taxi, a normal train and four hours in Edinburgh waiting for a sleeper train that I picked up at 1 o’clock this morning to arrive at Euston at 8 am. I cannot and will not do that every week. Apart from anything else, the return journey will be 26 hours long and would require me then to go into self-isolation for 14 days—the only responsible way to live in a community such as mine. Having come here, I am here for the duration, because I cannot go back until it is safe to my family and my community for me to do so I do not tell the House that because I look for any sort of sympathy. After 19 years as a Member of Parliament, I have learned better than that by now. I am telling the House because I think it is important that this House should be a Parliament for the whole of the United Kingdom, and every part of the United Kingdom should be able to participate here. What the Leader of the House brings to us today is a recipe for us being a Parliament essentially of people who live within driving distance of London, and that is simply as unacceptable as it is dangerous. It is a downright disgrace for the Leader of the House, who sits in the interests of the supposed Conservative and Unionist party, to bring forward a measure of this sort I accept that there were real difficulties with the hybrid process and the stilted nature of the debate that we had in the virtual Parliament. But believe me, the difficulties of the virtual Parliament are absolutely nothing compared with the difficulties that will come from the two classes of Member of Parliament that we will have as a consequence of the measures before us. When digital was the default option, it did not matter who was shielding. It did not matter who was able to move. Now it will become very obvious We know that it is only a matter of time before somebody who ought to be shielding and should not be here will find that there is some big incident in their constituency, and they will want to be here articulating the case of their constituents, because that is what we do. Inevitably, they will end up coming here when they should not, putting themselves, their family and their community at risk. It is not too late. The amendments tabled by the Chair of the Procedure Committee are good and sensible, and I entreat the House to accept them.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-03-03
Topic: Technology
Questions: Lithium is set to become one of the most sought after minerals in the world. Recent confirmation of significant deposits means that Cornwall is well placed to enable the UK to have its own secure domestic and sustainable supply of this vital mineral. Not only will that help to level up the Cornish economy, but it will put the UK at a global competitive advantage. Will the Minister ensure that the Government do everything possible to enable us to make the most of this opportunity, and would he like to come to Cornwall to see the work that is going on?; In Scotland, 204 free cash machines closed last year. Alongside access to local banks and post office services being cut, that is having a hugely detrimental impact on high streets and small businesses in our towns, which are already struggling. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Government act now and introduce legislation to protect access to cash, local banking and post office services on our high streets, so that our small businesses and high streets can survive and thrive?; Both I and Andy Street are campaigning for a gigafactory to be located in the urban west midlands, close to the heart of car manufacturing. The factory would make the region a world leader in green vehicle technology. Will the Minister support that vision, and what steps can we take to ensure there is further investment in green technology in the west midlands?; [R] As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for disability, I have been receiving representations from entrepreneurs with disabilities who state that they face many more challenges in accessing business loans. Will the Secretary of State speak with colleagues in the Treasury and make sure that there is a strategy to address that, so that a truly inclusive economy can be achieved?; Are the current bunch of Ministers crusading Conservatives? With 73% of small businesses reporting that they are over-regulated, do Ministers wake up every day thinking about how they can reduce taxation and regulation on business—particularly small businesses? In other words, do they accept that it is only with entrepreneurs that we can create wealth in this society?; Following the conviction of two ticket touts in Leeds last week for fraud, what discussions has the Minister had with his colleagues in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about including financial harm in the online harms White Paper?; As a former small business owner, may I ask the Minister what steps he is taking to enable more women to start and grow their own businesses, to help generate more local jobs in my constituency and across the country?
Jamie Hume Stone (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): Local crofters in Melness support the proposal to establish a vertical space launch facility in Sutherland, and they have written to the Prime Minister to tell him that. Does the Secretary of State agree that that would be good for the local economy and that the UK has a huge opportunity in terms of launching satellites for other countries that do not have launch facilities?
Flooding — House of Commons, 2020-03-04
Topic: Environment
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): As the climate emergency produces more and more flooding, so flooding will become more frequent, and yet the resources for the Environment Agency have been severely cut over the last decade. Does the hon. Member agree we need long-term, not just short-term, funding for the Environment Agency?
Flooding — House of Commons, 2020-03-04
Topic: Environment
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): On mitigation of climate change and flood risk, the restoration of peatland is very important, and I know that the Government are committed to that. The burning of peatland by the grouse shooting industry is damaging, and businesses that counteract good measures have to be addressed. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is important to engage with industries that are counteracting climate emergency measures?
Flooding — House of Commons, 2020-02-24
Topic: Environment
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My constituents have been battered by gale-force winds and rain for the last three weekends, resulting in localised flooding of the River Eden. This is not normal; it is the result of inaction on a climate emergency that is only going to get worse. Urgent action beyond that outlined in the Minister’s statement is required, so will the Government look to moving forward the net zero target to help to prevent the climate change disaster that is blighting our communities?