argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Transportation
Alun Hugh Cairns (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman tempts me, but he knows that that decision will be coming soon. He makes an important point about the use of steel in infrastructure projects. The UK Government have already changed procurement rules, making it easier for British steel to be used in contracts. For example, Crossrail, Europe’s largest civil engineering scheme, uses almost entirely British steel.
Steel Industry — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Energy
Alun Hugh Cairns (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State to their positions. He makes an important point on steel-making capacity and energy costs. He will be well aware that the energy-intensive industry package the Government have brought forward responded to the demands from the industry and from Tata specifically. We have reduced energy costs to the steel sector by £109 million, which has been welcomed and has put the sector in a much stronger position, with a turnaround in finance from a loss of £64 million to an operating profit of £95 million.
Arriva Trains Franchise — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Transportation
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): The in-principle agreement between the Welsh Government and the Department for Transport to devolve the Wales and Borders franchise was announced on 21 November 2014. We are engaging constructively with the Welsh Government to enable them to achieve the successful procurement of the next Wales and Borders franchise in October 2018.
Arriva Trains Franchise — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Transportation
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): This is a fair point. That would be appreciated by passengers in Wales. As part of the devolution package, that is something to be agreed between the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government, but I am sure they will have heard the hon. Lady’s comments.
Rural Broadband — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Technology
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): Ensuring rural areas of Wales benefit from our broadband roll-out is one of my key priorities. The UK Government have supported investment in broadband across rural Wales, including £14.2 million in Powys and £13.9 million in Gwynedd. The Secretary of State recently had positive discussions with the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and the Minister for Science and Skills on future work to roll out broadband in Wales.
Rural Broadband — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Technology
Henry Bellingham (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for that reply. Does he agree with me that superfast broadband is a key driver for successful diversification in remote rural economies, and does he agree that it is time BT Openreach raised its game?
Rural Broadband — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Technology
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sure the mailbox of every MP would highlight the fact that it is time for BT Openreach to raise its game. On the importance of broadband to rural economic development, I can only agree fully with my hon. Friend. In my constituency of Aberconwy we have a call centre in Llanrwst, which is only in place as a result of the broadband roll-out encouraged by this Government’s funding.
Rural Broadband — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Technology
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): The "vast majority" is perhaps overstating the case, but the improvement over recent months has been spectacular, with rates of 90%-plus in many rural counties. There is still more work to be done, but in terms of rural broadband we are going in the right direction in Wales and the UK.
Rural Broadband — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Technology
Guto ap Owain Bebb (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the investment in his own constituency, which is approaching £12 million. There are still issues in relation to broadband roll-out in Wales, but sometimes we have to recognise that what has been achieved is tremendous. We are slightly ahead of the situation in England, which is something we should all applaud. However, I make no bones about the fact that more and faster broadband connectivity in Wales is crucial. The Wales Office will carry on pressurising BT Openreach to ensure that that is achieved sooner rather than later.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): May I associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister? I am of an age that I can remember the terrible black and white film of this tragedy. It affected everyone. We in this House pass on our thoughts to the people of Aberfan today Mr Speaker, as you might know it is my birthday today. The Prime Minister has already given me a huge birthday present by letting everyone know that we will be out of the European Union no later than 31 March 2019. May I press her for another present? Her excellent policy of closing Victorian prisons and opening modern ones is spot-on. Will she support the reopening of Wellingborough prison as part of this excellent programme, or would she rather just sing happy birthday?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Calm down, Mr Speaker On the serious issue about prisons, I welcome the fact that my hon. Friend applauds the policy we are following of closing out-of-date prisons and building new ones. I hear the lobbying he has made for Wellingborough, and I can assure him that Wellingborough is one of the sites that is being considered. The Secretary of State will look at the issue very carefully and make an announcement in due course.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Transportation
Questions: Is the Prime Minister aware that research shows that infrastructure investment most benefits areas that are prepared to capitalise on it with new associated possibilities for housing, skills and jobs? Will she ensure that current opportunities are taken for inward investment to preserve and re-energise essential national industries such as rotorcraft in the Yeovil area as we seek to capitalise on the dualling of the A303?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are right to invest in infrastructure such as the A303. That can make a real difference to local communities, but it is important that local communities embrace those opportunities. I know that my hon. Friend has been putting together ideas for a vision for Yeovil and I am sure he will share them with my right hon. Friend the Communities Secretary.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: Is the Prime Minister aware that research shows that infrastructure investment most benefits areas that are prepared to capitalise on it with new associated possibilities for housing, skills and jobs? Will she ensure that current opportunities are taken for inward investment to preserve and re-energise essential national industries such as rotorcraft in the Yeovil area as we seek to capitalise on the dualling of the A303?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): In response to the right hon. Gentleman, the point that I made was very simple: we press for proper investigations into what has happened in those incidents before we reach a decision or a conclusion. We have a very strong relationship with Saudi Arabia, which is important for this country in terms of dealing with counter-terrorism and a number of other issues, but what matters, when incidents happen about which there is concern, is that they are properly investigated.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Is the Prime Minister aware that research shows that infrastructure investment most benefits areas that are prepared to capitalise on it with new associated possibilities for housing, skills and jobs? Will she ensure that current opportunities are taken for inward investment to preserve and re-energise essential national industries such as rotorcraft in the Yeovil area as we seek to capitalise on the dualling of the A303?; A few weeks ago I thought that I had successfully bought four tickets online for one of my favourite bands, Green Day, only to be told that the tickets were unavailable and the gig was sold out, but within minutes I could buy the tickets on another site, for twice the price. It turns out that the ticket site had been the victim of a computerised attack by organised touts who then resell tickets at inflated prices. Will the Prime Minister ask her Ministers to give close consideration to my amendment to the Digital Economy Bill that would make the computerised harvesting of tickets for resale an offence? Similar legislation exists elsewhere, and it would go a long way towards protecting consumers and genuine music fans.; The child abuse inquiry needs to regain the trust of survivors. In September, the Home Secretary said that she had no information about serious leadership failings, but on Monday she told the House that she had known about serious problems since July. Yesterday it emerged that senior Home Office officials were briefed as early as April.The Prime Minister set up the inquiry and appointed the chair. She was the individual responsible for the inquiry’s success. She was the Home Secretary in April and the only person who had the power to act. Will she now finally tell us when she personally learned of the serious problems developing in the inquiry, and why she took no action at all?
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): For too long, the voices of people who had been subjected to child sexual abuse went unheard and they felt that they were not getting justice. That is why it is very important that the inquiry is able to continue and to find that justice for them I have to say to the hon. Lady that one of the important aspects of this is that, over the years, too many people have had concerns that those in positions of power have intervened to stop them getting justice. There were stories around about the inquiry and about individuals related to the inquiry, but the Home Secretary cannot intervene on the basis of suspicion, rumour or hearsay The hon. Lady refers to the statement that was made in this House yesterday about information being discussed with a director general at the Home Office. She will also have noted that it was asked that that conversation would be confidential, and it was, as far as I am aware, treated as such. It is important for us to recognise that when the Home Office was officially informed of issues, it acted. It is now for the inquiry to get on and deliver for victims and survivors.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government have taken a great step forward in giving more and more people freedom to choose how they use their pension savings when they retire. We have already seen more than 300,000 people choosing to access their pension flexibly since the reforms were introduced. Alongside our efforts to do that, we also said that we would look at how we could spread that flexibility to people locked into existing annuities. We consulted extensively with the industry and with consumer groups to explore whether we could put in place the right conditions for a market to develop to facilitate that idea Throughout our investigations, one of our very highest priorities was to establish whether people could get a good deal through such a market. In the course of our efforts to investigate the viability of a secondary market in annuities, two things became clear. First, without compromising on consumer protections there would be insufficient purchasers of these annuities to create a competitive market in which British pensioners could get a good deal. Secondly, pensioners trying to sell their annuities would also be likely to incur high costs in doing so This Government have made it very clear that we want this to be a country that works for everyone, and that includes making sure that everyone gets a high level of consumer protection. It has become clear, through our extensive research, that a secondary market would not be able to offer this. Rather than being to the benefit of British pensioners, it would instead be to their detriment. It is for that reason that we are not prepared to allow such a market to develop, and we will not be taking this policy further.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): It is easy to wish to have the cake and eat it, as the Lib Dems regularly do. It is difficult being a Minister. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions, but on balance, the interests of the consumers, often older people and the most vulnerable in our society, have trumped the desire to further increase pensions flexibility. The hon. Gentleman is disingenuous. It was one element of our pension freedoms and, after extensive consultation, it transpired that it would not provide value for money. Which?, which is totally independent of Government, has said that "it would have been wrong to move forward without assurances that consumers could get value for money and have the necessary protections"— assurances and necessary protections protecting those most vulnerable people in our society.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): Mr Speaker, I acknowledge your sound advice, as ever, and apologise if I have been anything other than my usually well-behaved self. My right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) raises an interesting point, but this is about people, many of whom are older and more vulnerable, making the right choices, and the Government making sure that the market is there to support them. That is not the case, which is why we have changed tack.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Stephen Anthony McPartland (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that the Minister has very bravely taken this decision to protect the more vulnerable pensioners who are suffering, but what will he and the Treasury be able to do to ensure that pensioners on very low incomes who are trapped in difficult annuities can escape those punishing regimes?
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Macroeconomics
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): We are looking at an economy that works for everyone, including those pensioners on low incomes. The Treasury will be considering this very carefully, but my hon. Friend will have to wait until the autumn statement to hear how we are best placed to deal with this. However, those people are absolutely at the centre of our attention, and we will do all we can to help.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
David Henry Rutley (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that this is a difficult decision for my hon. Friend, because he feels passionately about pension freedoms. Can he assure the House, though, that every effort is now being made to ensure that pension providers fully co-operate with all other aspects of the Government’s wider pension freedoms, which have been so warmly welcomed around the country?
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): I can give my hon. Friend the reassurance that I will do all I can to make sure that providers work closely with the Government to get the best possible deal for older people and indeed savers, including younger people—people who are perhaps not in the habit of saving or contributing to pensions. That is an important thing, and I am happy to pursue it with my full vigour.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right: two wrongs, sadly, do not make a right. The Government are committed to giving people pension freedoms so that they can choose what to do with their money, because that is the right choice to make, but, in this particular and individual circumstance, it was not the appropriate way forward.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): It is fair to say that the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time was not in possession of all the information following the consultation. It was our intent, clearly, at the time to listen carefully to not only the industry but consumer groups, which we have done extensively. It is worth saying that we remain absolutely committed to all the other pension freedoms that we are introducing. This is a sensible way forward, and I hope the hon. Gentleman welcomes it.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Social Welfare
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right in as far as that certainly was the intention of the policy. There is a long-term plan, because I am concerned about the long-term financial wellbeing of these older and vulnerable people, and it is important that they get the right deal and make the right decisions. That is why this suggestion, which is only one of many, is not appropriate to carry forward. It is not a pop-up policy; we have listened carefully, and we have made the right decision.
Sale of Annuities — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Labor
Simon Kirby (Conservative, Centre-right): What happens in the secondary annuities market is very different from cashing in existing pensions for lump sums. To be clear to the House, selling an annuity would never have been the same as getting a refund on all the money that was put into the product or the original pension pot minus any payments made. Purchasers would have paid what they thought the income stream was worth. Without a competitive market, that income stream would have represented poor value for money, and people would have got a very poor settlement as a result.
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Desmond Angus Swayne (Conservative, Centre-right): Equally, there will be British citizens working abroad whom we do not want to suffer from having any lesser rights. Would the hon. and learned Lady go into the negotiating chamber armed only with the glow of the good will and the moral high ground as against the hard-headedness of her interlocutors in the negotiations?
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
David Nuttall (Conservative, Centre-right): Talking of uncertainty, as the hon. and learned Lady was just then, may I ask her about the last few words of the motion? Why does it say "should the UK exit the EU" Why is it "should"?
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Goodwill (Conservative, Centre-right): There are many limits to my capabilities, and one of those is the inability to be in two places at the same time. I apologise if I have to dash off at the conclusion of my remarks to give evidence to the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs, but the Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union will wind up the debate and pass on any comments particularly directed at me. My job this afternoon is to reassure the House of our aspirations to protect the interests of EU citizens living in the UK and to counter some of the scaremongering that we have just heard. When I read the motion on the Order Paper, I was concerned and thought that there was a typographical error whereby the word "should" had been substituted for the word "when". The fact of the matter is, as the Prime Minister has made clear, that Brexit means Brexit, and we are determined to carry out the wishes of the British people to leave the European Union. The negotiations that take place will be to secure the best possible deal As the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU said in the Opposition day debate last week, the Government are determined that "Parliament will be fully and properly engaged in the discussion on how we make a success of Brexit."—[Official Report, 12 October 2016; Vol. 615, c. 326.] I am therefore pleased that the House has the opportunity to debate this aspect of our future relationship with the European Union There are over 3 million European Union nationals currently living in the UK. They make a vital contribution to important aspects of our economy and public services, not least in the NHS and care sector.
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Goodwill (Conservative, Centre-right): I think I have made the point previously that the only quote I have seen that has in some way threatened EU nationals was one from The Scotsman dated 14 July 2014, which referred to a specific threat that if Scotland was not allowed the join the European Union as an independent country, there would be a threat to the status of those people. If SNP Members are concerned about the accuracy of reports in The Scotsman, perhaps I could draw their attention to the official record of the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee dated 27 September 2016—quite recently.
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Goodwill (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me make a little progress, if I may I want to make it absolutely clear that the Government have also been clear that the timeframe for resolving this issue is to address it as part of a wider negotiation on the UK’s exit from the EU, to ensure the fair treatment of British citizens—including those from Scotland, by the way—living in other EU countries. Over 1 million British citizens have built their lives elsewhere in Europe, and they are counting on us to secure their future. We simply want a fair deal for EU nationals in the UK and British citizens in the EU. That is a sensible approach, and it is the one we will take. As the House is aware, the Government have committed to invoking article 50 by the end of March 2017, once they have clear objectives for the Brexit negotiations.
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: Government Operations
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): Would it not therefore be better for Ministers to be out there negotiating and getting the reciprocal rights, rather than having to remain at the Dispatch Box for these futile debates that stop them getting on with the job?
Rights of EU Nationals — House of Commons, 2016-10-19
Topic: International Affairs
Mark James Harper (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Foreign Secretary and diplomacy, so may I ask a question that might test his? Does he agree with his party leader, and presumably his party’s policy, that Labour wants to continue having free movement even after we have left the EU? That is the position set out by his leader. Can he just confirm to the House, because we want clarity and certainty, if that remains his party’s position?