argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
EU Withdrawal Agreement — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: International Affairs
Patrick John Grady (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): If Brexit is shaping up to be such a success, why is it that four and a half years after the referendum, no other European country is seeking to follow the UK out the door? Why are they not looking at these deals being negotiated with envy and thinking that they want a piece of the action? In fact, what is happening is that countries such as Scotland are looking at the European Union and deciding that that is where they want their future to be. It is the United Kingdom that is being left isolated.
UN Mission in Mali: Armed Forces Deployment — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: International Affairs
Carol Frances Monaghan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. It is important that the House is kept fully informed on issues such as this. The Scottish National party firmly supports the deployment of UK personnel in supporting the UN mission in Mali. It is important that the UK continues to promote global justice and peace. I support the Minister from a humanitarian perspective and echo his point that international efforts to support law, order and security are also the best way to prevent unstable regions from becoming safe havens for terrorist groups. Many areas of concern in Mali need to be addressed by this international action, including food security, health and child protection. This conflict has led to displacement and death, and most disturbing are the UN reports that rape is being used as a weapon of war, with both women and young girls the target of these attacks. It is therefore conspicuous that while the UK is sending personnel to the area, which of course is most welcome, it is also cutting aid by 30%. These two issues cannot be considered separate when we are looking at the humanitarian response The Minister stated that the UK troops will support the Government’s development and diplomatic agenda "as a force for good in the world" Will he explain how the cuts to aid described could impact the UN mission in Mali? Will he detail whether any civilian support has been cut on the ground, including to those working with victims of sexual violence? Given the increase in terrorist activity and instability in the region, what safeguards are being considered for the personnel who are being deployed? At what point will our troops be withdrawn, and what are the success criteria for that to happen Finally, I would like to pay tribute, on behalf of those on the SNP Benches, to all those serving in such missions, especially all those personnel who will be away from their loved ones over the Christmas period.
UN Mission in Mali: Armed Forces Deployment — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: International Affairs
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Mali is one of the world’s poorest countries, but it seems to be the vast network of small gold mines that is attracting jihadist and other terrorist organisations there. What can be done as part of this international effort to try to get those gold mines put to use in getting the country out of poverty, rather than funding terrorism?
UN Mission in Mali: Armed Forces Deployment — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: International Affairs
Martyn Day (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I would like to extend my wishes for a successful deployment to everyone involved in what is seen as the UN’s most dangerous peacekeeping mission. According to the UN, about 12.9 million people are affected by the crisis in Mali, with 6.8 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Does the Minister agree that the situation highlights a strategic weakness inherent in the UK’s cutting international aid budgets?
Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman makes a good attempt there, but the issue is really the UK Government and their incompetence in dealing with all these issues, which could well have been anticipated, as well as in taking us out of the large trading bloc on our doorstep from which we have benefited for 40 years and from which our businesses have been able to export their goods. We in Scotland have been able to export our food and drink very easily, very simply and without any barriers. These are barriers that the UK Government wish to put in place—and if they wish to put them in place with an independent Scotland, that is their choice, not ours.
Taxation (Post-transition Period) Bill — House of Commons, 2020-12-09
Topic: Foreign Trade
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for allowing an intervention. Is he aware that we were told in the Treasury Committee that the UK could have adopted the French customs system, which was up and running before ours? Ours is not ready, as the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee heard yesterday. Technological solutions exist, but they do not exist in the UK, and we do not have them up and running to get this moving by the turn of the year.
UK-EU Future Relationship: Businesses — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Agriculture
John Joseph McNally (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I hope you are well, Mr Speaker Scotland is the largest exporter of seed potatoes in the single market. It is a product on which a great many Northern Irish potato farmers rely. This has been placed under threat by the lack of equivalence between the UK and the EU after the transition period. When will the Minister confirm a date on our attaining equivalence on seed products? If he cannot give us a date, is that not more evidence that the Government do not care about Scotland’s farming communities?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Social Welfare
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): This morning, for the first time in months, people have woken up with a genuine sense of hope. The news on the vaccine approval is the news we have all been waiting for. For many, however, that hope on the horizon remains far too distant. There are millions who still have not had a single penny of support from this UK Government. As others rightly received help, they received none. Prime Minister, yesterday I met ExcludedUK, which represents many of those 3 million citizens. For the past nine months, the excluded have been living without any help and without any hope. It is now, tragically, costing lives. Prime Minister, they told me something genuinely shocking. They are aware of eight people who have taken their lives in the past 10 days—eight people in 10 days. Prime Minister, we are now a little over three weeks from Christmas. These people need help. Will the Prime Minister commit to looking again at the support package for the excluded, to ensure that no one, but no one, is left behind?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Social Welfare
Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I have to say, and I do this with regret, that that simply is not good enough. These people need help, and I am asking the Prime Minister to think very carefully about this. This has been an abject failure by this UK Government, and the Prime Minister has been missing in action. The Government have U-turned on almost everything else, so why cannot the Prime Minister and the Chancellor change their minds on their support for these 3 million people? These are people working in construction, creative industries, events, education, hospitality, retail and healthcare. They have not just been left behind; they have been ignored for nine months. The Chancellor has repeatedly dodged this issue. ExcludedUK has not been offered one formal meeting with a Government Minister. Will the Prime Minister commit today to a meeting and working with ExcludedUK on a meaningful package of support, or is he simply going to abandon these people three weeks from Christmas?
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Social Welfare
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Prime Minister mentioned universal credit earlier. His and the Chancellor’s decision to increase UC by £20 a week during the pandemic was an admission of what my constituents have known for years: UC simply is not enough to live on. In January, his Government will cap the benefits of thousands of UC claimants; the average losses will be £250 a month, mainly to families with children. He already knows that UC is not enough to live on, so will he now commit to scrap the cap and guarantee to continue the £20 a week uplift? Or is he going to throw these families to the wolves, too, just like the 3 million excluded?
Arcadia and Debenhams: Business Support and Job Retention — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Labor
Andrew Egan Henderson Hendry (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I am sure the Minister agrees that there is a great deal of public affection for the Arcadia brands and in particular for Debenhams. While we must hope that redundancies can be avoided wherever possible, this is a sad day for our embattled high streets. All our thoughts are with the thousands of workers, including those in my constituency, many of whom have given years, or even decades, of service in retail, who will be devastated by this news. They must be given all the help they can get to ensure that all their pension rights are retained. Will the Minister ensure that Sir Philip Green’s obligations to pensions are met, and will his Department work with trade unions to make sure that the workers are treated fairly and adequately supported through the process Like others, many of the workers will face difficulty in putting food on the table and finding a new job or retraining in a crowded market. They will need the safety net of universal credit to make ends meet. I urge the Minister to use his best efforts and to work with colleagues to retain the £20 a week uplift and to scrap the planned benefit cap that will cost an average of £250 a month. Universal credit is already not enough; taking away the uplift is taking food from people’s tables We need to remember that many small businesses in local supply chains will be affected by the news. Some of them will not survive without support, while the owners of others will be joining the 3 million people who have been excluded from support. The Government cannot continue to ignore them. I urge the Minister again to finally get support to this group, who are becoming increasingly desperate.
Arcadia and Debenhams: Business Support and Job Retention — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Labor
Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Retail trade union, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, has said that it is seeking urgent meetings with Arcadia’s administrators in a bid to preserve jobs. It is crucial that the voice of staff is heard over the future of business in all circumstances. What reassurance can the Minister give that this request will be met?
Exiting the European Union (Plant Health) — House of Commons, 2020-12-02
Topic: Agriculture
David Michael Doogan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Both these SIs continue the legislative decoupling of Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, replacing mentions of "the UK" and "the Union" with "Great Britain". We have discussed the operational requirements for these measures over the last 20 minutes, but it is telling nevertheless. They serve to highlight the additional restrictions, barriers and hurdles that will face food and drink exporters after the end of the transition period. They are an unfortunate but necessary reminder of the inordinate legislative and bureaucratic challenge that accompanies the UK’s departure from the EU The Horticultural Trades Association has called for a delay in the implementation of these regulations and checks on plant imports. In a roundtable discussion in mid-November, the HTA raised concerns that "The proposals as currently envisaged are logistically impossible to implement" and that "The requirements will not achieve the objective of improved plant health because of their complexity and the administrative and financial burden they impose" The HTA also understands that the required IT systems are not ready or fully tested, and it says that the Government are "pressing ahead with compromises that are wholly iniquitous for the industry" Given this concern from industry, what assurance can the Minister provide that these measures will promote and support the sector, which relies on £350 million-worth of plant imports? It would be devastating to the industry if imports in the new growing season were disrupted even to a reduced or marginal extent HTA chairman James Barnes said: "It is imperative that government understands their proposals represent the biggest single non-tariff barrier in the history of our industry. By asking us to comply with new terms and conditions not yet agreed, with just 32 working days to go, represents an absolute ‘train crash’ for the industry and is setting us up to fail." That chimes with my observations on issues related to horticulture such as seasonal farm labour and the broader agricultural debate, which the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) raised in the previous debate in terms of the Secretary of State’s ambitions for lamb under import substitution. Those things taken in tandem, and a range of others besides, indicate that DEFRA Ministers, if they are not careful, inhabit some abstract bureaucratic ideal world and appear dangerously disconnected from the operational realities facing our farmers, growers and processors. Does the Minister think that the Horticultural Trades Association is wrong, and if not, why does it have such a negative impression of these provisions?
Universal Basic Income — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Social Welfare
Ronald Jack Cowan (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Councils throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have asked for support to run basic-income pilots, designed to increase our knowledge of the pros and cons of basic income. Five hundred and twenty elected politicians from across the UK sent a letter to the Chancellor on this subject and got a frankly derisory response. Does the Chancellor honestly believe that he knows everything there is to know about a basic income and would not learn from such pilots? If he does not, will he back the basic-income pilots and let us learn together and make evidence-based policy?
Ineligibility for Covid-19 Financial Support — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Social Welfare
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): I would never accuse the Chancellor of misleading the House, but he certainly seems to have misled "Good Morning Britain" when he told viewers that he had spoken to, and had back and forth with, representatives of excluded groups. Those groups are clear that he has not. Will he apologise for the oversight and make amends by meeting MPs and representatives of all groups that have been denied financial support?
Fiscal Policy: Household Income (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Social Welfare
Owen George Thompson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): How are those who have been excluded from support so far seeing their household incomes protected when they are getting no support from this Government at all? What plans does the Minister have to meet members of the ExcludedUK group to make sure that those who have had no support at all can actually survive Christmas?
Fiscal Policy: Household Income (Scotland) — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Macroeconomics
Stephen Mark Flynn (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In his spending review statement last week, the Chancellor failed even to mention Brexit, but the Office for Budget Responsibility was not quite so shy; indeed, it painted a particularly bleak picture. So can the Minister clarify this: does he accept the OBR’s findings, and if so, does he therefore agree that the Scotland’s economic future will be detrimentally impacted by any Brexit on the watch of this Tory Government?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Macroeconomics
Thomas Sheppard (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Contrary to the impression given a few moments ago, it is only the United Kingdom Government who can exempt bonus payments to Scottish key workers from tax and national insurance under schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. If they choose not to do so, the Treasury will get a windfall from these payments, with the consequent reduction in the Scottish block grant. So I ask again: will the Chancellor allow Scottish key workers to keep the full value of the bonus that they are being given by the Scottish Government?
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alison Emily Thewliss (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I hope that you will indulge me, because I have two points of order on two separate questions. My apologies in advance for that. First, further to the question that I raised and that my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East (Tommy Sheppard) raised, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury seems to have missed the point entirely on grossing. The Scottish Government do not receive income tax revenue in-year. Income tax is collected by HMRC and accrues to the Treasury, and it is reconciled in 2023. Grossing means a net loss to the Scottish budget this year—
Support for people excluded from COVID-19 measures — House of Commons, 2020-12-01
Topic: Macroeconomics
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The petition is to the House of Commons The petition states: The petition of residents of the constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran, Declares that there is urgent concern for around three million people who have been completely overlooked by the UK Government’s support package for the COVID-19 pandemic; further declares that it is alarming that, despite the Chancellor’s recent response to changing circumstances, his Winter Economic Plan continues to exclude people who already could not access the Government’s financial support; further that it is an injustice to the millions of workers who have been thrown into hardship that the Government promised that "no one would be left behind"; further that the Government’s commitment that it would not stop trying to find ways to support people and businesses now sounds hollow in the ears of the three million people – the self-employed, freelance workers, the newly employed as of March this year and the limited company directors – who are excluded from any and all support and are now in their eighth month with no financial assistance; and further that there is deep concern that, despite repeated arguments that the gaps in support are addressed, the UK Government has still failed to address this injustice The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to bring forward additional measures to support the three million who have been unfairly excluded from UK Government support And the petitioners remain, etc [P002632]
Immigration Offences: Prosecution — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: Law and Crime
Stuart Campbell McDonald (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): The Solicitor General referred to prosecuting the people who control the vessels, but they are, as my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Martyn Day) said, the victims of these gangs—not members of the gangs—so there has been a change in CPS policy and practice. If he wants to prove me wrong on that, will he publish the new note or guidance on this offence that I understand was issued to CPS lawyers last month, and will he also publish details of any representations made by the Home Office in the last 18 months in relation to this offence?
Future Relationship with the EU — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: International Affairs
Peter Wishart (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Here we are again—yet another deadline. October was a deadline, then it was November, then 1 December, then Friday, then Monday, then it was the last supper and now it is Sunday. God knows what it will be after that. I remember the good old days when Brexit was concluded and this was the easiest deal in history. The easiest deal in history now has more cliffhangers than "EastEnders" and we are just 21 days away from a likely no-deal Brexit—a no deal that will bring chaos, disruption and ruin for many The only policy in the negotiation position that the Government seem to have left is the forlorn hope that the EU will back down to their demands and concede that the British are right. The Government have made themselves hostage to their own Brexit right wing—any compromise will now be interpreted as a sell-out by that right wing. They have only themselves to blame, with the appalling language that they have used against the EU and their demonisation of the EU as some sort of cartoon villains. The EU are not going to back down, this Government are not going to compromise, so what is going to change in the next few days?
Future Relationship with the EU — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: International Affairs
Margaret Ferrier (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): One of the concessions the Government made this week is on clause 45 of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, which would have allowed the UK Government to apply UK state aid rules in Northern Ireland. Given that the UK Government feel comfortable conceding on this clause, will the Minister now also look at deleting clause 50, which reserves the power to Westminster to apply state aid rules in Scotland and Wales?
Future Relationship with the EU — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: International Affairs
Steven Bonnar (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): In terms of the internal market Bill, we all remember Scottish Tory MPs in this House voting against amendments from the other place that would have forced the Government to seek the consent of the people of Scotland, and time and again we have witnessed the utter violation of not only the devolution settlement but potentially Scotland’s entire constitutional existence. We in Scotland did not vote for this Brexit, or indeed any Brexit, and we will not watch idly as our work and relations with our European friends and neighbours is unravelled. We will make our voice heard at next May’s Holyrood elections, but the truth is that the people of Scotland have had enough now. So I ask the Minister: come May, will she accept our democratic intent, or will we in Scotland always come a distant second to such reckless Tory ideology?
Future Relationship with the EU — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: International Affairs
Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): Yesterday the Prime Minister said that Scotland "will benefit" even if the UK crashes out of the EU single market without a trade deal with the EU, despite the fact that no deal will mean higher food prices, additional costs for businesses and job losses. As we stare down the barrel of a no-deal Brexit, can the Minister explain to what extent she believes Brexit is turning into the titanic success that the Prime Minister predicted it would be?
Future Relationship with the EU — House of Commons, 2020-12-10
Topic: Foreign Trade
Deidre Leanne Brock (Scottish National Party, Centre-left): On Tuesday, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation said that his members could not agree export sales for next year with any certainty as they cannot be sure what tariffs may apply, what delays they may face or how much they will get paid for their goods. He also said that there is a shortage of general ambient warehousing space and cold chain storage. Businesses are trying to stockpile against the shocks and offset increased costs, but how can they do that if there is not facility for that stockpiling? What are the Government going to do about that, and why on earth have they not thought this through sooner than just three weeks before exit day?