argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Future of Financial Services — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Energy
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): The announcement of a sovereign green bond is to be welcomed as an important step forward in the financing of infrastructure and industry, and is essential to achieving net zero, but what sort of access will the Welsh Government have to this important source of green finance to ensure that projects and priorities that fall within its remit are adequately supported, given that the Chancellor seems to have ruled out empowering the Welsh Government to issue their own green bond?
Financial Services Bill — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for setting the scene. Many of us are concerned that the Basel III regulations did not go far enough—that is, they did not really solve the "too big to fail" issue. We need to be very careful that we do not water down the proposals. Does he agree with that position?
Small Breweries Relief — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for securing this debate and bringing this issue before the House. She mentioned the tax relief that helped small brewers to compete against the large companies. Does she suspect that these large companies have been bending the ears of the Treasury?
Small Breweries Relief — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Agriculture
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am sure that the small handful of global beer companies have a very effective lobbying system. It is of course our job to lobby here as well on behalf of our constituencies and small breweries.
Small Breweries Relief — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Energy
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): It was to be anticipated that the Minister would mention the industry’s requests, but what the industry requested was that the cliff edge be addressed. When addressing the cliff edge, there is no reason to reduce the 50% rate below 5,000 hectolitres. That does not affect the cliff edge; it just moves it.
Small Breweries Relief — House of Commons, 2020-11-09
Topic: Macroeconomics
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I ask the Minister to consider the point that the cash basis is at the heart of the uncertainty that breweries are telling us about. They do not know whether it is worth investing in the here and now. I know that Cwrw Llŷn, for example, is prepared to invest, but the shift from a percentage basis to a cash basis means that breweries have no certainty from year to year what sort of duty they will be paying.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-09-30
Topic: Transportation
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Diolch yn fawr, Lefarydd. From tomorrow, 2.3 million people in Wales will not be able to travel out of county without good reason, yet people from lockdown areas in England can still visit rural Wales. Travelling from Betws-y-Coed to Beddgelert could land someone with a fine, but Rochdale to Rhosneigr is no problem. I raised that with the Prime Minister last week. Leisure travel from lockdown areas has to stop. Will he make good on that today?
State Aid — House of Commons, 2020-09-29
Topic: International Affairs
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Putting the covid period to one side, it is worth remembering that in 2018 the UK spent only 0.38% of GDP on state aid. France spent twice as much and Germany four times more. With the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, the Government will centralise state aid decision making in London. When will his Government lift the arbitrary borrowing cap on the Welsh Government to enable Wales to invest in Welsh infrastructure and thus boost Welsh productivity?
Students’ Return to Universities — House of Commons, 2020-09-29
Topic: Education
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): The Secretary of State said in his statement that face-to-face teaching should continue wherever possible within the context of covid risk and local restrictions. Should the local context or restrictions require a university to move teaching online completely, however, will the Government ensure that neither the university nor its students will be punished financially for doing the right thing?
Financial Support: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-11-18
Topic: International Affairs
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): On top of the economic hardship inflicted by the pandemic, there are only 43 days until the end of the transition period, yet the replacement of key EU funding in Wales remains shrouded in mystery. The shared prosperity fund will reveal where the Government’s principal interests lie. Does the Secretary of State respect Welsh devolution, and if so, will he guarantee that funding decisions will be fully devolved? Anything else will stink of political expediency.
Financial Support: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-11-18
Topic: International Affairs
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Through all those words I will take that as a "no" for devolution in Wales. The Prime Minister and the self-monikered Minister for the Union has said that devolution is a "disaster", yet a YouGov poll found that 72% of Welsh people do not trust Westminster to look after their best interests. With support for independence gaining speed and traction across Wales, how can the frippery of a Union taskforce overcome the disastrous realities of Westminster’s track record in Wales?
Northern Ireland Protocol: UK Legal Obligations — House of Commons, 2020-09-08
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): What assessment has the Secretary of State made of how the failure to implement the protocol in full will impact on the flow of Northern Irish goods exported to Great Britain necessarily through the Republic of Ireland and then through the port of Holyhead?
EU Exit: Negotiations and the Joint Committee — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): The Government say that they just want the terms that Canada enjoys with the European Union. Last year, exports to the European Union accounted for more than 60% of Welsh trade; Holyhead alone accounts for more than 400,000 freight movements each year across the Irish sea. Wales’s relationship with the European Union is nothing like that of Canada. Do those facts not demonstrate that, for Wales, the Minister’s preferred Canada-style agreement is just not good enough?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-19
Topic: Labor
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Diolch, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. Wales is to go into lockdown on Friday. Scotland, Northern Ireland and regions of north England are already in similar measures. The firebreak restrictions in Wales are tailormade for the health needs of Wales, but the Treasury’s support schemes are based on political considerations and what best serves the south of England. Will the Secretary of State commit to bringing forward the job support scheme by eight days—only eight days—and increasing the level of support to that of the first furlough scheme, so that more people in Wales can afford to stay safe?
Intelligence and Security Committee: Russia Report — House of Commons, 2020-07-22
Topic: International Affairs
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Further to the question from the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), and for absolute clarity for people watching at home, Russians who invest £2 million or more in the UK can get a visa and in five years can convert that visa into citizenship. Does that not mean that restricting political donations to British citizens makes no real defence?
Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-09-28
Topic: Environment
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): The Secretary of State has said that there are essentially two strategies, but there is, of course, a third strategy, based on elimination, which is what New Zealand has pursued. It had succeeded, although there has been a slight resurgence over recent weeks. Is elimination a viable strategy for the UK?
Support for Self-employed and Freelance Workers — House of Commons, 2020-09-17
Topic: Labor
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I join others in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing the debate this afternoon and on drawing attention not only to the pivotal role of self-employed people across the UK but to the need for further Government support for them in this time of crisis. This is particularly the case in Wales, where self-employed rates in rural areas such as Ceredigion are far above the UK and Welsh averages. In the previous debate, my right hon. Friend the Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) rightly noted the need for sector-specific extensions to the furlough scheme, and I would argue that a similar targeted approach is urgently required to support self-employed and freelance workers, especially those working in the creative, tourism and hospitality sectors, and also in the events sector, which in Ceredigion has been particularly hit this summer, with the cancellation of dozens of local agricultural shows, carnivals, weddings and eisteddfodau In the brief amount of time I have available to me this afternoon, I want to echo others in urging the Government to look again at helping the individuals and businesses who have been unable to access any support thus far. I welcome the UK Government’s self-employed income support scheme, but, as has already been noted, almost 3 million self-employed workers were excluded from it, many of whom live in Ceredigion and work in a range of sectors and different circumstances. Composers and architects, newly employed workers and small business owners have all been excluded from support after falling foul of the scheme’s criteria, perhaps by submitting PAYE details a few weeks after the cut-off date or because they have earned too much in previous years Another hurdle that needs to be addressed, which has punished far too many, is the requirement to prove that at least 50% of an individual’s income comes from self-employment. That criterion especially disadvantages freelancers in the arts and creative sector, who draw their income from a range of sources. Just as devastating was the exclusion from both the coronavirus job retention scheme and the self-employed income support scheme of newly self-employed workers and those limited company directors who are paid through PAYE on an annual basis I am talking here about individuals and businesses who have seen their income completely disappear in recent months and who have little prospect of any work for months to come, and I therefore urge the Government to take action to address these issues, to extend the support to prevent a jobs crisis over the winter, and to look again at the rules so as to help those who have thus far been excluded through no fault of their own to get some support.
Engagements — House of Commons, 2020-11-11
Topic: Labor
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Unfortunately, we have recently seen the largest increase in Welsh unemployment for nearly 30 years. The Prime Minister will know that the hospitality and events sectors have been dealt a heavy blow by covid-19, but we cannot forget about the businesses in their supply chains. Many have not been eligible for grant support and, although welcome, bounce-back loans and the furlough scheme do not offer them support to cover running costs through the winter months. Will the Prime Minister therefore raise this matter with the Chancellor and bring forward a package that offers businesses in the supply chain some hope of seeing the spring?
UK Internal Market — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: International Affairs
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Much of the rhetoric around the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill is that it is a shared asset, yet what is missing are any shared intergovernmental structures. On Owain Glyndwr Day, why will the British Government not be honest for once and admit that they are using consequential legislation resulting from Brexit, such as this Bill, to effectively reassert direct Westminster rule over Wales?
UK Internal Market — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): On 8 July, the Secretary of State, in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Ceredigion (Ben Lake), said that ending our relationship with Europe would allow public bodies in Wales to buy more local goods, more local products and more local services, yet his own Government’s UK Internal Market Bill appears to block local measures that would prioritise local goods or services over those from other parts of the UK. How does he reconcile those two positions now?
Sentencing White Paper — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): A stalker caught with a murder kit in his car could be charged only with a minor offence because the victim, Dr Ian Hutchinson, was unaware that he had been stalked for over four years. The offender, Thomas Baddeley, was sentenced in August but has already been released. Dr Hutchinson was not informed. Will the Secretary of State commit to a review of sentencing in stalking cases and to strengthening the rights of victims?
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Government Operations
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) and, in particular, the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss), whose assessment of the Bill’s deficiencies was exemplary—I very much agree with it. I am conscious that a great many Members wish to contribute to this debate, so I shall keep remarks brief, confining them to clause 46, which extends the powers of UK Ministers to act in policy areas that have been devolved to Wales.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Agriculture
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Unsurprisingly, I disagree with the right hon. Gentleman. These are competences and responsibilities of the UK Government and the Department for Transport, and they have not fulfilled them. We might also think of the powers that UK Ministers have over Welsh agricultural exports and question whether they are being exercised effectively. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently failed to submit an application to the World Organisation for Animal Health for Welsh beef—and English beef, I should add—to be listed as a negligible bovine spongiform encephalopathy risk, so that status will now not be possible for our exports before May 2022 at the earliest, along with all the benefits that that status would bring. In conclusion, in opposing clause 46, I simply say to UK Ministers who bemoan devolution and Wales’s Parliament: stop scrambling for pitiful excuses for your own failures, take your responsibilities to Wales seriously and start using the powers that you already have.
United Kingdom Internal Market Bill — House of Commons, 2020-09-16
Topic: Government Operations
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am very interested in amendments 14 to 16. Will the hon. Gentleman clarify a little further the role that he envisages the devolved Governments playing in the formulation of the policy frameworks that he has just referred to?
Lockdown: Economic Support — House of Commons, 2020-11-03
Topic: Labor
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Yesterday, the Prime Minister stated in the House: "The furlough scheme is a UK-wide scheme and will continue to be available wherever it is needed."—[Official Report, 2 November 2020; Vol. 683, c. 54.] Will the Minister therefore confirm whether the Prime Minister was right and that furlough support will be available to Wales in the future, should public health priorities require restrictions to be reintroduced? A simple yes or no will suffice.
Channel Crossings in Small Boats — House of Commons, 2020-09-02
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): This Government are militarising the humanitarian crisis, made worse by past military interventions in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The inconvenient truth, of course, is that Britain has long played the role of agitator, making worse global crises that destabilise regions and displace people. Wales has committed to becoming a nation of sanctuary. What will the Minister’s Department do to enable that, or is sanctuary not part of the Government’s vocabulary at present?
Trade Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-20
Topic: Foreign Trade
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): It is a pleasure to follow my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Craig Williams). I begin on a point of consensus, for I fear that we might diverge a little as I proceed I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will agree with me that trade is an important part of the Welsh economy. It was worth £17.5 billion in 2019 alone. While the Government pursue trade deals across the world to explore new opportunities, the hon. Gentleman will also agree with me, I think, that they should not squander the opportunities on our doorstep. Although Wales is a proud global partner, we cannot escape the fact that at present more than 60% of Welsh exports are destined for our friends—and, hopefully, our continued close trading partners—in the European Union. I hope that negotiations with the EU will conclude without there being new barriers to that trade or additional costs for our businesses I am certain, however, that the UK’s approach to trade with other members of the global community must champion the interests of each of the UK nations—an objective far more likely to be realised successfully if all four Governments of the UK play a role in formulating trade mandates and scrutinising negotiations as well as ratifying agreements I commend the remarks of the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie), who eloquently detailed the Bill’s deficiencies in this regard; I add only that the Government should guarantee the democratic rights of the devolved Administrations in the Bill as well as offering legal protections to our public services and strengthening some of the safeguards when it comes to parliamentary scrutiny of standards Unfortunately, as it stands, the Bill in my opinion denies the role that the Welsh Parliament has in articulating Wales’s interests. That is why Plaid Cymru has tabled new clause 18, to ensure that all four nations must consent to any trade deal struck in their name. We will also be supporting new clause 4, in addition to the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Dundee East, which would ensure not only that that deficiency is addressed, but that UK parliamentary oversight is strengthened.
Areas with Additional Public Health Restrictions: Economic Support — House of Commons, 2020-10-06
Topic: Macroeconomics
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Further to the question asked by the hon. Member for High Peak (Robert Largan), what consideration have the Government given to the impact of local lockdowns on businesses and supply chains located beyond the lockdown areas? What support will be made available to businesses that are materially impacted by restrictions imposed elsewhere?
Covid-19: Economy Update — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Labor
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): As Wales enters a firebreak lockdown tomorrow evening, there are concerns that there will be a week-long gap in support between the end of the furlough scheme and the introduction of the new wage support scheme. It would be good if the Chancellor could consider giving Welsh businesses early access to that scheme. May I ask him to clarify the eligibility criteria, in particular whether seasonal workers will be eligible for support?
Covid-19: Disparate Impact — House of Commons, 2020-10-22
Topic: Macroeconomics
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am glad that information is available in different languages; real language choice provides a clear functional gain, as we know in Wales. However, I am against shifting away from seeing the pandemic as affecting discrete groups. Will the Minister commit the Government to continuing and extending economic support as further evidence reveals the groups who have been hardest hit?
University Education: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Education
Ben Morgan Lake (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I thank the Minister for her response. She may be aware of concerns that the impact of the covid pandemic on the student experience will see higher non-completion rates, despite the best efforts of students and staff to continue teaching and learning throughout the outbreak. If non-completion rates were to increase, would the Government consider allocating additional financial support to universities to help cover the costs of non-completion?
Agriculture Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Foreign Trade
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): Just to refer back to the letter that the Minister sent last week, the Government’s response to the Lords amendments is that they would create a vast set of conditions that do not apply to current EU trade deals. Will she explain that a bit further, please?
Agriculture Bill — House of Commons, 2020-10-12
Topic: Foreign Trade
David Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru, Centre-left to left): I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, because this is an important point. Increased accountability would actually strengthen the hand of UK negotiators. I remember scrutinising the TTIP deal between the EU and the US in Washington, and one of our last meetings was with members of the food lobby, who told us, "Nothing is going through Congress unless we agree with it."