argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Select Committees — House of Commons, 2015-06-03
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): Rather like the Women and Equalities Committee, which will I hope be established today, the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee was not in the Standing Orders, as departmental Select Committees are. I ask colleagues who have fought hard to get their Select Committees to remember the difficulties that can be put in their way and what can happen if it is a Select Committee that fulfils its duty to the House and in some cases over-fulfils it, but is not in the Standing Orders. It is much more difficult for a Government who feel they can run roughshod over the House of Commons to repeal the Select Committee if it is in the Standing Orders I see you, Madam Deputy Speaker, are shuffling in your place. I do not know whether that is because I am coming to the end of my remarks or whether you are moving in anticipation of the list of reports that the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee produced in the previous Parliament on behalf of the House. I will touch briefly on those and bring my remarks to a close before the hour is up For example, we did an extensive report on voter engagement. At the general election before last, 16 million voters did not vote; 7.5 million did not even register. That figure is higher than that for those who voted for both the major parties. We carefully examined a lot of evidence on what we could do about the situation, and more than 16,000 consultations were returned—a record for the Select Committee One of the features of the Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform was that it involved people outside the bubble. It went not only to the Assemblies and Parliament outside Westminster, but discussed through social media and other means the implications of some of the things we were proposing. That is why we reported on votes at 16 and 17 at future general elections and on why online voting should be taken seriously. That is why before the last election we led, not least by portraying a ballot box on Big Ben, on the effort to encourage people to register to vote. We did many other things as well Unfortunately, we were not taken seriously on our proposals on political parties and their funding; that issue still needs proper scrutiny and it requires the House to come to a final settlement. There is still no formal process for the House to be consulted about going to war. A convention has arisen in recent years. I remember trying to get the House to sit to consider the Iraq war, and it took a great deal of effort for that to happen. The then Foreign Secretary stated that the Government would enshrine in law for the future the necessity of consulting Parliament on military action. That has not yet happened, and the Government have yet to respond to the report—even before the demise of the Select Committee, the Government had failed to respond to that report.
Select Committees — House of Commons, 2015-06-03
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): I did say that we had some awkward people on my Select Committee, Madam Deputy Speaker; I did not realise that you would prove that so eloquently from the Chair. You are absolutely right to bring me to order and I will stick far more closely—for the next half hour or so—to the subject at hand. "I’m just getting my second wind", as Eric Forth used to say I am speaking to the amendment on the Order Paper—[Interruption.] I should say to the right hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry) that it is at the top of page 10; I am glad that her reading is coming on. It would add "and political reform" to the title of what would now be the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. That is important because such important issues need to be scrutinised by Parliament and have to go somewhere; no doubt the human rights question will go to the Justice Committee. The so-called territorial Committees will be interested in these issues and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee will want to take a view. Such issues, including the Boundary Commission, are very important to our democracy The last reform I want to mention, in the context of the "political reform" stated on the Order Paper, is in respect of the House itself—the unfinished business of the Wright Committee, which did so much good work. I commend it to the Leader of the House, who is listening intently. One of his predecessors, Sir George Young, put before the House the necessary motions to ensure that the House could elect its Select Committees and could elect their Chairs from across the whole House. One of the items of unfinished business would end this sort of pantomime, in which we pretend that Parliament has decided, but we know in reality that the Government have decided, pushed along by one or two officials when new Ministers and Whips are in place. They want above all to ensure that we do not have the mechanism to decide our own agenda in this House. The only institution that can do so is a House business Committee. The right hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), who is now the Chief Whip, was a member of the Government who promised solemnly—it may even have been in the manifesto —to bring forward a House business Committee. Instead of manipulating the House through the usual channels—
Select Committees — House of Commons, 2015-06-03
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): That is the first time I have ever been accused—it is an appalling accusation—of being a great constitutionalist. I am a democrat, as I hope most people in this Parliament are. The only way in which all of us in the House will be able to express our views openly and freely, without being told what to do by the incubus of Government that controls us here, is by having our own House business Committee I believe that those of us who served on the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee have a very proud record to look back on. I hope that some of the things we did and some of our reports are a legacy that people can dip into when they feel they have a problem on human rights or on codifying what the Union should look like in a devolved and federal United Kingdom. For example, they could look at our report on the Boundary Commission question, which we came up with very close to the end of our term. There is a lot of good stuff in the reports. It is just a little sad for the ability of this House to scrutinise the Government, who hold all the cards, that this Committee and its successors may not be able to scrutinise them and do the job that parliamentarians of all parties feel is the role of this Parliament Thank you for your forbearance, Madam Deputy Speaker. With that, I close the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee.
Household Energy Bills — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (Labour, Centre-left): There is indeed room for improvement. The Children’s Society tells me that there are 2,200 children in families that are trapped in energy debt in my constituency of Wythenshawe and Sale East, yet Which? says that given the global changes in commodity prices, energy companies could be driving down household bills by £164; does the Minister agree with it?
Household Energy Bills — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): The Children’s Society tells me that there are 3,300 children in families that are in energy debt in my constituency, yet only last week, Ofgem estimated that household bills could be cut by £114 because of the cost of energy. Why will the Secretary of State not give Ofgem the power to cut bills when they are that high?
Household Energy Bills — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Andrew Peter Miller (Labour, Centre-left): The report to which my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson) referred shows that 2,300 children in my constituency live in families that have energy debt. Equally, at the other end of the spectrum, many of the high-energy businesses that sustain some of the most valuable jobs in my constituency are struggling because of this policy. What sort of policy is it that creates failure at both ends of the market?
Household Energy Bills — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): This week, the consumer body Which? added to the growing body of evidence that energy companies do not pass on reductions in wholesale costs to their consumers. Which? confirmed that cuts to consumer bills should have been larger and made far sooner. Does the Secretary of State regret that he voted as recently as last month not to back Labour’s plan to give the energy regulator the power to cut energy prices when wholesale costs fall?
Household Energy Bills — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): As usual, the Secretary of State did not answer the question. Will he explain why Ofgem estimated only last week that profit margins for the big energy companies are set to soar to £114 per household, citing expected future falls in wholesale costs as the reason for the increase? Is that what a functioning, competitive market looks like?
Renewable Energy — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister knows that some Liberal Democrat voices in the Government are keen on this being a green Government, but the fact is that there are climate change deniers in his own party in other Departments. Every time wind power is brought in, it is knocked down by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Minister knows there is a subversive element in the Government who hate anything to do with renewable energy.
Renewable Energy — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Dennis Edward Skinner (Labour, Centre-left): On the subject of the energy mix, which the Minister referred to, is he aware that we would not be discussing this question of wind power had not the Tories shut more than 100 pits after 1984? There are three of them left. We had a big march in Kellingley on Saturday, and more than 500 people from Thoresby and Hatfield turned up demanding the state aid that he has promised for several weeks at that Dispatch Box. Will he now state emphatically that he will apply for state aid to keep those three pits open, so that they can exhaust their reserves and enable those 3,000 miners to keep their jobs? That’s energy mix—get on with it.
Solar Power Panels (Installation) — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Questions: What assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes to the incentive scheme for installing solar power panels on businesses that install those panels.
Ian Lavery (Labour, Centre-left): There are some excellent energy companies springing up in my constituency, such as Saving Energy Renewables, a PV solar panel firm, but projects are stalling because of the low-grade capacity for exporting energy from the systems. What can the Government do to ensure that companies can connect these systems and make serious contributions to both rooftop solar and deployment as part of the solar road map laid out by this Government?
Offshore Wind — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
James McGovern (Labour, Centre-left): Last year, despite assurances from the then First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, that there would be an offshore wind development in Dundee that would have brought 700 jobs to the city, SSE withdrew the plans. Does the Minister agree that Scotland cannot rely entirely on gas and oil for its economy and cannot rely on the separatists to bring renewables to Scotland?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): It was almost two years ago that the then Energy Minister, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) said that he would be having sleepless nights if fewer than 10,000 people signed up for the green deal. Since then, 5,000 people have benefited from the measures—that is all. For how long is the Secretary of State seriously going to insult the intelligence of Members by saying that the green deal has been a success?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Joan Lorraine Walley (Labour, Centre-left): I ask the Secretary of State to revisit the figures. He is making great play of them, but 80% fewer people had energy efficiency schemes last year in comparison with 2011-12. Rather than just trade figures, is it not time that the Secretary of State really looked at putting energy efficiency at the heart of his energy investment infrastructure policy?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Barry Strachan Gardiner (Labour, Centre-left): What specific energy efficiency measures has the UK proposed should be included in the European INDC—intended nationally determined contributions—and how will the Secretary of State ensure that, unlike the domestic green deal, a rate of success is not promised in one year when less than half of it has been achieved in two?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Government data show that more than 16,000 households in the north-east of England have spent in total £1.6 million on green deal assessments, but that only 140 have benefited from energy efficiency measures costing £500,000—a net loss of £1.1 million for householders. Will the Minister just face the facts and admit that the green deal is simply not working?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Gerald Bernard Kaufman (Labour, Centre-left): Given that energy efficiency is an important weapon for combating climate change, and given that it also lowers the energy bills of householders —particularly those on low incomes—has not the Government’s institutional meddling with energy efficiency structures not only wasted a huge amount of taxpayers’ money but actually made people on lower incomes pay more? Is not the Secretary of State’s green deal nothing but a pack of cards that contains only jokers?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
John Robertson (Labour, Centre-left): Energy efficiency has done absolutely nothing for people who are in fuel poverty. Estonia is the only country in Europe with a higher proportion of its population in fuel poverty than Britain. I invite the Secretary of State—and I mean this helpfully—to come to my constituency, so that I can show him exactly what I am talking about. He obviously does not believe anything that he hears from Opposition Members, but if he comes to Glasgow, we can meet and I can show him.
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Margaret Patricia Munn (Labour, Centre-left): May I pay tribute to the former Member of Parliament for Sheffield, Heeley, Frank Hooley, who has died at the age of 91 and who campaigned for what was then described as alternative energy In that vein, may I ask the Secretary of State what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills about the Government’s providing greater investment to support companies that are developing mechanisms to improve energy efficiency such as micro and combined heat and power?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): Earlier this week, the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners predicted that the death toll from this year’s winter cold weather could be 40,000 people, the highest for 15 years. With figures such as those, how can the Government defend not spending the majority of the funds that they raise for energy efficiency on tackling fuel poverty?
Energy Efficiency — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State is too complacent and I do not agree with his assessment at all. The fact is we have the means to tackle fuel poverty. What is lacking is the political will. His Government know that. Is it not a fact that the technical annexe to the Government’s own fuel poverty strategy admits not only that the Government will not eradicate fuel poverty by 2030 but that it will rise?
Oil Prices (North Sea) — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Michael Connarty (Labour, Centre-left): It does seem that others are doing things around the world, but this Government are doing very little. The Energy Minister did not reply to this; he is posted missing on it. He was also posted missing at the summit in Aberdeen. At that summit, the point was made that the two things that are required are investment tax write-offs, so that people continue to invest in future fields, which will stop if they do not continue to invest; and a reduction in the taxation on the fields, which the Government increased massively to 30%. If we bring the tax back down to 20% and put in tax investment, we might sustain this field—this week, Shell announced that it is closing the Brent field, the first field to bring oil into this country from the North sea.
Community Energy Generation — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Energy
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): Bristol, as European green capital this year, is certainly very keen to push forward on community energy, but I am told that progress has stalled as a result of Treasury changes to tax incentives and Financial Conduct Authority changes to the rules for establishing energy co-ops. Community Energy England and Co-operatives UK say these changes threaten the very viability of the community co-operative model. What is the Minister doing to respond to these concerns?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Agriculture
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): The global calculator published by the Department last week found that reducing our meat consumption is essential if we are to reduce our contribution towards greenhouse gases. Everyone from the United Nations downwards has for many years been talking about the contribution of the livestock sector to global emissions. His Department has always ignored this issue, so I urge him now to take action and to tell us what he is doing to encourage people to reduce their consumption.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-02-05
Topic: Labor
Tom Greatrex (Labour, Centre-left): If it is such good news for the workers at Sellafield, I would expect the Secretary of State to be engaging with those 10,000 highly skilled workers, who are very concerned about what the impact will be on their jobs and their livelihoods. I can tell him that there has been just one local meeting with those workers in the past few weeks, and very many of their questions were not answered. He has had communication from their representatives. Will he now undertake to fulfil the promise he gave this House just three weeks ago to engage properly with those people, at a time of severe anxiety for them?
Cross-Departmental Environmental Agenda — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Energy
Dennis Edward Skinner (Labour, Centre-left): What is the Conservative Government as opposed to the coalition Government policy on carbon capture? There are three deep-mine pits left in Britain, and they are going to close within the next 12 months unless something is done on that front. The Conservatives always say that they differ from the coalition Government, so I want to test this new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Will she save those three pits? The last Government took £700 million out of the miners’ pension fund. Let us give some of it back, apply for state aid, save the three pits in question and save a lot of jobs.
Cross-Departmental Environmental Agenda — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Environment
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Secretary of State to her new job, but want to press her on this. Could we see more sign of joint research and development innovation with Departments such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs? At the moment, I am getting very little response from DEFRA on squaring up to the fact that climate change is changing the nature of the plants we can grow in this country, which is a great challenge to our economy.
Renewable Energy — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Energy
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): I apologise for the fact that my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) is at a hustings in Scotland this morning, and is therefore unable to be present. As this is the first session of Energy and Climate Change questions of the new Parliament, let me take the opportunity to welcome the Secretary of State and the Minister to their positions Will the Minister explain how, given a fixed renewables target and a fixed budget, replacing the cheapest renewable electricity technology—which is onshore wind—with more expensive technologies can possibly lead to lower bills for consumers?
Renewable Energy — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Energy
Julie Elliott (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Minister for that response. She wants to decarbonise at the lowest possible cost but is effectively banning the cheapest renewable technology; she wants to help boost our economy but is thwarting a sector that contributes £1.7 billion in gross value added; and she wants a good relationship with the clean energy sector but could soon find herself being sued by two of its primary industries. Is it not the case that the only conceivable reason for that policy is to placate Conservative Back Benchers?
Paris Climate Change Conference — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: International Affairs
Albert Owen (Labour, Centre-left): May I welcome both Ministers to their new roles and wish them well in their jobs? In addition to the Paris conference, there is the important New York conference on sustainable development goals, including climate change and energy. Will the Secretary of State make sure that her Department works with the Department for International Development to ensure that those issues are high on the agenda and we do not have a missed opportunity for the next 15 years?
Paris Climate Change Conference — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Environment
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State give us her assessment of the importance of Britain’s membership of the EU to our achieving a successful outcome at the Paris climate change conference? Following on from what she has just said, is she keen to see Europe agree an even more ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions than the 40% already announced?
Paris Climate Change Conference — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Environment
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome those words from the Secretary of State, but she did not appear to want to make the specific commitment to a 50% reduction in Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions. She will, of course, be aware that our domestic interim target of a 50% reduction by 2025 is already tougher, so does she not agree that it would be in our best interests, as well as those of the EU, to commit now to tougher action?
Nuclear Generating Capacity — House of Commons, 2015-06-25
Topic: Energy
Graham Peter Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Back in 2008, and in their manifesto, the Conservatives promised no nuclear subsidies on any account, yet the European Commission has granted a subsidy to the UK Government of £17.6 billion for Hinkley Point. How is it that we can subsidise nuclear to that extent yet the Government are cutting subsidies to renewable energy sources?