argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Peter Christopher Dowd (Labour, Centre-left): Notwithstanding my hon. Friend’s comments, does he acknowledge that the Vote Football fan campaign, the Football Supporters Federation, individual supporters, grassroots organisations, parliamentarians and constituents all want change and reform? Why does he think that the FA believes otherwise? Is it not now so out of touch that there is a need for the external imposition of change?
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Keith Anthony Vaz (Labour, Centre-left): I thank my hon. Friend. Leicester is the home of the English Premier League champions. My message today is one of support for the reform package that has been put forward, but I acknowledge the excellent work done over the past few years by the Chairman and other members of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Of course the FA needs reform. Greg Clarke, whom I know personally, was present on the most recent occasion that I was at the King Power stadium and is a former chairman of Leicester City, and I believe that he is genuine in his desire to reform his organisation. He has made it clear that if the reforms do not go through, he will relinquish his position. Given the impressive contributions that we have heard from Members on both sides of the House, it is important that reform comes sooner rather than later, but I want to talk about the importance of diversity Some 25% of professional footballers happen to be of Afro-Caribbean origin, but just 17 of the 92 top clubs have a BAME coach in a senior position. When looking at how football has developed over the past few decades, it is important to acknowledge the lack of diversity. I understand that Mr Clarke wants the Government to back the proposals before they are implemented, and I hope that the package will include a recognition of the importance of diversity not just at club level but at the local level I am delighted that Leicester has local football teams that are developing the skills of young people whom I hope will go on not only to play for Leicester City at the King Power stadium to help us retain the premier league and beat Sevilla to win the champions league this season, but to build a foundation for the future. It is through schools and local football clubs that we find the players of the future. I hope that the Government recognise that the issues are serious, as I am sure the Minister for Sport does. I invite her to come to the King Power stadium before the end of the season to see diversity in action not just through the players, but in the ownership and in how the club’s management has developed.
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Graham Peter Jones (Labour, Centre-left): It has been 50 years of hurt in the English game and we are all suffering, but at least we are not Scotland It is not only all the issues that have been raised by hon. Members that appear to show a structure that is unfit for purpose. We have seen not just a sequence of managers but of chairmen who have not been credible or led the FA properly. It is time for root and branch reform of the organisation and some sense of the English game being managed for the benefit of all—those at the top and those at the bottom. I want to touch briefly on some of the problems, such as the coaching problems mentioned by my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz). There are all sorts of problems in coaching, and we have had the recent scandal. When we talk about root and branch reform, it cannot just be about the FA, the senior structures and the picking of the England manager—although they are dreadful at that—it must be about some of the other issues at the grassroots. My hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester (Christian Matheson) mentioned the funding of grassroots football, and that must also be part of root and branch reform My area has three clubs, two of which are well run. One is Accrington Stanley, and I give a shout for Andy Holt, who must be the best chairman in the football league. The other is Burnley, which is well run, but I shall move on Many people in the Chamber and outside will be aware of the problems of my club, Blackburn Rovers, and how poorly it is run. My hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester also mentioned the involvement of agents in the game, which root and branch reform must address. Three or four years ago, we had Jerome Anderson, who I think must be agent 001, who went on the television saying he was working for Blackburn Rovers. He was acting as a purchaser and advising on players, he was also an agent providing players and his son was on the books at the time, alongside other players he represented. The FA said that was not a breach. Everyone looked at that and thought, "Hang on a minute, we’ve just had half an hour’s rant from Jerome Anderson on Sky Sports." It was clearly wrong, and the FA did nothing about it. It brings the game into disrepute My final point is about the owners, and I think people know what I am going to say. When we talk about a fit and proper persons test, we talk about people who perhaps should not run football clubs for financial reasons. In the case of Blackburn Rovers, it is just sheer incompetence. There is only one UK director and they have no interest in the fans or the club.
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): It is clear from the speeches made by Government and Opposition Members alike that football really is close to all our hearts. Like the Minister, I grew up playing football and, like us all, I am sure, as a fan I have gone through the highs and lows of watching my team throwing away a game in the final minutes or winning spectacularly on the world stage—although for that, I suppose it depends on which team one supports. In the spirit of diversity, I wish to put on record that I am very glad that both my friend the Minister and I are women The purpose of this debate is unfortunately not to discuss the highs and lows of football, but to debate confidence in the Football Association. Rigorous governance and the following of proper and due process is vital for governing bodies such as the FA, so that it can work properly and in the best interests of its players, coaches, match officials, stadium staff and fans. Rigorous governance allows us to build trust—trust not only of the governing body itself, but among those who make up the game With rigorous governance come positive outcomes: outcomes that ensure support at a grassroots level to increase the participation of women and girls in a sport that is currently dominated by the men’s game, and outcomes that see diverse representation across all levels. Rigorous governance also ensures that governing bodies serve to the fullest extent all stakeholders, perhaps most importantly the supporters.
Football Association Governance — House of Commons, 2017-02-09
Topic: Mixed Topics
Keith Anthony Vaz (Labour, Centre-left): First, I congratulate my hon. Friend most warmly on her appointment as the shadow sports Minister. I refer to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in respect of Leicester City football club and myself My hon. Friend mentions diversity. Bearing in mind her discussions with the FA, does she believe that there should be a target for ethnic or gender representation, or would she leave it to the FA to come up with its own outcomes?
Low-carbon Economy — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Barry Strachan Gardiner (Labour, Centre-left): Last week, the Budget failed to stop the 800% rise in business rates for companies that have installed solar panels. This week, research published in the journal Nature Energy states that to achieve our targets set out in the Paris agreement we need to set out longer-term plans beyond 2050, yet the Government have now dithered for five years and still refuse to publish their own implementation plan, even up to 2030. How does the Minister propose to increase our low-carbon exports when he cannot even set out how we will achieve our medium-term climate targets?
UK Space Sector — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Ian Colin Lucas (Labour, Centre-left): The collaborative approach of the UK aerospace sector is one of the lessons that the Government need to remember in the difficult years ahead. Will the Secretary of State please come to one of the most important aerospace sectors in the country in north-east Wales to see its excellent work and the potential threats to one of the most successful industries in our country?
Small Business Growth — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce
William Roffen Esterson (Labour, Centre-left): I do not think that small businesses are really feeling the love after last week’s Budget. A report by the Federation of Small Businesses entitled "37 problems and tax is one" states that the "proposed National Insurance tax grab on this group is an absolute kick in the teeth, just at a time when we need to create more entrepreneurs, not fewer." The Minister says that the Government consult the Federation of Small Businesses, but perhaps they might listen to it in future and do what it suggests as well.
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Immigration
Stephen Creswell Timms (Labour, Centre-left): In recent discussions I have taken part in, it has been clear that there is no support among any of the parties represented in the German Parliament for the UK to retain barrier-free access to the single market if we no longer operate free movement. The Prime Minister has asserted her optimism, but does she recognise that that is the reality of the starting point we are at?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Immigration
Katherine Anne Green (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister will know that under the Dublin rules the UK has returned more asylum seekers to other European Union countries than we have received from them. What are her intentions post-Brexit? Does she intend for us to continue to participate in that aspect of the Dublin agreement?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): Last week, the European Council agreed to speed up proposals for European travel authorisation and the sharing of information on travel. In the context of Brexit, are we planning to be part of that system? If not, what will it mean for visa fees or access to Europe for British citizens?
European Council — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Immigration
Gisela Stuart (Labour, Centre-left): Turkey is an exceptionally important partner in Europe’s attempts to deal with mass migration. Turkey is also an exceptionally important partner in NATO. Given the events of the past week, did the European Council have any discussions about how we can ensure that there is no rowing back on democracy in Turkey, and, at the same time, that it remains the important partner that it has been so far?
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Other
Natascha Engel (Labour, Centre-left): Order. We are already going to have to impose a time limit of eight minutes on Back Benchers right from the beginning. This debate is very heavily subscribed. If people are going to intervene, they must keep it very brief.
Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2017-03-14
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sharon Hodgson (Labour, Centre-left): I do not want to take anything away from Wales, especially with colleagues from Wales in the Chamber, but duplication does not make any sense, especially when there is so little funding around, and we definitely do not want to take any support away from Nissan. I am pleased that my hon. Friend made that point Currently, only a minority of parts used to build a Nissan car are made here in the UK, through a 38,000-strong supply chain workforce across the UK, with 27,000 of those jobs based in the north-east.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mary Theresa Glindon (Labour, Centre-left): Rising food prices simply add to the burden on those with little money for food. The Food Standards Agency recently reported that one in four low-income families struggles to eat regularly, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has shown that disabled people are more than twice as likely to live in food poverty. How much longer can the Secretary of State refuse to monitor and publish figures on UK food insecurity and food bank usage?
Christian Communities: Africa — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Diana Ruth Johnson (Labour, Centre-left): The 2017 World Watch report by Open Doors states that persecution increased for the fourth year in a row during 2015-16, with murders of Christians in places such as Nigeria and Egypt, as the right hon. Lady mentioned. What practical measures can the Church offer to communities in such countries?
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you for granting this urgent question this morning, Mr Speaker I praise the Minister for his sincerity on this issue, which he takes very seriously, and for his comments. This is truly a shocking anti-gay campaign, involving over 100, and possibly several hundred, men. I praise the non-governmental organisations and journalists in Russia, the UK and elsewhere who have brought this issue to public attention. We are talking about detention, beatings, abuse and electric shock treatments, and—I do not say this lightly—some have talked about gay concentration camps. We have also heard of at least four killings The LGBT community in Cardiff South and Penarth has repeatedly raised this issue with me, and PinkNews tells me that its petition on it is its most signed ever. LGBT Labour wrote to the Prime Minister on this issue last week; sadly, it did not get a reply, and the matter was just passed on to the Foreign Office. There have also been representations from MEPs from all parties. President Putin already has a record of persecuting the LGBT community. He also takes a keen interest in Chechnya, so is he turning a blind eye, or is he complicit in the actions of President Kadyrov? Let us remember that President Kadyrov’s spokesman said that you cannot detain people who simply do not exist Shaun Walker of The Guardian expressed the horrors we are seeing. He described the situation of an individual who, at least once a day, had metal clamps attached to him that "sent powerful electric shocks through his body. If he managed not to scream, others would join in, beating him with wooden sticks or metal rods" and demanding "to know the names of other gay men he knew in Chechnya." If we had any doubts about the brutality of this regime towards the LGBT community, we need not have them any longer I praise the Minister’s sincerity on this issue, but I have to ask why it has taken the Foreign Secretary so long to speak out—a tweet simply is not enough. We have also not heard clear condemnation from the Prime Minister. Has she or the Foreign Secretary spoken directly to the Russian or Chechen Governments? Have they called in the Russian ambassador? Does the Foreign Secretary now regret his cancelled trip to Moscow, where he could have raised these atrocities in Chechnya, not to mention those in Syria? Was the issue raised in the G7 discussion about sanctions on Russia? Will the Minister say more about what is being done to co-ordinate with EU colleagues and the United States on this issue The Foreign Secretary tweeted that the situation was outrageous, but the Foreign Office has referred questions on whether we will provide refuge to people fleeing this horrendous persecution in Chechnya to the Home Office. As yet, there is no clarity, and I hope the Minister can provide some.
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Emily Thornberry (Labour, Centre-left): May I add my thanks to you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question today? I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) for bringing such an important matter to the House and speaking so eloquently. I also thank the Minister for his response and pay tribute to his long and proud record of standing up for LGBT rights: he is a brave and much-needed pioneer in that regard within his party. I well recall an article by Peter Hitchens in the Daily Mail in 2002—I am sure that the Minister does as well—entitled, "I’m sorry, Mr Duncan, if you’re gay, you’re not a Tory". Thank goodness that in this country that kind of reprehensible prejudice has been consigned to the dustbin of history. However, there is no room for complacency. This appalling and disgusting prejudice still represents official policy in some parts of Europe, and we must do something about it. In recent days and weeks, we have heard reports from Russian LGBT organisations and human rights NGOs documenting the most terrible abuse, and we have all read them with great distress. This is nothing short of officially sanctioned policy from the Chechen authorities, but the Russian Government, who bear ultimate responsibility for their citizens’ safety, appear to be looking the other way, and that is scarcely any better A week ago, LGBT Labour wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in which it asked particularly that she "meet with the Russian Ambassador as a matter of urgency to demand answers; and to ensure that the Foreign Office is doing all it can with the Russian Government, and our European and international partners, to free those who have been detained and to shut the camps down." We are speaking today with a strong and unified voice. However, while I applaud, of course, the right hon. Gentleman’s raising the matter as deputy Foreign Secretary, it needs to be escalated. I hope that as a result of this urgent question we get an undertaking from the Government that it will be raised at a much higher political level. This is a matter that Prime Minister should take an initiative on—she should call in the Russian ambassador and demand some answers.
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Civil Rights
David Julian Winnick (Labour, Centre-left): Considering how this may be misrepresented abroad, particularly in Russia, is it not important to emphasise that this is first and foremost a matter of human rights, and certainly not a matter confined only to those who happen to be gay? Is it not interesting that this is being discussed 50 years after the House of Commons changed the law on homosexuality? If there is a debate in July near the anniversary of the actual date when the legislation was passed, I would hope to be here—I will certainly do my utmost to be here—to explain why I was pleased to vote for the change in the law. I think I am the only Member who did so now remaining in the House.
Persecution and Detention of LGBT Citizens: Chechnya — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Civil Rights
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) on raising this important human rights issue. May I add a word of caution about complacency? We have a united voice in the House of Commons, but when I paid an official visit to part of the European Union, towards the east, I found disturbing evidence of the lingering influence of attitudes of this kind, so we should not be complacent. I was particularly worried when I saw examples of some pretty virulent propaganda in Austria. We should be on our guard wherever this kind of human rights rears its ugly head.
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Jon Hedley Trickett (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the fairness you have always shown me in this and previous Parliaments The report is clear: the referendum was called to call the bluff of the Brexiteers, civil service neutrality was clearly jeopardised and, as the Chair of the Committee said, there was no preparation for the vote to leave. Is not it obvious that the referendum was held not in the national interest but in the governing party’s interest? Now, with 30 of its MPs under investigation, we are having an election, instead of focusing on the outcome of the referendum. Paragraphs 102, 103 and 104 of the Committee’s report should concern the House—and, in fact, the whole country. We have not done enough to secure our systems for either referendums or elections. In the Chair’s view and the view of his Committee, are our systems strong enough, at the time of a snap general election, in the event of a concerted cyber-attack, to which the report refers, by a foreign power or from some other source? Even at this late stage, does he think that there is anything that we can do to strengthen our systems’ resilience?
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that our system for referendums and elections is more vulnerable to invisible manipulation and corruption than at any time since 1880? The great weakness of the report is that it ignores the evidence provided, principally by the journalist Carole Cadwalladr, on the use of botnets, artificial intelligence and algorithms to influence millions of voters. The evidence is there from the United States and from this country. Under-the-counter systems are being used that we do not understand; they seek to trawl through websites to get information and subsequently influence voters. We are trying to deal with tomorrow’s systems and tomorrow’s high technology with regulations that are long out of date Is not it likely that in the coming election there will be more manipulation, that there could well be cyber-attacks, and that we cannot trust these results, because what is happening is under the counter and the Electoral Commission has no tools to deal with it in the way it should? We should not have a general election without finding out the truth about the manipulation that has taken place here, in the US and possibly in other countries that we do not know about. We have not heard about that from GCHQ; we should have heard from it. It has reported on what has happened in the US, where there were cyber-attacks and manipulation. That could well have happened here; we do not know because we have not asked.
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Other
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale) on securing this debate. I supported his bid Does the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) recall our meeting in the House of Commons two or three months ago with a number of people who had come from overseas to make representations? Surely it is bad when people have to come from overseas, at great expense, to lobby Members of the Westminster Parliament. This issue goes back to the 1960s, so he is right to refer to successive Governments. This has gone on for far, far too long.
State Pensions: UK Expatriates — House of Commons, 2017-04-20
Topic: Immigration
Virendra Kumar Sharma (Labour, Centre-left): This topic is important to many people, and not only those living abroad who left the UK for very good reasons, including people who migrated here in the 1950s and have since gone back to live in India, Pakistan, Australia and other places. Those people have contributed to this country’s economic and social life. I congratulate the APPG and its chair on raising these issues and on meeting and listening to the Australian campaigners who came here. I hope that the next Government will take this on board and ensure that these people are not disadvantaged.