argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I do indeed recall the people’s vote of 2016. I also recognise the concern that my hon. Friend has expressed in relation to the backstop. We cease to be a member of the European Union on 29 March next year, and of course we have agreed that, in the transition and implementation period, we will continue to operate very much as today in order to give businesses the smooth and orderly exit that they require and to ensure that they do not have more than one change in the arrangements they have to put in place. I recognise the concern that my hon. Friend has expressed about the backstop, but the backstop is there in order to provide for the commitment to the people of Northern Ireland. It would be there in any deal that was done with the European Union; that is very clear. Without a backstop, there would be no deal. It is important that we have the different arrangements in place to enable us to come out of the backstop, while always maintaining our commitment to the people of Northern Ireland.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for bringing that document to the House’s attention. It is absolutely right that when people come to look at this deal, they will remember that commitment that once people had voted, the Government would enact that vote. That is what the Government are doing.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Macroeconomics
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me make it very clear to the hon. Gentleman that nobody is talking about making people poorer. What we are talking about is protecting people’s jobs and livelihoods and delivering a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people. That is what this deal does.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend; it is important that this deal does deliver on the decision of the British people. We committed to deliver on that decision. There are various references in the withdrawal agreement that make it clear that the backstop, were it to be invoked, would only be temporary, not least the fact that the withdrawal agreement is on the legal basis of article 50, which cannot be used to establish a permanent relationship.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): May I wish the hon. Gentleman’s sister well for the birth of her child? My message is simply the one that I gave earlier: I believe that there is a truly bright future for this country outside the European Union. I believe that the child will grow up with real opportunities open to them that they would not have had previously. But it is up to all of us to work to ensure that we enhance our prosperity and enhance the jobs available for people in this country so that we do have that bright future.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right; the European Union does consider the backstop to be a potential area of competitive advantage for the United Kingdom, which is why it is in the interests of both sides, were it to be invoked, to bring it to an end as quickly as possible.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jeremy John Elton Lefroy (Conservative, Centre-right): May I thank my right hon. Friend for all her work and for her statement? At least 80% of the UK’s economy is services, and we know that the European Union has still not completed the single market in services after 25 years. In her statement she spoke about liberalising the trade in services well beyond WTO commitments and building on recent EU free trade agreements. In relation to services, how much difference does she think there will be between what we have at the moment and what we will be able to negotiate under the political declaration?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The key element of the political declaration is that, first, it gives us greater freedom to negotiate on services, because this is an area, as my hon. Friend says, where the single market has not been developed by the European Union. Secondly, it is important—again, this was hard fought for—to get a recognition that, in relation to services, the future relationship could go beyond those that existed in other free trade agreements, because this is an area that has not been well developed in other free trade agreements. It is to the UK’s advantage, of course, given the importance of services to our economy, to develop it in this relationship with the European Union, and of course with other countries around the world.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Article 50 is the basis on which the negotiations have been held. It was the triggering of article 50 that led to the negotiations and led to the timetable for leaving on 29 March 2019. Article 50, in itself, does not determine the nature of any future relationship with the European Union, so it is not a question of what article 50 says; it is a question of negotiating a deal. We have negotiated a deal, and it is a good deal for the UK.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend talks about the national interest, and we all have the national interest at heart, even if we do not necessarily agree with her deal, which I personally think is a halfway house that leaves us neither in nor out of the EU, with no confirmed end date. If we cannot get the free trade deal that we should be able to get, surely the best way to unite the country is to leave the EU, negotiate a deal from outside and get our country back.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I believe that the deal we have negotiated does enable us to do the things I am sure my hon. Friend would wish us to do—crucially, to bring an end to the jurisdiction of the ECJ in the UK; crucially, to bring an end to free movement once and for all; and to come out of those aspects of the European Union that have not provided for certain sectors of our economy, such as the common agricultural policy and the common fisheries policy. We are negotiating a deal with a free trade area at its heart, and it goes beyond any other free trade agreement that the European Union has negotiated with other countries. It is an agreement of unprecedented ambition and depth that is being proposed for the United Kingdom.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): When we talk about issues like Gibraltar and the future of fisheries, and so on, should we not remember that it is a very direct consequence of deciding to leave the European Union that we are renegotiating all aspects of our relationship with the EU? Other member states will inevitably try to advance their national interests in those negotiations. In those circumstances, surely the best way forward is to hold our nerve, instead of taking as gospel the warnings of President Macron or the claims of the socialist Spanish Prime Minister, who has regional elections just around the corner.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend brings a degree of realism. Of course, as we go into these negotiations, others will have interests that they wish to put forward and press. The whole point of negotiation is that it is the process by which we come to a result. We have resisted many of the pressures that have been put forward by member states and the European Commission in these negotiations so far, and we will continue to resist on the key issues to which my hon. Friend has referred in relation to fisheries and Gibraltar.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Foreign Trade
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I will continue to set out why I believe this is a good deal for the United Kingdom. I have set that out in answer to a number of questions in the Chamber this afternoon, and I will continue to do so.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
David James Duguid (Conservative, Centre-right): Not in the document. According to the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, this deal does enable the UK to become "an independent Coastal State with full, unfettered sovereignty over our waters and natural resources." Whom should I tell my constituents to believe?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The common travel area is an arrangement with Ireland that has been in place since the 1920s. It is absolutely right that we maintain that common travel area. That has been provided for in the withdrawal agreement, and it is the right thing to do.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
James Morris (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend the Prime Minister for her determination to reach agreement between the UK and the EU in this agreement. In particular, I welcome the statement in the political declaration in relation to foreign, security and defence policy that the United Kingdom and the EU will be champions for a rules-based international order. Does she agree that one of the biggest opportunities for the UK, as we leave the European Union, is precisely to become that champion for a rules-based international order, leveraging our hard power and soft power around the world?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes an important point. We will, indeed, be that champion for the rules-based international order. I have been making that point in a number of forums, and I expect to continue to do so when I attend the G20 later this week.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Marcus Charles Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): When we consider this important issue, there will always be risks and there will always be trade-offs. When I assess the options in front of me, I consider that the Prime Minister’s deal—the one she has gone and fought hard for with the European Union—does honour the referendum: it makes sure that we get control of our borders, our money and our laws. It may not be an easy way to get there, but there was never going to be an easy way. I have been listening since the start of her statement, and I have heard many Opposition Members, and one or two Conservative Members, say that we should rerun the people’s vote of 2016. Can she reassure me that we will not countenance that because, in all this, it is a real risk to democracy?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): First, may I apologise to the House because I think I just made a reference, as I did earlier, to the Budget being in November, and in fact it was in October? My hon. Friend is absolutely right; everybody needs to look at what is going to deliver on the vote of the British people. Saying to the British people, as some people who talk about a second referendum are, in a sense, doing, "You got the answer wrong. You’ve got to think again," is not what we should be doing. Some 80% of the votes cast at the last general election were for parties that stood on manifesto commitments to deliver on the vote of the British people and deliver Brexit, and we should do just that.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Ross Thomson (Conservative, Centre-right): In 2014, I campaigned head, heart, body and soul to keep this United Kingdom together. The Northern Irish backstop would leave Northern Ireland in a separate regulatory regime. Brussels would have more say over trade and rules on goods in Northern Ireland than the UK Parliament. Northern Ireland would be left under the jurisdiction of a foreign court, and that undermines the UK internal market. As a Scottish Unionist, I cannot stand by and watch a nation within our United Kingdom be left behind. Does my right hon. Friend not share my concern that this backstop could fuel the arguments of nationalists in this country and therefore threaten to break up our precious United Kingdom?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): Like my hon. Friend, I am a passionate Unionist, and I believe in protecting the integrity of our United Kingdom. He has raised issues and I have spoken before in this Chamber about this question of the regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain—some exist already—and, in a temporary backstop period, the commitments that could be given by the Government to ensure that there was not regulatory divergence and we did see that regulatory similarity with Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In fact, there are many who consider that the Northern Ireland backstop is an advantage to businesses in Northern Ireland, which is one of the reasons why the EU would not want us to be kept in the backstop. I can assure him that I am passionately in favour of the Union and will do everything I can to protect it.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Agriculture
Henry Edward Millar Smith (Conservative, Centre-right): I declare an interest, as a chair of the all-party group on animal welfare. Under the agreement reached between the British Government and the EU yesterday in Brussels, would it be possible for this country unilaterally to end live animal exports for slaughter?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Agriculture
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): The answer is that, obviously, there are aspects of the future relationship where the detailed determination will be coming in. At the heart of my hon. Friend’s question is the extent to which we wish to continue with the common rulebook on these sorts of matters. I would also remind him that I, and the Government, have been clear that we want to maintain high animal welfare standards in this country and, indeed, enhance them.
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Social Welfare
Martin John Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): May I refer my right hon. Friend to paragraph 54 of the political declaration, which refers to social security arrangements, and ask what assessment the Government have made of the numbers involved? What estimate has been made of the cost to the British taxpayer?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Simon Richard Clarke (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to the Prime Minister’s resilience in standing at the Dispatch Box for so long this afternoon—it has been a tour de force. The bitter truth is that more than half of Conservative Back Benchers have indicated that we will not be able to support the withdrawal agreement. There is no shame in proposing her deal to the House next month, but there would be in failing to ensure that, in parallel, comprehensive preparations for an exit on WTO terms are being made. Every day matters, and I do not believe the intensity that there should be has yet been seen to get us ready for that scenario. Will she please accelerate those preparations so that we can be ready for any eventuality?
Leaving the EU — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Theresa Mary May (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope I can give some reassurance to my hon. Friend: as I said in the House last week, it is clear that we are looking ahead to a vote in this House on these matters and so we continue with our no-deal preparations.
RAF Centenary — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: International Affairs
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I can give the hon. Lady an absolute and categorical reassurance that Gibraltar is never under threat, ever since the Royal Marines seized it all those centuries ago, and it will always be under the Union flag long into the future, so rest assured that we will always look after Gibraltar.
RAF Centenary — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Government Operations
John Simon Bercow (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the hon. Gentleman has found his own salvation. Any such report suffers from the disadvantage of being wrong Delegated Legislation (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) Ordered, That the Motion in the name of Andrea Leadsom relating to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority shall be treated as if it related to an instrument subject to the provisions of Standing Order No. 118 (Delegated Legislation Committees) in respect of which notice has been given that the instrument be approved.—(Paul Maynard.)
College of West Anglia and Worksop Football Academy — House of Commons, 2018-11-26
Topic: Education
Anne Frances Milton (Conservative, Centre-right): I always enjoy the opportunity to meet the hon. Gentleman. In fact, I have to say to him that, as he is possibly aware, many Members of the House would perhaps have fallen at the first or second hurdle, but he persists and it is such persistence that gets results This is a complex situation that requires persistence and tenacity. I know that at heart what drives him is the fact that learners are being let down. That is what this is all about. It is important that we make good use of taxpayers’ money, but it is the young people who suffer if we do not get it right The hon. Gentleman and I have a shared commitment to seeing that all young people receive a high-quality education and are safe while they do so. I am enormously grateful for the support he has given to me and my officials. He has raised important concerns, and I hope he is happy that I echo them on behalf of the Government. The steps we have taken underline the importance we place on learning lessons from this case. Where there is Government money, there will always be people trying to get around the rules—as I said in Committee recently, there are vultures out there waiting to take that money for less effort—but I hope we can move forward, that lessons have been learned and that this is an end to this sorry tale Question put and agreed to.
Mobile Phone Coverage — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are committed to ensuring that there is high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel. We welcome the opportunity that Ofcom’s forthcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction offers to extend coverage across all parts of the UK, and we continue to work across Government with Ofcom and the mobile network operators to support investment and deliver coverage to 95% of the UK’s land mass by 2022.
Mobile Phone Coverage — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is right that there is considerably more progress to be made—I do not need to explain to him the particular geographical difficulties in Scotland—but it is worth recognising that considerable progress has been made. He quoted those figures, but there are slightly different figures when one looks at 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator. The increase from last year to this year is considerable. In June 2017, about 50% of Scotland was covered by one mobile operator at 4G level; that figure was up to 75% in May 2018. I agree with him entirely that there is more work to do, and we intend to do it.
Mobile Phone Coverage — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Transportation
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. There is more that we can do in relation to the road network. The aspiration is to get to a point, in 2022, where all major road networks are covered. As he mentioned, there will then be a knock-on benefit to areas near those roads. One way in which we can do that is to make maximum use of the emergency services network that is being rolled out by my colleagues in the Home Office that is producing increases in coverage, but as I said to the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael)—I make no bones about it—there is a good deal more work to be done.
Mobile Phone Coverage — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Jeremy Paul Wright (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman has gradually shaded into the subject of broadband from mobile coverage, but it is certainly right to point out that considerable progress has been made on digital connectivity of all kinds—both mobile and broadband—over the last few years. There is a radical difference between the position that we are in now and the position we inherited in 2010 but, as I have said a number of times this morning, there is a good deal more to be done; the right hon. Gentleman is right about that. We will ensure that we are making full use not just of the market roll-outs, but of the extra support that needs to be provided to the parts of the country that will not be covered by a market roll-out. The right hon. Gentleman will have carefully read the future telecoms infrastructure review that we produced in the summer, which deals exactly with how we reach parts of the country that will not be reached by a market roll-out.
Data Security — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Mary Josephine Robinson (Conservative, Centre-right): Last month, I held my first ScamSmart event in my constituency, bringing together police, charities and banks to inform residents and discuss with them the dangers of online scamming and the importance of data protection. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that my constituents’ data is safe from these unscrupulous companies and that they are informed about how they can protect themselves?
Data Security — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman will be reassured to know that had that breach occurred since the Data Protection Act was put into law, the Information Commissioner’s Office would have had substantially increased additional powers to take measures to address it. The Government are investing almost £2 billion in cyber-security, and the National Cyber Security Centre is there to help individuals, Members of Parliament and businesses.
Data Security — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Damian Noel Thomas Collins (Conservative, Centre-right): Documents published last week by the Select Committee show that Facebook was offering privileged access to user data to some commercial partners without those users’ knowledge, and was cutting off some other companies’ access to data altogether. Does the Minister feel that this should be a matter of investigation not only for the Information Commissioner but for the competition authorities?
Data Security — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Technology
Margot Cathleen James (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I congratulate him and his Committee on the work that they have done. His exposure of the information that Facebook engineers have reported the mass harvesting of data since 2014 is certainly worthy of continuing investigation.
Public Libraries — House of Commons, 2018-12-13
Topic: Education
Michael Tyrone Ellis (Conservative, Centre-right): Libraries support people, communities and society as a whole by providing access to books and literature, and, increasingly, to modern technology. My Department, DCMS, established and funds the Libraries Taskforce to implement the Libraries Deliver strategy, which helps to support and reinvigorate England’s public libraries service.