argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Evictions and Bailiff Enforcement Activity: Covid-19 — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Virendra Kumar Sharma (Labour, Centre-left): I am glad that the Minister has touched on this, but I am sure he will agree that, in the middle of a deadly pandemic, there could be no worse time for hard-up families to receive a knock at the door, yet the Government are still permitting bailiffs to undertake unsafe and unfair doorstep enforcement action. The shadow Minister for legal aid, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner), has written to the Lord Chancellor twice in the last six months, urging him to pause home visits, as have 11 debt advice charities, which have also outlined widespread abuse of bailiff action during covid-19. Can we have a very clear answer from the Minister: will he reimpose the ban on home visits from the first national lockdown, and will he deliver on the Government’s 18-month-old promise of better industry regulations?
Prison Service Pay Review Body Recommendation 3 — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Rachel Louise Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): Prison officers are poorly paid for the incredibly difficult job that they do, and the Government’s experts recommended a £3,000 pay rise for band 3 prison officers to tackle the crisis in recruitment, retention and morale. The Government are committed to departing from their recommendations only under exceptional circumstances, so will the Minister explain what exceptional circumstances justify not paying band 3 prison officers what they deserve?
Prison Service Pay Review Body Recommendation 3 — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Lyn Carol Brown (Labour, Centre-left): Violence in our prisons has increased massively over the past decade, and skilled staff are essential to keep prisons safe. The Minister knows that the pay review body recommended a one-off increase to wages in band 3 as a job retention package, to ensure that our prisons keep the staff they need. She knows that staff and vulnerable prisoners will be at greater risk if yet more skilled officers leave the profession, so let me give her another chance to answer the question: she chose to ignore that recommendation—why?
Covid-19: Court Estate — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour, Centre-left): Solicitors in my constituency, particularly those who may be vulnerable, have contacted me to say that they are frightened to attend court due to the lack of safety provisions. That has led to some of them refusing to take on new cases, and resulted in defendants not having the levels of representation to which they are entitled, and further backlogs. Those solicitors have a simple request: that the Court Service resumes video remand hearings, such as those in place at the peak of the first lockdown, so that we can get through the backlog and they can conduct their work from home if possible, which is the Government’s national advice.
Covid-19: Court Estate — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Labour Members share the horror of the legal profession at the fact that the already huge court backlog has increased by 35% since the start of the pandemic, and now includes more than 53,000 Crown Court cases. Lawyers want to keep the justice system open and moving, but it is wrong to ask them to pay for years of Tory cuts by putting their health and safety at risk. Like everyone else they are anxious, and given the hundreds of covid cases across the court estate, as revealed in answers to my parliamentary questions, we should not be surprised. More than 100 new cases were reported in just eight days in January alone. Sadly, we hear that precautions vary considerably across the country, so what new measures will the Minister take in the estate to ensure that all courts operate best practice, and provide those who use them with a guarantee that they will be safe?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
David Lindon Lammy (Labour, Centre-left): Cases of covid-19 are now getting out of control in our prisons. In December, there were 75 cases per 1,000 in prison compared to 46 in the wider community. There are 87 outbreaks, across an estate of 170, in prisons in England and Wales. There have been reports of prisoners who have tested positive for coronavirus leaving cells and being taken to court, putting all at risk. In December, the total number of deaths in prison throughout the whole pandemic spiked by 50% in just one month. Can the Secretary of State tell the House how many prisoners and prison staff died after being infected by the coronavirus in the month of January?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): During the pandemic, women in prison have experienced an intensified lockdown. Many women are permitted only 30 minutes outside their cell a day and 30 minutes every other day for exercise. Alongside this and many other restrictions, the Ministry of Justice’s most recent safety in custody statistics showed that incidents of self-harm and suicide in women’s prisons have increased by 8% in 2020. I and the public need to know what the Government are going to do to protect these women from having a mental health crisis in prison and to ensure that transformative rehabilitation is effective.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Robert Hill (Labour, Centre-left): All too often, people who commit retail crime escape a custodial sentence. The Scottish Parliament recently passed legislation that will provide frontline retail workers with important protection from abuse and violence when they serve their communities. Will this Government finally ensure that key retail workers in England and Wales are covered by similar specific legislation?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Rachel Louise Hopkins (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister claimed just now that the pay rise for band 3 prison officers needed to be affordable and value for money, so given that more than £30 million is currently wasted due to the hundreds of frontline prison officers leaving the service within their first two years, and that much of the extra spend would be returned to the Treasury through taxation, is not rejecting this fair and sustainable pay rise simply a false economy?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Zarah Sultana (Labour, Centre-left): Covid is spiralling out of control in prisons. In December, deaths surged by 50% and cases by 70%. Unlike during the last lockdown, the Government insist that non-essential workers go in and out of prisons every single day, risking spreading the virus. The University and College Union, which represents prison educators, tells me that teachers are not even allowed to prepare lessons or carry out marking at home. Instead, they have to go into prisons to print worksheets, deliver them to cells, pick them up from cells and mark them on site. Will the Minister please intervene to stop this reckless practice?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Law and Crime
Yvonne Helen Fovargue (Labour, Centre-left): There are yet more reports this week of bailiffs on people’s doorsteps breaking the rules meant to govern their behaviour. In view of those reports, will the Minister meet me and representatives of concerned charities, such as StepChange and Citizens Advice, to discuss what further measures can be taken to protect vulnerable people?
Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): May I join the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in sending all our best wishes to Minister Edwin Poots for a speedy recovery The European Commission’s actions on Friday night were a serious mistake. Of that there can be absolutely no doubt, and I very much welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s response, but they must not be used as an excuse to go back to square one and undermine the protocol, with all the damage and instability that that would cause. Yesterday, as he has said, we saw staff withdrawn from the ports of Larne and Belfast because of alleged threats to their safety. This is totally unacceptable, and we all have a responsibility to dial down our rhetoric and to ensure that people in Northern Ireland are safe After the difficult past few days, calm heads must now prevail and serious, pragmatic, practical politics must begin to find shared solutions to the legitimate concerns and to ease tensions. With those practical solutions in mind, the looming end of the grace periods in April and July is causing serious concern for businesses, so will the right hon. Gentleman convene urgent sessions of the Specialised and Joint Committees to secure long-term mitigations of unnecessary red tape? Does he agree that an extension to those grace periods might be necessary Will the right hon. Gentleman update the House on the work that the Government have been doing to get British-based businesses up to speed on new requirements? Can he confirm that EU officials have all the access necessary to the databases they need to do their work? Will he ensure the joint consultative working group is urgently established so that politicians, industry and civil society in Northern Ireland have a formal structure to engage with? Finally, will he advise on how he will ensure that the protocol is never again undermined and that the political realities he has outlined regarding its existence are well understood by all concerned? What steps have been taken to reassure all communities in Northern Ireland that their lives and livelihoods will be protected The events of the last few days demonstrate that all sides have a profound responsibility to uphold the protocol and ensure that it works for all communities. They showed the dangers of unilateral action. It is now vital that, together, shared solutions are found that ease disruption, preserve stability and protect the gains of peace.
Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Foreign Trade
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): The right hon. Gentleman has just said that he would like to see the grace periods extended, but the Northern Ireland Secretary recently told the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs that "we are not at the moment in a position where we want to be looking at extending the grace period." Can the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster therefore explain what Government policy actually is on this? Given that UK supermarkets have expressed grave concerns about having to provide export health certificates for each food item in their lorries heading for Northern Ireland supermarkets, do the proposals that he will be putting to the Joint Committee involve doing away with export health certificates on such goods altogether?
Northern Ireland Protocol: Implementation — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Mary Kelly Foy (Labour, Centre-left): Does the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster agree that last Friday’s disarray demonstrates the real danger to stability in Northern Ireland of triggering article 16 and the profound uncertainty it would create for businesses? Does he agree that the focus should instead be on making the protocol work and on finding long-term solutions that will avoid disruption caused when the grace period comes to an end and minimise the disruption of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Education
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): I add my congratulations to the workers in the NHS who are delivering the roll-out of the vaccine. Reopening schools will be a major step towards returning to some form of normality for young people in particular, but the presence of the new variant is likely to create some anxiety among staff. To minimise the disruption to education when we return and to create some confidence among staff when they are asked to go back into schools in large numbers, does the Secretary of State agree that we should plan to vaccinate school staff if at all possible before half-term, if not during it?
Covid-19 Update — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Social Welfare
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): A new research paper published today by Newcastle University demonstrates the link between poor mental health and welfare support, and this pandemic has particularly tested the mental health of so many of us. Will the Secretary of State urge the Chancellor of the Exchequer to keep the £20 universal credit top-up after March and to extend it to those on legacy benefits so that the mental health of those on benefits is not even more affected?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Imran Hussain (Labour, Centre-left): For over three years, I have repeatedly called for the Government to enact sanctions against the Burmese military for its brutality in the Rohingya genocide, but on each occasion those calls were rejected by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which essentially told me that imposing sanctions would endanger the fledgling democracy in the country. Does the Minister now agree that this military coup shows that those were unfounded claims and, frankly, poor excuses for refusing to act in the face of the genocide against the Rohingya? Instead, the Government did more harm than good by emboldening the Burmese military.
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (Labour, Centre-left): I have been privileged to visit Myanmar with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and as an observer at the NLD’s first party conference, which was a time of great optimism that was sadly not entirely fulfilled. It is now clear that we could have handled things differently in that interim period by applying more pressure for constitutional reform and reducing the power of the military. Will the Minister say a bit more about what we hope to achieve by sanctions now, other than the restoration of democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from detention? What are our slightly longer-term goals in terms of trying to reduce the power of the military and putting Myanmar on a more democratic footing?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): This appalling military coup and overthrow of a democratically elected Government is undoubtedly a major setback for the progress and development of Myanmar. However, the likes of me are particularly concerned about the desperate plight of the Rohingya Muslims, who have faced a genocide. Approximately a million had to flee their own country and are now refugees in Bangladesh and other nations. What is the Minister doing to spearhead an international effort to ensure that there is no further crackdown by the authoritarian military regime on the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya still in Myanmar, many of whom are interned in camps and unable to move freely, with extremely limited access to basic health and education services?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (Labour, Centre-left): Obviously, we must all absolutely condemn the coup in Myanmar. It is appalling what has happened, but sadly, the overpowering, brutal presence of the military has been a feature of the lives of people in Myanmar since the 1960s. Even during the recent slightly more democratic period in Myanmar’s history, the military have occupied a special place in which they have been essentially untrammelled by any democratic accountability whatsoever, and the Rohingya people have suffered and will continue to suffer as a result of that. Hopefully, one day, we will look forward to a more democratic Myanmar. Does the Minister agree that when that happy day eventually comes, there has to be a constitution that does not give unaccountable power to the military but instead brings them under the control of a parliamentary democracy I am pleased that the Minister mentioned the United Nations Human Rights Council in his statement and one of his responses. Would it be possible for him to urge the UN Human Rights Council to put together very rapidly a delegation to be sent both to Myanmar and to Cox’s Bazar to examine the human rights abuses that have happened, take the necessary evidence and condemn those that should be condemned—sadly including Aung San Suu Kyi, who stood up in support of the military when her country was quite rightly condemned for the treatment of the Rohingya people?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): The Burmese military is as financially corrupt as it is brutal and anti-democratic. The Burmese military have managed to squirrel away stolen assets from the Burmese people, in the UK, in British overseas territories and in other democratic countries in the world. Can we not do more to make sure that they can be returned to the Burmese people While China still plays a role in refusing to allow those who are accused of genocides to come to a proper international court, how can the Minister be sure that those that perpetrate genocide are not just going to get away with it? If we cannot get such determinations in an international court, would it not make sense that they are made in a court of law in the UK?
Myanmar — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: International Affairs
Rushanara Ali (Labour, Centre-left): This coup is the latest in a horrifying series of actions by the Myanmar military against the people of that country. We must do all we can to secure the immediate release of the democratically elected leader and all those who have been detained unlawfully. The military, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, have been acting for years with impunity, including in the atrocities committed against the Rohingya and other minorities The interventions of our Government, as well as those of the international community, have been insufficient. The UN Security Council meeting today is critically important, and I welcome that. Can the Minister tell the House whether our Government will be pushing for further tougher, targeted sanctions against the Burmese military and formally supporting the genocide prevention case at the International Court of Justice, led by the Gambia, to protect the remaining Rohingya people in that country? It is not good enough for the Minister to keep saying, "We are reviewing it," or, "We are supporting it, but we are not prepared to formally support it yet." It is time that we took action. If this coup is not enough to force our Government to act, then I do not know what else will force them to act to get behind this case. I hope the Minister can be more vociferous in answering those questions today.
Wage floor to the furlough scheme — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Labor
Richard Burgon (Labour, Centre-left): The Government currently instruct people to stay at home, but too many simply cannot afford to do so. Ensuring that no one on furlough is paid less than the minimum wage is the least the Government should do, though they should do much more. The following petition is about ensuring that this crisis is not paid for on the backs of low-paid workers. I present to the House of Commons this petition of residents of the United Kingdom, alongside a corresponding petition online, which has gained more than 15,000 signatures on the subject of introducing a wage floor to the furlough scheme The petition states: The petition of residents of the United Kingdom, Declares that no-one should ever be paid less than the National Minimum Wage; further declares that the Government’s furlough scheme is leaving millions of low-paid workers on less than this basic minimum pay; notes that new official figures show that over two million workers have been paid less than the National Minimum Wage this year; further that this is nearly five times as many workers as in 2019; and further declares that this crisis should not be paid for on the backs of low-paid workers The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to introduce a wage floor in the furlough scheme to ensure that no worker is paid less than the National Minimum Wage And the petitioners remain, etc [P002648]
Deportation of Foreign National Offenders — House of Commons, 2021-02-02
Topic: Government Operations
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): I think many would echo the points made by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland about the need for a root-and-branch reform. Does the Minister agree that that element of the 2007 Act should be reconsidered?
Dog Thefts — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State, I am sure, has a comprehensive understanding of this issue, which causes undue distress to people and affects dogs, cats and all manner of other pets. This week, for example, Cats Protection told me that cat theft is up threefold since 2015. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the Government will back my amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which deal with pet theft and introduce tough sentences for those whose actions devastate so many families?
Dog Thefts — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Law and Crime
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): I am sure the Secretary of State recognises that for those committing the theft it may be a financial issue, but for those who have their pets stolen this is really a loss of a valued member of their family. I give credit to The Star newspaper in Sheffield, which has highlighted a growing number of these incidents, and the heartbreak and anguish it causes people to lose their valued pet. Will the Secretary of State accept that this is a different sort of crime to the normal theft of a possession, and that, as such, it needs a different, specific offence with specific and tougher penalties enacted for those who commit it?
Coronavirus Zoo Animals Fund — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Environment
Christian John Patrick Matheson (Labour, Centre-left): The problem is that the £100 million announcement was more froth than substance, with only £5 million or £6 million of it being spent and not returned to the Treasury. Will Ministers now agree to extend the zoos fund to the important conservation, educational and scientific work that is the bedrock of so much of what our zoos contribute to the global situation?
Neonicotinoid Alternatives — House of Commons, 2021-04-22
Topic: Environment
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): There was widespread relief this year that the colder weather meant that the risk of aphids spreading virus yellows was reduced. Before that, the Secretary of State had authorised a neonicotinoid pesticide to be used, and he has indicated that that will be the same again for the next two years. What is worrying is that the expert advice has been hidden from us—it took freedom of information requests from Friends of the Earth to get it. The Health and Safety Executive recommended refusal, so will the Minister explain why the advice was overruled? At a time when the UK is being looked to for global leadership on the environment, hiding that expert advice is not a good look. Who was pressing the Government to overrule that advice and will they do better in future?