argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Richard Haines Burden (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Minister ensure that he discusses this matter with his colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions, particularly in respect of child maintenance? He will know that the case I raised with him involved two grandparents who ended up getting an SGO but then split up. The grandparent who left ended up with no maintenance responsibility for the child, which he would have had if this had been an adoption. There are arguments on both sides there, but this needs to be sorted out, because the reality in that case is that one grandparent is left with a child with very few means of support. That is clearly something that needs to be sorted out.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Education
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (Labour, Centre-left): I, too, welcome my hon. Friend to her new position at the Dispatch Box. The school she mentions is in my constituency. It was academised under the previous Labour Government, sponsored by Manchester City Council—a Labour council—as well as Manchester airport and the local Wythenshawe community housing group. It has been transformed under the leadership of James Eldon. The Secretary of State spoke about the Manchester Enterprise academy on Second Reading, so I challenge her to come and see how a local authority has got to grips with turning around such a school.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Education
Lucy Maria Powell (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight such issues, particularly the important role played by the city council. Manchester is at the vanguard of the right hon. Lady’s Government’s programme for devolution. Indeed, some might argue that the leaders of Greater Manchester are closer in outlook to the Chancellor than she is. Why is she not part of that agenda? Instead she is taking education in the opposite direction Secondly, had the Secretary of State looked further into the history of the Manchester Enterprise academy, she would have found out what any local representative, such as my hon. Friend, or education professional in the city could have told her—that it took many years after academisation for the school to be turned around. There were leadership changes, financial problems and low attainment for many years after it became an academy. It was not academisation in and of itself that improved the school, but a range of interventions, many of which have been more recent than its academisation Thirdly, as the Secretary of State cited this example on Second Reading, I wonder whether she is aware of the school’s results this year. Through no fault of its own—indeed, the school continues to go from strength to strength—its GCSE results this year dropped by 9%. As she may be aware, as in many deprived and challenging parts of the country, the new system of comparative results means that no matter how hard the school works and how excellent the teaching is, results can fall as grade boundaries change, making the gap impossible to close. That comparative results system, with its constantly changing grade boundaries, may result in excellent schools, such as the Manchester Enterprise academy, being labelled as coasting. Has she considered the consequences of that? She will also be aware that schools face a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in maths and science. That, too, could affect a school’s results through no fault of its own The Secretary of State’s example highlights my bigger point. Despite having a whole Department working on her speech and sourcing examples, no one brought the real situation of the academy to her attention. Local representatives could have told her about it. That only highlights the difficult job that she has in being solely responsible for thousands of schools. This Bill and the Secretary of State miss the most fundamental point: we need to devolve oversight for all schools to a level where support, collaboration and accountability can happen effectively. The Bill rejects that and her regional schools commissioners fall well short.
Education and Adoption Bill — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Education
Lucy Maria Powell (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I reiterate the Labour party’s commitment to faith schools. As he raises the input of Catholic schools, he may be interested to hear that they are opposed to many aspects of the Bill, as we highlighted in Committee. In particular, they are very much opposed to clause 7 I will spend the coming months listening, responding and developing and setting a course for an ambitious vision for education in this country—something that the Bill fails in. The Bill takes school oversight and parental involvement backwards, and further demonises local authority schools. That is why we will oppose it. It is also a huge missed opportunity for a newly returned majority Government. The Secretary of State has the best and most important job in this country. Is this Bill the best she can do? If I had any doubt as to why the Bill is before us this evening, I do not after reading her interview in The Daily Telegraph this morning. It is clear that the Secretary of State’s primary interest is not raising standards and supporting pupils, parents and teachers; it is narrow political tactics aimed at the Labour party. I am afraid that that is quite a sad and pathetic development.
Stockton to Darlington Railway — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Transportation
Philip Wilson (Labour, Centre-left): The Stockton and Darlington railway opened for business 190 years ago on 27 September 1825, but it is 190 years ago to the very day that George Stephenson assembled Locomotion No. 1 at Heighington Crossing in my constituency, on the corner of what is now Hitachi Rail Europe’s new train-building factory in Newton Aycliffe, at the start of the Stockton and Darlington railway. There is a pub there which is now called, strangely enough, the Locomotion No. 1. The pub consists of the world’s first ticket office and waiting room, I want to describe what happened on that day. I am grateful to Chris Lloyd, the deputy editor of The Northern Echo, who is a local history expert, for his description of the day, and of the official opening of the line nine days later On September 16, 1825, a curious crowd gathered on the edge of today’s Merchant Park, in Newton Aycliffe, and watched as the future was unloaded before their eyes. Robert Stephenson and Company had made the world’s first passenger steam engine, Locomotion No. 1, at its works at Forth Street, Newcastle. They had loaded it in pieces on to three low wagons and horses belonging to a Mr Pickersgill and dragged it along 30 muddy miles to Aycliffe village. In the centre of Aycliffe village, the horses turned west and pulled their heavy loads along the lane towards Heighington. Where the lane crossed the new track bed of the Stockton and Darlington railway, the wagons stopped. Small boys and strong men unloaded the 5 tonnes of bits, and George Stephenson assembled them into a strange-looking contraption that—although even he did not know it at the time—was the first of the first generation of passenger engines. Together, they somehow hauled or hoisted Locomotion No. 1 on to the rails for the first time, and thought about getting it going. Its boiler was filled with water. Wood and coals were placed ready for ignition to boil the water into steam, but no one had a light. It was not until April 1827 that Stockton’s John Walker announced to the world that he had invented the friction match Frustrated by the unnecessary delay, George Stephenson had to send a messenger to Aycliffe to collect a lighted lantern. As the messenger left, navvy Robert Metcalf of Church Street, Darlington, stepped forward. He always carried a "burning glass"—a piece of glass like a magnifier—through which he focused the sun’s rays so he could light his pipe. He offered the glass to Stephenson and by the time the messenger returned with the lantern, No 1’s boiler was alight and smoke was rising from its chimney. So began trial runs with the world’s first passenger engine pulling the world’s first railway passengers in the world’s first passenger coach called the Experiment, which was basically a shed attached to some wheels.
Stockton to Darlington Railway — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Transportation
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate and I hope he will be here in 10 years for the 200th anniversary My hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Jenny Chapman) and I have a friendly rivalry over the name of this railway, and I am glad the Order Paper has the correct name: the Stockton to Darlington railway. Not only was Stockton the starting point for the first ever passenger railway journey, but I would say—this may contradict what my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) says—we have got the first ticket office in Bridge Road. Does my hon. Friend agree, however, that regardless of all these differences, we need all our organisations to come together so that in 10 years’ time we can have the sort of celebrations our communities deserve?
Stockton to Darlington Railway — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Transportation
Philip Wilson (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with my hon. Friend. He may have the first ticket office and waiting room, however, but the first one used was at Heighington Crossing The train run was successful enough for the Stockton and Darlington railway to open nine days later, on September 25. On that inaugural run from Shildon to Darlington and then Stockton, Locomotion No. 1 pulled the first train—full of coal, bands and people—along the track which today is on the boundary of the new Hitachi factory.
Stockton to Darlington Railway — House of Commons, 2015-09-16
Topic: Transportation
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): Further to the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham), I would like to make it clear that we have the first passenger railway station at North Road in Darlington. Although the name of the line is "Stockton to Darlington", it should be noted that it was the people of Darlington who raised the money and paid for the line. All but £1,000 was raised in Darlington.
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: International Affairs
David Julian Winnick (Labour, Centre-left): Is the Prime Minister aware that those of us who are not persuaded, at least at this stage, that air strikes should be extended to Syria have no less hatred for the mass murderers who have carried out so many atrocities, the latest in Paris? We are not persuaded, not because we are pacifists or semi-pacifists—I am certainly not so and never likely to be—nor because of the internal politics of the Labour party, but because, as the Foreign Affairs Committee concluded, there does not seem to be a strong case for extending air strikes, and it will achieve little or nothing and simply make us feel good that we are doing something as a result of the atrocities.
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Michael Leslie (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister is right that the police and the security services need our full support at this time. Should it not be immediately obvious to everyone—to everyone—that the police need the full and necessary powers, including the proportionate use of lethal force if needs be, to keep our communities safe?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: International Affairs
Michael John Gapes (Labour, Centre-left): The content and tone of the Prime Minister’s statement spoke not just for the Government, but for the country. He referred to Mount Sinjar and the retaking of Sinjar by Kurdish forces supported by the international coalition. The all-party group on the Kurdistan region in Iraq visited the region and on Saturday I was with the Kurds on the frontline south of Kirkuk. Those Kurdish forces are brave and are putting their lives on the line every day; they did so at Sinjar, along with the Syrian Kurds. Can we do more to provide material support for the peshmerga of Iraqi Kurdistan and, pending a decision on whether we go into Syria, give more support from the air to the Kurds in Iraq?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Law and Crime
David George Hanson (Labour, Centre-left): The first duty of the Government is to protect their citizens. The Prime Minister has set out with absolute clarity the steps required to do that, for which his statement is welcome. Will he, however, say more about what steps he will take to secure action against those who are buying contraband goods from ISIL—not just the Syrian Government, but individuals and companies?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Law and Crime
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): The Prime Minister is right that greater powers are necessary to thwart terrorist plots on the internet. He is also right to make available additional resources for our security services and special forces. However, does he not agree that this would be the worst possible time to proceed with the biggest cuts to a police service anywhere in Europe, which would have a serious impact on the neighbourhood policing that is vital to intelligence gathering, as it is the eyes and ears of counter-terrorism in local communities?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: International Affairs
Ian Austin (Labour, Centre-left): I agree with everything the Prime Minister said about Syria and terrorism. Does he agree with me that those who say that Paris is reaping the whirlwind of western policy or that Britain’s foreign policy has increased, not diminished, the threats to our national security not only absolve the terrorists of responsibility, but risk fuelling the sense of grievance and resentment that can develop into extremism and terrorism?
G20 and Paris Attacks — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: International Affairs
Richard Haines Burden (Labour, Centre-left): May I join the Prime Minister in expressing cautious optimism that the Vienna process could advance the prospects for a sustainable peace in Syria? That is important not only because of the huge numbers who have died there and the millions who have been displaced; the horrors of Paris and Beirut remind us of its importance in defeating Daesh. May I emphasise the importance of there being a strategy when he comes back to the House with his response to the Foreign Affairs Committee report? I understand that he will want to advance the case for military action, but a lot of us will be looking at how that fits into an overall strategy, including the involvement of regional powers.
Points of Order — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last year Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs outsourced some of its functions relating to tax credits to a US-based company, Concentrix. Many constituents have contacted me in desperation because mistakes made by that company have led to arbitrary cancellations of their much-needed tax credits. Timely correction of those mistakes is next to impossible, as there is no way for my constituents to contact Concentrix. The HMRC has a hotline for members, but its staff have told me that they cannot provide an update on the status of a case because they cannot speak for or to Concentrix. A cursory glance at Hansard has shown that Members have been unable to get answers about that company from Ministers. Can you give me any guidance, Mr Speaker, about how we can best represent our constituents, given the obvious failings of a Government agency and its contractor in this matter?
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Education
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): I am sure that, like me, the right hon. Gentleman meets many sixth-formers when he visits schools and finds that they are often extremely well-informed. It is the older generation’s attitude to the younger generation that sometimes leads to young people becoming disillusioned. When knocking on doors during canvassing I often find that young people are very progressive-minded, certainly on matters such as climate change, the poor and poverty in the world.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): I know that the hon. Gentleman is an assiduous reader of my speeches, even more so than I am, and he will see that on Second Reading and a number of occasions subsequently I paid tribute to the Secretary of State for his determination to bring devolution to its present state. It is an extremely good foundation for my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed) on the Front Bench to build on in 2020 I am surprised that we have got to this point in the debate today without anyone mentioning that devolution deals have been announced. I am surprised that the Minister has not mentioned that. I do hope word does not get back to the Chancellor about his omitting to mention the deals in Liverpool and the west midlands, in addition to the deals in Sheffield, the north-east and the Tees valley. I hope deals are rapidly on the way in my area—Nottingham/Nottinghamshire and Derby/Derbyshire. I believe there are 38 potential deals, covering up to 80% of the population. It may seem odd for someone on the Opposition Benches—I hope I am regarded as all-party on this issue—to point out that there are large areas, Conservative areas, rural areas, county areas, that have been left out of the party. If this is to be a genuinely democratic change of the order of developing national Parliaments and assemblies—a change that will lead to a federal United Kingdom, as my hon. Friends on the Front Bench said in The Huffington Post this morning—we cannot leave our friends in the rural areas, whether they are Conservative or not, out of the equation
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): I genuinely wish the Minister well in that. I am sure he has followed the debates in the Conservative councillors network over the past 36 hours as closely as I have. It is important that everyone shares in the benefits of devolution and is enabled to make the sort of decisions that they feel are appropriate, rather than those that Whitehall considers appropriate The Minister tells me that I am pushing the process a little too fast and a little too hard. We have had such debates since the 1830s, and people have argued that we should not rush things. Fancy giving working men the vote! Fancy giving women the vote! For heaven’s sake, if that ever happens to our democracy, what next? Now, my goodness, there is the brand new issue, which nobody has ever thought of before, of giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote. We should revel in the fact that there are people in our country still desperate to use the franchise. It should be extended to them and that should be done sensibly I refer the Minister to the report of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. I see a number of distinguished former members of the Committee, even sitting close behind the Minister. The report came up with an array of possibilities for extending participation and extending our franchise, such as online voting and 16 and 17-year-old voters. There were many other proposals, but Mr Crausby would rule me out of order, were I to venture into them. Sometimes in a political career there are moments of opportunity and they are very rare. The Minister is a young man starting out on his political career. He may not be the Minister on the next devolution Bill, which is sure to happen before 2020. I hope he is, because he will have gained massive experience from taking the Bill through on this occasion, but he should seize the opportunity to push it a little further than the officials might like. That is a political lesson that we could all share
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Government Operations
Graham William Allen (Labour, Centre-left): I am always searching for consensus. In an ideal world, we should do this thoroughly and properly, but we are not in an ideal world, unfortunately. Parliament is the creature of Executive power, and so occasionally, when an opportunity arises, parliamentarians of any political party should always seize the moment This may not be the moment, but perhaps the Minister should be thinking—as we all should, particularly Labour Members—of the opportunities coming up. Next time there will be further increments of devolution. We will write devolution packages that ordinary human beings and Members of Parliament can understand. We will want to share them. We will want to enjoy, across the whole democratic family, the fruits of devolution, which, as Lord O’Neill, the Minister in the other place, said on the radio this morning, give us not only democratic change but the most fantastic economic opportunities, which Manchester has so successfully led the way on, to build economic growth for our local communities in a way that only they can take forward I will not press my new clause to a vote, but I hope that, above all, the Minister and my Front-Bench colleagues will start to think about what should be in the next devolution Bill.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords] — House of Commons, 2015-11-17
Topic: Government Operations
Graham Eric Stringer (Labour, Centre-left): It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen), who makes the sensible but profound point that if services and economic development are devolved, we will not have consistency across the country. When, over the past 50, 60 or 70 years, people have argued for complete consistency in service delivery or in other parts of local democracy, it has been a cover argument for centralism, because a devolved system cannot be consistent across the ground without centralism. Consistency is never achieved because of the nature of different areas where services are delivered in different ways. Having said that, if my hon. Friend had intended to press new clause 3 to the vote, I probably would not have voted for it. I rarely disagree with him, but I will try to explain why I want to make two points on what has come up in the debate and two points on clause 20 and new clause 3. I cannot let it go that my hon. Friend and those on both Front Benches have said that only one city voted for an elected mayor in 2012. In fact, one of the two cities that I represent—the city of Salford—voted for an elected mayor, but the referendum on an elected mayor in Salford was not one of the 11 that were forced on people. There is a lesson there. The reason devolution to Greater Manchester is popular—an opinion poll came out this week showing 75% support—is that it is a negotiated agreement, not something that has been forced on the area. One of the reasons people in Salford voted for an elected mayor was that they had asked for the referendum by petition; it was not forced on them. It is not surprising that the other 10 cities that had referendums forced on them voted no. No constituency argued the case for elected mayors and, unlike under this Bill, they would not have been offered different resources and powers if they had agreed to an elected mayor The hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss), who represents the SNP, said there is no desire for devolution in Scotland.