argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Immigration
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Gentleman. I do not have a detailed breakdown of how many BNO passport holders or BNO status holders have been arrested at this point in time. Of course, the legislation has only been in place for a day. We have made representations more generally on the national security legislation, and of course, one of the features, even before the changes that we will make for BNO passport holders, is that we can exercise consular protection on their behalf in third countries. I think that the most important thing at this stage is to proceed with the changes that we have made and to be very clear that the United Kingdom will be able to offer sanctuary by means of a route to citizenship in this country.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Immigration
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman’s sentiments. It is all very well to put the process in place, and I have set out the framework for it, but we need to be clear that we will embrace any BNOs that come to this country. We understand the ordeal that they have been through. Frankly, the Chinese and Hong Kong residents who live in this country make an incredible contribution already, and I know that any who come as a result of these changes will continue to do so.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Civil Rights
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree with the points that my hon. Friend has made. As I have said, we are taking this up not just with the authorities in Hong Kong but with China. I spoke to Wang Yi on 8 June for a considerable period, and we have raised this in the UN Human Rights Council. More generally, the three pillars of our approach to freedoms more generally are media freedoms, which we are taking forward in leadership with Canada; the freedom of religious belief, which now has an international caucus that we are actively trying to swell the ranks of; and the Magnitsky legislation, which we will be bringing forward before the summer recess.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Civil Rights
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her work in promoting freedom of religious belief all around the world. We have worked in the United Nations and raised the issue in the UN Security Council, as well as in the Human Rights Council. We will do everything we can, and I am open to the idea of a UN special envoy. I think that we need to be realistic about what that alone can achieve, but as part of a wider approach that uses every available lever of pressure on the Chinese Government to think again; it is an important consideration.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Immigration
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. We obviously need to consult with the DAs on any significant measure such as this that comes into force. We will do that, and I know the Home Secretary will do that. One of the things that will give a fillip to the people of Hong Kong on a very dark day will be the statements of support right across the House from all parties that we stand with them. They will know, if they come here and when they come here, that we support them, we value them and that we understand the plight they are fleeing.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sarah Elizabeth Dines (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. As we have heard, the first arrests have already been made under Beijing’s sweeping new powers, for offences that all of us here consider to be basic freedoms. Those arrested face life imprisonment, sham trials, no jury and an Executive-appointed illegitimate judiciary. I thank my right hon. Friend for all the work he has done. Will he give his assurance that he will continue to keep us updated about what he is doing at the UN Human Rights Council and about false imprisonments, poor sentences and the numbers of arrests, so that we can lead the way internationally in this field?
Prime Minister (Nomination) and Cabinet (Appointment) — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Other
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart), with his usual skill, introduces a Scottish National party policy that sounds attractive but is completely and utterly useless. It is tradition to find something on which we agree with the previous speaker, and I agreed with him totally when he was gracious enough to say how much the House welcomed the recovery of the Prime Minister after his serious illness Before dealing with the issue itself—[Interruption.] I do not see a clock running, so am I allowed an unlimited amount of time?
National Audit Office — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): I too welcome this appointment. Clearly, the candidate is very well qualified For those not familiar with the structure of the NAO board, it is very different from any other board in any other company, or in the public sector, in that it does not set policy. When we created the current structure, we made it clear that the board would not interfere in the absolute right of the Comptroller and Auditor General himself to determine what he should investigate I think that this role is going to become increasingly important, because the chair of the board will have to lead it in its decisions to give the NAO adequate resources to deal with the very difficult position that we find ourselves in with the massive increase in public spending that is going to arise as a result of covid-19. For every £1 the NAO spends it saves £9, but there is going to be a lot of work, and a lot of extra resources need to be given to it Politicians tend to be obsessed with policy, of course, but efficiency is all the more important when we are rapidly increasing spending. When we rapidly increased spending on the NHS under the last Labour Government, we found that there was a dramatic decline in productivity. Without getting involved in policy, the chair and the Comptroller and Auditor General will have a crucial role in ensuring efficiency. I can see the Prime Minister sitting in front of me. I know that he will want to ensure that he appoints somebody in every Department who is a well-qualified finance officer to ensure that as we increase spending, we do not increase waste.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, the extractive industry transparency initiative, which has been led by a former Member of this House, Clare Short, for some time, did a huge amount of good as, of course, have open registers, because open registers have continued that agenda of transparency. As I said at the outset, this agenda was championed and driven forward internationally through the British at the G8.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): One of the features of the lockdown economy has been the march of online retail, as evidenced by the prominence of delivery vehicles on all our streets, but the growth of the digital economy is actually deeper. The Federation of Small Businesses in North Yorkshire tells me that one of the major concerns among its members is the extent of the digital skills that they have in their businesses. I have spent a significant amount of time listening to business—I know that is something we all do as Members of Parliament, but I have also done so as a Minister and as someone with specific responsibility for this for my party—and one of the messages from that engagement was to focus on digital. That means different things for different companies. It could be the new channels to market and the need to ensure that they are able to reach their customers in the most appropriate way. It could simply be the opportunities to enhance productivity by digitising processes. My point, really, is that the digital economy is the future From a Treasury perspective, that is quite difficult. It presents it with hard challenges. The international nature of this economy makes it hard to collect tax—a point already made by colleagues in the debate.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Andrew Hanson Jones (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a valuable point, and I agree with him entirely. It is an analogue tax in an increasingly digital world, and it will need to evolve and be replaced. However, to build on the point made by the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans) earlier, many companies operate in both spheres. I know that from my own commercial experience prior to coming here. The key thing is to be available through the channels that your customers want; otherwise, they will not buy from you Equally, I have been talking to high street retailers, especially some of the smaller independents in my constituency, and they do not see a level playing field. High streets and town centres have been under significant pressure for many years. This is not new, but the trend is being compounded by the coronavirus crisis. Some sectors have been incredibly badly hit over the years. Bookshops are particular example. High streets have a role beyond the purely economic. They have a social role, in that they bring people together and create hubs for communities, so the work that the Treasury is doing to create a more level playing field is welcome. This is not to deny the digital market; is about giving high streets and the businesses on our high streets more time to respond to the evolving nature of competition. We must not be in denial about the march of digital. We must embrace it, and the UK has a good record of doing so, but we must recognise that we need more digital connectivity and more emphasis on digital skills.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is raising some important points about the level playing field. Does he accept that, although introducing the digital services tax is the right thing to do, it does nothing to rebalance online versus the high street because the money is not coming off business rates? The £30 billion is still going to be coming from business rates, and if we lose that system, we will have to find another system to replace it that will raise £30 billion. The research we have done in the various Select Committees shows that there is no consensus around what could replace business rates in a fair way.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. Does he share my view—I think it is also the view of the people who really know the law in this area—that in Britain a corporation exists to maximise the interests of all its members, rather than merely the shareholders, and that the shareholder entitlement is to the residual that is left after satisfying other claims on the company?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree. Any businessperson starts off on the premise that they have responsibilities not just to their shareholders, but to their customers and other stakeholders Due to the scale of the problem and the lack of country-by-country reporting, it is difficult to establish exactly what some of these companies are making in the UK, but let us look at Google as an example. In 2018, Google turned over $137 billion and had net revenues— so a profit—of $31 billion. The whole organisation internationally works on a profit margin of about 22%. The company turned over around $10 billion in the UK in the same year, and makes about $2.2 billion of profit from UK activities each year. If we applied 19% corporation tax to that amount, we would come up with a figure of £420 million in corporation tax that Google should have paid. It actually paid £67 million that year. This is happening on a huge scale and is multiplied by many other companies.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Other
Robert Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Centre-right): I thought it was Napoleon who said we were a nation of shopkeepers—or perhaps it was Hitler. It was one of those people. I am not sure it was the hon. Gentleman’s mum or dad, or uncle.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. My point was a slightly different one. I have not yet come to the thrust of what he is suggesting about mandation, but in the first instance Government should be seeking to support, promote, energise and activate more voluntary compliance, precisely in order to increase a public norm of voluntary reporting, which then does a lot of the job and perhaps isolates the groups that decide not to do it. There are plenty of other contexts in which that approach of voluntary, then moving to mandatory, has been quite successful, including in tax.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): If I have given that impression, I have been misunderstood. We are pushing for a multilateral approach, as I have indicated, through the OECD and the G20, and also in consultation and collaboration with the EU. The purpose is to achieve a sustainable approach that does not run the risk of creating incentives to restructure out of this country and thereby reducing tax transparency and effectiveness. It might also reduce the impetus for tax transparency, because the more countries there are that require it and so have firms relocating or restructuring to avoid it, the less impetus there could be to secure a multilateral solution.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way; he is being very generous. This is an ingenious argument that he is putting to the House about restructuring, and it might be helpful to flesh that out in correspondence. The argument about the unilateral and multilateral approach was clear in relation to open registers of beneficial ownership, when the House obliged the Government to accept that there was a case for going through the unilateral approach in order to get a multilateral approach. I understand what he is saying, but I think it would be helpful to flesh out the point about restructuring.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Other
Alexander Jesse Norman (Conservative, Centre-right): I am sorry, but I have been really generous in giving way. I have to allow the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson) time to speak, and I have an awful lot of material remaining, including on new clauses and amendments and contributions made by colleagues. I do not know how many minutes she wants, but perhaps she could give me a bit more time.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michael Penning (Conservative, Centre-right): There are people in our constituencies whose lives are being destroyed every day because the loan charge has been applied to them retrospectively. Forget what Mr Speaker might say—will the Labour party support new clause 31 if it is called? If not, why not?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Other
Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (Conservative, Centre-right): On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Forgive me; I might have missed the reason why are we are not going to be able to divide on new clause 31, but I would be grateful if you could explain it to me. I have today become the longest serving Member for Reigate since the Great Reform Act, so I might have missed one or two things that are going on, but I would be obliged if you could tell me why we are not going to have the opportunity to divide on new clause 31.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Joy Inboden Morrissey (Conservative, Centre-right): My concern about the loan charge is the repayment method that HMRC is pursuing. I ask that the Government look at alternative ways, or means-testing, rather than just demanding punitive repayment in full, which is causing extreme emotional stress and, for some, even suicide. If they would look at alternative ways of collection, rather than demanding all payment at once, I think we could find a much better way through this.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Civil Rights
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): One of my constituents says that because he put in freedom of information requests to HMRC, on two occasions last summer, HMRC paid him a visit at his home. Is that the behaviour we expect from HMRC?
Covid-19: International Language Schools — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Mixed Topics
Caroline Ansell (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman has outlined the very real assistance that the Government have given in the form of the furlough scheme, which has provided lifeline funds. Is there more support going forward? I hope so In the time afforded me, I hope to touch on the value of the sector and the impact of the virus, and to signpost the road to recovery. My constituency of Eastbourne is known for its record sunshine hours, its beautiful coastline, the South Downs, and of course its iconic pier, all of which combine to make it a top tourist destination. Hospitality and conferencing are central to the local story, but perhaps the untold story is that our international students, from juniors to undergrads, are a vital part of the visitor landscape, whereby each summer the town’s population swells and its average age plummets Our international schools are local employers. They provide business for local transport and tourist venues, and pump-prime retail and food outlets. Likewise, importantly, there is secondary income support for the several hundred host families for whom the time in the summer hosting students makes the difference. More than ever, over all these years, we have seen friendships endure, we have seen marriages, and we have seen new businesses from those who have come to study and made their lives with us This does not all come from Eastbourne, of course, but in a regular year English language teaching brings in half a million students and an estimated value to the economy of £1.4 billion, and supports, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said, 34,000 jobs across the country.
Covid-19: International Language Schools — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Immigration
Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative, Centre-right): Hastings has many language schools and also East Sussex College. International students have become rare and in demand all over the English-speaking world, so does my hon. Friend think that we need to roll out the red carpet for them and perhaps consider having the terms of visas equal between universities, schools and colleges?
Covid-19: International Language Schools — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Immigration
Angela Joy Richardson (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister agree that it is not only vital for these students to be able to apply to courses at universities, but that the centres run tests that help them actually have the level of English they need to get into the universities? If they want to apply for citizenship, the centres also provide that opportunity. They are vital not only for those coming over for courses, but for those who want to stay and make their life in this country.
Serious Fraud — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise this point, and I recognise the increased risk posed by scammers and fraudsters at this time of crisis. Sadly, there are those who will seek to exploit the vulnerable at this time. We are leading several initiatives in this area, such as working with the technology industry, to shut down any vulnerabilities that fraudsters might exploit and to ensure that the public have the knowledge so that they can spot scams and stand up to fraudsters.
Serious Fraud — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Felicity Christiana Buchan (Conservative, Centre-right): We all welcome the enormous packages of support that the Treasury has put together for businesses and individuals, but clearly there is the prospect of fraud by people applying to some of those schemes. Has my right hon. and learned Friend had discussions with the Treasury on those matters?
Serious Fraud — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman (Conservative, Centre-right): As the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear in his announcements, the unprecedented level of support for businesses and those in financial difficulty has sadly raised the risk of fraud on the Exchequer, which is of course fraud on the taxpayer. There will be those who try to play the system, to make false claims and, frankly, to defraud and deceive. The Cabinet Office counter-fraud function is leading the work to minimise the risk, and the CPS has been fully engaged with this vital work.
Covid-19: Civil Liberties — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Michael Tyrone Ellis (Conservative, Centre-right): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It is a pleasure to be here and to see you—virtually or otherwise Her Majesty’s Government are actively considering a range of further options for managing the effect of the outbreak of covid-19. A careful assessment of any implications for civil liberties, including the impact on human rights, equality and privacy, will be an important part of these considerations.
Covid-19: Civil Liberties — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Civil Rights
Michael Tyrone Ellis (Conservative, Centre-right): The app is being developed with expert assistance from a plethora of different sources. Data on the app will not be held any longer than is absolutely necessary, and civil liberties and the privacy of information are absolutely crucial to the development of the app. We want people to trust it and to use it—it is going to be important to protect the NHS and to save lives—so every single mechanism we have will be utilised to protect the privacy of data.
Pro Bono Work — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Tyrone Ellis (Conservative, Centre-right): As one of the Government’s pro bono champions, I am proud to support the valuable work provided by the legal and pro bono sectors. I regularly engage with pro bono stakeholders to engage directly with their work. Covid-19 has affected all frontline services, and the pro bono sector is not unaffected. I applaud the efforts of law clinics and pro bono services to continue to provide advice, where possible, over the phone, by email and digitally.
Pro Bono Work — House of Commons, 2020-04-28
Topic: Mixed Topics
Michael Tyrone Ellis (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, absolutely. It is of the utmost importance that members of the public are aware of their rights and responsibilities, as well as the rights of other citizens; this builds confidence and the skills needed to deal with disputes, and ensures that everyone has access to justice. For example, last year 500 schools, 7,500 students and 1,400 legal practitioners supported mock trials in schools. Such work builds on confidence and will support those in the pro bono sphere.