argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Stephen John Doughty (Labour, Centre-left): Indeed, and it is a great concern that we have not had a proper chance to discuss the issue in this place. Given some of the constraining efforts by Government Whips and others at previous stages of this Bill, we will no doubt have constraints at ping-pong, when we consider the amendments made by the Lords. I want these issues to be substantially addressed.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is running through the start of the speech he made in Committee, during which I asked him four times to outline how he feels clause 11 is deficient and how he would like that sorted out. Would he like to take this opportunity to tell us?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the need to make amendments to improve clause 11, which is almost universally accepted as deficient, is not predicated on there first being an agreement on a legislative consent motion, or the agreement with the Scottish Government to which he refers? Amendments should be taken on their merits alone.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I will try for the sixth time over two debates to get the hon. Gentleman to answer this question. I ask him to please not say that he is coming on to it, when he never comes on to it. What is deficient in clause 11? What would he like to see changed in order to make it a clause that is not deficient? Does he stand by what he said in the previous debate, that he expects the Government to come forward with amendments before it goes to the other place?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): We all accept that having those joint frameworks is a desirable and necessary thing, but we are talking about the sequence in which that should be carried out. It is not necessary for us to wait for that to happen before amending clause 11 and making it fit for purpose now. Why do we not crack on and do it today? What is stopping us?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): I am not going to ask the hon. Gentleman for the seventh time, but will he tell the House what mechanism he and his Scottish Conservative MP colleagues would have in this House if the Government do not amend the Bill in the House of Lords?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Gerard Killen (Labour, Centre-left): I am just looking for some clarity. The hon. Gentleman mentions how difficult it has been to get agreement with the Scottish Government. If the Government continue to fail to get that agreement, is it the case that no amendments to clause 11 will be tabled in the other place?
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Jenny Chapman (Labour, Centre-left): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr), and I can sense the torture he is putting himself through. The shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, my hon. Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Lesley Laird), who is sitting on the Bench beside me, described his trying to come up with a reason for not voting with the Opposition on amendment 3 as "dancing around handbags". My only advice to him is that he can be as tortured as he likes and in as much turmoil as he clearly feels, but unless he votes accordingly, the Government will never take him seriously and his pleas will go unanswered, as they have so far. He has a good hour to reflect on that and to consider what he wants to do this evening, and I hope that he decides in the end to vote with us on amendment 3.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): Does my hon. Friend not agree that the game-changing arithmetic is with the Scottish Conservative bloc of 13 MPs, and if they come together, show some gumption and stand up for the national interest, they can actually turn this around and improve clause 11 today? There is nothing stopping them: they could overturn the DUP bloc and change this if they brought forward their own amendments.
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — House of Commons, 2018-01-16
Topic: Other
Ian Murray (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is making the same argument as the hon. Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr) with regard to the negotiations being complete and the negotiations and the conclusion to them then influencing amendments in the other place. If the negotiations do not conclude by the time this Bill passes through the other place, what mechanisms do he or any of his Scottish Conservative MP colleagues have in this place to amend the Bill?
Armed Forces Covenant — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Housing
Mary Helen Creagh (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the Secretary of State for that reply. Before Christmas, I visited the Community Awareness Project in Wakefield, and many of its homeless clients are former armed services personnel. The Veterans Association UK estimates that there are 13,000 homeless veterans. They are guaranteed priority access to social housing under the armed forces covenant, but it is impossible to know that unless they are counted in the census. Will he commit—here, today—to count armed forces personnel and veterans in the census, as recommended by the Office for National Statistics?
Armed Forces Covenant — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Nia Rhiannon Griffith (Labour, Centre-left): Housing for our armed forces families is indeed an important part of the covenant. I recognise that CarillionAmey is a separate entity from the parent company, Carillion, but, given the concerns about its capacity and performance and today’s worrying news, what contingency plans does the Minister have in the event of unforeseen knock-on effects on armed forces housing?
Daesh (Syria and Iraq) — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Daniel Owen Jarvis (Labour, Centre-left): The one thing above all else that gives us legitimacy in using force under these circumstances is the rule of law. Further to what he just said, will the Secretary of State confirm that UK operations will always comply with both the rule of law—the law of armed conflict—and the Geneva convention?
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Melanie Onn (Labour, Centre-left): As part of the Government’s response to the consultation, will the Minister consider the fact that, since the establishment of the compensation scheme 11 years ago, only 56% of claimants have been given awards, that 96% of those have been in the lowest four levels of support and that 60% of those low-level awards that are then appealed receive an increase in award? That significant percentage demonstrates flaws in the original decision-making process. Will he commit to urgently improving that first-stage decision making to ensure that veterans are given the support they deserve?
Royal Navy: Capability and Strength — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Christopher John Bryant (Labour, Centre-left): Does not the passage of the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov through the English channel over Christmas prove that the Russians are intent on constantly observing our capability on the high seas, and is it not vital for us to maintain that capability at as high a level as possible?
Future Accommodation Model — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Housing
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): It has been suggested that this model has saved £500 million, but also that it will not reduce the total pot of money used to subsidise housing. Given that we are told that no decisions have been made, is it not true that this £500 million figure has just been plucked from the air and we do not actually know the financial implications of this?
Munitions Workers (First and Second World Wars) — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Public Lands
Ruth Smeeth (Labour, Centre-left): Last year, I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Ethel Parker, a 99-year-old former munitions worker from Swynnerton. She is incredibly proud of her service and will be 100 in May—I am sure she will forgive me for mentioning her age. For her and many others, time may well be running out, and they would very much want to be at the opening of a memorial, which would ideally not be in London so that they could visit it. Can we progress this issue as a matter of urgency, just as we have with other memorials, so that those involved can actually see the testament to their work to deliver victory in world war one and world war two?
National Security Capability Review — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Daniel Owen Jarvis (Labour, Centre-left): The Secretary of State says that he will not be drawn on the detail, and to an extent that is understandable. Is not the fundamental problem, however, that the review is already constrained in that we know it is fiscally neutral? Would not the best way to proceed be to look very carefully at the extensive range of threats we face as a country and to allocate resource and capability accordingly?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Rachel Jane Reeves (Labour, Centre-left): When Carillion collapsed at the weekend, it had debts of £900 million and a pension deficit of £600 million and yet, year after year after year, Carillion paid out dividends to its shareholders. Although the chief executive was jettisoned after the profits warning last July, he is still being paid a salary in excess of £600,000 a year until this coming October. Will the Government confirm that those payments to the former chief executive will stop as of today, and will the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is about time that we reformed our corporate governance laws so that companies cannot siphon off money to the detriment of suppliers, workers and, ultimately, the British taxpayer?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Hilary James Benn (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State confirm that all annual fee payments made thus far by public authorities to Carillion in respect of private finance initiative contracts will now cease and that the liquidator will not be allowed to sell any of those contracts on to anyone else, so that there will not be a reward in the hands of others for the failures of this company?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul Phillip Flynn (Labour, Centre-left): Do not the strong condemnation by both the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee of the Government’s decision to do a deal with EDF, a company that is €38 billion in debt, plus the Government’s failure to see the warning signs in this case mean that the Government are earning a well-deserved reputation for financial incompetence?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Kevan David Jones (Labour, Centre-left): Carillion is notorious in the subcontracting industry as a company that pays its bills very late—over 90 days in most cases. The Minister has talked about public sector contractors that will need to be paid, but what support will the Government give small business in the north-east and elsewhere that are in non-Government contracts and are still waiting to be paid?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Louise Margaret Haigh (Labour, Centre-left): Will the Secretary of State confirm that when he references key public services that includes projects at their early stage, such as the Sheffield tram-train project and the flood defences in the Don Valley, or are they at risk of cancellation? Will he also provide a bit more detail on the accountability for decisions made by the official receiver in transferring contracts?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (Labour, Centre-left): Carillion is a partner in an international joint venture to deliver Manchester airport city enterprise zone in my constituency. Does the Minister agree that what has happened gives a terrible signal to international investors about the state of UK plc?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Helen Catherine Goodman (Labour, Centre-left): This case is very similar to that of Southern Cross. We can see that, although we can transfer jobs, the provision of services and money to the private sector, ultimate responsibility and financial risk stay with the public sector. How high is the contingent liability set in the minute that the Minister is laying before the House today?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Clive Stanley Efford (Labour, Centre-left): Although a hedge fund seems to have been able to bet against Carillion and make millions of pounds, the Government’s due diligence gave it a clean bill of health. Can the Minister assure the House that at no stage did departmental officials advise Ministers against giving it further contracts following the profits warnings, and that Ministers did not act against any such advice?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Andrew Francis Slaughter (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister has talked about continuity, but in many cases the current service provided by Carillion is appalling. Two independent reports on Wormwood Scrubs prison last month—to which the Minister may have just alluded—describe indecent living conditions involving broken toilets, showers, and heating, electric and fire safety equipment. What confidence can we have that the performance of Carillion contracts will be not only maintained, but rectified where it is failing?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew Toby Perkins (Labour, Centre-left): It is not new news that Carillion had financial difficulties, and the Minister himself has referred to the Government having taken a particular interest in the performance of Carillion in the period since July 2017. Why did the Government leave the position of the Crown representative to Carillion vacant from August to November when there was such concern about the performance and financial health of Carillion?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Domestic Commerce
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): In the statement the Minister says, "We have been monitoring Carillion closely since its first profit warning in July 2017". For 18 months, however, from March 2016 until July 2017, Carillion was the most shorted stock on the UK stock exchange. In fact in July, after the 70% drop in share price, there was still a 21% shorting of the stock. Just how closely were the Government monitoring the situation—or did they for some reason have a blindspot?
Carillion — House of Commons, 2018-01-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Paul John Sweeney (Labour, Centre-left): The collapse of Carillion is the most appalling epitome of the worst kind of lemon socialism and corporate welfare, in which the socialisation of losses is underwritten by the state while private profits from state assets are siphoned off to shareholders. Given that these companies are responsible for huge swathes of critical national infrastructure and service provision, will the Minister give a guarantee that a new form of status will be granted to these companies whereby they will be forced to undergo much more onerous forms of regulation and supervision by the state, to ensure that any risk to the state’s functions can be prevented?
Taylor Review: Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Civil Rights
Questions: What steps the Government are taking to implement the recommendations of the Taylor review of modern working practices on strengthening legislation on pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Danielle Rowley (Labour, Centre-left): The Government have twice, and perhaps now three times, committed to review legislative protection against unfair redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers. When will that review be published, and do the Government still intend to consider the legislative options recommended in the report by the Women and Equalities Committee?
Gender Pay Gap: Action Plans — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Civil Rights
Laura Pidcock (Labour, Centre-left): It is clear from the most recent figures that the requirement on companies to publish pay data is not making a material difference to women’s pay. With the gender pay gap at 18.4% and a quarter of a million women paid less than the national minimum wage, does the Minister agree that the Government are all talk and no action on pay equality, and that to achieve pay parity we need much tougher measures?
Gender Pay Gap: Action Plans — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Civil Rights
Karen Elizabeth Lee (Labour, Centre-left): The response to the Government’s gender pay audit has been slow, and global banks have revealed gender pay gaps as high as 60%. Does the Minister agree that, as Labour has proposed, companies should prove that they are taking timely action to close their pay gaps—apparently it takes a year to turbocharge something—or face a substantial Government fine?
Gender Pay Gap: Action Plans — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Civil Rights
Dawn Petula Butler (Labour, Centre-left): I congratulate the Government on commencing the Labour party’s legislation—section 78 of the Equality Act 2010—that requires companies to report on the gender pay gap. Does the Minister agree with Labour Members that reporting is not enough if we want to close the gender pay gap? We need mandatory action plans for companies and sanctions.
Shared Parental Leave — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Civil Rights
Christopher Philip James Elmore (Labour, Centre-left): I welcome the Minister’s answer, but may I ask what discussions the Government have had about implementing the recommendation in the Fawcett Society’s sex discrimination law review that shared parental pay and paternity pay should be the right of all employees from their first day of employment?
Women’s Refuges — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Housing
Mary Elizabeth Twist (Labour, Centre-left): The Minister has said that she is aware of the huge concern in Women’s Aid and other domestic violence charities about the ending of housing benefit for those in refuges, but there have already been cuts amounting to more than £6.5 million over the past eight years. Will she undertake to work with her colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop proposals to address those concerns and ensure that places in refuges are available to those who need them?
Infected Blood Inquiry — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Other
Kevin Denis Brennan (Labour, Centre-left): My constituent, Sue Sparkes, wrote to me and described as "crass" and "insensitive" the letter that made the comparison with Grenfell. Will the Minister do two things today? First, she has rightly rowed back from that position, but will she undertake to consult my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) before the Cabinet Office issues letters of that kind in future? Secondly, will she apologise for the hurt caused by that letter?
Education Committee — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Other
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): We now come to the Select Committee statement. Robert Halfon will speak on his subject for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of the statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of the statement and call Robert Halfon to respond to them in turn. Members can expect to be called only once. Interventions should be questions and should be brief. Front Benchers may take part in questioning.
Autism — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Mark Richard Tami (Labour, Centre-left): Does the right hon. Lady agree that the situation is also very frustrating for those who fail to get a diagnosis of autism, particularly when their local authority is not able to provide one, or says that it does not have the resources to do so? Even if a person pays privately for one, the local authority will not accept that as a diagnosis.
Autism — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker I got involved with the autism cause, if I can call it that, very largely because of the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Dame Cheryl Gillan), who really paved the way with her private Member’s Bill and everything she has done with the all-party parliamentary group on autism. When I was Chair of the Education Committee and then the Children, Schools and Families Committee for 10 years, we looked at special educational needs in some depth, but I never persuaded my Committee to drill down into the autism area strongly enough, so I always had a guilty conscience about that After finishing as Chair of the Select Committee and indeed finding that one of the members of my large family is on the autism spectrum, I was energised to get more involved. Working harmoniously with the all-party group, I and others founded the Westminster Commission on Autism. We have already, in a very short period, produced two reports. One of those, "A spectrum of obstacles: an inquiry into access to healthcare for autistic people", has already brought about substantial changes in how people perceive such healthcare. We found out how worried people on the autism spectrum were about going into an A&E, with the busyness, the lights and the noise, or even going to a GP. Access to healthcare is strictly limited for many people on the autism spectrum. I am delighted that the report has had such a great influence.
Autism — House of Commons, 2018-03-29
Topic: Mixed Topics
Barry John Sheerman (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, I would urge Members of Parliament to encourage autism-friendly environments in their constituencies. Having soft lighting and not too much noise can make a very big difference to accessibility This is World Autism Awareness Week. As I said, the Westminster Commission on Autism works very closely with the all-party group. Indeed, the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham is a member of the commission. Yesterday, we were proud to launch a report called, "A spectrum of harmful interventions for autism". Many people in this country—very wicked people—play on people’s stress, worries and concerns and sell treatments for autism that really should be banned. They use social media. It is a disgrace in our society that people prey on very stressed families with children or other members with autism. We took evidence on this, and it was really upsetting to hear about the kinds of treatments and therapies that were on offer. It is a very interesting area, because it is unclear whether it is covered by the food regulator or the medical regulator, so no one is quite sure who to complain to. Our report has the answer. It is very important, and I hope that hon. Members in all parts of the House will promulgate it The most serious thing that we have to address is what happens when someone—usually both parents, but a mother nearly always knows earlier—notices very early on that something is not quite right. Then there is the frustration of not knowing who to talk to, where to go and where the support is. I am not going to be political at all, but one little thing is that children’s services are deeply under pressure in every local authority.