argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is an indefatigable campaigner not just for Harlow but for the hard-pressed citizens of this country. He is right that outside the European Union, once we have left the transition period, we will have full control of VAT rates. My right hon Friend the Prime Minister is dedicated to making sure that we can use that new-found independence to help precisely the constituents for whom my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow fights so brilliantly.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman can recall an advertising campaign from 1959, because it must have occurred before either of us was born. Nevertheless, he makes an important point, which is that we need to accelerate progress in the talks. That is the Prime Minister’s aim and the EU’s aim. I look forward to updating him on our progress in weeks to come.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Nigel John Mills (Conservative, Centre-right): The last round of talks finished with Michel Barnier waving around the declaration from last year. Does the Minister agree that he should wave it towards EU leaders and ask them to refine his mandate so that he has more chance of making a deal on state aid and fishing?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Sarah Elizabeth Dines (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the Minister agree that if the Government accepted the EU proposal of a skewed definition of a level playing field, the UK would be bound to questionable European courts indefinitely, which would be simply unacceptable to the British people, who voted again last year to restore British sovereignty?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Gentleman is an effective advocate for his constituency, not least for the agricultural interests of fellow Orcadians. He is absolutely right; it is a high-quality product and it is always better when we have tariff-free access, not just to the European Union but to other markets. The political declaration requires that the EU should use its best endeavours to get a zero-tariff and zero-quota agreement and that is what we are all working hard to secure.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Dean Russell (Conservative, Centre-right): Will my right hon. Friend assure my fantastic business community in Watford and the chamber of commerce, which I speak with regularly, that we are trying to get the best deal we possibly can, that it is not the case that we are trying to chase no deal and that we are working incredibly hard to make sure that we get the best deal for this country?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the reasons why the Prime Minister wanted to have the high-level meeting yesterday—one of the reasons why the three presidents wanted it as well—was precisely in order to accelerate progress towards securing a deal. We are ready for life outside the single market and the customs union, come what may, but it is our devout intent to secure a deal. I hope my hon. Friend can tell businesses in Watford, whom he represents so effectively, that their voices are heard loud and clear in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Luke Morgan Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I and my constituents were pleased to hear that there will be no extension, but some of my constituents, particularly the businesses in Bosworth, are rightly concerned about how to prepare for the future. What steps are the Government taking to keep businesses in Hinckley and Bosworth and across the UK updated on the progress of EU negotiations, so that they can plan strategically for the future?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): Businesses in Leicestershire and elsewhere will have the opportunity to secure access to an additional £50 million of Government support in order to ensure that they can export effectively not just into the EU but beyond. It is also the case that intense engagement with businesses is being conducted by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and others.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): It is the case of course that we wish to secure a deal, and a deal would be in everyone’s interests, but the purpose of the Northern Ireland protocol, as the hon. Gentleman rightly reminds us, is to uphold the Belfast/Good Friday agreement in all its elements. Critical to that is that we all recognise that under the protocol, Northern Ireland remains not only part of the UK politically, but also part of the UK customs territory. Unfettered access is a right that all parties agree should be maintained.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Transportation
Heather Kay Wheeler (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. As negotiations continue, to put minds at rest in the aviation sector and especially among my South Derbyshire constituents who work at Rolls-Royce in Derby, will he confirm that after 31 December the skies will still be open, our planes will still be flying and our world-class aviation companies will not be excluded from international work in Europe or elsewhere?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): It is the case that if we leave without a specific free trade agreement, certain steps will need to be taken by Government and by others to make sure not only that we can meet the challenges, but that we can take the opportunities. The Cabinet Office and others constantly review at all points what we need to do, but I think the spectre that the hon. Lady invokes is not one that should bother her or others.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): I can absolutely confirm to my hon. Friend that we have informed the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee that we will not extend. That is the position. That is settled. That is decided. As for his reference to the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), on this question we do not know whether he is the Scarlet Pimpernel or the invisible man.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady raises a very important issue. Data equivalence, as I mentioned in response to a previous question from the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq), is separate from these negotiations, but it is important on the island of Ireland that we continue to share information. We have had a very good working relationship with the Government. I congratulate Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green party on agreeing a programme for government. I wish the new Taoiseach-elect Micheál Martin all the very best in the shared work that we will engage in to deal with coronavirus.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jane Fiona Catherine Stevenson (Conservative, Centre-right): Fisheries seem to be a major stumbling block in the negotiations, with the EU seeking to uniquely link fishing rights to a wider free trade agreement. This is not necessarily a position of cherry-picking, but perhaps one of having their hake and eating it. Does my right hon. Friend agree that unless the EU position changes and it recognises that we are sovereign coastal notion, these talks might flounder?
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend tempts me. The truth, however, is absolutely as she depicts it. We will leave and be an independent coastal state, and the EU will negotiate on an annual basis for access for its fishers.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: International Affairs
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): There will be no question, no impediment and nothing to prevent the citizens of Northern Ireland—whose rights I know the hon. Lady has taken a keen interest in upholding—from securing access to vital medicines or any other goods after we leave the European Union.
UK-EU Negotiations — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Law and Crime
Michael Andrew Gove (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend was a very effective Home Office Minister, and he speaks with great authority on these questions. He is absolutely right. We need to be outside the ambit of the ECJ, but we need to ensure that we have security, criminal justice and other forms of co-operation, precisely in order to ensure that we keep our citizens safe and work with the EU to keep its citizens safe.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Daniel Rayne Kruger (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Lady about the importance of this debate and of working across the House. I am sorry that this topic has become such a political football because it is one that unites the House, but surely the question is not whether to support the most vulnerable children in our society, but how we do that. Will she acknowledge that the Government are working hard with councils, with schools, with businesses and, crucially, with civil society to put in place a system of support and activity through this summer to ensure that children get the support they need?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Labor
Gareth Alan Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Lady agree with me that no Government in history have created more jobs than this Government over the last five years, yet every single Labour Government have left power with higher unemployment than when they got into power? Should she not be grateful for the fact that we have a Conservative Government that will actually create more jobs than any Labour Government have ever managed to achieve?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): As a qualified teacher before entering this House, I would be more than delighted to return to the frontline and help in any way I can. The hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) made a point about schools looking to expand. Rather than spend more money on portakabins and using other buildings, would it not be better—given that the science shows that children are more likely to be hit by lightning than tragically pass away from covid-19—to get all children back into the classroom in September in their school buildings, where we know they are safest?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Lady will be fully aware, one of the biggest challenges is that although we have a curriculum, schools teach that curriculum in many different orders. How has she factored that into her suggestion for a potential change in the examination process?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): In this House we all understand the profound impact that this pandemic has had on people’s lives. Supporting those on lower incomes and vulnerable families is at the heart of everything that we do as a Government. We have taken unprecedented action to support individuals and also to support families. We stepped in to pay the wages of over 9 million people through one of the most generous schemes anywhere in the world. We have launched self-employed income support schemes. We have increased universal credit and working tax credit by over £1,000 a year, injecting more than £6.5 billion into the welfare system. This Government have been firmly and wholeheartedly on the side of those who need help and support at every stage of this pandemic. We have provided millions of families with the support they need to pay their bills, keep their homes and feed their families. At times of crisis, we must think, above all, about the most vulnerable in our society. No one in this House, on either side of the Chamber, ever wants to see a child go hungry. We are all united in that simple view Let me remind hon. Members of the Conservative party’s record on free school meals. From 2014, free school meals were offered to further education students for the first time ever in the history of the free school meals programme. We extended free school meals to all infant children in England’s state schools, and an extra 1.5 million children are now receiving a healthy school lunch as a result of that decision. In our response to covid-19, we have for the first time provided free school meals for those who are currently at home We must remember that free school meals are not about providing financial support for families; they are there to support a child’s education. Receiving a healthy, nourishing meal is a critical way of helping a child to focus and to learn in school. It helps to enable a child to fulfil their potential, which is essential if we want to break the cycle of poverty from which far too many children right across the country suffer.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Benjamin David Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend is correct to say that the will to support these vulnerable children is felt across the House and that it unites us all. I have one concern that I hope he will alleviate. Many of the most vulnerable children do not live in happy, healthy households. We often find that those children—the ones that schools normally look out for—are in a position where their parents are not necessarily going to use those vouchers in the right way, and the current system seems to have no safeguards against that. My constituency has one of the highest levels of domestic abuse and one of the highest levels of addiction anywhere in the country. Can we add, before the summer, a mechanism to ensure that the vouchers are used for healthy meals for vulnerable children?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I can assure my hon. Friend that measures are in place to ensure that the vouchers are not used for things such as alcohol, cigarettes or gambling. That is an important protection. He touches on an important point, because one of the greatest strengths of our free school meals system, where children get a free meal at their school, is ensuring that it is a healthy meal and it is there to support the child.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is probably aware that we have already made it clear to schools that they have flexibility on this and that they would be reimbursed any costs if they needed to procure vouchers from a different retailer.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I ask hon. Members to give me the opportunity to make some progress We have understood that, in holiday time, there is a need to offer a wide range of support. This summer, tens of thousands of disadvantaged children will receive additional support through our holiday activities and food programme, which is available thanks to £9 million of Government funding.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Social Welfare
Matthew Alexander Vickers (Conservative, Centre-right): I am incredibly grateful that disadvantaged youngsters in my area will benefit from this support, but my local council was recently unsuccessful in a bid to the holiday activities fund; will my right hon. Friend review that bid and meet me so that we can guarantee that the most disadvantaged youngsters across Stockton benefit from a summer of experiences and opportunities?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that issue. What we have been doing on the holiday activities programmes is an important step forward. To pick up on something that the shadow Secretary of State mentioned, it is not just about feeding; it is about supporting young people in so many different aspects of their learning and broader health outcomes.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Aaron Stuart Bell (Conservative, Centre-right): Further to the point made earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley), the Government have done a huge amount on free school meals over the past 10 years and we should be proud of that. These are unprecedented measures for unprecedented times, but the best place for free school meals is in school, so will the Secretary of State confirm his intention to get all pupils back to school in September?
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right, as we would always expect from a Staffordshire Member of Parliament. He is right that the best place for free school meals to be delivered is in schools, where we can ensure that the very best is given to the child, and that emotional and educational support is wrapped around that child. That is why we need to ensure that every effort is made to ensure that all schoolchildren are back in schools for September.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Joy Inboden Morrissey (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that having children in school is essential to closing the inequality gap? I wish to highlight the excellent work of the Lighthouse in Bourne End, which works with children with learning disabilities and helps them with their summer programme. We need more programmes like that to help people to get back on track and to help vulnerable children. We do not need to throw extra things at children so that they can work at home; we need them back in school with their teachers, learning in a secure environment where they can grow and the inequality gap can close.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is correct in her assessment: the best place to really benefit children is school. She is also right to highlight the amazing work that is done by so many voluntary organisations throughout the country.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I should make some progress, if my hon. Friend will forgive me, because I am very conscious that Mr Deputy Speaker requested that we keep our speeches short Next summer, I want to be looking at how we can do so much more to support our children by making sure that we see a greater and larger roll-out of our holiday activities programme, including through the new £1 billion fund that we pledged in our manifesto to help to create more high-quality childcare, after-school clubs and support during holidays. But I think we all understand that this is not a normal year. Schools have been closed as part of the essential measures that we have taken to defeat this deadly virus. We took that action in order to save lives, but I knew when we took that decision that our focus had to be on those who were most disadvantaged. That is why we were one of the first countries in the world to keep schools open for children from the most vulnerable backgrounds; it is why we invested more than £100 million in remote education, including delivering laptops and internet access to some of the most disadvantaged children so that they can continue learning—I very much want to look at how we can start to expand that and do more to ensure that all children have the support they need; and it is why we took swift and decisive action to ensure that we could continue free school meals for eligible children who were staying at home.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Gavin Alexander Williamson (Conservative, Centre-right): I assure my hon. Friend that I will continue to focus on doing the right thing. That will be the key aim of all this My hon. Friend makes a really important point about the vulnerable children right across society. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the many teachers and teaching assistants, the social workers who have worked so closely with schools, and the police who have identified some of the children who are most vulnerable—those who needed someone to take the opportunity to reach out to them and make sure that they came into school and had a safe place to come. They have done a magnificent job, and I think everyone in the House is deeply grateful for the triumphant and heroic efforts that they have all made.
Free School Meals: Summer Holidays — House of Commons, 2020-06-16
Topic: Education
Paul Bristow (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the support that teachers and schools have offered to vulnerable people goes much further than just a free school meal? Some of the most vulnerable children in schools in Peterborough have received regular phone calls from their teachers making sure that they are okay and they are looked after during this difficult time.