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Conservative Lee Rowley says it is "great" to see a debate taking place in Parliament on economic liberalism.

He says he looks at the order paper every day and it often seems to him to consist of debates on government intervention.

He says that often government needs to "get out of the way" for people to do as they want.

He adds that the government's Chequers plan for leaving the EU "does not work" in its "current form", and he will not be supporting it if it comes to a vote.

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Bringing the debate to a close, Lord Dubs says he hopes that "the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic will not feel left down."

Viscount Younger of Leckie is now repeating a statement made in the Commons earlier today on the sale of the student loan book.

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The SNP's Gavin Newlands says Scottish legislation has already created strong rights for victims, covering many of the issues now in the Victims Strategy.

He adds that the Scottish Government has announced an injection of funding for the victims support scheme in Scotland for the next three years.

However he adds that Scotland is not "a land of milk and honey", adding: "we have our problems which need improving as well".

He draws attention to a constituent who had to wait five months for the body of a loved one to be released, whereas in England and Wales, a body can be released after just 28 days.

"This is something that needs looking at," he says.

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Lord Duncan of Springbank says the government "will not allow one part of the United Kingdom to remain in some union with the EU27, when the rest of the UK is not in alignment with the EU".

"The core aspect of this is to negotiate and deliver a settlement which actually means a backstop is historic - that you can read, but was never invoked."

Asked by Lord Adonis if he would agree that two weeks "will not be adequate" to consider any Brexit deal, he says "time will be given", but adds that the details are "beyond my pay-grade."

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Labour's Anna Turley says it is great to be able to work with Mr Clarke in a bipartisan manner to speak for the north.

She says in her area of Teesside, there are already empty buildings and premises which could be used for high-value manufacturing as part of a free zone.

Until 2012 there were five free ports, which were allowed to expire, she says.

"There could be no better expression of the Northern Powerhouse," she says, than introducing free ports.

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Conservative MP Simon Clarke says he would "love" to see free ports across the UK.

He says he believes that free ports could "transform" the growth of the North East.

He adds that previous free ports in the UK were constrained by EU rules, so he argues that if free ports are introduced to the UK, then they must be more "ambitious" than the ones introduced by the Thatcher government.

Other free ports across the EU are "insipid," he states.

"The free port opportunity will die without a shot being fired" under the government's current proposal for leaving the European Union (known as "Chequers"), he says.

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Wrapping up on behalf of the opposition, Lord Murphy of Torfaen says that if there was another referendum on the Good Friday Agreement, it would be supported right across the island of Ireland.

The biggest threat to the Good Friday Agreement "isn't Brexit...it's that we haven't got the institutions up and running in Northern Ireland", he says.

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Lib Dem Lord Alderdice warns those that use Northern Ireland as "some kind of vicarious battleground" over Brexit and "internal struggle."

He says "you will only make things worse" and threaten the peaceful relationships that have developed.

House of Commons
Parliament

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In response, shadow justice minister Gloria De Piero says it has been "years since the government promised it would offer entitlements for victims", and that it is a shame that "victims will have to wait a little longer for their rights to be guaranteed."

"The Victims Strategy is a long time coming," she says.

Ms De Piero asks why the whole strategy, and subsequently all victims' rights should not be enshrined in law.

"Rape victims should not be cross examined to undermine their credibility," she says.

A day after Mental Health Awareness Day, Gloria De Piero calls for mental health support to be given to victims as soon as possible, "not in six weeks or more".

She calls for attackers to be "stripped of their spousal rights" if they hurt a partner, in reference to the story covered this week of a husband who attempted to murder his wife who is now trying to obtain more than £60,000 from the sale of the family home.

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Labour's Lord Adonis says relations with the Republic of Ireland are now "worse than at any time within living memory", and the UK government is "substantially to blame" for the continued lack of a devolved assembly in Northern Ireland.

The prime minister "is now seen as a open partisan of the DUP," he says, and her speech in July was "the single worst speech or intervention on Northern by a prime minister since the beginning of peace process."

Crossbencher Lord Bilimoria says Brexit "is threatening the very peace of the United Kingdom."

Labour Baroness Crawley criticises Boris Johnson and other Brexit-backing MPs for acting "as if the shadow of the gunmen had never fallen across that border."

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Justice Minister Edward Argar says the scheme will cost £37m to ensure that it has the right impact, but says "it is also about making sure existing money in this area is used better."

He says new funding will be brought in to support families affected by domestic homicide, manslaughter, and sexual violence.

"From April 2019, rape victims will be awarded grant funding for two years, as opposed to the one year's funding they receive currently", he says.

£8m will be set aside for children who witness abhorrent crimes, he says.

He announces that personal video cameras will be worn by police officers taking victims' statements as part of the new strategy.

"The recent spate of gang violence has shown the need to support families and communities affected by this", he adds.

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Over in Westminster Hall, MPs will shortly be debating the possibility of establishing so-called free ports in the UK after Brexit.

Such ports are treated as independent jurisdictions for customs purposes, allowing goods to be imported, exported and manufactured in the area without incurring tariffs.

There are other countries in the EU which already have freeports. The UK currently has five free economic zones.

The EU, however, is reluctant to set up more free ports, amid warnings that they may increase the risk of fraud and money laundering.

The EU also remains reluctant as the zones allow companies to avoid the customs area or free trade zone of the host country, in this case, the customs union and single market.

Various mayors in the UK and leaders in Wales have called for the creation of such free ports after the UK leaves the EU.

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Openign the debate, Justice Minister Edward Argar says the strategy sets out plans to consult on changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

"Someone who is a victim of crime must not become a victim of a poor justice and aftercare process," he tells MPs.

He says the Victims Code, which currently sets out victims' rights, needs to be modernised to ensure it is fully effective.

"Whilst no amount of compensation can make up for the pain and hurt of being a victim of a violent crime, it is vital that every victim gets the right compensation which they are entitled to."

The government is abolishing the 'same roof rule' which will allow those who have been victims of an attack from someone living in the same household to receive compensation, he says.

The debate on the rail review finishes, and MPs now move to a general debate on the government's new strategy for supporting the victims of crime.

The new strategy, announced last month, contains proposals to consult on a revised victims code and on the detail of victim-focused legislation.

Currently victims’ rights are set out in the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime. This sets out what victims should expect from various criminal justice agencies.

Labour has criticised the length of time it has taken the government to produce the strategy, and questioned where some of the funding will come from.

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Conservative peer Lord Trimble, who was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his work on the Good Friday Agreement, says the agreement "makes reference to and recognises the legitimacy of partition".

He says there is no need for infrastructure at the physical border, adding: "I would suggest this issue has been overstated."

It is driven by concerns from the EU about the integrity of the single market, he says, but this challenge "can be met."

The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland "is being threatened, not by us in Northern Ireland, but by Brussels and Dublin," he says.

"They need to think again about who their friends really are...the EU does not have a good record on looking after smaller countries."

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Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd asks whether rail fares can be frozen whilst the review is ongoing, arguing that ministers are "admitting" the system "isn't working".

This would mean cancelling planned rises in January, he adds.

In reply Chris Grayling says the government has opted to give those who have had a "torrid time" on the railways a month's free travel.

This is a way to deliver compensation "quicker and much more substantially", he adds.

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Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald says that Mr Grayling's reviews are "not far-reaching", and calls the latest a "pre-determined prevarication".

The review, he says, is simply a way of "kicking decisions into the long grass". He adds that there does not need to be another review to tell MPs "what we know already".

He says that rail passengers and the rail industry have had "a battering this year" and accuses Mr Grayling of creating further "paralysis" by introducing this twelve-month review.

In reply Mr Grayling says that Labour does not know the cost of its policy to renationalise the railways.

He says all Labour has done is "line up with the trade unions".

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DUP peer Lord Browne of Belmont says people "are quick to put forward" that Brexit would risk the Good Friday Agreement. "That would not be the case," he says.

"The vast majority of people from across Northern Ireland... have no intention to allow violence to return", he says. He adds that it's important to be careful with the language used.

He says those who support proposals a "separate customs arrangement" for Northern Ireland are causing "the full integrity of the UK to be put into serious question."

He says digital border controls "are one way of enhancing security."

"There are solutions available, providing there is a mature approach and a willingness on all sides to examine them. Unfortunately that does appear to have been missing from some EU negotiators."

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Former Primate of All Ireland and crossbench peer Lord Eames warns against those that "attempt the rewriting of history" on Northern Ireland.

"Hope was rekindled" by the Good Friday Agreement, he says.

"When we ask will Brexit change the agreement...the answer is simply it cannot", he adds.

"Those who have stood beside me at many graves" deserve answers to questions about the future of the Good Friday Agreement, he concludes.

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Chris Grayling begins with a defence of railway privatisation, which he says has led to an increase in investment and and higher safety levels.

He says problems recently faced by passengers are in many cases caused by no one body accepting responsibility for rail delays.

The private sector has an important part to play in the future of the rail industry, he says, but there is a way forward with the public and private sectors working together.

The review will look at how the railways are organised to deliver for passengers, he adds.

He announces that the former head of transport for the Olympics is now looking at transport problems in the north of England.

Govia Thameslink must "take its fair share of responsibility," he says, and officials in the department are now looking at how best to proceed with failures by GTR, he adds.