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Conservative Baroness Stroud says most people in Northern Ireland are optimistic that a functioning executive will return in Northern Ireland once decisions on Brexit have been made.

She says abortion law in Northern Ireland should be decided on by elected representatives in Stormont.

She adds that amendments to this bill allowing abortion in NI would hinder trust from people from the region in Westminster.

There are many who are alive in Northern Ireland today because the Abortion Act did not apply there, she says.

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Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards says the Budget doesn't address "the elephant in the room" - Brexit.

"It looks increasingly likely that the communities I represent will be the significant losers" after Brexit, he says.

He says Office for Budget Responsibility "basically envisaged no change in its growth forecast", with the UK's economic growth at the bottom of the most advanced economies in the world.

Whilst the government is "trying to pivot away" from austerity, he says, spending commitments fell far short.

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Crossbencher Baroness O'Loan says that difficulties are compounded by the lack of a functioning executive in Northern Ireland.

Brexit is probably seen by those in Northern Ireland as "the greatest hazard and the greatest risk", she says.

She says in a country which has had the difficulties that Northern Ireland has had, it is important that the UK follows the rule of law.

The UK needs to be conscious of the problems the Northern Irish border will cause, and she adds, it is a "very dangerous time".

House of Commons
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Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Health and Social Care Committee, says there needs to be a whole system, long-term approach taken towards health funding, which also includes social care.

She is concerned that some funding increases might be coming as a consequence of money being taken out of other parts of the health budget, such as public health.

"What we need is absolute transparency around health spending...public health is the prevention arm," she says.

Failing to balance between health and social care funding, she says, will end up costing more for both.

"We're not there with social care, and we absolutely do need to say what we're going to do in the long term," she says, adding that addressing this will require work from all MPs, not just the government.

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Independent peer Lord Maginnis of Drumglass says there is a "diminishing" stance of Sinn Fein across the Republic of Ireland.

He asks if there is a "delusion in government that they can buy stability" on payments for those injured in terrorist attacks.

He says there is "enough potential for disaster in this bill" without adding anything else which could offend constituencies in Northern Ireland.

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Labour MP Debbie Abrahams criticises the chancellor for announcing nothing to tackle homelessness yesterday.

"This is the government's biggest shame, it epitomizes their neglect of too many citizens," she says.

"The inequalities that exist in our society are not getting better, they are getting worse," she adds. "It needs political will to tackle them, but this government doesn't have it in them."

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UUP peer Lord Rogan says he cannot believe that two decades on from the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly is not sitting.

He says the Renewable Heat Incentive showed levels of dysfunction in the NI Assembly which had not previously been seen. He adds that unelected DUP staffers were carrying on with the scheme.

"The people of Northern Ireland deserve much better," he says.

You can read more about the RHI inquiry here.

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Crossbencher Viscount Brookeborough says the problem with Northern Ireland is that too many parties say that they speak for many people, when they do not.

He says he welcomes the bill, although the scope of it is not wide enough.

He adds that there seems to be "very little forward thinking".

He personally believes that Sinn Fein will not go back into Stormont until after Brexit has happened, he states.

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Conservative MP Neil O'Brien says he welcomes money in the Budget promised for combating serious youth violence and counter terrorism, but hopes it is a "down payment" for a strong settlement for law and order in the forthcoming spending review.

He says he's unhappy with the lenient sentences some have received. "We should be jailing more people for longer and if we need to find additional resource to do that, that would be money well spent."

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Liberal Democrat Lord Alderdice says it is "becoming a really bad habit" to keep "bringing forward fast track legislation" over Northern Ireland, rather than dealing with problems in advance.

He says that two parties are the problem in the current situation. The problem needs to be addressed by an election, he says, while the bill currently seeks to postpone an election.

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Labour's Lord Adonis says he is speaking because "there are no devolved institutions in Northern Ireland at the moment," meaning that Westminster has no choice but to speak on people in Northern Ireland.

He says the idea that the Commons or Lords would not sit and devolve tasks to civil servants as "utterly unthinkable".

There must come a point "not far distant from now" where direct rule is instituted, he says. The current situation is putting "intolerable pressure" on civil servants, he adds.

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Conservative peer Lord Trimble says he does not understand those who say civil servants shouldn't have the power to take decisions "in the current climate".

"It is unfortunate that we do not have a viable political process to bring a devolved executive back immediately," he says.

Lord Trimble says "there have been a number of unkind comments about MLAs collecting their salaries", which he says "have been very unfair".

"They are doing their best," he says "and it's the government's responsibility to put them back to use in a functioning assembly."

Chancellor Philip Hammond has cheered his party's MPs and turned the tables on his Labour shadow - but don't expect a snap election yet.

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Conservative MP Michael Tomlinson says "family breakdown is driving poverty".

Children who experience family breakdown are twice as likely to fall into poverty, he says, "the rich get married and stay together, the poor don't".

He says it's estimated the government spends £1 on preventing family breakdown for every £6,000 it spends on the consequences of it.

"Marriage and the family should not be disappearing from government policy making," he adds. "It seems to me that more can be spent on prevention, and this would mean less is spent on the consequences of family breakdown."

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson says that as a children's doctor she has become "increasingly concerned" about the number of young people with mental health problems.

She says early intervention is vital and welcomes the £2bn increase in mental health spending, but says more work needs to go into identifying the cause of these problems "so that they can be tackled earlier".

Labour's Dr Paul Williams agrees with Dr Johnson.

He focuses his comments on policing, however, arguing that the greatest cuts to policing are in the areas of highest need.

"I'm genuinely pleased for the people of Surrey that they've had a 1% increase in police funding, but if it's good enough for Surrey, why isn't it good enough for Stockton South?" he asks.

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The DUP's Lord Browne of Belmont says "legislation like this is necessary to ensure the continued functioning of public services".

He says he "supports the bill, but cautiously, as the devolved powers of Northern Ireland must be maintained".

"This legislation will continue to create challenges," he says, "but I commend the government for being proactive and issuing guidance to the civil service so they can get on with their job."

Lord Browne says amendment 4 on abortion and same-sex marriage "has been unfairly tagged on to this legislation", and that "these are controversial issues which need more debate."

"This clause is inappropriate," he says.

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Conservative peer Lord Dunlop, a former minister for Northern Ireland, says "legislating in this way is far from ideal, however I sympathize with the government's predicament."

Lord Dunlop says this bill "is the right thing to do", but asks what will happen "if stalemate persists after extra time".

"This bill is the least worst option against unattractive alternatives," he says.

Lord Dunlop says today Northern Ireland is "a more peaceful and prosperous place", but just when it should be surging forwards "it has languished for 22 months".

He says "the lines between policy and administration are never clear cut", which makes it hard for this bill to describe the powers of the civil service.

"We must not lose sight of the bigger picture of a prosperous Northern Ireland."

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Parliament

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The growth figures "should be really scary", Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey says, and it is "really scary" that austerity is actually continuing, despite the Chancellor's claims. He says much has been made of health spending, but beyond that there is 0% growth in other department budgets.

Public services are crying out for investment, he says, but the Chancellor is "too weak" to push through the tax rises needed to ensure they are properly funded.

"It was an insult to offer less money to the schools than we are spending on potholes."

Select Committee
Parliament

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Chair Yvette Cooper asks what the message would be from both of the witnesses to lawmakers in Europe over security implications of no deal.

Ms Owen says she is "deeply concerned" over what might happen in no deal.

Mr Martin says that criminals will find "any gap" in the market and will exploit weaknesses across borders.

With that, the session closes.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Independent MP John Woodcock asks about how protections against cybercrime could be affected.

Ms Owens says that protections against cybercrime is one of the areas where Europol works very well. The Netherlands and Germany are the two partners which work best with the UK on cybercrime.

Arrangements would not be able to reach the level that the UK currently shares with these two countries through Europol membership, she says.

This will cause delays and a failure to access information, she adds.

This has implications for terrorism, and also taking action against social media companies for certain content, she states.