The Queen’s Speech was delivered on 18 May and it seems a very, very long time ago when you think of all the things that have happened since. There’s been the bitter, divisive European referendum campaign, the tragic murder of our colleague in Westminster, Jo Cox MP, the narrow victory for Brexit—and I know the Secretary of State and I campaigned together for the ‘remain’ side on Queen Street—and of course, we’ve had the resignation of the Prime Minister, issues within my own party, now the resignation of Nigel Farage and the possibility of another Scottish independence referendum. So, all those things happening in such a short period of time are just overtaking our political life, and it does make things feel very uncertain and very fluid. So, it’s quite hard to look back to the Queen’s Speech and see, ‘How did that Queen’s speech affect people’s life chances here in Wales?’

Now, the very first sentence of the Queen’s Speech mentioned

‘strengthening economy to deliver security for working people’ and increasing the

‘life chances for the most disadvantaged’.

The Prime Minister claimed that this was a one-nation Queen’s speech for a one-nation Government. Now, I would challenge that emphatically. I believe that the austerity measures introduced since 2010 by the coalition and the now Conservative Government have made the divide between the haves and the have nots even greater. I think that we must consider the Queen’s Speech in that context.

You just have to look at the way the cuts have disproportionately affected women and children and vulnerable and disabled people. In 2014-15 in the UK, there were 200,000 more children in poverty, increasing the number to 3.9 million according to the latest figures from the Child Poverty Action Group in June this year. It said,

‘These grim figures reinforce projections from experts like the IFS and the Resolution Foundation that UK child poverty is set to rise by 50 per cent or more by 2020.’

What was there in the Queen’s Speech that tackled those issues? What was there in the Queen’s Speech that bridged that divide?

In Wales, according to figures from the DWP, after housing costs approximately 200,000 children in Wales are living in poverty. This is 29 per cent of children living in Wales. Obviously, the Welsh Government has got a highly praised anti-poverty strategy, but the main levers are not in our hands. The fact that, in 2016, child poverty is growing throughout the UK is an absolute disgrace and an absolute shame, and this Queen’s Speech did nothing to address that issue.

The Queen’s Speech will increase the life chances for the disadvantaged. I’m sure all of you have your constituency offices filled with people who are facing benefit cuts, particularly people with disabilities since the disability living allowance for people with long-term health problems was abolished and replaced by personal independent payments. We have masses of open cases to do with PIP assessment on our books at the moment. Just to give a flavour, one of my constituents, a young man who suffered injury in a car pile-up some years ago and was in severe pain, despite surgery, couldn’t walk any significant distance, lost his entitlement, lost his mobility car and lost his opportunity to actually lead a normal life. And without this vehicle, he was completely housebound. He was already very depressed about his condition and his outlook before losing his mobility eligibility, but the loss of the car added hugely to his depression. So, he spent five months fighting the decision and, eventually, my office was able to help him to get the appeal reversed. But to think that a young man like that had to spend all that time and all that effort, increasing his depression, and that is in 2016, in this country today.

So, that is the reality of the austerity measures that have been introduced by Westminster. I think it is the duty of our Welsh Government, of us here in the Welsh Assembly, to do all we can to highlight what exactly is happening. This Queen’s Speech has some things that we can commend—I support the tax on fizzy drinks and I think there’re some good things about adoption that need to be introduced in Wales—but they are not addressing the huge issues that we actually see in society today. This Brexit vote, I think, has re-emphasised those issues.

So, in conclusion, Presiding Officer, I think that this Queen’s Speech offers a very blinkered view of what is happening in society here in Wales today—another lost chance and another lost opportunity.