Yesterday, we saw an admission from the Government that all their previous promises about how the transition away from the ILG system would be painless for its recipients meant nothing. The panic statement, no doubt prompted by Plaid's motion today, came not so much out of concern for the disabled people involved, but because they don't want to be politically embarrassed. But that statement was a red herring. Their announcement only delays the abolition of the ILG, it doesn't stop it, so, in a lot of ways, disabled people still currently have an axe hanging over their heads.

Over a year ago, Welsh Government were being warned about the problems that were going to arise, but they ignored the warnings and went ahead anyway. So, you'll have to excuse me if I don't accept that their surprise or apology for the current problems, hardships and anxieties is genuine. I don't think it is. 

Let me say something about what's going on right now, right at this moment, as we're discussing this. There are some men and women—a parallel of you and me—who, were it not for the throw of the dice landing on a different number, could be sitting here with us in this Chamber, but unlike us, they have a disability that's deprived them of many of the opportunities, freedoms, life chances and choices that most people are able to take for granted. We're not supposed to be looking at these people as figures on a spreadsheet or as part of an accountancy equation. This Government may well define the recipients of ILG by their disability, but they're so much more than that; these are people with every single hope, dream, aspiration and wish that you and I have every day. And these few who receive the ILG could, in no way, be accused of being workshy, not bothering to properly look for employment or just trying to play the system. These are the most disadvantaged vulnerable people in Wales and this Labour Government is taking their money to subsidise the coffers of local councils. To remove some of their hope and make them worry about how their life is going to become even more difficult, purely in an effort to make the financial books look a tiny bit better, is inhumane and utterly shameful.

Welsh Government is absolving their responsibility in a cynical, cost-cutting exercise. The individuals and charities concerned are all against this move, and when Labour say that the same amount of money will be spent on disabled people, what they mean is they will take the money from the individual recipients and give it to the local authorities to use as they please. Then they'll blame the local authority if it goes wrong for disabled people. Only a proportion of the money that used to go directly to disabled recipients will actually be spent on meaningful help. They're giving this money to councils to keep council tax low in the hope that people will vote Labour in local elections. The Government know this money will not all be spent on the person it's been spent on so far—that's the reason they're doing it—otherwise, they'd leave this well alone. And the urgent mail received yesterday by me and possibly some other Members in this place from a disabled person backs this up. During the process of losing her ILG, she has experienced an inadequate review and has had her funding halved. She says she knew that as soon as it became apparent that what the councils didn't spend on the former grant recipients they could then put into the generic social care pot, she knew that the most vulnerable people, like her, would lose out. She says, quote:

'I knew that there could only be injustice to each of those who are going to be reassessed. The likes of myself, whose life is going to change into basic existence from a fulfilling and rewarding one'.

Welsh taxpayers would be much happier to think that their hard-earned tax is paying for a disabled person to get the help they need than go on a council employee's salary to tell a disabled person that they're going to get less help than before.

So, finally, I call on the Welsh Government to be inclusive and not act in a way that will make people think that you're ignoring the needs of disabled people, simply because there aren't enough of them to vote against you and affect the outcome of your next election campaign. I call on you to reverse your decision to abolish the ILG. Thank you.