Llywydd, I'm very grateful to the Counsel General for this important statement in an area that is not devolved to Wales, but it does show how serious the Government is in dealing with the huge problems that the people of our nations are currently facing. It's not overstatement to say that the people of Wales have been cruelly hit by the merciless austerity policy of the Tory and Liberal Democrat Government back in 2011 to cut legal aid.

Let's look at a few facts here, and it would be good for the Tories to listen to these facts from the Legal Aid Agency. In England expenditure on legal aid between 2012 to 2019 fell by 28 per cent; in Wales it fell by 37 per cent. In England the number of firms offering legal aid fell by 20 per cent; in Wales it was 29 per cent. In England legal aid in civil and family law fell by 31 per cent; in Wales it was 40 per cent.

I could go on and on. I could give you numerous examples similar to those. They are there. These are facts from the Legal Aid Agency that show how these cuts have impacted Wales. As a tribunal judge, I saw hundreds and hundreds of people, people with mental health problems, physical health problems, additional learning needs, having to face a complex situation, complex law, without any professional support. People were appearing before me in tears. They were at the end of their tether. Two widows appeared because their husbands had committed suicide before the appeal. There was no support there for them.

As a barrister, I saw thousands of people who couldn't secure access to justice because of their financial situation. Literally, the door of justice in Wales had been slammed in the faces of hundreds of thousands of people living in our nation who live in poverty. That is the situation of justice in Wales. But we can work differently. In Scotland, for example, where justice is devolved, 70 per cent of the population there qualify for legal aid.