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Delyth Jewell, who is the deputy leader of Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

The benefit cuts announced by Westminster represent a continuation of austerity: they are cruel, and will make some of the most vulnerable people in our society poorer. I’ve been contacted by constituents who are frightened about how this will affect their lives – what a shameful situation this truly is.

It shouldn’t be difficult for the Labour government in Wales to condemn these cuts. And yet, to date, they have said only that they “reserve judgement”. 

Their party colleagues in Westminster haven’t even bothered to undertake an assessment of how these planned cuts to disability and sickness benefits will affect us in Wales – which is in itself an example of the contempt that’s shown to our people and our Senedd by those “corridors of power”. 

This lack of an impact assessment has meant we have to second-guess what we already know: that these cuts will hit us in Wales the hardest.

Our population in Wales is older and sicker than the UK average, and a high proportion of our citizens are disabled. What a disgrace it is that so many of those people are now facing uncertainty and fear. 

The UK Government could be introducing a wealth tax, but has decided instead to balance the books on the backs of the people who can least afford it. 

We’ve become used to this cruelty from Westminster – under the Tories, we expected nothing less. But it’s become clear that Labour represents no real change.

The cuts are brutal and reckless. They will make people poorer, but they will also open the door to hatred. Tanni Grey-Thompson has warned that the rhetoric surrounding these cuts is already leading to disabled people being abused on the street. Is this really who we are as a society? 

The savagery of these cuts must be acknowledged. Yet by failing to conduct a Welsh impact assessment, Westminster refuses to own the consequences of their actions. 

I challenged the First Minister this week in the Senedd about this issue. Wales really does deserve so much better than this.