Disabled Persons (Independent Living) Bill [HL]

My Lords, this is a difficult debate to respond to because a thousand points have been raised. They were diverse, but they had the same purpose: to support the Bill. I shall be brief. The politics of this debate stand out clearly. This is one subject on which we should never try to make party-political capital. That is important but, inevitably, whatever the Government in power, it is the nature of the case that they will be attacked. If a Tory Government ever come in again, they will be attacked in same way that the Labour Government have been attacked. I do not want the Minister to think that we do not appreciate what has been done. A lot has been done. We are saying that it is not enough and not quick enough and that we mean business. We are determined to press these points one way or another in this House and in the other place. Support for the Bill is unanimous. Noble Lords on all sides of the House think we do not go far enough, and it is possible that we do not. It is important to recognise what has been done, but it is more important to recognise what needs to be done, which is why we hammer away at this. I am well aware of the experience David Cameron and Gordon Brown have with disability, so no one has any illusions about their lack of knowledge or understanding. This debate has shown the fantastic expertise of the All-Party Group on Disability. It is remarkable that all the personal experience came through in this debate. I was very impressed by it, and I hope the Government will also be impressed. I shall leave it there. I will go through Hansard to deal all these points as best I can. The noble Viscount, Lord Slim, may rest assured that we will take on board his concerns. Either he can table an amendment, or we can, to deal with disabled ex-servicemen because they tend to be getting to the end of their lives now and there will be less pressure to look after disabled ex-servicemen. It would do a great deal for the Bill to insert something along the lines of the clause the noble Viscount mentioned. I thank all noble Lords who spoke in the debate. It has been a wonderful experience. Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.