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Our open letter to Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer: BSL Interpretation of the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on 5 July 

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Michael Quinlan, RNID’s Advocacy Manager, introduces our open letter in BSL
An illustration of a man and woman standing at a podium, delivering a speech to an audience with the woman translating into BSL.

On 22 May, Rishi Sunak announced a general election on 4 July 2024 – this was a moment of significant importance. But yet again, the Government failed to provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter when the Prime Minister made the announcement.   

We are campaigning for the 87,000 deaf people in the UK who did not have equal access to important information at the same time as everyone else.    

We believe the General Election provides an opportunity for the main contenders for Prime Minister to demonstrate their commitment to make themselves accessible to the Deaf community. 

Watch our open letter in BSL

Read our open letter in full.

Email our open letter now

What we want from this letter 

  • For Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to commit to being accessible to deaf people after the election, starting from day one. 
  • Ensure the newly elected Prime Minister has a registered BSL interpreter for their acceptance speech. We have booked a BSL interpreter and offered it to both of them for their speech, if they win the election – they just need to accept our offer. 
  • To consider the wider needs of the Deaf community – ensuring everyone can have their say, by making the voting process accessible for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.  
  • We’re calling on all party candidates to make sure their election campaigning is accessible. 
Watch our open letter in BSL

Read our open letter in full.

An illustration of a man and woman standing at a podium, delivering a speech to an audience with the woman translating into BSL.

Demand an accessible election

Email our letter to the two leading candidates for becoming Prime Minister, telling them to commit to being accessible this general election.
Email now

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