Rachel Reeves, who made history last week after being appointed as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer by Sir Keir Starmer, gave her first speech in the role on Monday morning, in the second major address from a Labour government to come without any live British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.
After Starmer’s party secured a landslide in Thursday’s general election with 412 seats (as Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party slumped to 121 MPs), the new prime minister addressed the nation outside No 10 on Friday in a speech which was neither interpreted live in-person or on official social media channels.
The move also meant Starmer did not take up the Royal National Institute for Deaf people’s offer of an interpreter to ensure the “historic” moment was accessible to Deaf BSL signers.
BSL versions of Sunak’s resignation speech and Starmer’s first speech as prime minister were eventually uploaded to YouTube several hours after they were delivered.
A day later, Starmer held his first press conference from inside Downing Street, but only an on-screen BSL interpreter was provided on social media livestreams of the event, with no interpreter appearing alongside the PM to sign the event in person.
Sunak’s government had committed to providing BSL interpretation “in situ” for its press conferences from “spring 2024” in its Disability Action Plan, but ultimately failed to implement the measure by 31 May, the last day of spring.
It is not known if Starmer’s government will renew this commitment.
Now, it’s emerged other government departments have also held speeches without any BSL provided, as Reeves spoke of “delivering for the UK economy” on Monday morning, but neither an in-person or on-screen interpreter was visible while the event got underway.
The speech from the Leeds West and Pudsey MP, inaccessible to Deaf signers, saw the chancellor announce she has instructed civil servants in the Treasury to produce an economic assessment “of the state of our spending inheritance” from the previous Conservative governments.
She added the assessment would be separate from her first budget – the date of which, alongside a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility, she said she would confirm “in due course”.
Reeves continued: “We have promised a new approach to growth – one fit for a changed world. That approach will rest on three pillars: stability, investment, and reform.
“We will reform the National Planning Policy Framework, consulting on a new growth-focused approach to the planning system before the end of the month, including restoring mandatory housing targets.
“And, as of today, we are ending the absurd ban on new onshore wind in England. We will also go further and consult on bringing onshore wind back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, meaning decisions on large developments will be taken nationally not locally.”
Other measures announced by Reeves included 300 new planning officers for local authorities across the UK, reform of the planning system and plans to launch a “National Wealth Fund” with the ability to “catalyse private sector investment” in “new and growing industries”.
The chancellor concluded her speech by telling the public they have “put your trust in us”, and that her party will “repay that trust”.
HM Treasury has been approached by Liam O’Dell for comment.
Images: HMTreasuryUK/YouTube.
Liam O'Dell
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