BREAKING: Government hit with fresh judicial review threat over #WhereIsTheInterpreter for COP26

The UK Government faces a new legal challenge from Deaf activists involved in the #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign, after the Prime Minister appeared without a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

A pre-action letter was sent to the Government on Wednesday by lawyer Chris Fry – who led the successful legal case against the government over inaccessible COVID briefings – on behalf of Deaf presenter Lynn Stewart-Taylor.

In a statement, Lynn said she could not believe that the Deaf community had been “totally ignored again”.

“Sign language people messaged me straight away, including a deaf teaching assistant concerned about the lack of access for sign language children that meant they were unable to follow the COP26 announcements. The government has failed us.

“I feel that having come this far, we need to hold the Government to account, and let them know that our rights cannot be ignored. If we don’t fight to change the system, things will continue to be the way they are!

“So I have taken the decision to bring legal proceedings again, against the Cabinet Office.”

The new legal action follows a judicial review hearing earlier this year, in which a judge concluded that the government had breached the Equality Act by failing to provide British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation for its COVID data briefings.

Mr Fry added: “We had all hoped for change, and that the Government would take deaf rights seriously, but remarkably things appear to have got worse.

“Failing to build BSL into national broadcasts is a failure to recognise the importance of deaf people in our society and I am now building a further legal challenge to bring the case back to the Courts as quickly as possible.”

The pre-action letter over COP26 is the latest issue to emerge around the accessibility of the climate conference, after Boris Johnson was forced to apologise to Israeli minister Karine Elharrar – a wheelchair user – who was unable to access the event.

As well as citing a lack of sign language interpretation for the climate change conference, the document also references a September press conference on health and social care, where no BSL interpreter was provided on the BBC News Channel or on the Number 10 YouTube Channel.

It also goes on to mention several pre-recorded videos in October, including the Children’s Climate Press Conference on 28 October and the announcement of a free trade deal with New Zealand on 21 October.

Deaf individuals who have also been unable to access the above broadcasts can register online to be part of a case for compensation. The form comes with BSL interpretation.

The case has received support from the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD), with joint chief executive Amanda Casson Webb describing the “continued failure” of the UK Government as “bitterly disappointing”.

“We are proud to once again, stand by Lynn and our allies in the deaf community to support this legal action so that together, we can ensure that the UK Government fulfils its duty, as defined in the Equality Act – and for deaf BSL users to be fully involved and included in every aspect of life,” she said.

The UK Government has until 4pm on 17 November to respond to Mr Fry’s letter.

Photo: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.