Watch it live: inclusive Parliament - Giving evidence

Image

Caption

(Image courtesy of UK Parliament, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

On Tueday 24th June, a coalition representing people with speech differences are speaking to a committee looking to improve parliamentary procedures. You can watch it all live online.

Earlier this year, a committee was put together to find ways of improving standards, culture and working practices in Parliament.

In March, the House of Commons Modernisation Committee, as it's called, invited people and organisations to submit views on what isn't working and needs to be improved.

In response, the Inclusive Parliament coalition, which includes STAMMA, the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists and over 30 other organisations, submitted written evidence highlighting the barriers that people who stammer, or have other speech differences, risk facing in parliament. 

We pointed out how people are routinely interrupted, talked over and mocked during parliamentary debates, and the impact this can have on those who don't speak fluently. We shared the case of Chris Nelson, who withdrew his candidacy to become an MP after he was abused for stammering.

Verbal evidence

Following the written submission, the coalition has been invited to give verbal evidence to the committee, which will take place on Tuesday 24^th June. 

Gill Rudd, a speech & language therapist and former STAMMA Trustee, will be speaking on behalf of the coalition and will be giving evidence alongside representatives from Disability Rights UK and Mencap, who also made submissions.

You can watch Gill giving evidence as it happens. The session will be going out live on the parliamentlive.tv website at 11:45am on Tuesday. If you miss it, it will be available to watch back afterwards.

• Read about other ways STAMMA is Making an Impact.
• Support us: become a member for free or sign up to our mailing list.
• See other ways you can Get Involved.