Cost of court interpreters.

[Jim Brady]

Court translators are costing £60.000 a day,with experts being called in to speak a total of 226 languages.
Polish was the most requested last year,used 18.600 times in criminal cases,then Romanian 11.000 times and Lithuanian 8.200 times.Romanian had rocketed from 800 in the previous 12 months.Total translator services requested 2014 160.000.The service was privatised in 2012 and the Ministry Of Justice say it is costing less for the service.
These people should be told if they cannot speak English their benefits will be stopped,also what an addition to our own crime figures seems one of our imports from the EU is crime.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Chris Allman]

Fully agree Jim - this country wants to get its priorities right - never mind spending it on these immigrants ( more often illegal ) our own people are far more in need of help than that lot.

[John Albert Evans]

I don't know whose idea it was in the first place but it should be stopped NOW. If they cann't speak English they should either learn it or pay for the translaters themselves, the next thing that is going to happen is that the original translater cannot be trusted with his version so a second translater will have to be brought in to confirm what the first one has said. That may sound far fetched but lets wait and see.

John Albert Evans.

[Jim Brady]

John there are not many Poles living here that don't speak English,a nice little earner for one of their fellow countrymen.Maybe using an interpreter they think,or maybe they do,get less of a grilling.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Red Lead Ted]

Jim, Not getting political i refuse, Our Prime Minister is trying to rally Europe not just for a better deal in the E.U,, For Britain, And its not a political football or point scoring by requesting benefits being stopped for migrants from all over the world, Not only the E.U.Block. But think about this free movement across our boarders with the rest of Europe, A family lands here from Poland or anywhere else today he gains employment and pays his own way he speaks English, He puts a roof over his family,s head and lives happily ever after bothering knowone for anything, Here is the catch he has a wife and 2 kids the job he has took pays the minimum wage After the minimum wage being raised which is 3 times the minimum wage in Poland he claims tax credits, Guess who pays that for his 2 kids not The court of human rights, Or any of the other member states in EUROPE............Me @You....................... And everyone else in this country subserdise him for being an out standing migrant that this country is apparently crying out for. Then after 4 years of having to starve on a bloody good income he can sign on the dole and collect his benefits. Happy bloody days. If that s what is regarded as a success story for Britain by our premier. Him Terry.

[Keith Tindell]

A mate of mine moved to France about 10 years ago, he has learned to speak basic French, but of late has been suffering from bad health, when he goes to the hospital of doctors he has to take a neighbour who is British, but speaks fluent Frog, so why not here. I am sick of this country with its soft approach to everything, we need to get tough.kt

[Red Lead Ted]

Keith, There will be only one option left to the United Kingdom when Cameron returns, A referendum in or out of the E.U. Lets take our chances things wont get any worse in the U.K. Out and take our chances trading with the rest of the world. Who knows we might even start building our own ships again for our new Merchant Navy..............................

[John Arton]

I agree with all the above posts, any foreigner wishing to live in the U.K. should be forced to speak English and show that they can before being granted any status here.
In Norway any migrant has to be able to speak and read basic Norwegian before been granted citizenship.
At sea, even today, the common language is English and with mixed crews an entry into the deck log book has to be made stating that the common language on board is British. This obviously does not apply when all on board are of the same nationality.
Foreign seafarers serving on ships (not necessarily U.K. registered though) have to pass a MARLINS (Marine language international speech, I believe) test showing that they can understand both spoken and written basic English.
Apart from court interpreter's what about interpreters at hospitals and doctors surgeries, this is a massive drain on NHS resources and again should be stopped forthwith as well as in the Job Centre's (dole)
From what I understand this requirement to provide interpreters stems from an EU ruling in its Courts of Human Rights whereby denying a person an interpreter to translate a foreign language into that migrants own language is an infringement on his/hers basic human rights. So instead of ruling that any person who emigrates to another country be required to learn the language of that country, instead this court has turned common sense on its head and made the country that you emigrate to provide you (at no cost to you) with an interpreter when ever you should have occasion to come into contact with the legal, health or social security systems of that country.
Just another example of EU madness, wonder how much Cherie Blair gets the government to fork out for in interpreters in her chambers as she has set her chambers up with its main business of fighting for the rights? of foreign migrants.
rgds
JA

[Keith Tindell]

The U.K. And EU is really like a bad marriage, little hope of repair, so the divorce has to come, maybe a bit painful at first, but after a short while life begins to settle down. So it will be if we get out, if we manufacture or sell products that Erope wants, they will buy it, there may be animosity at first, but they will get over it, it the meantime we are not restricted by bloody daft EU rules, kt

[Jim Brady]

John A talking of interpreters in hospitals I see this quite a bit with the Chinese community when I attend clinics at the Liverpool Royal Hospital.I mentioned once before of an interpreter with a Chinese gent and another woman that turned out tobe his daughter (not his interpreter) when the Chinaman went to have his blood done his daughter held a conversation in good English with me,why could she not be his interpreter.I wrote to someone about the interpreter service in hospitals and the reply I got was that they are not only interpreters but some times they have knowledge of what the doctor is saying and they can give the patient a better insight.I'm sorry but I don't fully understand what the doctor is saying but there isn't anybody there to explain the fine detail to me.
Regards.
Jim.B.