The UK is suffering from a shortage of trained interpreters – like the character Silvia Broome from the subtly titled film The Interpreter, played by Nicole Kidman – with many public services, especially the police and courts, struggling to find enough people willing to do the job.
Alan Wheatley, general secretary of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, said there was a need for better training and rates of pay. In the past year, there has been a massive increase in demand for languages spoken by those coming to work in the UK from the countries of the enlarged EU.
