WhistleblowersUK is delighted to be able to announce the first reading of the new Whistleblowing Bill on Tuesday 26th April in the House of Commons by Mary Robinson MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing.

WhistleblowersUK was set up with the aim to help whistleblowers and normalise speaking up and to put whistleblowers at the top of the agenda. We have worked with Parliamentarians across all parties and led the campaign for Whistleblowing Legislation that works. Our campaign has resulted in the new Whistleblowing Bill and the creation of an independent Office of the Whistleblower as their champion.

If you would like to attend the event please email:: secretary@wbuk.org

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Help for Heroes has been hugely successful. The public support those who were prepared to risk their lives for the public.

Not all heroes, who do huge public good, receive the public support they need; many have their lives ruined for doing something that few have the courage to do: they report organisations engaged in wrongdoing to the authorities, after having tried internally to correct the illegality, and are then subjected to life-ruining detriment.

Introducing 'The Spiral of Silent Complicity.'

NHS whistleblowers still face consequences

Criticism of NHS managers over the treatment of whistleblowers has been reignited by Donna Ockenden’s damning review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.

Her findings come seven years after the “Freedom to speak up?” report from Sir Robert Francis QC, which found that NHS staff feared repercussions if they blew the whistle on poor practice. He recommended reforms to change the culture and support whistleblowers.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 makes it unlawful to subject workers to negative treatment or dismiss them because they have raised a whistleblowing concern, known as a “protected disclosure”. But critics say little has changed since the Francis review.

Those seeking to vindicate their rights before an employment tribunal, Khan adds, will often be “priced out of justice” by well-resourced NHS trust lawyers who at public expense “deploy a menu of tactics” to defend cases. This includes triggering satellite litigation to strike out claims as a means to drain resources and threatening six-figure costs applications. “Trusts rely on law firms to use litigation as a form of attrition to erode the confidence, finances and mental health of the whistleblower,” adds Georgina Halford-Hall, the director of WhistleblowersUK

Lacking Impact: Why the Online Safety Bill should be taking a different approach

As technology plays an ever greater part in all our lives it is essential that more is done to protect users. WhistleblowersUK welcomes proposals contained in the new The Online Safety Bill to reforming protection to the public in the UK by updating rules on digital communication and assigning a duty of care to tech giants.

The UK was the first European country to introduce whistleblower law; The Public Interest Disclosure Act in 1998.

Since then, only a handful of EU countries have followed suit and, like the UK with limited success.

The EU directive 2019, hailed a new era and was eagerly anticipated. The transposition deadline was 17th December 2021. Only 4 of 27 countries met the deadline, with 8 having transcribed so far. Of those who have introduced the new law, Denmark has exposed the frailty by not only dismissing the first case heard since the introduction of the law but through the exposure of problems arising from the absence of clear statutory guidance and mechanisms. The sting in the tail for the whistleblowers is that the court determined that her actions were ‘unnecessary’, and went on to uphold a criminal conviction relating to the release of ‘confidential information’.

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The issue of compensation and rewards remains a contentious one, dominated in the UK by the opinion that whistleblowers do not support rewards. The Government’s Anti-corruption champion, John Penrose MP, raised his concerns on the 24th February stating "I'd be worried about creating a moral hazard if [whistleblowers] got a personal reward incentive".

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Anti-corruption advocates universally praised the passage of new whistleblower protection rules by the European Union in 2019. Publicly, they used words like “victory” and “achievement.” Privately, some called the new rules “a miracle.” Many experts said the new protections were too good to be true. Two years later, it appears they may be right.

The first sign of trouble is the fact that only 4 of 27 countries met the EU’s deadline to pass a new whistleblower law by last Dec. 17: Denmark, Malta, Portugal and Sweden. Laws since have been passed by Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania. This leaves 20 countries out of compliance – and corruption witnesses in these countries still without legal protection from retaliation. Most of these countries are far from finalizing their laws, due to a lack of political will, expertise and experience with whistleblower cases. Doubt and fear have stymied the legislative process

Whether you’re the boss, the deputy or on your way up, we’re shaking up the way the world works. This is the podcast about doing work differently. Join host Isabel Berwick every Wednesday for expert analysis and watercooler chat about ahead-of-the-curve workplace trends, the big ideas shaping work today - and the old habits we need to leave behind. Brought to you by the Financial Times

Mary Robinson MP for Cheadle and Chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing, said that it takes “courage” to raise a concern, adding: “It is in the public interest that our police officers must be able to speak up safely, existing legislation protects no one as underlined by the unacceptable experience of our police officers.”

“I am absolutely committed to leading the campaign for root and branch reform of whistleblowing legislation and the introduction of the Office of the Whistleblower”

Read the article “legal loophole blocks police whistleblowers allows forces cover”

This week, the SEC released its 2021 Annual Report on the SEC Whistleblower Program, and, even though we knew to expect big numbers, the results are still stunning. Simply put, the SEC Whistleblower Program had an amazing year in 2021.

The Chair for the APPG on Whistleblowing, Mary Robinson MP, called on the Prime Minister today to ask Greater Manchester Police to urgently review its internal culture and for reforms to be made to the law on whistleblowing.

On Tuesday 14th September, in parliament, Maria Miller MP, called for the government to introduce a Bill to ban the mis-use of NDAs

The thirty-eighth international symposium on economic crime brings together, from across the globe a unique level and depth of expertise to address one of the biggest threats facing the stability and development of all our economies. The overarching theme for this year’s symposium focuses on who is actually harmed and pays for economically motivated crime and who should be held more accountable. Download WhistleblowersUK alternative programme: The Age of the Whistleblower

APPG Report - Whistleblowing: Making whistleblowing work for society.

Read the All-Party Parliamentary Group report: “Making whistleblowing work for society”