For years now we and those who support our work and campaign for an Office of the Whistleblower use the same line, “Another week another scandal” which is sadly true.
The total of these scandals amounts to a culture where fraud and corruption is normal and business is simply setting aside funds to meet the cost of any fines and penalties in the unlikely case that they are caught.
Those watching this space are struggling to make decisions about whether to speak up or not about even the most serious concerns because of fear and frankly the futility of speaking up. The only outcome that people can expect is retaliation and few can afford the impact of this on their mental and physical health, their family life, their even in cases where things go well has consequences.
Health remains the sector that dominates our inbox but tech and finance are now rapidly catching up, especially whistleblowing relating to tech and AI as seen in the Guardian this week regarding the Hay Festival where Meta Whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams sat in silent protest on a panel because of the very real threat from the tech giant that champions free speech unless it’s about them. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/09/meta-threats-sarah-wynn-williams-stronger-rights-whistleblowers
Tim Wu (left), Sarah Wynn-Williams (centre) and Carole Cadwalladr (right) at the Hay festival, 31 May 2026. Photograph: Sam Hardwick
As this news was breaking the Prime Minister was addressing London Tech Week committing to support Tech as the Governments plan for economic growth. In the same breath he laid down the gauntlet of a 3 month deadline for tech to clean up its act and prevent children accessing indecent content warning,
The government wants firms to activate built-in features on their devices or come up with technological solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images from children.
While we all welcome this positive message our safeguarding director Jayne Senior who is also the Whistleblower for the Rotherham Grooming Gangs scandal responded by saying;
“Technology is one of the biggest threats to children’s safety and should not require a threat from our PM or any politician in order to do the right thing. To date tech companies at the heart of all social media have failed to remove harmful content, or identify and block known predators, including trolls which has almost certainly results in increased criminal activity and causes harm to children and the whistleblowers who raise the alarm. I will be raising these concerns with the Policing Minister at my next meeting where I will also be laying before them evidence and demanding action relating to actual harm caused by trolls.”
The Public Interest cannot be served on warm words what we are waiting for is a comprehensive outline of the plan behind the warning if Tech companies don’t take urgent measures to protect us all immediately.
We invite Meta and X to engage with us to discuss to attitudes, access and procedures for employees and the public regarding their whistleblowing and safeguarding policies.
Back to the NHS
This week we have been speaking to whistleblowers from the NHS about the impact of cyber attacks, data loss and poorly executed IT leaving patients and staff at risk, a theme also seen in the press:
Image Stuart Woodward BBC 8th June 2026
reporters; Nikki Fox, East of England health correspondent and Matt Precey
“One of the largest hospital trusts in England has confirmed thousands of patient test results were stolen in a cyber attack in 2024.“
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said the breach involved 2,380 records taken from the computer drives of a third‑party testing provider. While another hospital, the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust revealed almost 33,000 of its patients had their data stolen in this hack. The criminals, a Russian based group has been confirmed to have admitted responsibility for the hack. The personal data has appeared on the dark web.
Another example of the risks associated with a failure to manage technology is the storm raging over Palantir and allegations first brought forward by whistleblowers who are concerned about data misuse and the operating model that has received criticism from others including the defence sector.
National Security is never far from our work and the Telegraph spoke to us about whistleblowing about Mitie and its Close Protection contract. Here whistleblowers have been speaking about unsafe working conditions where they are working without PPE including stab vests or with colleagues who have not been properly vetted. These failures put the public and our most senior political figures at risk of harm but also call into question national security more widely. Our CEO raised told Camilla Turner, Political Correspondent at the Sunday Telegraph,
“We have spoken with a number of people who work in close protection and provided support after they have raised concerns about personal safety and the culture at Mitie.
“This case demonstrates that whistleblowing is not just an employment issue but a national security issue that requires immediate action from the Government to prevent serious harm.”
Ms Halford-Hall is calling for a new regulator to be set up, the Office of the Whistleblower, which would offer a secure and confidential reporting platform and independent and targeted investigations that hold wrongdoers to account.
If you would like to join the discussions about whistleblowing get yourself a ticket (via the website) to one of the events happening over the next 5 weeks #WAM2026 https://wbuk.org/wam-2026-programme/
Whistleblowing is not just an employment issue it is a safety issue and every citizen must be protected against retaliation and have a secure and confidential means of reporting concerns. #OfficeOfTheWhistleblower
#Tech #AI #NationalSecurity #Whistleblowers
