Whistleblowers
UK (WBUK) is an organisation set up by whistleblowers and their
supporters to provide advice and support to those who are considering
acting on their conscience. Many of those with the courage to speak out
have experienced great personal difficulties while exposing cruelty,
injustice or corruption. Whistleblowers UK will provide a network of
support, legal advice and other services needed by those who have had
the courage to speak out and do the right thing. Crucially, it will also
offer experientially based advice to those considering what course to
take.
The event
was chaired by Michael Seifert, a solicitor with Simons, Muirhead &
Burton and with whistleblowers Eileen Chubb and Ian Foxley.
Michael
Seifert spoke of his close involvement with whistleblowing law and
practice over the last few decades. “Whistleblowing is an absolutely
essential component of our democratic society and the present protection
for whistleblowers must be increased to include legal protection for
all whistleblowers against retribution and victimisation. The
experiences of Eileen and Ian together with many other whistleblowers,
dramatically bears this out”.
Eileen Chubb
is a former care home worker who lost her job on reporting abuse she
witnessed in the care home she was working in. She explained: “I was
doing what I thought was right. At the time I didn’t even know what a
whistleblower was.” She, along with colleagues who also reported what
they had seen, came to be known as the ‘BUPA 7’.
Eileen spoke
of her experience and her desire to support other whistleblowers who
find themselves in a similar situation that she was in. Since then she
has helped hundreds of whistleblowers not only from the health sector
but across the board through her own charity Compassion in Care.
The second
presentation was given by Ian Foxley who is the inaugural Chairman of
Whistleblowers UK and a former lieutenant colonel who exposed corruption
when working in Saudi Arabia. He too lost his job and was threatened
with immediate arrest and jail in Saudi Arabia.
His claim
for constructive dismissal was ruled inadmissible because he was working
as an expatriate outside of UK court jurisdiction, despite the
whistleblowing declaration being a protected disclosure under PIDA. He
explained that his case highlighted the inadequacies in current
employment law and the need for legislative change.
“Potential
whistleblowers need an immediate and easily accessible source of
experience-based support and advice to ensure that they can expose
wrongdoing, but remain protected against retribution and victimisation”
he said. “Too often we see brave individuals acting on their conscience,
demonised by corporate organisations more worried about their
reputations and share price than about doing the right thing - it’s time
for that to change.”
Several
other whistleblowers were present and Annie Machon, an MI5
whistleblower, spoke briefly of her experience and why a support
organisation like Whistleblowers UK is so badly needed. "All too often
whistleblowers are persecuted rather than protected."
The floor
was then opened up to questions and a lively debate followed with many
whistleblowers in the audience coming forward to share their own
experiences, and stress the importance of, and need for, an organisation
like WBUK.
About Whistleblowers UK
The purpose
of Whistleblowers UK is to champion the importance, and critical role of
whistleblowers in a democracy. The organisation is composed of
whistleblowers from every walk of life, their immediate supporters and
those considering alerting the public to issues of public importance.
The work of
WBUK is supported by voluntary help from the staff at the Centre for
Investigative Journalism at City University, including CIJ’s founder
director, Gavin MacFadyen.
We are very
grateful for this support, as well as the invaluable assistance of our
pro bono lawyers at Powell Spencer and Partners Solicitors, Simons
Muirhead and Burton Law and our pro bono Honorary Consultant
Psychotherapist, Dr David Morgan.
Whistleblowers UK (WBUK) was set up thanks to seed funding from Stichting Democratie en Media, a not-for-profit organisation based in the Netherlands.
Without the help of these supporters, Whistleblowers UK would not be possible.
Contact
For press queries or to arrange an interview with any of the whistleblowers, please email info@whistleblowersuk.org
Photos and video footage of the launch event are also available, please email info@whistleblowersuk.org
Website: http://whistleblowersuk.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome all points of view but do not publish malicious comments. We would love to hear from you if you want to e-mail us with tips, information or just chat e-mail talkingtous@hotmail.co.uk