This is a guest post by FCO whistleblower Derek Pasquill
Like everyone else I was astonished by the arrest of Damian Green. I too was interrogated for the same number of hours in the same central London police station by the same type of special branch officers. I too may have been amused (admittedly after the event) by their attempt to portray my actions as politically motivated, in my case, incredibly enough, of the hard left variety, rather than as public-interest spirited deeds.
There, however, the similarities end, because while Damian Green was doing his job as an opposition MP in holding the government of the day to account, my actions breached a level of confidence or loyalty that an employer might reasonably expect from their staff.
Yet legislation exists to protect the whistleblower as enshrined in the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998, where, if a certain number of conditions are met, disclosed documents are given protected status. As my case is the subject of legal proceedings I will make no further comment, apart from the observation that the onus should more properly be on the employer to satisfy itself that PIDA has been observed. I question whether in fact legal advice was obtained, either in the case of Christopher Galley or in my earlier case, concerning the implications of PIDA. Events would indicate that it was not, and it is this omission which may explain the heavy handed policing that the Government has resorted to in attempting to control what have been undeniably embarrassing revelations.
5 Comments
I too may have been amused (admittedly after the event) by their attempt to portray my actions as politically motivated
Are you claiming the self-avowed Tory Galley’s 20 or so leaks over two years to an MP with whom he sought employment were anything other than politically-motivated?
Amazingly, you appear to be.
Derek,
If the leaks were in the public interest, (which neither you nor I know as we only know the small number that Green released to the press) why do you think Green has not released them all?
why do you think Green has not released them all
Because whilst these leaks are assuredly in your interst, tim – honest they are – their release may not be in Damian Green’s interest. If you catch my drift…?
Why is nobody asking what Cameron knew about one of his MP’s handling a Tory spy at the HO?
If MP’s are to be arrested and charged for disseminating leaked information, Gordon Brown would have spent much of the last decade under police custody.
Marvin,
Are you pretending you don’t know the difference between receiving leaked information and running a party activist spy in the civil service?