Whistleblower Protection

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https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/1928?utm_source=&utm_mediu m=email&utm_campaign=blast2017-02-13

'The Government’s legal advisers have revealed plans to lock up people who expose things like human rights abuses. They could face prison sentences of up to 14 years. Under these terrifying new laws, even journalists could face charges just because they were sent certain information. [1]

People who reveal things that some would rather the public didn’t know are called whistleblowers. Often they share things that we need to know, because there are serious consequences if the information is hidden. For example, Nurse Helene Donnelly, who helped expose the situation in Mid Staffs NHS trust. [2]

But draft plans to imprison some whistleblowers for up to 14 years were floated by government advisers late last night. It looks like they’re testing the idea to see whether or not the public would let these scary plans go ahead. And that’s where we come in. A huge public outcry would force the government to reject these plans before they get any further than just a draft.

If you believe that no one should face 14 years in prison for exposing truths that we deserve to know, then please sign the petition. It takes less than a minute:

SIGN THE PETITION

Without whistleblowers, we would never have known about the revelations in last years “Panama Papers” of politicians and big companies avoiding tax through offshore tax havens, or the state of patient care in some of our hospitals. [3] These people put their jobs on the line to tell us things we should know - but under these plans it’s a lot more than just their jobs that could be at risk.

Human rights groups and senior lawyers have already spoken out against these plans, but it would be easy for the government to dismiss them as the usual suspects. [4] They won’t be able to ignore a huge outcry by hundreds of thousands of us who know we have a right to hear what’s going on behind closed doors.

Let’s force the government to scrap these plans before they’re even properly on the table. Sign the petition now asking the government to reject the idea to imprison whistleblowers or journalists who report on the leaks for up to 14 years.

Use the button below to add your name to the petition today:

SIGN THE PETITION


Thanks for being involved,

Jinan, Megan, Charlotte, Holly and the 38 Degrees team


NOTES:
[1] Guardian: Government advisers accused of 'full-frontal attack' on whistleblowers:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/12/uk-government-accused- full-frontal-attack-prison-whistleblowers-media-journalists
[2] Nursing Times: Whistleblowing Mid Staffs nurse too scared to walk to car after shift:
https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/accident-and-emergency/w histleblowing-mid-staffs-nurse-too-scared-to-walk-to-car-after-shift/5 036466.article
[3] The Independent: Panama Papers: Whistleblower breaks silence to explain why they leaked the 11.5m files:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/panama-papers-whistle blower-breaks-silence-to-explain-why-he-leaked-the-115m-files-a7017691 .html
[4] International Business Times: 'Draconian' changes to UK espionage laws branded 'full frontal' attack on whistleblowing: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/draconian-changes-uk-espionage-laws-branded-f ull-frontal-attack-whistleblowing-1606231 '