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Derek Pasquill on Damian Green
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.