“An important win… for civil servants, the public interest, and democracy”
In the first case of its kind, the Employment Tribunal has ruled that under whistleblower protection legislation it can be lawful for a civil servant to share unauthorised information directly with the media: “The tribunal considered that it was reasonable for the Claimant to go to the UK’s public service broadcaster when relevant information and/or allegations had already been put into the public domain … and government ministers were publicly disputing them.”
The judgment in the groundbreaking case against the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), received today, confirms that Josie Stewart was subject to unlawful removal of her security clearances and was unfairly dismissed by FCDO after she told BBC Newsnight about terrible failings at the heart of UK government. Her disclosures related to government’s handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021, and a subsequent denial by the Prime Minister and other very senior ministers and officials.
Upon receiving the judgment, Josie Stewart said “My experience of the FCDO crisis centre in August 2021 reflected the worst of our political system. By calling this out, I lost my career. The outcome of this case doesn’t change any of this, but it has achieved what I set out to achieve: it has established that civil servants have the right not to stay silent when systemic failures put lives at risk, as happened during the Afghan evacuation. I hope that, knowing that their colleagues have this right, senior officials will do more to build accountability in government, and speak truth to power when it is needed. We can’t have a system that says stay silent, no matter what you see, and forces dedicated public servants to choose between their conscience and their career.
I am profoundly grateful to my incredible legal team, who’ve worked pro bono for years because they saw the landmark implications of this case.”
Cathy James OBE, solicitor for Ms Stewart, said “Today, the Employment Tribunal has vindicated my client’s actions and upheld her rights. This is an important win not just for Ms Stewart, but for civil servants, the public interest, and democracy.”
Gavin Millar KC, who represented Ms Stewart in the proceedings, said in submissions that the evidence presented in the proceedings, much of which was not countered by FCDO, showed terrible failings by government. The concerns raised related to “the endangerment of the safety and lives of extremely vulnerable people in danger of retribution from the Taliban at any moment, and a government communications strategy which concealed how badly the UK government let those people down.”
Josie Stewart’s career as a high-performing civil servant in FCDO was terminated in 2022 when her security clearance was removed and she was dismissed after being accidentally identified as a confidential journalistic source. Ms Stewart subsequently brought Employment Tribunal proceedings against FCDO under the Public Interest Disclosure Act provisions in the Employment Rights Act. The case was without precedent and raised numerous important issues about civil servants’ rights to whistleblower protection under existing law.
In preliminary hearings in 2023, Ms Stewart fought applications made by FCDO first to restrict public access to proceedings and limit her legal team’s access to evidence due to spurious national security claims, and second to strike out parts of her evidence which related to the truthfulness or otherwise of testimony that had been given to Parliament.
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Cathy James cathyjames@jamesandwest.co.uk – 07899000472
Spike Lacey spikelacey@jamesandwest.co.uk – 02081857476