By Mathew Carr

One of the many annoying things about how Westminster leaders suppress awareness of the critically bad state of whistleblowing in Britain is that it occurs at Whistleblowing Awareness Week.

Many British executives and officials treat as criminals, snitches and moaners those who blow the whistle about bad behavior and bad systems in companies and government departments, according to Margaret Hodge, a long-serving member of parliament for the Labour Party.

Instead, they should be protecting them, according to the section of employment law called the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

Whistleblowers are being harrassed, put under huge financial and physical pressure and sometimes pushed near the point of death. Meanwhile, the lawmakers and judges who know the current law is deeply flawed and biased against those speaking up, they know employer tricks …carry on as if they don’t know.

People are dying in the health service, criminals are getting away with mountains of cash because of money laundering and governments are harassing their own employees — all because of bad treatment of whistleblowers.

Yet Hodge’s views are pretty much the only ones I can report today because the three sessions I attended yesterday were under “Chatham House rules” (where you can’t identify speakers).

Further, a reporter agreeing to comply with the rules can’t even record the events because of stupidly outdated rules of “the Palace of Westminster.”

I was reminded of this a few times yesterday even as members of parliament walk about the palace breaking the rules … constantly (no one is allowed to use their mobile phone in the palace while moving about …yes … you are not misreading this.)

(To be continued)