Tackling Corruption | Is whistleblowing the first line of defence?

Corruption is big business in the UK. The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)said dirty money passing through UK systems and services costs the UK more than 100 billion pounds a year. That was back in 2019.

Anti-Corruption Government Tsar, John Penrose MP joins the panel to outline the scale of the corruption challenge faced by the UK, why it’s so vital to confront it and what the UK Government Anti-CorruptionStrategy is doing to combat it.

International corruption and whistleblowing lawyer, Paul Dowling, a partner at Leigh Day will join the panel debate to discuss legal claims used to hold organisations to account. Paul represented whistleblower Mr Amjad Rihan, a former partner of the accountancy firm EY, who was forced out of EY after he refused to cooperate with a cover-up of suspected money laundering by a major Dubai gold refiner, Kaloti Jewellery International.

Protect will examine what existing protections are in place for whistleblowers who witness corruption and what could be done to strengthen protections. Whistleblowing forms a vital part of the Government’s Anti-corruption strategy, and a review of the UK whistleblowing framework has been promised. We hope that more detail on the scope and timetable of the review will be forthcoming in early 2022.

Oil sector whistleblower Jonathan Taylor will share his experiences of whistleblowing and in particular, the use of SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) used by large organisations against whistleblowing employees.

Panel members:
Chair: Protect Chief Executive Liz Gardiner/Protect Head of Policy Andrew Pepper-Parsons
Leigh Day partner, and international human rights lawyer Paul Dowling
Keynote speaker: John Penrose MP, (Con, Weston-super-Mare) and since 2017 a Cabinet Office UKAnti-Corruption Tsar
Oil sector whistleblower Jonathan Taylor on his experience of whistleblowing against former employer SBM Offshore.
Margaret Hodge MP and Chair of APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax