Katherine, a former teacher at a leading boarding school in southern England, lost her job alongside her husband after exposing systematic exam malpractice. Teachers had completed coursework for students, allowed work past deadlines, and encouraged 'tinkering' with papers until marking dates, she said. 'I was completely clueless and didn't even know I was a whistleblower,' she told the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing.
Katherine is one of over 400 people who gave evidence to the cross-party group, detailing cases of child sex abuse, fraud, bullying, and discrimination. The group is calling for an 'urgent radical overhaul' of whistleblowing law, arguing the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act is 'no longer fit for purpose' due to complexity and limited protection.
Conservative MP Stephen Kerr, who chairs the group, said whistleblowers are the 'first line of defence against crime, corruption and cover-up' and must be 'treasured'. The group proposes an Office for the Whistleblower to investigate complaints, issue penalties, and provide counselling, free legal advice, and job protection. It also wants the definition of whistleblowing expanded to cover any 'harmful violation of integrity and ethics'.
Katherine said she was discouraged from making a formal complaint and told only disclosures to Ofqual were protected. She and her husband signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) under threat, waiving their right to protected disclosures. 'We had no choice because we had to support our kids,' she said. 'I felt suicidal.'
Government figures show only 3% of 1,369 employment tribunal cases between 2017 and 2018 were successful. Over three-quarters of whistleblowers who gave evidence reported bullying, demotions, or dismissals. The group was set up after the Gosport Memorial Hospital scandal, and similar cases continue to emerge, including ex-Labour staff breaking NDAs to speak about interference in anti-Semitism cases.
Georgina Halford-Hall of WhistleblowersUK said the system is broken. 'People who speak out lose everything,' she added. The parliamentary group is urging the government to act before more lives are destroyed.
