Who did we hear from?
We heard from lawyers, academics, journalists, activists, whistleblowers, politicians and innovative practitioners. Confirmed speakers included:
Zelda Perkins
Founder of Can’t Buy My Silence
Zelda Perkins
Lubna Shuja
President of the Law Society for England and Wales
Lubna Shuja
Lubna is originally from Bradford and qualified as a solicitor 30 years ago in 1992. She is a sole practitioner at Legal Swan Solicitors in Birmingham, a firm she set up in 2007, where she now specialises in litigation, professional discipline and regulation. She has experience in dealing with family law, litigation, personal injury claims, wills/probate and conveyancing. Prior to 2007, she was a Partner in a high street firm in West Yorkshire where she worked for 14 years undertaking litigation and personal injury work.
She is also a Mediator (CEDR accredited) conducting civil and family mediations.
Lubna works with a number of professional regulators. She is currently an Adjudicator Chair of Social Work England’s Fitness to Practise Committee, a Legally Qualified Deputy Chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee and a Chair of the General Chiropractic Council’s Investigating Committee. Lubna was a Chair of the Health and Care Professions Tribunal’s Conduct and Competence Committee and Interim Orders Committee. She was also a Chair of the Disciplinary, Appeal and Regulatory Committees of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants for 11 years and a Deputy Clerk at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for over 13 years.
Lubna is a member of the Law Society Board and a past Chair of the Law Society’s Strategic Litigation Group. She was the inaugural Chair of the Law Society’s Membership and Communications Committee for 3 years and previously a member of its Membership Board as well as the Finance and Investment Committee. Lubna has been a member of the Law Society Council since 2013 representing the interests of sole practitioners.
Lubna is a member of the Board of Trustees for LawWorks, a charity which connects people on low income in need of legal advice, with volunteer lawyers and not for profit organisations who can support them.
Helen Evans
Oxfam whistleblower, former whistleblower of the year
Helen Evans
Jonathan Taylor
Oil Industry Whistleblower
Jonathan Taylor
Robert Spano
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, former President of the European Court of Human Rights
Robert Spano
Kevin Hollinrake
Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, MP for Thirsk and Malton
Kevin Hollinrake
Meirion Jones
Former Editor, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Meirion Jones
Gavin Millar KC
Media and employment law specialist, Matrix Chambers, leading expert in election law and The Guardian’s top 100 most influential people (2012)
Gavin Millar KC
He has acted as a Council of Europe and EU expert in media law and is a Crown Court Recorder. He practises in Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales.
Desiree Fixler
DWS whistleblower and ESG specialist
Desiree Fixler
Natalie Prosser
CEO, Office for Environmental Protection
Natalie Prosser
Natalie started her role as Interim CEO in February 2021 and was appointed to the role permanently in April the following year.
Gabriel Bourdon-Fattal
Co-founder and co-director, Climate Whistleblowers
Gabriel Bourdon-Fattal
Mukhtiar Singh
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Mukhtiar Singh
He is ranked in employment and commercial litigation by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 and represents Claimants and Respondents. He has advised on a number of whistleblowing cases as part of Protect’s Legal Support Network and is a member of Protect’s Advisory Council.
Tas Brooker
Founder of Wiser Films, Director of When We Speak
Tas Booker
James Laddie KC
Barrister, Matrix Chambers
James Laddie KC
Helené Donelly (OBE)
Head of Safety Culture, Nuffield Health
Helené Donelly
In 2022 Helené was appointed National Head of Safety Culture for Nuffield Health the UKs largest healthcare charity. She continues to advise and support the NHS, the government and relevant stakeholders on the importance of embedding and sustaining positive cultures, where staff are genuinely encouraged and enabled to speak up and voice concerns to protect staff, patients and the public.
Professor Ross Cranston
Former Protect Trustee Chair (1992-1996), former High Court judge and Solicitor General for England and Wales (1998-2001)
Professor Ross Cranston
Clive Robins
Senior compliance manager, Nationwide Building Society
Clive Robins
Christian Hunt
Founder, Human Risk, a Behavioural Science (BeSci) led Consulting and Training Firm
Christian Hunt
Shantha David
Head of Legal Services, UNISON
Shantha David
Beth Hale
Partner, CM Murray LLP
Beth Hale
Andy Noble
Head of Whistleblowing and Speak Up, NatWest Group
Andy Noble
Following the introduction of new whistleblowing regulations by the UK’s financial regulators in 2016, Andy led the development and implementation of a group-wide whistleblowing framework at NatWest (formerly RBS). This provides a mechanism for colleagues across the bank to confidentially raise whistleblowing concerns.
Tom Devine
Legal Director, Government Accountability Project
Tom Devine
Charlie Holt
Co-chair of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition
Charlie Holt
Ian Foxley
CEO, Parrhesia
Ian Foxley
Ian became a whistleblower in December 2010 after discovering corruption in a £2 billion government defence procurement contracts whilst working as the Programme Director in GPT (Special Project Management) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus Group. His actions resulted in criminal prosecutions, the complete overhaul of the Airbus Group Senior Management Team and the largest fine (£3.6 billion) ever imposed on a commercial company under a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in the world. GPT pleaded guilty in 2016, was fined £30. 2 million and has now ceased trading.
He co-founded Whistleblowers UK in 2012 as a whistleblower support interest group, and acted as Chairman until 2015, establishing the whistleblowing study and discussion programme at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime held annually in Jesus College, Cambridge University. In May 2021, he founded Parrhesia Inc, a charity focussed on the practice, protection, and promotion of the human rights of whistleblowers in the UK, by producing high-level research that can be used by practitioners and policymakers alike.
David Bowles
Non-Executive Director, The Audit Committee of the National Police Chiefs’ Council,
David Bowles
When he was Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council, he blew the whistle on his Leader, referring a number of matters to the police and external auditors. He was subjected to a campaign of threats and intimidation leading up to the trial at which the Leader was convicted and jailed. Afterwards senior politicians refused to work with him and forced him out of the Council. Subsequently as Chair of an NHS Trust he resigned to draw attention to a bullying culture in the NHS and the risk to patients by the pursuit of targets in understaffed hospitals. He gave evidence to the Health Select Committee and supported the Mid-Staffordshire campaign group.
David now concentrates upon governance and is a Non-Executive Director on the Audit Committee of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and is Chair of the SAAA, which oversees the appointment of auditors to small public bodies.
Ewen Fergusson
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Ewen Fergusson
Ewen Fergusson was appointed to the Committee on 1 August 2021 for a five-year term.
Arpita Dutt
Campaigning Employment Lawyer and whistleblowing specialist
Arpita Dutt
Sarah Veale CBE
Chair of Protect’s Advisory Council and former Head of Equality and Employment Rights, TUC
Sarah Veale
Anna Myers
CEO, Whistleblowing International Network
Anna Myers
Anna is originally from Canada and prior to getting her law degree at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, she did a history degree at the Université de Montréal in Québec. Anna was Deputy Director of Public Concern at Work (now called Protect) for 9 years and has worked at Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and at the Government Accountability Project in Washington DC.
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Nick Marshall
Partner, Employment & Incentives group Linklaters
Nick Marshall
Anna is originally from Canada and prior to getting her law degree at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, she did a history degree at the Université de Montréal in Québec. Anna was Deputy Director of Public Concern at Work (now called Protect) for 9 years and has worked at Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and at the Government Accountability Project in Washington DC.
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Kieran Pender
Senior lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre Australia
Kieran Pender
Fraser Simpson
Associate General Counsel, Ethics, Governance and Compliance at the Wellcome Trust.
Fraser Simpson
Professor Yvonne Cripps
Council Member, Protect
Professor Yvonne Cripps
Sean Parker
Just Culture Safety Reporting Specialist, Civil Aviation Authority
Sean Parker
Jeremy Lewis KC
Barrister, Littleton Chambers, Co-Author of Whistleblowing, Law and Practice
Jeremy Lewis KC
Paul Caruana Galizia
Editor and reporter, Tortoise
Paul Caruana Galizia
Pusetso Morapedi
Southern Africa Director, Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAFF)
Pusetso Morapedi
She is the co-founding Board Secretary of the Botswana Centre for Public Integrity (BCPI) which seeks to contribute to the achievement of the Vision 2036 Pillar 4 on Governance, Peace and Security and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.
Suzanne McCarthy
Independent Chair of National Guardian Office
Suzanne McCarthy
Suzanne has used her background in regulation and standard setting in her non-executive career. Her current positions include as the Independent Chair of the Fire Standards Board, and of two charities, Lepra, an international NGO focused on neglected tropical diseases, and Right to Succeed, a charity concerned with educational inequalities in the UK.
Guy Dehn
Founder, Protect
Guy Dehn
Elle Holland
Law graduate
Elle Holland
Schona Jolly KC
Barrister, Cloisters Chambers
Schona Jolly KC
Justin Madders, MP
MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston & Shadow Minister for Business, Employment Rights and Levelling Up
Elizabeth Gardiner
CEO, Protect
Elizabeth Gardiner
Caitlín Comins
Legal Officer, Protect
Caitlín Comins
Sybille Raphael
Legal Director, Protect
Sybille Raphael
Andrew Pepper-Parsons
Policy Director, Protect