Bill would help end cover-ups: MP

[Alison J Stevens]

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Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has called for greater protection for whistleblowers to halt official cover-ups

New laws are needed to end official cover-ups by protecting whistleblowers, the House of Commons has heard.

Liberal Democrat John Hemming said his proposals would also make family court processes more transparent.

His bill would increase academic scrutiny of family court hearings and make it an offence to intimidate whistleblowers in an effort to prevent them going to the authorities.

Mr Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, said: “I have been concerned about how certain procedural aspects in judicial proceedings assist public authorities in covering up malfeasance by public officials. In one sense, this bill could be called the no more cover-ups bill.”

Speaking as his wide-ranging Family Justice (Transparency, Accountability and Cost of Living) Bill was having its second reading debate in the Commons, Mr Hemming said concerns over adoption proceedings in English courts had been raised by the Slovakian government.

“During the summer the Slovak Republic became officially concerned about the way in which Slovak citizens had been treated by the English and Welsh family courts,” he said.

“I have been told that the Slovak Republic have identified 40 cases in the English courts involving 89 children where they are unhappy with the lawfulness of the process.”

He added: “England is out on a limb in comparison with the rest of Europe in having a child protection system where the most likely outcome for a child under five leaving care is to be adopted.”

The bill would “ensure that there’s greater academic scrutiny as to the merits of this decision-making, something that is essentially absent at the moment”, he said.