Monday, December 24, 2018
More government secrecy over Brexit
Having weathered a storm over their attempt to gag charities working with universal credit claimants the government is at it again, this time telling drug firms who are preparing for no-deal Brexit to sign 'gagging orders'.
According to the Observer, pharmaceutical organisations working with Whitehall to maintain medicine supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit have signed 26 “gagging orders” that bar them from revealing information to the public.
They say that figures show 16 drug companies and 10 trade associations have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) which prevent them from revealing any information related to contingency plans drawn up with the Department of Health and Social Care.
It means that the government has now asked at least 60 partners working on no-deal preparations across Whitehall to sign such agreements, angering transparency campaigners and MPs:
The prime minister has previously condemned the use of NDAs by employers. She told parliament in October that it was clear they were being used “unethically”.
The figures were released on Friday after a parliamentary question from the Labour MP Rushanara Ali.
Stephen Hammond, the health minister, replied, saying: “Since July 2016, the department has signed 16 non-disclosure agreements with private companies and 10 with trade associations related to our medical supply no-deal Brexit contingency planning.”
Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said the number of agreements being used to silence firms showed a “shocking disregard” for the public’s right to know about any threats to public health.
“It is utterly unacceptable for the government to use non-disclosure agreements with pharmaceutical businesses and trade associations,” she said. “By effectively ‘gagging’ these organisations, these secretive agreements are preventing essential information from being shared, are undermining transparency and are hampering businesses’ ability to speak out.”
If it is not bad enough that the Tories, with little or no Labour opposition, are setting us on the path towards a disastrous no-deal exit from the EU, we now have the truth about the preparations are being hidden from us.
According to the Observer, pharmaceutical organisations working with Whitehall to maintain medicine supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit have signed 26 “gagging orders” that bar them from revealing information to the public.
They say that figures show 16 drug companies and 10 trade associations have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) which prevent them from revealing any information related to contingency plans drawn up with the Department of Health and Social Care.
It means that the government has now asked at least 60 partners working on no-deal preparations across Whitehall to sign such agreements, angering transparency campaigners and MPs:
The prime minister has previously condemned the use of NDAs by employers. She told parliament in October that it was clear they were being used “unethically”.
The figures were released on Friday after a parliamentary question from the Labour MP Rushanara Ali.
Stephen Hammond, the health minister, replied, saying: “Since July 2016, the department has signed 16 non-disclosure agreements with private companies and 10 with trade associations related to our medical supply no-deal Brexit contingency planning.”
Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said the number of agreements being used to silence firms showed a “shocking disregard” for the public’s right to know about any threats to public health.
“It is utterly unacceptable for the government to use non-disclosure agreements with pharmaceutical businesses and trade associations,” she said. “By effectively ‘gagging’ these organisations, these secretive agreements are preventing essential information from being shared, are undermining transparency and are hampering businesses’ ability to speak out.”
If it is not bad enough that the Tories, with little or no Labour opposition, are setting us on the path towards a disastrous no-deal exit from the EU, we now have the truth about the preparations are being hidden from us.
