Josie Stewart won an employment tribunal case against the government for unfair dismissal, after she leaked information in the public interest
A former civil servant who was unfairly dismissed for blowing the whistle about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Boris Johnson’s role in evacuating a pet charity from Kabul, says she now wants her job back.
Josie Stewart, 44, also hopes that her successful case will force Whitehall to take public interest disclosures seriously, and establish an independent commissioner for whistleblowers.
Stewart said she has been “overwhelmed with messages of support and gratitude” from civil servants after she won an employment tribunal case against the government.
It is rare for anyone who wins a case for unfair dismissal to be reinstated in their former post, but Stewart hopes to become the exception. “I know the vast majority of my former colleagues feel positively about this outcome and I could certainly work with them again,” she said.
Speaking to the Guardian she added: “I loved being a civil servant and still think I have a lot to contribute.”
The tribunal found that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) acted unlawfully by withdrawing Stewart’s security clearances after it discovered she had spoken anonymously to the BBC and leaked a cache of sensitive emails. It also found that her decision to make public interest disclosures were reasonable, after the FCDO failed to engage with her concerns internally.
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