Submitted on Wednesday 23rd October 2019
Rejected on Tuesday 29th October 2019
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: irrelevant (see below for details)
Stop paid advisers briefing off the record
Require any Government special adviser whose salary comes in whole or part from the public purse cannot make unattributed statements to the media.
This would allow audiences to attach appropriate context to statements which might previously have been attributed to "Government sources".
For further background see Peter Oborne:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/british-journalists-have-become-part-of-johnsons-fake-news-machine/
Robert Peston:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/my-job-draw-back-veil-robert-peston-responds-peter-oborne/
Nick Cohen:
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/meet-dominic-slack-oxley-the-biggest-source-of-fake-news-in-britain/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
We can only accept petitions which call for actions that are the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament. It would be for journalists to decide whether comments remain off the record.
Contact with the media is covered by the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. You can find out more here (see paragraphs 12 to 14 in particular):
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/832599/201612_Code_of_Conduct_for_Special_Advisers.pdf
Contacts with the media should be conducted in accordance with the Government Communication Service’s Propriety Guidance, which says that unattributable quotes should be avoided. You can find out more here:
gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/propriety/
You could start a new petition calling for a clear action that is the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament, for example calling for a specific change to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.
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