Can't Buy My Silence UK
End of year edition🎄
Movin’, shakin’ & legislatin’
Dear Friends, Supporters, Allies and Donors,
It’s been a non-stop couple of months. Despite cancelled flights, delayed trains, unforgiving fog, and a whole host of logistical challenges, we’ve been on the move to contribute to research, talk to those in power, and oh, maybe change some more law..
First up…
Two years ago, Can’t Buy My Silence collaborated on drafting a “model bill”, which was first introduced in Ireland by Senator Lynn Ruane.
This bill has acted as a template for the successful PEI Canadian bill and as inspiration for England and Australia. It prohibits the use of NDAs in instances of abuse and harassment in the workplace and puts the power into the hands of the victims who have the CHOICE about how and where confidentiality is used but draws the line under confidentiality about any harmful behaviour.
On the 25th of October the model bill; Employment Equality (Amendment) Bill 2021 successfully completed its final stage in the Seanad with government and total cross party support. Legislation is a cornerstone of the change we hope to achieve at CBMS, and we are at the final stage of a groundbreaking change in the law that will protect the entire economic workforce in Republic of Ireland from the misuse of NDAs.
This year we have had great success passing the first law of its kind in the UK banning the use of NDAs in Higher Education, and with provincial law in Canada, but the Irish Bill will be the first time a country fully legislates to outlaw NDAs that attempt to hide abuse. The Bill heads to the Dáil where it will be become legislation. Hopefully this will be done in the next 18 months. THANK YOU and congratulations to the phenomenal Senator Lynn Ruane and Ireland for leading the way.
Next on the legislative agenda…🤝
After resounding cross party support to broaden protections from NDAs to the wider workforce was heard in the September Westminster hall debate, ministers were keen to meet with us to discuss our Business Pledge and how legislation can be improved. We have had extremely positive meetings with the Undersecretary of State for Business and Trade, Kevin Hollinrake and the Shadow Minister for Business and Trade, Justin Madders who have the keys (or potentially do) to amending the Employment Act. We also met with the shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry alongside Marina Wheeler KC who has been employed by Labour to advise on improving employee protections, particularly for women. Our allies in Labour are working hard to make sure that this issue is in their manifesto while our Conservative and Lib Dem allies are also doing sterling work keeping the issue on the agenda.
Earlier this year we also collaborated with Dame Maria Miller MP on an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill which would expand the definition of 'victim' to include people who have signed NDAs designed to cover up misconduct. This has passed through all its stages in the Commons and is now at second reading in the Lords. Although this won’t solve the problem it will create a layer of protection for those who have been gagged.
…and the regulatory agenda ⚖️
The LSB (oversight regulator of all legal services in the UK) call for evidence came back with compelling proof that NDAs are being used where they shouldn’t (!!) We wait to see how they plan to act on this information as the SRA also published a report into the the use of NDAs and admitted this was an area of concern. Also, after a bit of tennis in the legal press with the Bar Council, we have had a positive meeting with the president and some of the board who agreed to work with CBMS on a letter from the Bar to ministers supporting NDA legislative change.
The Business Pledge.. ✒️
We have had some inspiring and challenging times with the pledge in our build up to launch. In early September Zelda attended the The Responsible 100 Forum organised by the Rothschild Foundation and Tortoise media at Waddesdon where she had the opportunity to speak about the aims of the pledge and campaign to the full conference of non executive directors and board members from the leading top 100 FTSE companies. It was a stellar business crowd but CBMS made its mark and created an exceedingly lively debate. The pledge is now being discussed in board rooms across the globe and CBMS are in negotiations with many of the firms they met there. This was an incredible opportunity and we want to thank James Harding founder of Tortoise media for making this possible.
Meanwhile in the wake of Daisy Ayliffe breaking her two ITN/CH4 NDAs and the Russell Brand scandal, we met with the CEO’s of CH4, ITN and ITV to offer them the chance to lead the way by stopping the use NDAs to gag their employees. The talks were all positive but we are yet to have any signatures…however we are sure the new year will bring new fountain pens to the table. Meanwhile our talks continue with Oxfam, TSB, NatWest, Google and more as we gather our launch signatories to the pledge.
Also (nearly there…)🎥🎞️
This year we gave evidence to three vital Select Committee enquiries - The Treasury Select Committee on Sexism in the City, the Women and Equalities Select Committee on NDAs in the music industry, and the Justice Select Committee on the regulation of legal professions. We are very glad to see these issues being taken seriously and grateful for the chance to add our voice to crucial discussions. As can be seen already from the results of the evidence from the Sexism in the city enquiry that misconduct and NDAs are rife.
We also contributed to the report Safe to Speak Up? Sexual harassment in the UK film and television industry since #MeToo. The report, by Dr Anna Bull founder of the 1752 Group, looks at the UK film and TV industries. It reveals that nearly six years on from the 2017 #MeToo movement, the industry is not fulfilling its legal obligations around preventing and responding to sexual harassment in the workplace and NDAs are endemic. Although there have been many positive changes too, this report shows the essential need for CIISA the new creative industries independent standards authority. We are collaborating with CIISA, and fully support, CEO Jennifer Smith and Dame Heather Rabbatts (Times UP UK) as they move towards full operation.
Let’s not forget… 📣
Those brilliant women who have broken their NDAs and spoken up this year - their decision to do so has laid bare the changing environment and the reality that many NDAs are unenforceable, immoral and tools of abuse that are no longer working to protect the reputations of those who use them….
See Crispin Odey and Sir David Adjaye , Daisy Ayliffe Channel4/ITN and Claire Laycock as reminders.
Breaking an NDA is a terrifying and often hugely risky process. The women who spoke up were met with no recriminations and the right actions were subsequently taken regarding their insights. However, we would never advise anyone to take this risk without taking legal advice. If you are considering signing an NDA or breaking an NDA, you can find support and guidance on our site and feel free to reach out to info@cantbuymysilence.com if you have any questions, however we cannot give you official legal advice.
Lastly..🏆
Our Co Founder Zelda Perkins was extremely honoured to win the UN Women UK's award for Outstanding Contributor to Gender Equality for her work with Can't Buy My Silence. This was quite a recognition from an organisation who do such incredible work and Zelda holds this award equally for all of the other nominees who are inspirations in their fields.
Most importantly a huge thank you for a boost from the Tenacious Awards for which we are extremely grateful. We mentioned we had some further funding in our last newsletter but it hadn’t been announced so we couldn’t thank them by name. Please check the awards out as there are some outstanding awardees to meet.
p.s 🤳
Can’t Buy My Silence UK now has their own instagram
As the campaign gains pace both the UK and Canadian teams have so much progress to report, we thought it was best to have a designated instagram as well as newsletter where you can follow our exclusive updates and read stories close to home.
Make sure to give us a follow 🇬🇧and don’t worry, you can still find the CBMS Canada instagram »here« and the Canadian newsletter »here«.
Well done if you got this far…till next year, and have very happy holidays!
Zelda & team
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