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No 10 warned against gagging officials from speaking in public

Government guidance has been criticised as “chilling” by think tanks, while former cabinet secretaries have also raised concerns

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Sir Keir Starmer’s ban on public officials speaking at open events without prior vetting has been condemned in a letter to The Times

Oliver Wright

, Policy Editor

Sunday July 13 2025, The Times

Sir Keir Starmer is facing growing demands to ditch a new government edict that bans senior health officials, military leaders and even the head of the civil service from speaking openly in public.

In a letter in today’s Times the leaders of more than a dozen think tanks, including the Royal Society, the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Government, warned the prime minister that the new rule was having a “chilling effect on public discussion” with some events already being cancelled.

In private, several former cabinet secretaries are understood to have made their concerns clear to Downing Street.

The new rules have even been condemned by Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former head of communications, who was himself not shy about controlling the messaging of No 10

The edict, issued across Whitehall by Downing Street last month, orders public sector officials not to talk at open events where their comments have not been vetted in advance. They have also been barred from taking part in any public question and answer sessions even if they are part of an industry event.

The rules apply to media briefings on issues such as public health, carried out by senior figures such as the chief medical and scientific officers. While these can go ahead they must be cleared in advance by Downing Street and have a minister or special adviser in attendance.

Those affected include public sector officials working for arm’s-length bodies such as Ofcom, the media regulator, and Ofsted, the education inspectorate, which have operational independence from the government. The rules also apply to senior health leaders, diplomats and military officers.

The edict has already led to cancellation or curtailment of public events where senior government officials were due to speak.

In their letter the think tanks describe the new rules as a “mistake”, saying that “effective government” relies on public servants hearing directly from businesses, charities and citizens to help them make better policy. They warned: “They should be able to explain government activity to those same groups. It [the guidance] is causing confusion and a chilling effect on public discussion. The government should withdraw it.”

Baron Robin Butler of Brockwell who served as cabinet secretary under the Thatcher, Major and Blair administrations told The Times it was “an important part of the job of senior civil servants and public sector leaders to inspire people and set a direction for the organisations that they run.

“It is ridiculous to suggest that these people should not be allowed to answer questions and take responsibility for what they say,” he added.

A government source said that Butler’s concerns were shared by other former cabinet secretaries including Lord Simon Case, who held the job until last year. They are understood to have made their concerns clear to Chris Wormald, the current incumbent.

But Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent, the Lords minister, said the rules were not about gagging civil servants. “As the civil service management code released in 2016 makes clear, civil servants must clear in advance material for publication, broadcast or other public discussion which draws on official information or experience,” she said. “The government continues to approve public activity by civil servants on a case-by-case basis, and civil servants, such as permanent secretaries, continue to be accountable to parliamentary select committees in the usual way.”

The cabinet office said it had been a “core principle, under successive governments, that ministers are publicly accountable for government decisions. This is why ministers answer for the government in the media and parliament.”

They said they were tweaking the new rules to give more flexibility to departments. “If the department feels there is a strong case for them to proceed with the activity fronted by civil servants, then they should be gridded through the usual process.”

No 10 warned against gagging officials from speaking in public

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‘A big fishing expedition’: Tax office launches probe into case with devastating outcome

 By Dan Nolan and Georgia Done July 14, 2025 

The Australian Tax Office has launched an independent review into its handling of a case where a businessman was arrested and jailed over a legal battle that he ultimately won.

The review comes after Jae Jang, who had sought all necessary approvals for a new alcohol product, was pursued by the ATO for alleged fraud.
It took Jang more than a decade to prove his innocence. During the process, he lost his sister Deannah, who took her own life after also being targeted by ATO action. Jae Jang, who had sought all necessary approvals for a new alcohol product, was pursued by the ATO for alleged fraud.
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“When [the ATO] come for you, it’s absolutely relentless,” Jang said. “I barely survived. My sister obviously didn’t.”
Jang’s business, Divas, planned to launch a new line of flavoured, wine-based products. Because the beverages were made entirely from grape-related ingredients, Jang believed they would be taxed as wine without the much higher excise applied to spirits.
He followed the necessary steps, seeking an ATO private ruling about the innovative drinks before starting production, which was granted.
Debbie Ingleton worked alongside Jang.
But his products were seen as a threat to the big players in the alcohol industry who lobbied the tax office. What followed led to an agonising dispute that almost destroyed him, his family and his staff. Debbie Ingleton and her husband, Bill, worked alongside Jang when the ATO turned its attention to his tax affairs. Debbie Ingleton’s husband, Bill, who also worked with Jang.
The Ingleton family home was raided as part of what became a criminal investigation, and at the time, they received around 10 to 12 calls a day from the ATO.
“They went through everything. They went through personal stuff, my underwear drawer,” Debbie told A Current Affair.
“They kept asking my husband, Bill, where the money was, and he said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s no money here. We rent, we struggle.’”
Debbie had a history of cancer and had severe mental health issues at the time. A letter from her psychologist stated she was suffering from “severe depression with suicidal tendencies” and her “symptoms are being exacerbated by ... the ATO”.
She claimed the ATO continued these practices after receiving her psychologist’s letter.
“I would lock myself in the home bathroom and think of ways to kill myself, because I was so desperate,” Ingleton said.
She suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised. One tax officer was removed from the case, allegedly due to “non-compliance with ATO guidelines”.
Jang’s sister Deannah, an academic at Bond University, decided to help her brother as his companies battled to survive.
She helped finance a New Zealand operation when the ATO decided to apply the higher spirit excise to the products in Australia before the Federal Court could adjudicate on the new tax rate.
The ATO then made her a target too, raising an unexpected new tax assessment and immediately garnishing her wage from Bond University.
“It totally destroyed her mentally. After all, she’s not a businesswoman. She’s an academic assisting the family to ensure we survive through our business,” Jang said. Deannah took her own life on November 1, 2017, for which Jae Jang blames the ATO. Six weeks after his sister’s death, Jang was arrested outside his Sydney home with his eight-year-old son upstairs.
He was held in jail overnight and charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud the tax office, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years jail.
Jang’s criminal charges were eventually dropped after 2½ years. Court records reveal the prosecution had “no evidence to offer.”
“I felt relief, but also I felt very angry,” he said. “Why did this ever take place?”
Debbie and Bill Ingleton were also criminally charged. Bill was cleared at the same time as Jang, but Debbie was forced to wait another 13 months with a jail sentence hanging over her head.
“Bill had said to me to stay home and just let the lawyer handle it. And I said no, I have to hear it for myself. I have to hear the judge say, ‘you’re dismissed of all charges,’” Debbie said.
“It was just, in my opinion, a big fishing expedition.”
Two months after the charges were dropped, Bill Ingleton was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
“I blame the ATO for killing my husband – well, contributing to it,” Debbie said. An ATO spokesperson said it “always welcomes scrutiny against its administration of the tax system” but declined to answer the majority of 33 questions sent, citing confidentiality obligations.
The spokesperson later stated it would be “initiating an independent review to examine the issues in full” and the review will “thoroughly consider the issues dating back over a decade”.
“We recognise the unfortunate circumstances and appreciate the seriousness of the issues that have been raised,” the spokesperson said.
“The findings of this review will guide what actions are required.”
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Reims and Amiens

by  Tyler Cowen 

Both cities have significant war histories, but they are very different to visit, even though they are only two hours apart by car.

Reims was largely destroyed in World War I, and so the central core was rebuilt in the 1920s, with a partial Art Deco look.  The downtown is attractive and prosperous, the people look sharp and happy, and it is a university town.  You arrive and feel the place is a wonderful success.  If you had to live in a mid-sized French city, you might choose this one.

The main cathedral is one of the best in France, and arguably in the world.  The lesser-known basilica also is top tier.  There are scattered Roman ruins.  French kings were coronated in Reims from early on, all the way up through 1825.

Amiens is on the Somme, and the 1916 Battle of the Somme, followed by a later 1918 offensive, was a turning point in WWI history.  The town is a melange of architectural styles, with many half-timbered homes but also scattered works from different centuries.  The town also has France’s “first skyscraper,” renowned in its time but now a rather short and out of place embarrassment.  The main Amiens cathedral, however, is perhaps the best in all of France.

The town itself feels like visiting a banlieu, with large numbers of African and Muslim immigrants.  It is lively, and it feels as if a revitalization is underway, though I do understand opinions on these matters differ.  Real estate prices are at about 3x their 1990s levels.  That to me is strong evidence that things are going well.

Restaurant Momos Tibetian has excellent Chinese and Tibetan food.  The Picardy museum has some very good works by Boucher, Balthus, Picabia, El Greco, and Chavannes.

Both cities are radically undervisisted.  They do attract some tourists, but for the most part you feel you have them to yourself.

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