You probably know that the last few days have seen Gordon Brown accused of bullying his staff. Since these allegations have surfaced, Christine Pratt of the National Bullying Helpline has been speaking to the media about her charity receiving "three or four" calls from Brown's staff.
This piece by Ben Goldacre addresses some of the reasons why Christine Pratt and the National Bullying Helpline shouldn't necessarily be trusted. For one thing, the charity isn't exactly politically unbiased - there are quotes from David Cameron and Ann Widdecombe on the website's homepage, for instance. And it seems more than a little strange that such a tiny charity should have received so many calls from one workplace.
Pratt is unafraid to breach the confidentiality of her callers by revealing who their employers are, but hides behind her so-called privacy policy in her many interviews now that she's out of her depth.
"Why does this have anything to do with Sarah Cawood?", I hear you ask. Well, the delightful TV presenter (and part-time actor - she was in Velvet Goldmine with Ewan McGregor) has been patron of the National Bullying Helpline since August 2009.
She probably joined the charity because she thought it represented a good cause, and perhaps bullying has affected her own life. But she was incredibly quick to take action on this: her PR has just announced that she has stepped down as patron. This may or may not have anything to do with her political opinions - it could be about her own image - but it shows that she doesn't agree with the charity's actions, and that's definitely a good thing. Well done, Sarah.
Let's hope she backs up her decision with a statement soon - if she feels she has enough influence to represent a charity in the media, she should be equally happy to set a good example by speaking out when that charity does something she disapproves of.
So Professor Gary Cooper CBE, Chairman of A Labour Government Think Tank, is not Bias
ReplyDeleteOkay, so someone associated with Labour was, until today, one of a list of five patrons (along with Widdecombe, Tory councillor Mary O'Connor, Sarah Cawood and singer Mz Bratt). However, I'd imagine he was approached by the Bullying Helpline because of his extensive work with psychology and counselling, not because of any political affiliations he may have. Among supporters of the charity he is still outnumbered by extremely influential Tories.
ReplyDeleteBesides that, the main issue here is that the National Bullying Helpline has breached the confidentiality of its callers, something that could have repercussions for every other anti-bullying helpline in the UK, and for victims of bullying if they feel that talking to a helpline could be too big a risk to take.
More on Cary (not Gary) Cooper and the Sunningdale Institute: http://domino.lancs.ac.uk/Info/lunews.nsf/I/EBC6865D03E024D88025702A0040C15B
Interesting that pignut suggests Prof Cary Cooper is not as influential as some Tories - from his website it seems he's a Fellow at various 5 or so Royal Societies [or similar] and first port of call if the media want professional comments on stress. He was also recently invited to the World Economic Forum at Davos 1 of 149 academic/think tank leaders from the whole world! - in a brief look I don't think Anne Widdecombe was there.
ReplyDeleteGood post though, thanks,
David