Letter to Right Hon. Jack Straw Minister for Justice, 1st May 2009
Dear Minister
Because we have had no response from you or your department re the very necessary ‘open courts’ that would circumnavigate the corrupt handling of complaints procedures by civil servants, we write yet again of our experiences.
We have constantly referred to the fraudulent and corrupt acts against us by civil servants, whilst the experienced Reform Group rightly claim that that the Civil Service has become ‘An invisible group all but immune to scrutiny’. The electorate is now aware of the evil prescription where administrative failures by inept civil servants were allowed too much rope by politicians and Ministers, this neglect led to much chaotic incompetence within many government depts.
This distasteful acquiescence by parliamentarians etc led to much failure throughout the public sector, where lack of accountability, lack of honest effort and project delivery became somewhat entrenched. This combination of inability and neglect to clean up this lax civil servant problem within Westminster and Whitehall has become a national disgrace!
We have contacted various Ministers about this issue, your good self, two Prime Ministers, the Rt. Hon Liam Byrne, Sir Gus O’Donnell, and the Parliamentary Ombudsman etc. Everyone seems to see this seriously dysfunctional Revenue/VOA as a political sacred cow, whose corrupt acts must be hidden – hushed up. We learnt that Whitehall is also dysfunctional, and that the Cabinet Office was useless as a regulatory body etc. No one has admitted that we were corruptly handled?
The seriously inept VOA claimed our appeal was ‘invalid’ and ‘too late’. We knew this was a lie and fought against it. It took us 16 months to get this much-protected deceit overturned?
Having got this Revenue/VOA decision overturned, they became somewhat disgruntled and claimed we would have ‘to start all over again?’ Knowing of their poisoned chalice, this perverse VOA directive forcing us to participate yet again in their corrupt routine of lies, deceits and chicanery, has to be seen as nothing more than cynical VOA spite! It had taken us 16 months of struggle to overturn their fraudulence; we were exhausted – yet they wanted to inflict more corruption upon us?
During these long drawn out procrastination, I had endured 3 operations, had been in intensive care, and during this appalling time caught MRSA. Then having recovered enough strength to beat this debilitating curse, I then found myself suffering from cancer, discovered by surgeons during the operations. It was at this time of severe illness that the Revenue/VOA abusing their power, decreed that we should go ‘once more’ through their corrupt routine of deceit and lies
However the combination of the VOAs corrupt invite to ‘start all over again’; the cancer and radiotherapy treatment was all too much, so we dropped our appeal in order to retain our sanity. But we decided we would fight on and broadcast to all and sundry the public sectors corruption whenever we came across it. You will appreciate this is only a small part of our story; there were other corrupt acts put upon us by the Revenue, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the whole iniquitous complaints procedure including the cover-up Decision Notice!
As you are aware, having complained (2003) of these corrupt acts, I faced (5 years later 2008) a panzer division of government barristers and lawyers? My crime I, a war pensioner, a former front-line soldier who had supposedly fought for democracy had dared to complain about the seriously inept Revenue/VOAs corruption?
The Parliamentary Ombudsman created ‘porkies’ attempting to give protection to the Revenue/VOA. We asked her to resign; she then set upon us a ‘spurious survey team’ who harassed us with evening phone calls, although we had made it quite clear that we wanted nothing to do with her survey?
Parliament needs to get to the bottom of the Ombudsman’s fraudulent actions so that they are never repeated again against members of the electorate?
The Ombudsman was never chastened by the establishment for her ‘porkies’ or her harassing evening ‘phone calls? Indeed I was astonished to hear the Revenue/VOAs legal team within the Tribunal showing some ‘old pals’ protective concern in an attempt to play down the Ombudsman’s gross deceits. Augean stables indeed!
One has to be more than suspicious of our complaint system where Officials and lawyers fail to tackle injustice, bias, deceit and cronyism within government complaint procedure, that’s why we are calling for ‘open courts’ to protect the public from such a sham. We found a culture of collusive complicity where public sector lawyers, civil servants and regulators etc take a relaxed view of the truth, as if it was of no consequence within government circles!
Many complainants suffer from these ‘old pals’ brotherhood self-protective rackets within government complaint procedure, where the closing of ranks by officials protecting public sector fraudulence is rife. As a war pensioner, an honest complainant I did not deserve to be treated so corruptly by bureaucratic lies and deceits, or to have endured the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s subversive cover-up culture. It is a disgrace that I had to suffer a 2-year Decision Notice from the ICO, it is biased and needs investigating?
I return to my plea that the Revenue/VOA civil servants cover-up culture is too corrupt to be allowed to run its own complaint procedure – they are not honest enough to have been judge and jury in our case!
During our 6-year struggle, no one has responded to our claims of corruption? Minister, you have never once replied to our call for ‘open courts’ that would help curb such public sector corruption against honest complainants?
Yours sincerely
AW & I Tanner cc to all interested on governmental corruption (24)