Whistleblowers: look out. The state is after you

Whistleblowers in all walks of life are an endangered species. And when they summon the bravery to make their concerns public, they risk the full fury of the state. Remember what happened when Mordecai Venunu alerted the world to the Israeli's possession of nuclear weapons? They put him in priz for 20 years. In America right now Bradley Manning is facing 300 years in a maximum security facility for leaking details about the hideous way America fights its wars. And it is worth adding here that while I accept that Julian Assange is grappling with his own problems at the moment, neither he nor the Wikileaks organisation has, despite promises made, offered any material support to Manning, even though his leaks to them have enhanced their profile enormously. A similar fate awaits a certain Mr Snowden should he emerge from hiding in Hong Kong and be foolish enough to return to his homeland.

Yet these heroes have made all of us sadder, if wiser with their horrific revelations. Here at home, anyone revealing the lamentable condition of our health service can expect to be sent to Coventry, lose their job or face criminal prosecution. But we need these brave ones, without them the fiasco at Mid-Staffordshire hospital would never have come to light, or the shameful disorganisation at Bristol children's heart hospital where so many unnecessary deaths occurred.

My suggestion: rather than punishing the whistleblowers, if after investigation their claims are substantiated (because we can't have people spreading a lot of lies) they should actually be rewarded, perhaps by promotion, perhaps by a cash handout from the institution they have discredited. That would be something like justice and not the current witch-hunts they face at the present.