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The UK Government is refusing to release information on what the taskforce set up to protect Britain’s democracy is actually doing – leading to accusations it “ironically” evades democratic scrutiny.
The Defending Democracy Taskforce has been mentioned repeatedly by Government ministers as being at the core of the Government’s efforts to tackle foreign threats to democracy, such as illicit donations, disinformation campaigns and social media manipulation by hostile states like Russia. It may also increasingly be concerned with the risk of the US far-right seeking to influence British politics, such as through extremist billionaire Elon Musk’s control of X/Twitter, and his apparent threat to donate millions to UK political projects.
A Freedom of Information request by Byline Times to the Home Office has now been met by the department refusing to disclose the vast majority of info requested about the Defending Democracy Taskforce, the body set up under Rishi Sunak in 2022 to “protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference.”
There is very little information about the Government body available online – with no website, social media accounts, meeting minutes, agendas, reports or lists of attendees.
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The Home Office told this outlet: “The Home Office cannot disclose the agenda, minutes, readouts, or briefings for ministers from the Defending Democracy Taskforce,” citing national security exemptions.
The department also refused to publish a full list of attendees, instead only releasing to Byline Times a list of ministers who attended. Then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper chaired the last meeting in July, while previous ones were chaired by Minister of State Dan Jarvis MP.
Other attendees under this Government include the Cabinet Office minister Abena Oppong-Asare MP, the Communities Secretary Angela Rayner MP, and Baroness Jacqui Smith from the Department for Education. Typically around five Government departments are represented by ministers at the meetings.
The most recent 15th July meeting was also attended by then Leader of the Commons Lucy Powell MP – potentially to give an update on the upcoming Elections Bill which seeks to close some loopholes in Britain’s political funding system.
The Home Office has however admitted that the taskforce has no dedicated budget. And the partial disclosure revealed that staffing appears to be declining, from the equivalent of 12 full-time members of staff for two years after its launch in 2022. It has dropped to 8.5 full-time equivalent staffers for this year, 2025-2026.
Tom Brake, director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, told Byline Times: “With no independent budget for the DDT, the number of dedicated DDT staff falling and the seniority and numbers of elected officials attending meetings on the decline, it’s hard not to conclude that defending democracy is slipping down the Government’s agenda.
“This, at the very moment when threats, external and internal, are growing. To make matters worse, the Home Office will not release suitably redacted minutes of the DDT meetings. This means, ironically, there is no democratic oversight of the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s activities which would enable interested organisations to contribute positively to its work.”
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Rose Whiffen, Senior Research Officer, Transparency International UK …