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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 said: “The Defending Democracy Taskforce is responsible for a critical and evolving area of concern – foreign interference.
“Whilst there may be reasonable national security concerns against releasing detailed information about the work of the taskforce, the Government should release basic, up-to-date information regarding the taskforce’s agenda and priorities. This transparency is essential for the public to understand its effectiveness.”
Defending its decision to refuse to release the minutes, agenda or even a summary of previous meetings, the Home Office stated: “Releasing the information in relation to the question asked could reveal the extent of the Taskforce’s involvement in matters relating to national security at home and overseas.”
“The United Kingdom is subject to a range of national security threats, including state threats activity (such as foreign interference, which the Taskforce seeks to tackle) and serious and organised crime. Releasing the information requested could put UK national security at risk by exposing or negating relationships, procedures or other efforts in place to mitigate these national security threats.”
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The department added: Releasing the information requested will disclose confidential steps the Government is taking to counter foreign interference efforts targeting the UK’s democracy” and “could put UK national security at risk by exposing the procedures in place to tackle foreign interference.”
They also argued that releasing the full list of attendees – such as senior civil servants – would “identify those individuals directly involved in the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which works on particularly critical national security issues” and “likely endanger the safety of the Taskforce attendees and put them at a higher risk of potential repercussions and subsequent threats.”
“We assess that safeguarding national security is of overriding importance and that in this instance the public interest is best served by partially releasing the information relevant to your request.”
The findings suggest the Taskforce is closely looped into the security services. When it was launched in 2022, the Government announced it would report to the National Security Council (NSC), a Cabinet Office body which is advised by Labour appointee Jonathan Powell.
The Home Office declined to comment on the record, but Government officials say national security is their ‘first priority’.
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