'Stiletto row' official to appear at Covid inquiry

'stiletto-row'-official-to-appear-at-covid-inquiry
'Stiletto row' official to appear at Covid inquiry

Helen McNamara, the second most senior civil servant in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, faced questioning on Wednesday as part of the Covid inquiry. Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s senior adviser, wrote about McNamara’s conduct during the pandemic in a 115-page document included in the inquiry’s website. McNamara said working conditions at the time were “testy, toxic and unpleasant,” characterized by internal disputes and mismanagement.

The inquiry seeks accountability and the learning of any lessons from the UK government’s response to Covid-19. It has been reported that officials spoke to Buckingham Palace to express their concerns about Boris Johnson’s conduct while in office during the spring of 2020. McNamara claimed that Johnson’s team associated failings in the civil service and other institutions with an instinct to “smash everything up.”

McNamara will be asked about the government’s pandemic response and the impact of the departure of Mark Sedwill, then the country’s most senior civil servant, who left his post during the pandemic. Cummings and Sedwill had a poor relationship documented in media reports. McNamara is expected to make comments regarding the prime ministers’ Covid-19 response, the prime minister before Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and her experience during the pandemic.

Bereaved families of Covid-19 victims attend the inquiry, holding laminated A4 photographs of their lost loved ones. The presence of these families files towards the importance of accountability in the government’s response to the pandemic. Cummings had accused McNamara of expressing concern at the pandemic’s start that the government had no contingency plan and that the country was in huge trouble. It remains to be seen if McNamara acknowledges this.

Johnson and the prime minister before him are scheduled to attend the inquiry before the Christmas period. The inquiry will continue to question government personnel who played a role in the UK’s pandemic response over the coming weeks

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