The UK’s response to the Covid pandemic was hindered by a “toxic” and “macho” culture in Downing Street, according to a top official from the time. During her testimony at the Covid inquiry, former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara accused the environment of having affected decision-making during the crisis. She argued that women were “looked over,” and female experts were ignored. MacNamara also told the inquiry that Boris Johnson failed to address “misogynistic language” used by Dominic Cummings.
According to MacNamara, female perspectives were lacking in a number of policy areas, including the impact of restrictions on victims of domestic violence and a lack of guidance for pregnant women. She claimed that a “disproportionate amount of attention” was paid to the impact of lockdown on “male pursuits,” such as football, hunting, shooting, and fishing. In a draft of a report she prepared on improving the working environment, the atmosphere was described as a “superhero bunfight.”
MacNamara said the pandemic caught the government in a “macho, confident” mood, with some officials “laughing at the Italians” during meetings over restrictions they had imposed in response to the virus. She also criticized ministers’ over-reliance on scientific advice, calling it a “cop-out” from government officials and unfair on scientific experts. During her testimony, MacNamara criticized Downing Street for “lying” about parties and accused former Health Secretary Matt Hancock of displaying “nuclear levels” of overconfidence.
MacNamara said the government’s response showed an “absence of humanity,” adding in her testimony that its reaction to the Covid situation in prisons “felt very cold.” She also regretted that it took over seven months into the pandemic before a hand sanitizing station was placed near a link bridge between the Cabinet Office and No 10 with a Pin pad regularly used by officials.
In addition to this, she said that she repeatedly requested psychological support for civil servants working on the Covid response but failed to receive it. She described the environment as “demoralizing to work in,” and women spoke for only “10-15 minutes” in over five hours of meetings earlier that month. MacNamara argued that the government failed to care for its staff properly, which proved “damaging in all sorts of ways.
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