During a crucial week of coronavirus policy discussions, the Covid inquiry revealed that women’s viewpoints were given a mere 10 minutes out of five hours of meetings due to the dominating and self-centered atmosphere of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street.
After three weeks of the initial lockdown, the highest-ranking female civil servant in No 10 sent an email to a group of other women expressing her concern that the absence of women’s input in decision-making is leading to a significant issue.
Helen MacNamara, who was the deputy cabinet secretary at the time, stated that the environment was heavily dominated by men. As a result, female officials were often excluded from important meetings, their opinions were ignored when they did attend, and they were not consulted on matters that they are typically in charge of or knowledgeable about.
Alexandra Burns, the private secretary to Johnson at the time, responded by saying that men in No 10 frequently did not bother to remember women’s names. She shared that she herself had been mistakenly called Katie and Rosie while working there and sometimes just gestured at in a vague manner.
In her message dated April 13, 2020, MacNamara stated that she approximated that during the daily 9:15am meeting at Downing Street, there were over five hours of discussions and women only spoke for a total of 10-15 minutes.
According to MacNamara, the main individuals involved were Penny Mordaunt, who was the paymaster general at the time, and Katherine Hammond, who was in charge of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat. They presented the most recent statistics on Covid. MacNamara expressed concern that the current working atmosphere is overly masculine and focused on individual egos. This type of environment is not conducive to achieving the best results and can be demoralizing to work in.
She sent out a mass email with the recipients’ identities hidden, stating that although she had spoken with some individuals, “I felt hesitant about mentioning you – which likely reflects the sensitivity surrounding addressing this matter.”
According to the inquiry’s release of new documents, MacNamara’s email addressed the issue of gender imbalance in decision-making within the government, specifically related to the Covid situation.
“I believe that the absence of female voices in decision-making is leading to a significant issue. This is due to the unique perspective and concerns of women that are not receiving enough consideration (such as domestic abuse and abortion, as evidenced in the early stages). Furthermore, decision-making lacks a sufficient level of compassion.”
A separate report revealed that after three weeks, MacNamara sent an email to Johnson’s chief private secretary, Martin Reynolds, expressing concern about a “superhero culture” within the Cabinet Office. She also objected to a proposal to promote more in-person work among officials, stating that this could result in “endless meetings instead of productive action”.
During her in-person testimony, MacNamara reiterated these worries about the male-dominated culture in Johnson’s No 10. She also stated in a written statement that women employed in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office were being subjected to blatant acts of sexism.
The investigation also revealed aggressive and sexist messages from male government officials, particularly from Dominic Cummings, who was then Prime Minister Johnson’s chief adviser. One message showed that Cummings attempted to fire MacNamara, stating that No 10 was “avoiding attacks from that woman.”
One of the documents on the inquiry’s website described how much influence Cummings had. In his statement, adviser Allan Nixon of the health department remembered being in a meeting where an official said they needed ministerial approval to charter a plan. Cummings then reportedly said they didn’t have to wait and that he had authority.
A separate report outlined the Treasury’s plans to incentivize individuals to dine at cafes and restaurants by distributing vouchers or cards preloaded with funds. However, this proposal was ultimately rejected due to the potential dangers of widespread distribution of millions of cards through the mail, including theft, fraud, and loss.
Source: theguardian.com
