Former top civil servant Helen MacNamara condemned a “toxic” and “macho” culture at the highest levels of Boris Johnson’s government during the Covid pandemic.
Giving evidence to the official inquiry on Wednesday, Ms MacNamara, who served as deputy cabinet secretary and ethics chief, said the “female perspective” was missed during the pandemic because of a “macho” culture and sexism in Downing Street.
She said women were “ignored and excluded” and some who had worked with the Cabinet Office for years felt they had “become invisible overnight”.
Ms MacNamara also said she was “disappointed” that Mr Johnson had not called out an expletive-laden message written about her by Dominic Cummings.
On Tuesday, Mr Cummings apologised for the language used in a series of foul-mouthed messages criticising members of the government – including the one referred to by Ms MacNamara – but denied misogyny, saying he had been “much ruder” about the men.
