Lack of diversity in government led to domestic abuse deaths, official warned

Helen MacNamara said officials lacked ‘real life’ perspectives on children at state schools.
The front door of number 10 Downing Street in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
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Sam Blewett1 November 2023
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A lack of diversity among top officials in Boris Johnson’s government led to the deaths of women from domestic violence, a former top official suggested during the pandemic.

Helen MacNamara told the Covid inquiry that state school children were hit worse by restrictions because they lacked “real life” perspectives and were looking through a “very narrow lens”.

One example was the belief that football matches were relatively safe because they were outside suggested a lack of knowledge of public transport, packing into pubs and going through turnstiles.

“Nobody who was involved in that discussion had probably ever been to a football game in quite the way that most people go to football games,” the former deputy cabinet secretary said.

An email entered into evidence from Ms MacNamara showed she highlighted the consequences of a lack of gender diversity among decision makers in April 2020.

She cited confusion about whether women could access abortion during the lockdown, closing fertility treatments and failing to make provisions for victims of domestic abuse.

“It is very difficult to draw any conclusion other than women have died as a result of this,” the email said.

The email also raised concerns about personal protective equipment (PPE) not being designed for women’s bodies.

She told the inquiry there was a “quite lopsided” vision of the “full gamut” of what the state knows among more experienced civil servants.

“We were looking at harm through a very narrow lens without realising that of course there can be all sorts of consequences of other things you can’t see.”

She also argued that senior Government figures could not comprehend the experience of most children in the country because of the “privileges” of their own families.

“It was really striking at the time for those of us who have children in state schools, like the vast majority of the country, the differential experience of some children and other children,” she said.

“There wasn’t enough thinking about the overall experience of children who might not have quite the same privileges as the people who are in rooms in Whitehall taking decisions.

“I think it is related a little bit to my point about domestic abuse, that you just shouldn’t as a state, as a government, be able to not know and understand the whole population in your decision-making, particularly the people who are outside of your day-to-day experience.

“That causes problems if you think that your life is the same as everybody else’s, and it is kind of fine to do that as an individual, but institutionally it is really wrong.”

Ms MacNamara said “alarm bells” about football followed a conversation in early March 2020 with Labour’s then shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth as part of her role in briefing opposition politicians about the Government’s approach.

The “house view” in the Government was that there was no need to restrict football matches because they happened outdoors and so the risks of Covid-19 transmission would be minimal.

In her witness statement she said: “As the shadow health secretary pointed out in the meeting, attending football matches often involves being on crowded public transport, being together in the pub, and in close contact with other fans in areas of the stadium like turnstiles and concourses.

“It bothered me that the policy line was far from the reality as it suggested that the discussions had not involved enough people with broader or real-life perspectives.”

Sports events without restrictions took place in the week beginning March 9 2020, including Liverpool’s Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid at Anfield and horseracing at the Cheltenham Festival.

It was not until March 13 2020 that professional games in England were suspended.

After leaving her senior Civil Service role, Ms MacNamara worked for the Premier League, including on efforts to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission at matches.

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