Civil service chief who provided Karaoke machine for Partygate leaving do says there wasn’t a single day when Covid rules were followed in Downing Street and ‘hundreds’ of ministers and officials could have been fined

The civil service chief who provided a karaoke machine for a Partygate leaving do has suggested that there was not a single day when Covid rules were followed in No10.

Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, who was fined over her involvement in a bash in June 2020, said she had ‘profound regret’ about what had happened.

And she indicated that the abuses at the heart of government ran so wide that ‘hundreds’ of ministers and officials could have faced punishment.

The shocking assessment came as Ms MacNamara gave evidence to the official Covid inquiry.

She gave a withering verdict on the chaotic initial response to the pandemic – and criticised a ‘toxic’ culture in Downing Street. 

Ms MacNamara rejected the idea that people were regularly ‘partying’ in No10, but said in retrospect ‘all sorts of things were wrong’.

Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, who was fined over her involvement in a bash in June 2020, said she had ‘profound regret’ about what had happened

‘I think that acknowledging what had happened, acknowledging that some of it was a symptom of the situation, being honest about the fact that – actually, I would find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed properly inside that building,’ she said.

She said there was ‘one meeting where we absolutely adhered to the guidance to the letter’ – the Cabinet meeting – ‘and everybody moaned about it and tried to change repeatedly’.

‘So, I know how exceptional it was to really, really, really properly follow the guidance.

‘I think that, in retrospect, obviously, all sorts of things were wrong.’

Ms MacNamara said that given the police had decided Boris Johnson’s own birthday event in the Cabinet Room had breached the law, many other incidents would also have crossed the line.

‘I am certain that there are hundreds of civil servants and potentially ministers who in retrospect think they were the wrong side of that line,’ she told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

‘I really hope there’s been some mature conversation about that because that sort of thing, if it’s not addressed, is corrosive, actually, in a culture.’

She suggested rules were being broken on a daily basis in No 10 just in the conduct of government business.

‘Actually, I would find it hard to pick one day when the regulations were followed properly inside that building,’ she said.

She said there was ‘one meeting where we absolutely adhered to the guidance to the letter’ – the Cabinet meeting – ‘and everybody moaned about it and tried to change it repeatedly’.

Ms MacNamara said that given the police had decided Boris Johnson’s own birthday event in the Cabinet Room had breached the law, many other incidents would also have crossed the line

‘So I know how exceptional it was to really, really, really properly follow the guidance.

‘I think that, in retrospect, obviously, all sorts of things were wrong.’

Ms MacNamara, who told the inquiry there was a ‘toxic’ culture in No 10, said staff at risk of ‘breaking’ had needed space to spend time together.

‘My profound regret is for the damage that’s been caused to so many people because of it, as well as just the mortifying experience of seeing what that looks like and how rightly offended everybody is in retrospect,’ she said.

‘I absolutely knew and thought it was actually important for there to be space for – particularly the private office – to be able to gather together and spend time together.

‘That was entirely because of the kind of culture that they were working in and entirely because I was really worried about individuals breaking and suffering, and whether they were going to be OK, and how important their colleagues were to each other.’

But she said that none of that was ‘in excuse of my own misjudgment’ it was just to show the ‘complex situation’ at the time.

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