By Ben Kerrigan
The hypocrisy of a senior civil servant who is among the first to be fined for breaching lockdown rules is laid bare today after she became one of the first over the weekend to be named for breaking covid rules.
Former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen MacNamara (pictured)was handed a £50 fine after police investigators concluded she had breached Covid laws by attending a ‘raucous’ lockdown karaoke party where there was a drunken brawl, reports claim. MacNamara , who once led the Cabinet Secretariat group in the Cabinet Office and advised the Prime Minister on the operation of the cabinet government and collective agreement, propriety and ethics and the Special Adviser and Ministerial Codes is a big shot in the UK government. Her breach of lockdown rules is particularly disappointing because of her broad accomplishments in politics. She has been one of the most influential women in Britain for over a decade.
As one in charge of ethics, she wasn’t very ethical when expected to show leadership during the country’s most challenging times in which families nationwide were told not to mix , see their loved one’s, including those in hospital. More shocking is the fact that MacNamara has held multiple posts in which she presided over investigations related to conduct and accountability.
The Sunday Telegraph revealed that the party had been arranged to say farewell to popular Downing Street aide Hannah Young who was moving to New York to join the staff at the British Consulate General.
A woman who was once director for media policy, MacNamara is the last person one would expect to be breaking national policies. She was also responsible for setting up the Leveson Inquiry- the investigation into phone hacking by journalists. Her CV is impressive, and the envy of many other accomplished women in the country. Achieving women would hold her in high esteem.
Between 2014 to 2016 MacNamara was Director of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office, where she coordinated government preparations for the 2015 United Kingdom general election, and spoke at an event on “how women leaders succeed” at the Institute for Government.
In 2019 some MPs called for MacNamara to investigate Dominic Cummings for dismissing a Treasury aide, Sonia Khan, and the next year former special advisers called on MacNamara to defend the workplace rights of ministerial aides, following additional complaints about Cummings’ conduct and also produced a report into the bullying allegations against Patel.
The Sunday Telegraph revealed that the party had been arranged to say farewell to popular Downing Street aide Hannah Young who was moving to New York to join the staff at the British Consulate General.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that the party took place in the Cabinet Secretary’s office at 70 Whitehall because it was big enough and had two rooms.
Ms MacNamara entered the civil service in 2002, joining the Department for Culture, Media and Sport where she played a key role in London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics.
One Tory minister described the mother of four as ‘a perfect official, fair-minded, doesn’t play games, will always try to get at the truth, capable of bringing sense out of five-sided talks’.
At the time of the event, she was serving as deputy cabinet secretary after spending two years in the civil service.
The purpose of the role was to ensure the highest standards of propriety, integrity and governance within Government.
Ms MacNamara left Government to work for the Premier League as director of policy and corporate affairs.
The Metropolitan Police said last Tuesday that investigators were referring 20 notices to the ACRO Criminal Records Office, which is responsible for issuing the penalties.
They made it clear that more fines may be issued as inquiries continue but that they will not confirm the identities of recipients.
Interview
The news came as ITV News reported that Boris Johnson will not be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police as part of their ‘partygate’ investigation, making it more likely he would be fined.
Richard Peston, reporting for ITV, said the only officials being interviewed are ‘witnesses’, whose role is to help the police interpret questionnaires submitted by other people.
‘Paradoxically that means (Mr Johnson) is more likely to be fined’, he added.
‘The Met are not interviewing those who received questionnaires and are in the frame to be fined’.
ITV said the only officials being interviewed are ‘witnesses’, whose role is to help the police interpret questionnaires submitted by other people.
The Met is investigating 12 events, including as many as six that Mr Johnson is said to have attended, and has sent out more than 100 questionnaires.
Details of Hannah Young’s leaving do only emerged after Sue Gray completed her inquiry into potential lockdown breaches by civil servants.
Cabinet Office official Sue Gray carried out the probe into claims of lockdown breaches at the top of Government but has only published an interim report while she waits for the police investigation to be completed.
One such party was allegedly organised by Carrie Johnson in the official Downing Street residence on November 13, 2020.
Another was the ‘bring your own booze’ garden which took place during the first lockdown in May 2020.Helen MacNamara has taken a top job with the Premier League, effectively ending her career in the civil service
Helen MacNamara’s glittering career in the civil service effectively ended last year when it emerged she had taken a top job with the Premier League.
It had not even been a year since she was appointed as deputy to the Cabinet Secretary, in what many saw as a stepping stone to the top job.
She reportedly fell out of favour after refusing to bow to Downing Street pressure and clear Home Secretary Priti Patel of bullying.
After studying history at Clare College, Cambridge, Miss MacNamara originally set out to become a web entrepreneur.
One Tory minister once described the mother of four as ‘a perfect official, fair-minded, doesn’t play games, will always try to get at the truth, capable of bringing sense out of five-sided talks’.
However, she has been fined heavily for playing games with the British public when many people were not even allowed to see their family members.
Not very ethical at all.