Not one day when Covid rules followed in No 10 - top civil servant

1. Previously the UK's second-most senior civil servant, Helen MacNamara says she would struggle to pick a day when Covid rules were properly followed in No 10
2. She told the Covid inquiry a sexist and macho culture meant women's perspectives were being missed in advice and decision-making
3. Last year, MacNamara was fined for attending a 2020 lockdown party in the Cabinet Office. She tells the inquiry it "should never have happened"
4. In today's session, the former deputy cabinet secretary also criticised Boris Johnson's "breezy confidence" about the unfolding pandemic in March 2020
5. And she recounted the "horrible" moment she realised the UK was heading for "total disaster", 10 days before the first lockdown
6. The inquiry also heard today from Dr David Halpern - chief executive of the Behavioural Insights Team, also known as the "nudge unit"
7. The purpose of the inquiry is to learn lessons on a matter of public concern; no-one will be found innocent or guilty during the proceedings

MacNamara questioning ends

Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara's session finishes with a couple of questions from the chair of the inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, on the relationship between special advisers and senior civil servants.

She's then allowed to leave, before Prof David Halpern is sworn in.

Children's interests not fully considered - MacNamara

Helen MacNamara says the interests of children during the pandemic were also not fully considered.

As with other groups, there was an issue of "invisibility", she says.

"You can't see the problems that you are creating in the future" by failing to consider things like the impact of lockdowns on schooling, MacNamara adds.

She also says there was a "differential" in the experiences of kids in state schools - like her own - and those in private education.

MacNamara told NHS capacity was 'elastic'

In her witness statement, being talked about by inquiry lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC now, Helen MacNamara says there was an in-built reluctance to accept it was possible to get to a point where the NHS was overwhelmed and also a reluctance to acknowledge that this was something No 10 and the prime minister would need to be across.

She said she was repeatedly told the NHS's capacity was "elastic".

She says it was only later that she realised "elastic" meant the capacity of the people in the NHS to work themselves into the ground to keep people alive.

She went on to tell the hearing: "We weren't concerned enough about the overall health of the population".

Top civil servant says victims of domestic abuse were overlooked

UK Covid inquiry

Helen MacNamara, former deputy cabinet secretary, speaks now of the impact key decisions in government during the pandemic had on victims of domestic abuse.

Inquiry lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC recalls that MacNamara wrote in her witness statement that not enough had been done by decision-makers to consider the impact on individuals vulnerable to abuse.

"It's awful that we were not able to think far enough in advance," MacNamara tells the inquiry.

"People don't want to think about these things," she explains, adding that the government was "looking at harm through a very narrow lens".

MacNamara says she believes decision-makers were focusing on the wrong things and overlooking hidden harms.

Efforts to address inequality were not satisfactory - MacNamara

With the inquiry resuming after lunch, inquiry lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC refers to Helen MacNamara's witness statement, which says decision-makers had sympathy for the "differential impacts" on women and poorer people, as well as the disproportionate impact of Covid on black and Asian communities.

But the statement suggests these issues were treated "as if these were naturally occurring phenomena" rather than the impacts of choices. In her spoken evidence, MacNamara says there wasn't enough emphasis on trying to correct inequality.

"There wasn't enough mindfulness about trying to address inequality as opposed to sort of compounding it without really noticing," she says.

MacNamara continues: "I didn't actually believe that decision makers were wilfully and deliberately deciding to cause harm to particular groups. But that it wasn't even considered was a real problem."

A lack of women in the room

Nick Eardley

Political correspondent

We've heard a lot from Helen MacNamara about her concerns about the culture in No 10; that it was toxic, macho and sexist.

But we're hearing more now about the impact that had.

MacNamara argues that the lack of women in the room for discussions meant that some issues were ignored; like the impact of school closures on childcare.

"The exclusion of a female perspective led to significant negative consequences" she writes.

MacNamara raises similar concerns about a lack of representation of people from ethnic minorities.

Watch the Covid inquiry live

We're bringing you key updates from the Covid inquiry, but you can watch every moment by pressing the Play button at the top of this page.

If you can't see the icon, refresh your browser or reload this page on the BBC News app.

Like yesterday, we've heard some very strong language on the live feed from the inquiry today while messages are read out in evidence.

While we wouldn't normally broadcast such strong language, we believe there is a clear public interest in reporting the inquiry's proceedings in full.

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Inquiry resumes

Helen MacNamara, the second-most senior civil servant in the pandemic, is back in her seat, and inquiry lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC is on his feet - we'll let you know what's said.

Watch: 'I'd find it hard to pick one day when regulations were followed'

Helen MacNamara says she "profoundly disagrees" with "lying" about Downing Street parties

Earlier in her evidence, Helen MacNamara said "everybody moaned" when Covid rules were enforced at a cabinet meeting, adding that it was "exceptional" when guidance was followed.

Listen: A 15-minute profile about the inquiry’s chair

PA Media

Although established and funded by government, the Covid inquiry is being led by an independent chair, Baroness Heather Hallett. She’s a retired judge and crossbench peer in the House of Lords.Baroness Hallett previously led the inquests into the 7 July bombings in 2005.

• Listen to a 15-minute profile on her here

Watch: Government decided to 'blindly follow the science'

Helen MacNamara says governments do not usually "blindly" follow advice.

The former deputy cabinet secretary was critical of of the government's approach to its "follow the science" policy.

"I thought it an odd thing to stick so religiously to," said MacNamara.

A timeline for the inquiry - and what it’s looking at

Let's take a quick moment to recap what this inquiry's out to achieve.

It has no formal deadline but is due to hold public hearings until 2026. Its work will be split into six parts, which it calls modules:

• Resilience and preparedness
• Core UK decision-making and political governance (the current one)
• Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare systems in the four nations of the UK
• Vaccines and therapeutics
• Procurement
• Care sector

Public hearings will be held in all four UK nations. It’s worth noting Scotland is conducting its own inquiry, too.

Watch: 'Government's bullish approach not a smart mentality'

The former deputy cabinet secretary says there was an assumption everything would be great

Earlier, the former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara said there had been an "unbelievably bullish" approach in the government's pandemic meetings which was "not a smart mentality".

Hancock 'assumed pose of cricket batter' - MacNamara

Shortly before the end of the morning session, we also heard Helen MacNamara allege that Matt Hancock showed "nuclear levels of confidence" during the pandemic.

During one meeting, the then-health secretary is said to have assumed the pose of a cricket batter and said: "They bowl them at me, I knock them away".

MacNamara pointed out that this attitude showed a "failure to appreciate" the gravity of the decisions being made. These weren't just policy choices, she said - they affected “real people with real consequences” and there was “never enough attention paid to that”.

Defending Hancock, she said she thought the responsibility would be "weighing heavy on his shoulders," but he may have been "projecting" a more confident image.

What's been happening?

UK Covid inquiry

The UK's second-most senior civil servant during the pandemic has been speaking to the UK Covid inquiry. Here's a snippet of some of the evidence she's been giving:

• Helen MacNamara recalled the "horrible" moment she realised the UK was heading for "total disaster", despite having been reassured that plans were in place for a pandemic
• MacNamara said then-PM Boris Johnson had acted with "breezy confidence" as he felt the UK would "sail through" the crisis
• She told the inquiry she'd find it "hard to pick one day" when Covid regulations were followed properly in No 10 and the Cabinet Office
• She said her female colleagues felt they'd become "invisible overnight" and that a "macho" culture dominated the corridors of government during the pandemic
• Last year, MacNamara was fined for attending a 2020 lockdown party in the Cabinet Office. She told the inquiry it "should never have happened"

Johnson's spokesman has so far declined to comment on evidence heard at the inquiry, but has said the former PM is "co-operating fully" with the process.

Hancock's reassurances regularly proved not to be true - MacNamara

The inquiry has been hearing about former Health Secretary Matt Hancock's reassurances that plans were in place to deal with the Covid pandemic.

Helen MacNamara tells lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC that she was surprised when the reassurances he'd made turned out not to be true.

MacNamara goes on to refer to her own lack of confidence in whether "what he [Hancock] said was happening was actually happening".

She explains that there was a "pattern of being reassured that something was absolutely fine, and discovering that something was very, very far from fine".

Inquiry breaks for lunch

That's all from the hearing for the next hour - but we'll continue to bring you some of the highlights from those pre-lunch exchanges.

The inquiry will reconvene at 13:55 GMT.

MacNamara clear No 10 culture was toxic and sexist

Nick Eardley

Political correspondent

Top civil servant Helen MacNamara's evidence a short time ago was incredibly critical of the culture in Boris Johnson's Downing Street.

We've seen some of Dominic Cummings' messages this week - which showed explicit language being used.

But MacNamara is clear she thinks the culture was toxic and sexist.

This matters because it is about how No 10 was operating at the time of a health crisis.

MacNamara is particularly critical of Cummings - and the fact the prime minister didn't challenge his language.

Roadmap out of lockdown needed wider approval - MacNamara

Inquiry lawyer Andrew O'Connor KC now moves onto the roadmap out of lockdown, which was published in May 2020.

In an email to Martin Reynolds - the head of Boris Johnson's private office at the time - after seeing a draft of the policy, Helen MacNamara said she couldn't see how it could be implemented without it being shared with ministers, or having a debate on it, first.

"The ability for someone to write something and it to become a published government document was so quick," she said.

MPs are the people who are accountable and "they should be making the decisions," she added.

MacNamara goes on to say that there was a "narrowed perspective" at the top of government at the time, and this was heightened by the cabinet being left out of decision-making.

'Corrosive culture' of leaking government decisions - MacNamara

Helen MacNamara turns on what she calls a "corrosive" culture of leaking during the height of the pandemic.

Leaks of government decisions became more prevalent amid the Covid crisis, as Whitehall "got bent out of shape” in terms of cabinet ministers “being able to take decisions”, she says.

MacNamara says she recognises the description given yesterday by Boris Johnson's former director of communications, Lee Caine, on ministers becoming marginalised leading to leaks. She calls this an “explanation, but not an excuse” for leaks.

Leaks “damage the quality” of decisions because it means policies are rushed out “in hours, not days”.

It is “really, really corrosive when someone tries to leak something ill-formed”, she says.