• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Helen MacNamara: Civil Service Ethics Chief Fined by Police for Bringing Karaoke Machine to Lockdown Party

by Will Jones
1 November 2023 1:11 PM

Helen MacNamara, who is giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry today, was the Government ethics chief who was at the heart of a very unethical lockdown-busting party at the height of the pandemic. The Mail has more.

The mother-of-four was in charge of making sure the Government upheld the highest standards of behaviour while the country was reeling from the privations of the pandemic in June 2020.

But Ms. MacNamara played a central role in a drunken party that saw staff vomiting and fighting in government buildings – even bringing along a karaoke machine to liven things up.

At the time Brits were banned from meeting together indoors as the virus swept the nation. 

Sue Gray’s 2022 report into rule-breaking at the heart of Government revealed a bacchanalian event, writing: “The event lasted for a number of hours. There was excessive alcohol consumption by some individuals. One individual was sick. There was a minor altercation between two other individuals.”

Ms. MacNamara was Director General for Propriety and Ethics at the Cabinet office before becoming Deputy Cabinet Secretary, the second most senior civil servant in the country.

She was among the first people to be fined by the Metropolitan Police as part of its probe into Downing Street.  She later apologised for her behaviour, saying it had been an “error in judgement”.

Today she told the inquiry rules were being broken on a daily basis just in the conduct of Government business.

“I definitely wasn’t partying in Number 10, I was either at work or at home,” she said.

“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 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.”

All sorts of things. Like the guidance, for instance, which even those who made it thought was unworkable and unencessary.

The Gray report outlined details of a “raucous” party involving “excessive alcohol consumption”, which began at 7.40pm on June 18th and continued until 3.13am the following day. The party took place at a time when all indoor gatherings were banned and mourners were prevented from singing hymns at funerals in an effort to ‘stop the spread’.

Worth reading in full.

Tags: COVID-19Downing StreetEthicsHypocrisyLockdownPartygate

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

The United Nations is United by its Hatred of Israel

Next Post

Europe is in the Grip of a Birth Rate Crisis

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

28 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

Episode 36 of the Sceptic: Karl Williams on Starmer’s Phoney Immigration Crackdown, Dan Hitchens on the Assisted Suicide Bill and Tom Jones on Reform’s Local Council Challenge

by Richard Eldred
16 May 2025
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

Ten Things George Soros is Funding in the UK

15 May 2025
by Charlotte Gill

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

15 May 2025
by Will Jones

Daily Mail Misses the Real Story About Long-Term Stable Antarctica Ice in Dumb Quip About Climate ‘Deniers’

15 May 2025
by Chris Morrison

Chris Packham is the New St Francis of Assisi

15 May 2025
by Sallust

‘Trans Toddlers’ Allowed Gender Treatment on NHS

15 May 2025
by Will Jones

‘Trans Toddlers’ Allowed Gender Treatment on NHS

36

Chris Packham is the New St Francis of Assisi

29

Chinese ‘Kill Switches’ Found in US Solar Farms

21

Ten Things George Soros is Funding in the UK

18

Renaud Camus on the Destruction of Western Education

9

Renaud Camus on the Destruction of Western Education

15 May 2025
by Dr Nicholas Tate

‘Why Can’t We Talk About This?’

15 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

Daily Mail Misses the Real Story About Long-Term Stable Antarctica Ice in Dumb Quip About Climate ‘Deniers’

15 May 2025
by Chris Morrison

Ten Things George Soros is Funding in the UK

15 May 2025
by Charlotte Gill

The Hidden Mechanisms of Unfreedom

14 May 2025
by Alex Klaushofer

POSTS BY DATE

November 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  
« Oct   Dec »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment