How shutting women out of decision-making hampered UK Covid response

Helen MacNamara painted a picture of a homogenous, unpleasant top table. Experts says this lack of diversity can matter beyond the workplace itselfHelen MacNamara, the UK’s second-most senior official at the height of the Covid pandemic, lifted a lid this week on a “toxic environment” at the heart of Downing Street, in which female civil servants became “invisible overnight” and were routinely spoken over or ignored. A picture emerges of an unpleasant and unequal wo