The Covid Inquiry Report: What Really Happened Inside Downing Street?
Newscast
BBC
4.4 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, the former deputy cabinet secretary, Helen Macnamara, speaks to Newscast about the findings of the recent module of the covid inquiry which found that the UK did "too little, too late".
Helen had a front seat for those momentous decisions that shaped the direction of the country during the pandemic, and has previously told the inquiry herself that a "toxic" environment affected decision-making during the crisis.
She gives her reflections on life inside Downing Street at the time, the inquiry’s findings, and how much has changed 5 years on.
Warning: this podcast contains strong language
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Rufus Gray. The social producers were Darren Dutton and Grace Braddoc. The technical producer was Antonio Fernandes. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Well, now, it's a Saturday when Boris Johnson's out. |
| 0:09.7 | Yes. Well, he's out in the pages of the Daily Mail, who pay him to do a column. |
| 0:14.0 | And he has used his column in the mail today to lambast the COVID inquiry, to basically say it was a farce, it was a waste of time. |
| 0:21.5 | It hasn't told us anything that we didn't already know about the terrible events of 2020 |
| 0:26.3 | and 2021. |
| 0:28.6 | The context, of course, is that the inquiry was published on Thursday, looking at the political |
| 0:33.3 | decision making in Downing Street, and it had some very, very brutal findings about the kind of |
| 0:40.1 | shop that he ran. |
| 0:41.4 | And our guest on this Saturday newscast was at the heart of testimony on the culture of the |
| 0:47.9 | misogynistic it is claimed and toxic atmosphere inside number 10. |
| 0:52.5 | Yes, so we're going to speak today to Helen McNamara. |
| 0:55.1 | It's the first time that she's spoken since the inquiry was published. |
| 0:57.6 | She's only very rarely given the odd interview. |
| 1:00.2 | At the time of all of this, she was essentially the number two in Whitehall. |
| 1:03.4 | She was the deputy cabinet secretary. |
| 1:06.4 | And as a result, she was one of the people absolutely at the heart of the decisions that were made |
| 1:12.7 | with an incredible eyewitness memories and testimony of what really happened |
| 1:19.3 | when those hugely important life and death decisions were being made on all our behalf. |
| 1:25.0 | So we're going to talk to her on this Saturday's edition of Newscast. |
| 1:29.3 | Newscast from the BBC. |
| 1:31.7 | Fat boy sliver me in the classroom doing our violin lessons. |
| 1:34.6 | I was the tattle tail in the class. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.