Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary and ethics chief, is giving evidence to the COVID inquiry, following on from Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain.
Next, the inquiry's lawyer turns to how leaks impacted the early days of pandemic preparation.Helen MacNamara explains broadly that leaking is 'really corrosive' in terms of the decision-making process, forcing choices to be made in hours or days rather than over a longer period.She is then shown a document detailing messages between Dominic Cummings and Martin Reynolds , among others, about a meeting to discuss containing COVID in late February 2020.
Mr Reynolds suggests discussing containment measures at Heathrow Airport in cabinet, but Mr Cummings insists that it should be discussed by a much smaller group.He wrote: 'Cabinet leaks and if there's bad news it will leak straight out via some fool.'Ms MacNamara says it is 'undoubtedly' the case that the whole cabinet did not get the full briefing that ought to have taken place, but also that 'things leaked from cabinet almost immediately'.
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