Mick Hartley

The Civil Service looks after its own. From the Times:

The Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team broke into a safe and destroyed the department’s copy of a historic bullying investigation into the new head of the civil service.

In 2022 Darren Tierney, the then director-general of the government standards watchdog, asked maintenance staff to force open the vault. He later said he had wanted access to a confidential report about Dame Antonia Romeo, who Sir Keir Starmer appointed as cabinet secretary last week. The Cabinet Office said her case had “nothing to do” with the break-in but declined to say why it occurred.

Shouldn’t that be illegal or something? – breaking into a safe and destroying documents? Or is it a Civil Service tradition?

Romeo had faced allegations relating to her use of expenses and treatment of staff while posted to New York in 2017. The investigation found she had a “case to answer”, although the decision was overturned.

Tierney, now the permanent secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is seen internally as a friend and longstanding supporter of Romeo. He had worked for her at the Department for International Trade (DIT).

Another Starmer appointment runs straight into problems. His reverse Midas touch in action once again….