The briefing war around the new Cabinet Secretary and historic allegations of bullying took a fresh twist today.
No10's ethics chief Darren Tierney is said to have ordered a safe broken into, with claims a copy of a report into Antonia Romeo was subsequently destroyed.
Keir Starmer went ahead with installing Dame Antonia as head of the civil service last week, despite some critics raising concerns about the vetting process.
She was cleared of accusations of bullying and abuse of expenses nearly a decade ago.
The Sunday Times said Mr Tierney asked maintenance staff to force open the safe in 2022, as no one had the code.
He apparently later told 'friends' he had needed the HR report on Dame Antonia to help with the redaction process for a memoir by Lord McDonald.
Keir Starmer went ahead with installing Antonia Romeo (pictured) as head of the civil service last week, despite some critics raising concerns about the vetting process
Dame Antonia replaced Chris Wormald, who was ousted barely a year after the PM (pictured) appointed him
The peer, who previously headed the Foreign Office, has expressed doubts about Dame Antonia's vetting.
The Sunday Times said the report was later destroyed alongside other files, which was said to be in line with civil service guidance about only keeping such material for three years.
However, senior government sources insisted that another copy of the report exists in Whitehall, and it was reviewed as part of the latest due diligence process.
On the claim the safe was accessed to retrieve the report, a Cabinet Office spokesman said today: 'This is entirely incorrect. A broken safe was manually opened after multiple unsuccessful attempts to open it. This had nothing to do with any HR report or the Cabinet Secretary.'
The spokesman said: 'Antonia Romeo has been appointed as cabinet secretary because she is an outstanding leader with 25 years of public service.
'She has been appointed to three different Permanent Secretary roles and has led hundreds of thousands of public servants in that time. In this time there was one formal complaint which was was raised nine years ago, thoroughly investigated, and all allegations were dismissed on the basis that there was no case to answer.
'It is entirely inappropriate to attempt to resurface these dismissed HR proceedings almost a decade later.
'The appointment process followed an enhanced due diligence process undertaken by the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office and the interim Government Chief People Officer.'
Lord McDonald, who previously headed the Foreign Office, has expressed doubts about Dame Antonia's vetting
Dame Antonia replaced Chris Wormald, who was ousted barely a year after the PM appointed him.
Sir Keir said last week: 'She is an outstanding public servant, with a 25‑year record of delivering for the British people.
'Since becoming Prime Minister, I've been impressed by her professionalism and determination to get things done.'
