- Tue Feb 17, 2026 7:13 pm
#106204
Wait, I thought the problem was that there was a boys' club in Number 10.
Tubby Isaacs liked this
s the UK's consul general between 2016 and 2017 Dame Antonia's job involved promoting UK trade and business in New York, in the immediate aftermath of the referendum to take Britain out of the EU.
The BBC has learned that 47% of staff in New York said they had experienced bullying in the workplace in an annual staff survey - the highest level ever recorded anywhere in the Foreign Office.
It is understood that in most government departments or divisions the figure is usually in low single figures.
The survey covered a 12 month period, including three months in which Dame Antonia was in post.
Dame Antonia's critics acknowledge her abilities in the documents seen by the BBC, with one saying she was "smart, dynamic and really talented." Another said she was an "extremely intelligent, innovative thinker".
But there was also criticism of her management style, with one person saying she was "very demanding, very disrespectful, very threatening".
"I'm used to big egos but this was something else. The minute she heard the word 'no' she'd say I'll go to your boss. But it was worse than that. She would go to your boss's boss and your boss's boss's boss," they added.
Someone else told us: "If you don't say 'yes' to her she's not only going to screw your career, but she'll screw all of those around you."
Her approach, it was claimed, "inflames rather than calms a situation" and "creates a culture of fear and anxiety".
The majority of the complaints seen by the BBC were from female members of staff.
The allegations were so serious a former ambassador to Japan, Sir Tim Hitchens, was flown to New York to look into it.
His work examined allegations of "bullying behaviour, financial probity, and putting her private objectives above those of the wider Consulate-General or government".
The BBC has been told the Foreign Office's investigation concluded there was a case for Dame Antonia to answer about her behaviour towards colleagues, but there was no case to answer about what was called "financial probity" and is understood to refer to expenses.
Someone else told us: "If you don't say 'yes' to her she's not only going to screw your career, but she'll screw all of those around you."What actually happened here? Isn't that rather important?
A former top civil servant has urged No 10 to do “more due diligence” as it prepares to replace the cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, with Antonia Romeo, the frontrunner for the role.I find the "I'm not saying this, but" way of speaking deeply irritating, but it's quite the thing to say anything about this subject.
Sir Simon McDonald, the former permanent secretary of the Foreign Office, said he had tried to warn No 10 the process needed to start from scratch and it was vital that the prime minister followed a thorough procedure given the importance of the role.
He told Channel 4 News: “The due diligence needs to be thorough. If the candidate mentioned in the media is the one, in my view, the due diligence has some way still to go.”
Kay Mason Billig, the Conservative leader of Norfolk county council, said she would no longer take part in local government reorganisation (LGR) or devolution plans in the area, saying the council could not participate in that and simultaneously hold elections.Black belt in no-can-do.
As well as the concerns about the political impact of the postponed elections, some Labour MPs are also sceptical about the wider idea of reorganising councils, disputing the idea it will save money and warning that many of the new unitary authorities risk feeling too large and remote for many voters.Local Government reorganization has had this reputation as a minefield since Heath, based on some unpopular structures with funny names, like Avon and Humberside. Is it really much more difficult than anything else?
One backbencher said: “I just don’t get why you would do something as complex and risky as this in a first term. It’s a second-term project, at best.”
- By Boiler