Starmer says Romeo appointed cabinet secretary because of her ability to ‘get things done’
This is what Keir Starmer has said about the appointment of Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary, replacing Chris Wormald, who was in effect sacked after just over a year in the job.
Starmer said:
I am delighted to appoint Dame Antonia Romeo as the new cabinet secretary. 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. Families across the country are still feeling the squeeze, and this government is focused on easing the cost of living, strengthening public services and restoring pride in our communities. It is essential we have a cabinet secretary who can support the government to make this happen.
Antonia has shown she is the right person to drive the government to reform and I look forward to working with her to deliver this period of national renewal.
This statement could be read as an admission that the government needs to improve at ‘getting things done’. Starmer (like most of his predecessors as PM) has spoken of his frustration about how hard it is to get Whitehall to implement change. It is also an implict criticism of Chris Wormald, Romeo’s predecessor, who was forced out by Starmer, even though Starmer had appointed him (from a shortlist that included Romeo). Starmer’s first cabinet secretary was Simon Case, originally appointed to the job by Boris Johnson. Case stood down soon after Labour took office for health reasons.
Key events
Reform UK plan to rip up Equality Act shocking and un-British, says Starmer
Reform UK’s plans to repeal the Equality Act are “shocking” and un-British, Keir Starmer has said, warning legislation that has provided decades of protection for women would be ripped up. Jamie Grierson has the story.
Former Labour adviser Ben Judah says it will be ‘tricky’ for PM to finalise Chagos Islands deal given Trump’s opposition
Ben Judah, an adviser to David Lammy when Lammy was foreign secretary, has explained in an interview with the Sun’s Harry Cole in some detail why the government signed the Chagos Islands deal. He told Cole’s YouTube TV show it was all about protecting the US/UK base on Diego Garcia, one of the main islands in the territory.
Judah said:
If I told you the full amount, or even half or even a quarter of what happens on that base, I would be taken away to HMP Gartree under the Official Secrets Act. It’s a really, really important base.
Once you know what it does, you start to get into this logic of, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to do everything possible to make sure that this space stays ours for the next 10, 50, 100 years, everything possible.’
And then you look at map. It’s not just one island called Diego Garcia. That would make life a lot easier. There are 1,000 atols – a huge area of the earth that they’re covering.
And the American deep state … . They were looking at that map and going, ‘We really have a problem here.’ The Brits’ legal position, for lawfare reasons, historic reasons, campaigning reasons, is collapsing. They are very close – we could argue about how many court cases close – but close to that legal position collapsing completely, and the international community saying that’s occupied territory that belongs to Mauritius.
And then what happens to all of those other islands in this new great game? All it would take would be for Mauritius, broken with the West, to invite China into any one of those atolls. And how the hell do we get them out?
That’s the logic that the US military found itself in, that the American deep state, the CIA and the people like that, were in; wouldn’t it be better if there was some kind of deal where everything changes so everything stays the same, so what really matters – which is an exclusion zone around [the Diego Garcia base] – is rock solid?
Asked if the deal would survive, Judah said:
To use hospital terminology, I don’t think it is quite ‘not for resusc’, but it’s looking tricky for the government to get this deal through in the weeks and months ahead. President Trump’s made his views clear several times about this.
The Tories have claimed that Keir Starmer is “panicking” about his Chagos Islands deal. Responding to a report saying the goverment is delaying the next Lords debate on the Diego Garcia military base and British Indian Ocean Territory bill (see 11.02am), Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said:
The government may say it will ‘pause for thought’, but the truth is that Starmer is panicking as his Chagos plan is blown wide open. It’s impossible for the deal to proceed without the support of our American allies, and Labour will soon run out of time to put anything before parliament.
Misley Mandarin, the leader of the group of four Chagossians who landed on an atol in the Chagos Islands on Monday and who describes himself as interim first minister of the Chagos Islands, has urged Keir Starmer to cancel the deal giving sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius.
In an interview with the Today programme this morning, Mandarin said:
I’ll say Keir Starmer, as my prime minister, you have to look at this treaty again.
British Chagossian on this island, yesterday you sent patrol to give us removal notice, the island belong to us. Harold Wilson did that … removing the Chagossian from their homeland and that is a stain on British politics but now it’s 2026, Keir Starmer, you could be a hero right now. Don’t ratify that deal, cancel that deal and let Chagossians come back to their homeland as British.
The UK government takes the view that the landing by Mandarin and his colleagues, on a place with no infrastracture, is a stunt intended to wreck the sovereignty handover and it has order the Chagossians to leave. But Reform UK and the Conservatives have backed the Chagossian settlers.
Prospect, a union that represents civil servants, has said that Antonia Romeo will need to engage with staff if she wants to change the civil service. Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said:
This is an important appointment at a crucial time for the civil service as the government continues with their reform agenda.
Civil servants and their trade unions want to be partners in reform, but this can only happen if we are properly engaged and if key barriers, such as pay progression for specialists, are acknowledged and addressed- this should be at the top of the cabinet secretary’s inbox.
Special needs support eligibility to be reviewed at start of secondary school in England
Children with a legal right to special needs support will face a review when they move to secondary school, with the first cohort to be impacted currently in key stage 1, Alexandra Topping and Richard Adams report.
Tories welcome ‘screeching U-turn’ as MoJ suspends plan to delete court records archive much used by journalists
The Conservatives have welcomed what they describe as “another screeching U-turn” after the government announced it was suspending an order for an archive of historic court records to be deleted.
Journalists have described the Courtsdesk service as invaluable. Courtsdesk, a private company, has a vast archive of court records, available electronically and easily searchable, which is widely used by journalists and campaigners. But it was ordered by the Ministry of Justice to delete the archive because of concerns about an AI company accessing private personal data.
Two weeks ago Sarah Sackman, a justice minister, defended the plans to wipe the archive in the Commons.
But last night, shortly before deletion was due to commence today, Courtdesk said it had been told to pause its plan to get rid of the information. Instead, the MoJ will work with the company on a new solution.
Courtdesk said:
BREAKING: UK Gov Legal Dept has written to us on behalf of HMCTS/MOJ asking us to pause deletion of our archive and engage in dialogue about a new licence. We are grateful for the opportunity to resolve it and have replied to confirm retention. More soon #OpenJustice #Courtsdesk
In a post on his Substack blog, Enda Leahy, the Courtsdesk CEO, said:
The government are right to be cautious and careful about how this data is handled and we are determined to show that it has never been put at risk by us.
We are responding to the letter from HMCTS [HM Courts and Tribunals Service] with the utmost urgency and in a spirit of full cooperation. We are genuinely hopeful that this marks the beginning of a constructive and lasting re-engagement.
We are grateful to the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS for initiating this dialogue and for the constructive tone of their letter. We will provide a full update as soon as we are able to do so.
Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, said:
It’s another screeching U-turn from this flailing Labour government.
Under pressure from campaigners, journalists, survivors and the Conservatives, [David] Lammy is no longer hitting the delete button on court records. Courtsdesk has provided a vital service, and it is right that this vital database should be preserved.
If we are going to stop the rape gangs and expose other patterns of criminal behaviour, we need comprehensive and accurate data. But the sad truth is that the archive should never have been put at risk in the first place. David Lammy needs to get a grip of his department and put the public first.
One way of judging an appointment is, does it annoy the right people? On that basis, Guardian readers may be encouraged by the response to the news that Antonia Romeo has been made cabinet secretary. Allison Pearson, one of the Telegraph’s most rightwing commentators, is furious, describing Romeo as “woker than woke”. And GB News is on the warpath. Steven Edginton from GB News has posted a highly negative assessment of Romeo’s record here. Her offences include: “Promoted Guardian articles attacking Brexit.”
This is from the Spectator’s James Heale on Antonia Romeo replacing Chris Wormald.
Whitehall source messages re Wormald and Romeo: “The hare has finally beat the tortoise”
Minister says government wants Chagos Islands bill passed ‘as soon as possible’ despite Trump’s outburst
Alex Davies-Jones, a justice minister, has said the government wants to pass the legislation implementing the Chagos Islands deal as soon as it can – despite Presidient Trump’s lastest diatribe about it. (See 9.34am.)
Davies-Jones was giving interviews this morning and she told Times Radio:
This deal is essential and crucial for the national security of the United Kingdom and that is the first priority of any government.
We will be bringing the bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because this is about national security.
The Diego Garcia military base and British Indian Ocean Territory bill has already gone through the Commons and the Lords, but it needs to go back to the Lords for peers to approve the removal of anti-government amendments passed when the Lords first debated the bill. That was meant to happen at the end of January, but the government pulled one debate that was scheduled in the light of Trump’s January outburst and another date for the debate still has not been announced.
The government does not have a majority in the Lords, and some opposition peers believe they still have a chance of getting the bill stopped.
Although Davies-Jones says the government wants the bill passed as soon as possible, Politico says one official involved in the process has told them that the government won’t bring the legislation back to the Lords next week, as originally planned, because “there will now be a pause to decide what to do”.
MPs in call to halt Drax’s £2m-a-day subsidy over sustainability doubts
Ed Miliband is under pressure from MPs to suspend subsidies worth £2m a day paid to the owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire after court documents cast doubt on the company’s sustainability claims. Jillian Ambrose has the story.
Who is Antonia Romeo?
Here is a profile of Antonia Romeo written by Rowena Mason that we published last week.
Gisela Stuart, first civil service commissioner, says she approved Romeo’s appointment as cabinet secretary
Gisela Stuart, the former Labour MP who is now a peer and first civil service commissioner (see 10.15am), issued this statement about the appointment of Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary.
I approved the comprehensive due diligence process and agreed the conclusions drawn, to form the basis for the prime minister to make an appointment decision.
Dame Antonia Romeo has an excellent track record in leadership positions across the civil service, including three permanent secretary roles in some of the most complex operational departments in government.
Cabinet Office explains how Romeo’s appointment was fast-tracked
The Cabinet Office news release about Antonia Romeo’s appointment includes, unusually, a section headed “appointment process” explaining how Romeo got the job.
That is because the normally process has been bypassed. Cabinet secretaries tend to serve around five years and, when they retire or stand down, in the past the job has been advertised, and a panel headed by the first civil service commissioner (the person who heads the civil service commission, which oversees senior civil service appointments to ensure they are done on merit) interviews candidates and draws up a shortlist of suitable appointees. The PM takes the final decision.
This is what happened when Chris Wormald was appointed at the end of 2024.
When Wormald stepped down, some civil servants wanted Starmer to go through the same process again. Simon McDonald, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, spoke out on this topic, partly because he thought Romeo needed proper vetting because there were complaints about her conduct when she worked for the Foreign Office in 2017.
However, there were two arguments against the need for a standard, selection process.
First, Romeo was on the shortlist when Wormald was appointed, and at the time the panel decided she was suitable for the job. Gus O’Donnell, a former cabinet secretary who was on the panel, said last week she would be an “excellent” candidate.
Second, there was some urgency. Wormald left No 10 shortly after Morgan McSweeney resigned as the PM’s chief of staff, and after Tim Allan quit as his communications director. There is a leadership vaccum in Downing Streeet. There are good grounds for acting quickly.
Explaining how Romeo’s approval was fast-tracked, the Cabinet Office said:
Following the departure of Sir Chris Wormald as cabinet secretary, the prime minister and the first civil service commissioner agreed a process to appoint a new cabinet secretary …
Dame Antonia was found to be a suitable candidate for the role during the previous recruitment process in 2024. Under the direction of the first civil service commissioner, consideration has been given to her performance at the Ministry of Justice and Home Office since the previous recruitment process took place.
An enhanced due diligence process has also been undertaken by the permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office and the interim government chief people officer, which will form the basis for the appointments to the cabinet secretary role in future …
Once this process was complete, the first civil service commissioner confirmed that Dame Antonia Romeo is an exceptional candidate of the highest calibre, having run two of the largest operational departments in government, and confirmed her track record makes her the right candidate for the role.
What Cabinet Office says about why Romeo appointed cabinet secretary
This is what the Cabinet Office says about Antonia Romeo in its news release about her appointment.
Dame Antonia Romeo is currently the longest-serving permanent secretary in government and will become the first female cabinet secretary in the more than 100-year history of the role …
Antonia is the longest serving permanent secretary in government, with nearly a decade of leading economic, public services and security departments. As permanent secretary of the Department of International Trade, Antonia set up the new department from scratch as the UK left the EU, bringing together trade policy with promotion and finance for the first time.
As permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice she led the official response to the civil unrest of summer 2024, working across the criminal justice system to keep the country safe, and launched the Sentencing Review.
At the Home Office she has launched a plan to restore order and control to the asylum system and the biggest reform of policing in decades, and led the publication of the strategy to build a safer society for women and girls in support of the home secretary.
Antonia Romeo says she wants civil service to be known for ‘delivery, efficiency and innovation’ under her leadership
And this is what Dame Antonia Romeo has said about her appointment.
It is a huge privilege to be asked to serve as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.
The civil service is a great and remarkable institution, which I love. We should be known for delivery, efficiency and innovation, working to implement the government’s agenda and meet the challenges the country faces.
I look forward to working with all colleagues across the civil service to do this, in support of the prime minister and the government.
All cabinet secretaries say they want the civil sevice to be good at “delivery” and “efficiency”. But the civil service does not have such a good record when it comes to “innovation”, and the inclusion of that word helps to explain why Romeo got the job.
Starmer says Romeo appointed cabinet secretary because of her ability to ‘get things done’
This is what Keir Starmer has said about the appointment of Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary, replacing Chris Wormald, who was in effect sacked after just over a year in the job.
Starmer said:
I am delighted to appoint Dame Antonia Romeo as the new cabinet secretary. 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. Families across the country are still feeling the squeeze, and this government is focused on easing the cost of living, strengthening public services and restoring pride in our communities. It is essential we have a cabinet secretary who can support the government to make this happen.
Antonia has shown she is the right person to drive the government to reform and I look forward to working with her to deliver this period of national renewal.
This statement could be read as an admission that the government needs to improve at ‘getting things done’. Starmer (like most of his predecessors as PM) has spoken of his frustration about how hard it is to get Whitehall to implement change. It is also an implict criticism of Chris Wormald, Romeo’s predecessor, who was forced out by Starmer, even though Starmer had appointed him (from a shortlist that included Romeo). Starmer’s first cabinet secretary was Simon Case, originally appointed to the job by Boris Johnson. Case stood down soon after Labour took office for health reasons.
Starmer appoints Antonia Romeo as first female cabinet secretary
Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.
The appointment follows allegations she was previously spoken to about her management style.
Romeo currently the permanent secretary of the Home Office, becomes the first woman to hold the role of cabinet secretary.
She has previously faced accusations of bullying related to her time as consul-general in New York in 2017, but was cleared by the Cabinet Office.
Badenoch says Trump’s latest attack on Chagos Islands treaty shows why it’s ‘time to kill this terrible deal’
Good morning. In May last year the UK government signed a deal to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, with US consent. The agreement also included a provision for the UK and the US to continue operating their joint military airbase on Diego Garcia for at least another 99 years. Keir Starmer thought he had found a solution to a long-running diplomatic problem.
But, since then, it has been a bit of a nightmare because Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the deal his administration approved, partly because Conservative and Reform UK politicians have been doing their best to get Washington to reject the deal. The latest outburst from Trump came on his Truth Social network yesterday.
And here is our overnight story, by Nadeem Badshah.
This is not the first time Trump has denounced a deal that he previously supported. In their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Andrew McDonald and Bethany Dawson have a good round-up of Trump’s various U-turns.
Starmer must finally understand how his backbenchers feel when he piles up the U-turns. Trump said on Feb 27., 2025 he was “inclined” to go along with the deal, despite excitable (but perhaps ultimately prescient) noises from critics saying his administration would can it … He signed it off on April 1, 2025 … Then he described it as an “act of great stupidity” in a middle-of-the-night Truth post on Jan. 20 this year … Before he posted on Feb. 5 that it was the best deal Starmer could have made … Followed by official backing from the State Department on Feb. 17 … And then came his broadside on Feb. 18 apparently reversing all of that again. Trump’s press secretary confirmed later Wednesday that his view is that of the administration.
Only two days ago the US state department said it approved the Chagos Islands deal.
So where does this leave the deal? Last night the Foreign Office put out a statement saying the agreement negotiated by the government was “the only way” to guarantee the security of Diego Garcia. A Foreign Office spokesperson said:
The deal to secure the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia military is crucial to the security of the UK and our key allies, and to keeping the British people safe.
The agreement we have reached is the only way to guarantee the long-term future of this vital military base.
But Kemi Badenoch said that Trump was right to say the Chagos Islands should not be given to Mauritius, and that it was “time to kill this terrible deal”.
Trump is right.
As I’ve said before Starmer’s Chagos deal is an act of great stupidity. Paying £35bn to surrender the islands is complete self-sabotage.
Chagos is a strategic asset. If our closest ally is saying this, the PM should listen. It’s time to kill this terrible deal.
I will post more on this as the day goes on. Parliament is still in recess, and there is not much in the diary, but Starmer has given an interview to BBC Breakfast, mostly focused on the proposals to impose new sanctions on tech companies that don’t swiftly remove non-consensual intimate images that he has written about for the Guardian.
And details have been leaked about what will be in the plans to reform special educational needs and disabilities (Send) education that will be announced next week. Here is our overnight story by Sally Weale.
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