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Cabinet secretary approves investigation into leak, which appears designed to damage shadow chancellor Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, sanctioned an investigation in the early hours of Friday morning into the leaking of private papers belonging to Ed Balls after a complaint from the shadow chancellor. In an extraordinary twist to the leaking of the papers to the Daily Telegraph , which appears designed to damage Balls , the cabinet secretary approved an investigation after the shadow chancellor complained that he last saw the documents in the education department a year ago. The documents show Balls was the key figure in “Project Volvo”, designed to oust Tony Blair and prepare Brown for the Labour party premiership. Balls contacted David Bell, permanent secretary at the education department, to say he last saw the papers in a file on his desk at the department shortly before the general election. The papers were not among correspondence sent to his Commons office after the election, by which time Balls had stood down as education secretary. Bell formally ordered the inquiry after consulting O’Donnell. The office of Balls indicated early on Friday morning that Balls: • Last saw the papers in a file on his desk in the DCSF with other personal items before he left for the general election. • Has not seen the papers since, was not aware they were missing until now and, to the best of his knowledge, they were not in the boxes of papers and belongings that arrived in his House of Commons office from the department after the election. The investigation will raise questions about whether the new government was involved in the leaking of the papers. Ed Balls Tony Blair Politics past Labour Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk