Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed as “a little bit far-fetched” suggestions that the theft of his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone was linked to the release of documents concerning Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador. The prime minister, speaking to broadcasters in Helsinki, insisted the phone was stolen and reported to the police, rejecting claims that the incident was an attempt to obscure the loss of messages.
The phone was snatched in London in October 2025. Concerns have been raised that it may have contained important communications between McSweeney and Mandelson. Starmer stated: “The phone was stolen. It was reported to the police. There’s a transcript of the call… and the idea that somehow everybody could have seen that some time in the future there’d be a request over the phone is, to my mind, a little bit far-fetched.”
The Metropolitan Police have released a transcript of McSweeney’s 999 call, in which he gave his name, a personal email, a home address outside London, and described the device as a government phone. The theft was incorrectly recorded as occurring in east London rather than Westminster after McSweeney mistakenly gave his location as Belgrave Street instead of Belgrave Road. As a result, officers checked the wrong CCTV and concluded there were no realistic lines of inquiry, a decision now under review.
The Cabinet Office is understood to hold some messages between McSweeney and Lord Mandelson. Health secretary Wes Streeting described the loss of messages as a “cock-up rather than conspiracy”. Downing Street has emphasised that the theft happened months before MPs compelled the government to release correspondence related to Mandelson’s appointment.
MPs forced the publication of tens of thousands of documents in February amid questions about what was known of Mandelson’s links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein before he was appointed ambassador. Mandelson was sacked from the role last September and arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Starmer has expressed regret for believing Mandelson’s “lies” about his connection to Epstein.
