Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described as “a little bit far-fetched” any suggestion that the theft of his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone was connected to the release of files concerning Lord Peter Mandelson.
Speaking to broadcasters in Helsinki, Starmer insisted the phone had been stolen and reported to the police, dismissing claims that the incident was an attempt to withhold information. He said: “The phone was stolen. It was reported to the police. There’s a transcript of the call in which Morgan McSweeney gives his name, his date of birth, the details of the phone, and the police confirm that it was reported.”
The Metropolitan Police released the call log in an unusual move, after reports suggested officers were “too busy” to investigate the theft. The log shows McSweeney identified the device as a Government phone but did not disclose the sensitivity of the messages it contained. The force later admitted that the call handler had recorded the wrong address, citing a street in east London instead of the actual location in Pimlico.
The loss of the phone means that messages between McSweeney and Lord Mandelson, who was appointed British ambassador to the US despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, may have been lost. Starmer has been compelled to publish a vast cache of emails, WhatsApp messages and reports about the decision to appoint Mandelson.
Starmer added: “Unfortunately, there are thefts like this. It was stolen. It was reported at the time, the police have acknowledged and confirmed that. That is what happened. The idea that somehow everybody could have seen that sometime in the future there’d be a request over the phone is, to my mind, a little bit far-fetched.”
