Sir Keir Starmer has said it is “a little bit far-fetched” to suggest the theft of his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone was linked to the release of files relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as British ambassador to the US.
Concerns have been raised that the phone snatching, which occurred in London in October 2025, could result in the loss of important messages between the pair.
Speaking to broadcasters in Helsinki, the prime minister insisted the phone had been stolen and brushed off suggestions the claim was an attempt to obfuscate.
Sir Keir 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.
“Unfortunately, there are thefts like this. It was stolen. It was reported at the time, the police have acknowledged and confirmed that … 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.”
Mr McSweeney, who is said to have pushed for the former Labour peer’s appointment as US ambassador, resigned as Sir Keir’s chief of staff earlier this year over his role in the decision.
The Metropolitan Police wrongly recorded the theft as having taken place in east London rather than Westminster after Mr McSweeney wrongly gave his location as Belgrave Street rather than Belgrave Road during the 20 October call.
Police have taken the unusual step of releasing a transcript of Mr McSweeney’s 999 call reporting the phone theft.
In the course of the call, he gives his name, a personal email address and a home address outside London, and he says the device is a government phone and that he has called his office to get it tracked.
Given that the theft was recorded in the wrong place, officers checked the wrong CCTV and concluded there were no realistic lines of inquiry to follow. This is now being reviewed.
The Cabinet Office does have some of the messages between Mr McSweeney and Lord Mandelson, it is understood.
Health secretary Wes Streeting has said the loss of messages was a “cock-up rather than conspiracy” while Downing Street has been keen to emphasise the phone theft happened “months before” MPs compelled the government to release correspondence related to Lord Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US.
MPs moved in February to force the publication of tens of thousands of documents amid questions over what was known about the peer’s links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein before he was handed the Washington job.
Lord Mandelson, a political appointment rather than a career diplomat, was sacked from his Washington role in September last year over his links with Epstein, who died in 2019.
He was arrested on 23 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, having been accused of passing sensitive information to Epstein during his time as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
Sir Keir has repeatedly said he is sorry for believing Lord Mandelson’s “lies” over his connection to the sex offender and for appointing him as US ambassador.
The first tranche of documents related to the peer’s appointment was published earlier this month, with more to follow.
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