{"id":494822,"date":"2026-03-25T16:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/494822\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:59:09","slug":"morgan-mcsweeney-did-not-disclose-his-no-10-job-in-phone-theft-999-call-transcript-shows-morgan-mcsweeney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/494822\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan McSweeney did not disclose his No 10 job in phone theft 999 call, transcript shows | Morgan McSweeney"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morgan McSweeney did not disclose that he was Keir Starmer\u2019s chief of staff when he reported the theft of his phone<\/a>, according to a transcript released by the Metropolitan police.<\/p>\n

McSweeney, who left the No 10 role in February, told police it was a government phone when he reported it had been snatched, minutes after the theft in central London<\/a>. He told police the iPhone had a tracker on it, according to the transcript of the emergency call minutes after it happened. But he did not explain the sensitivity of the phone\u2019s contents, records of the call suggest.<\/p>\n

In a highly unusual move, the Met released the full transcript of the 999 call made by McSweeney after the theft. The force said two attempts were made to follow up with McSweeney, who did not answer during office hours, and that CCTV cameras were examined, though at the wrong location.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideExcerpts from Morgan McSweeney\u2019s 999 callShow<\/p>\n

Call handler Police, what\u2019s your emergency?<\/p>\n

Morgan McSweeney Oh, hello, someone just robbed my phone \u2026<\/p>\n

Call handler And where did this happen?<\/p>\n

McSweeney It happened in Belgrave Street in Westminster. [The Metropolitan police have subsequently said that the incident happened in Belgrave Road, Westminster, but that the call handler put in the address as Belgrave Road in Tower Hamlets.]<\/p>\n

Call handler And whose phone are you using now?<\/p>\n

McSweeney I\u2019ve got two phones. I\u2019m using my personal one. That was my work one …<\/p>\n

Call handler Have you got a tracker on the phone at all?<\/p>\n

McSweeney I do. It\u2019s a government phone.<\/p>\n

Call handler And it\u2019s your work phone. What kind of phone is it?<\/p>\n

McSweeney It\u2019s an iPhone.<\/p>\n

Call handler Do you know what model?<\/p>\n

McSweeney I don\u2019t \u2026<\/p>\n

Call handler Have you got any finance apps on the phone?<\/p>\n

McSweeney No.<\/p>\n

Call handler You\u2019ll need to change any passwords for any logins you do have on the phone.<\/p>\n

McSweeney Yeah, OK.<\/p>\n

Call handler You\u2019re not vulnerable in any way, are you?<\/p>\n

McSweeney No I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

McSweeney\u2019s phone records are subject to public scrutiny because of his correspondence with Peter Mandelson<\/a>, who was sacked as the UK\u2019s ambassador to the US over new revelations about his friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A Conservative motion passed in the Commons means the government is obliged to disclose all their correspondence.<\/p>\n

After the transcript was released, Downing Street said McSweeney had separately reported the theft to government security teams. Officials declined to confirm whether he had properly backed up or recorded his messages, saying they could not get ahead of the release of files concerning Mandelson\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n

The Met has admitted the wrong address was recorded for the theft meaning that it was thought to have happened in a street in Tower Hamlets, rather than a Westminster street of the same name.<\/p>\n

They conducted a review of any available CCTV cameras in the area where the incident was mistakenly believed to have happened, which did not identify any realistic lines of inquiry.<\/p>\n

In the call, McSweeney says the phone is his work device and he has reported it to his office already to attempt to have it tracked. Though he says the phone is a \u201cgovernment phone\u201d, he does not say there could be a higher risk because of his job.<\/p>\n

Police are revisiting a closed investigation into the theft of McSweeney\u2019s phone after admitting they recorded the wrong address.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s official spokesperson said \u201crelevant government security teams\u201d in Downing Street were notified the same day. He refused to say whether those teams had tried to track or wipe the phone, saying only that there were \u201clong established and robust processes to manage information security\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reports have said the lost phone meant some messages between McSweeney and Mandelson were lost. The spokesperson refused to say whether this was the case, while setting out that officials with government phones were obliged to record or back up relevant information such as WhatsApp messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessages only need to be kept where they relate to substantive discussions or decisions that form part of the official record,\u201d he said. \u201cSignificant government information exchanged via these channels must be captured into government systems by copying, forwarding, screenshotting or recording its substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Individuals decided how the rules applied to each communication \u201cusing their professional judgment and considering the context\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

In the call transcript, McSweeney says the theft took place in Westminster. The call handler later refers to \u201cStepney Green park\u201d, which is near the incorrect address, though McSweeney does not appear to recognise that.<\/p>\n

McSweeney says in the transcript he is reporting the theft just minutes after it occurred. He says he attempted to follow the thief several blocks north, but is told by the handler not to take any further risks. He says he wishes to make a crime reference report immediately, rather than wait to be contacted by an officer.<\/p>\n

No 10 has said the device was shut off immediately and McSweeney was issued with a new device the next day with the same number.<\/p>\n

The WhatsApp messages of aides and ministers are due to be published in the next tranche of the Mandelson files and the prime minister is said to be braced for potential further resignations over their contents. McSweeney resigned in February<\/a> over his role in Mandelson\u2019s appointment as ambassador to the US.<\/p>\n

Thousands of documents in the second tranche of the Mandelson files \u2013 expected to include informal communications alongside formal messages like those in the first batch \u2013 are expected to be released after Easter.<\/p>\n

A Met spokesperson said: \u201cOn Monday 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1. A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of inquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the course of responding to a recent media inquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico. Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morgan McSweeney did not disclose that he was Keir Starmer\u2019s chief of staff when he reported the theft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-494822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}