Overview
- The Met Police transcript of Morgan McSweeney’s 999 call says he did not identify himself as the prime minister’s chief of staff and gave the wrong street name, a detail Kemi Badenoch says makes the case “extremely fishy” and worth a Commons explanation.
- Downing Street says the theft and remote wipe of McSweeney’s government iPhone may leave gaps in messages with Lord Peter Mandelson, and it is still asking relevant people to supply any records.
- Reporting says McSweeney also used two private phones, with one deactivated this year and another still active, and critics want any Mandelson-related texts from those devices produced.
- Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says McSweeney was mugged, reported it, and followed police and security steps, and she warns that some claims are drifting into conspiracy theory territory.
- MPs have sought to force publication of correspondence about Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador and his later sacking over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, intensifying scrutiny of what messages exist and where they are held.