UK politics: Tories claim McSweeney has ‘serious questions’ to answer about phone theft – as it happened

The Conservatives are now claiming that Morgan McSweeney has “serious questions” to answer about the account he has given about the loss of his mobile phone last year.Earlier today the Metropolitan police released the entire transcript of the conversation McSweeney had with a 999 call handler at least partly in response to suggestions that, if the PM’s chief of staff had really had his phone stolen, the Met would have taken it more seriously. The transcript shows that McSweeney revealed it was a government phone that had been taken, but did not disclose his job title, or the fact he worked in Downing Street. (See 11.54am

Would Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone have Mandelson messages on it?

Morgan McSweeney is not the first person to have had their phone snatched on a London street, but the fact he was at the time Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, and that his phone most likely contained messages to and from Peter Mandelson, has prompted questions. So what do we know about the circumstances surrounding the theft of McSweeney’s phone?According to McSweeney, in an account backed up by the transcript of his call to the Metropolitan police at the time, he was using his government-issued phone on a street in Pimlico, central London, just before 10.30pm on 20 October last year when a young man on a bike snatched the iPhone and pedalled off.McSweeney also had a personal phone with him, which he used to dial 999. He told the Met police handler that he had called his “office” to get the phone tracked before phoning them

Show of strength by Reform MPs at PMQs turns into a cameo appearance | John Crace

Much of good comedy lies in the timing. We were about halfway through Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions and Keir Starmer was answering an obviously planted question from a Labour backbencher on the government’s plans to ban political donations from overseas donors and via cryptocurrency. Having done the serious bit, Starmer couldn’t resist the opportunity to sign off with a pop at a man whose party survives on overseas donors and crypto. “There is only one party leader who has shown he will say anything, no matter how divisive, if he is paid to do so.”Without missing a beat, the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, announced the next questioner

‘Doge of the left’ could save UK taxpayers up to £30bn, says new green thinktank

A “Doge of the left,” could save up to £30bn a year for taxpayers by rooting out waste, fraud and tax avoidance, according to the first report from a new green thinktank.Launched amid growing interest in the future manifesto of Zack Polanksi’s Green party, the Verdant thinktank will be co-chaired by James Meadway, a former adviser to Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and civil society campaigner Deborah Doane.In its first report, the new group argues that a crackdown on waste, rather than the ideologically driven approach of Elon Musk’s former Doge – Department of Government Efficiency – in the US, could free up significant resources.“The political right have monopolised the discussion about savings in government spending, to disastrous effect,” said Meadway. “Breaking the false economies of Treasury thinking and vested Whitehall interests are an essential

English councils to get guidance on designing safer streets for women and girls

Councils are for the first time to receive guidance on how to create streets that are safer for women and girls, as ministers try to tackle what they describe as systemic unfairness in people’s ability to walk around their own neighbourhood.The guidance, being drawn up by Active Travel England (ATE), is still being finalised but is expected to include measures such as better lighting and CCTV, and replacing dark underpasses with street-level crossings.Officials will also look at initiatives from other countries, such as schemes in Spain and Sweden which allow women to ask bus drivers to drop them between stops at night to minimise how long they have to walk in the dark, something which can be particularly useful in more rural areas.To coincide with the guidance, polling commissioned by ATE showed that nearly three-quarters of women said they changed their routes in winter to avoid walking in dark places, with 88% saying they felt unsafe walking alone after dark.Local transport minister Lilian Greenwood described the guidance for English councils as both a fundamental issue of fairness and also a way to improve levels of physical activity among women and girls, which tend to be lower than their equivalents for men and boys

Police to reassess Morgan McSweeney phone theft over address error

Police are revisiting a closed investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting they recorded the wrong address when he reported the crime.Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff told the Metropolitan police that his phone was stolen in central London when he was returning home from a restaurant on 20 October last year, the Times reported.The phone is thought to hold messages relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as British ambassador, which could be lost if the phone remains unfound. Earlier on Tuesday, the Met had said they were “too busy” to investigate the snatched phone.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