Sandra Mitchell

BREAKING   Scotland Yard has confirmed that Morgan McSweeney reported the theft of his phone to them on October 20 last year   They took down ***the wrong address*** and assumed the offence had taken place in East London rather than Westminster   As a result they could not identify a suspect and the case was closed   The Times has been told officers were 'too busy' to speak to Morgan McSweeney directly about it   Having established the error following the report by The Sun on Sunday they have amended the report   Worth bearing in mind that this was the theft of the phone with the prime minister's number, the number of every cabinet minister, sensitive WhatsApps, messages, emails… you name it. This was NOT an ordinary phone Starmer: “On Monday, 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched.   “The 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 enquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed.   “In the course of responding to a recent media enquiry, 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."

In 2022, when Rachel Reeves was championing a blanket energy bailout, she argued it would 'help those on the lowest incomes the most'. Today, when she is resisting the idea, she said it 'gave most support to the wealthiest households'

“These are just petty criminals looking to make a quick buck.” It is harder to track down the sources of crime like the arson attack in Golders Green on Monday as Iran could be using “petty” rather than organised criminals, says home affairs correspondent for The Times, Matt Dathan.

The police response to Morgan McSweeney having his phone stolen in October last year seems bizarre As phones go his was about as sensitive as it gets. The number of every cabinet minister and the prime minister. Messages with all of them. Emails, text messages. You name it If you were a hostile state looking for an insight into what was going on in government at that time/ kompromat it's probably about as good as it gets And yet they treated him in the same way as tens of thousands of people are treated every year when their phones are stolen They gave him a crime reference number. Officers didn't speak to him. They didn't conduct an investigation. They just closed the case Now that's not to say they could have tracked down the thief - he was on an e-bike and wearing a balaclava for one. It's just the lack of any further investigation seems odd, although I'm sure it will be familiar to many of the 70,000+ people who reported their mobiles stolen last year More on our podcast The State of It pod.fo/e/3bdacf

Exclusive: Police did not investigate the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone because officers were “too busy”, despite the sensitivity of his messages and contacts Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff told the Metropolitan police that his phone was stolen as he returned home from a restaurant in central London on October 20 last year The theft of the work device means that McSweeney’s WhatsApp messages and texts to Lord Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US, cannot be retrieved. It has led critics to question whether the phone was stolen The State of It, the political podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times, can disclose that McSweeney told police the phone was taken by a man wearing a balaclava on an electric bike. The man grabbed it out of his hand as McSweeney was responding to text messages and cycled off. McSweeney gave chase but was unable to keep up Scotland Yard has a record of the incident but did not carry out any formal investigation. Officers did not speak to McSweeney directly because they were too busy. He was given a crime reference number and the case was closed McSweeney reported the theft of his phone to No 10 and the device was shut off remotely. He was given a new device with the same number the next day. The theft of the phone was first reported by The Sun on Sunday thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Not only radicalised…but this once brilliant man is 86 and sending angry tweets all day every ten mins. It’s really sad - I would be devastated if this was a relative of mine. We’re getting to the stage where social media addiction needs to be thought of as a public health issue

The row over the Trafalgar Square iftar has seen Jews and Christians coming to the defence of Muslims. My thoughts on a fascinating and important trend:- comment.press/iftar

🚨The Sun is hiring a Political Correspondent to join our fantastic Lobby team in Westminster. This is a great opportunity for an ambitious journalist to break the biggest political stories for Britain's number-one news brand. Apply here 👇 newscareers.co.uk/vacancies/4297…

@hoffman_noa Congrats Noa! x

🚨 NEW: After 3 years and 10 months, my time at the Sun is coming to a close. I am beyond excited to share that I will be joining the Spectator from late April as political correspondent, working with the amazing @ShippersUnbound and @JAHeale

EXCL: Morgan McSweeney's mobile phone with texts to Peter Mandelson was stolen. These messages may be lost forever - meaning there there will be gaps in The Mandelson files published by No10. Phone was nicked and reported to police last year. thesun.co.uk/news/38591267/…

"This added insult to Nato is unnecessary, extraneous, completely undiplomatic." Trump’s criticism of Nato allies strains alliances at a critical moment in the Iran conflict, says former US diplomat in the Middle East Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley.

NEW: Last year, a former modeling agent who famously introduced Trump and Melania asked a top ICE official to have the mother of his son detained. Paolo Zampolli told the official that it would help him in a custody battle. The ICE official agreed to help. nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/…

@djandjava I found it astonishing when I moved to the UK over 16 years ago. Absolute filth. I don’t care what people think of me but whoever visits my house, the shoes are coming off!

Shows in the house is such a cultural thing in the Western Europe. Most of Eastern Europe finds this rude and disrespectful, not to mention unhygienic.

Energy prices will surge by £332 a year from July as the Iran war drives up the cost of oil and gas Cornwall Insight - which has a track record for accurately predicting prices - said that the energy price cap will rise from £1,641 between April and June to £1,973 from July It's up on its last prediction, when it forecast that bills would rise to £1,827. The longer the conflict goes on...

@Shiva_amini_11 Hi Shiva, I’m from Times Radio in London, could you follow me back so I can DM please?

Whatever happened to the decorated US Air Force officer who defected to Iran? I spoke to those who knew - and studied - Monica Witt to try to tell the story of one of the biggest intelligence betrayals in recent US history thetimes.com/us/news-today/…

APPLY HERE FOR AN INCREDIBLE JOB ⬇️⬇️⬇️

“I think those people who are stronger should do more.” @KemiBadenoch tells @AVMikhailova that she would intervene if she spotted someone shoplifting, and urges the general public to do the same. #TimesRadio

EXC Kemi Badenoch tells me she would be prepared to confront a shoplifter - if they were "not too big” And she says "people who are stronger" have an obligation to step in when they see thieves in action "It is not enough to look away" Tory leader says thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

Exclusive from @oliver_wright Airlines have been warned that they will face jet fuel shortages as soon as next month, risking flight cancellations to long-haul destinations at the end of the busy Easter holiday period Oil traders expect to see shortages of jet fuel from the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz within the coming weeks as reserve supplies are run down and not replaced This week, Vietnam became the first country to warn of possible flight cancellations from April after China and Thailand announced they were halting exports of fuel to maintain their own supplies Other countries are expected to follow suit in the coming days with industry experts warning that airlines could be forced to stop serving some long-haul destinations because they may not be able to get the fuel for the return journey Britain is also vulnerable to potential disruption if the conflict continues as the majority of the country’s imported jet fuel comes from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates thetimes.com/uk/transport/a…