By JORDANA SEAL, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 18:40 EDT, 27 March 2026 | Updated: 20:43 EDT, 27 March 2026

The Metropolitan Police has started trawling through CCTV on the street where Morgan McSweeney reported his phone was stolen to ‘establish the facts’.

Mr McSweeney, who was the prime minister’s chief of staff at the time, reported that a ‘government device’ had been stolen on October 20 last year. 

Police took the rare step of releasing details of the 999 call following criticism that it did not fully investigate the theft.

It suggests Mr McSweeney did not identify himself or flag the potential security risks – although he did state it was a Government mobile.

CCTV was also not checked due to a mix-up over the name of the street in which Mr McSweeney said he had been mugged just before 10.30pm.

Scotland Yard has revealed it did not follow up on the incident at the time because there were no ‘realistic’ lines of inquiry.

Officers are only now going through publicly available CCTV and other footage from Belgrave Road in Pimlico as part of the review. 

The Government phone was apparently wiped remotely and replaced with another device the next day. 

Morgan McSweeney, who was the prime minister’s chief of staff at the time, reported that a ‘government device’ had been stolen on October 20 last year 

Officers are only now going through publicly available CCTV and other footage from Belgrave Road in Pimlico as part of the review (Pictured: A CCTV camera on Belgrave Road)

It is understood that the Cabinet Office does have a record of some of the messages between Mr McSweeney and Mandelson. 

The Tories said the situation ‘stinks to high heaven’ and demanded a full explanation of why at least some of the messages do not appear to have been backed up.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: ‘We know the government were worried about a humble address in October, shortly before McSweeney’s phone got ‘stolen’.

‘McSweeney didn’t back up the messages and the government didn’t chase the Met for CCTV.

‘From the outset of the Mandelson affair Keir Starmer has tried to cover things up.

‘The Prime Minister did it in September with ”I didn’t know the depth of the relationship”.

‘He didn’t want to release the Mandelson files in February until we forced the Humble Address.

‘Now the Chief of Staff’s phone goes missing and there doesn’t seem to be any intent to get it back or retrieve the messages. Starmer needs to end this cover up now.’

Pictured: Belgrave Road, in Pimlico, central London, where the phone theft took place last autumn

The latest details emerged after a Cabinet minister blamed a ‘cock-up’ for exchanges with Mandelson being lost.

Wes Streeting dismissed allegations of a ‘cover-up’, arguing Mr McSweeney could not have known the Commons would order them to be published.

Mr McSweeney quit Downing Street last month, saying he took full responsibility for the appointment of Mandelson. 

The force suggested that because Mr McSweeney did not identify himself the potential ‘security risks’ could not have ‘reasonably’ shaped decisions on how to handle the case.

Officers are said to have tried to call the senior adviser twice the following day, without getting a reply.

CCTV was also reviewed, but because of the confusion around the location nothing turned up. Footage is now being ‘revisited’ using the correct location.

Kemi Badenoch raised the issue of messages going missing at PMQs in the Commons this week.

In a reference to Sir Keir’s previous legal role, she swiped: ‘I wonder what a director of public prosecutions would make of the defence, “sorry, I can’t produce my WhatsApps, my phone’s been stolen”.’

The Daily Mail has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.  

Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after being quizzed late into the night over allegations he leaked sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary.

The disgraced former minister was led away by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Special Investigations Team – the unit dubbed the Yard’s ‘Celeb Squad’ – on suspicion of misconduct in public office yesterday afternoon. 

Nine hours later at around 1.15am the 72-year-old architect of New Labour was pictured as he was driven out of Wandsworth Police Station. 

He left the station in a black car accompanied by three other people but shortly after arrived home in a London black cab. He remained silent and downcast as he walked into his house. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in the early hours of Tuesday: ‘A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation.

‘He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and was taken to a London police station for interview.

‘This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.

‘We are not able to provide further information at this stage to prevent prejudicing the integrity of the investigation.’

Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after being quizzed late into the night over allegations he leaked sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary

At around 2am the 72-year-old architect of New Labour was pictured looking solemn as he was driven out of Wandsworth Police Station

Mandelson arrives home in the early hours of Tuesday 

The disgraced former minister Peter Mandelson was led away by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Special Investigations Team yesterday afternoon 

An ashen-faced Mandelson was seen walking behind Met Detective Inspector Barry Williams (left), who had a body-worn camera clipped to his jacket lapel 

He had been picked up at around 4.30pm yesterday at his £7.6million Regent’s Park home, 17 days after officers searched his properties in London and Wiltshire. 

Last night there were questions over why police waited more than a fortnight after those raids to make the arrest.

An ashen-faced Mandelson was seen walking behind Met Detective Inspector Barry Williams yesterday afternoon, who had a body-worn camera clipped to his jacket lapel. 

He and the peer climbed into the rear of an unmarked Ford Focus while a female officer took the front seat. 

Upon arrival, he would have been processed in custody – with a DNA saliva swab, fingerprints and a custody photograph taken – before being placed in a holding room pending the arrival of his solicitor.

His arrest comes days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was held on suspicion of the same offence. 

When Mountbatten-Windsor was questioned by Thames Valley Police, he was interviewed for 11 hours. 

Lord Mandelson was expected to have received a similar treatment, including being allowed regular breaks and the right to offer a ‘no comment interview’. 

Detectives are expected to have questioned him about emails published in the latest tranche of Epstein files, as well as documents seized during searches of his two homes earlier this month.

The Special Investigations Team, part of Scotland Yard’s central specialist crime division, handles highly sensitive inquiries involving high-profile figures and politically exposed persons. 

Its remit includes allegations of offences committed by those in public office, matters connected to the Parliamentary Estate, as well as electoral fraud and malpractice.

To make an arrest, officers must have reasonable grounds to suspect an offence has been committed and satisfy the so-called ‘necessity test’, demonstrating that detention is essential for specific investigative reasons. 

Police have not commented on the precise trigger for yesterday’s move and there is no suggestion it relates to any wrongdoing during the investigation itself.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, pictured with Lord Mandelson, then the EU’s trade commissioner, in Brussels in June 2007

In this photo, Lord Mandelson stands in white underwear talking to a woman in a bathing robe

The dramatic development will heap pressure on Sir Keir Starmer, who approved Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States in December 2024 despite longstanding controversy over his relationship with Epstein.

The Government had yesterday pledged to release documents relating to the controversial appointment. MPs were told that the first bundle would be published ‘very shortly in early March’. But Mandelson’s arrest at 4.15pm has now cast doubt over that timeline.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said officials were trawling through a vast quantity of material but intended to release the first tranche imminently. 

He admitted it was ‘clearly a process that will take some time’ given the scale of the request and said documents were being reviewed to ensure publication would not damage ‘national security or international relations’.

He added that Scotland Yard had advised against releasing some exchanges between Downing Street and the New Labour grandee for fear of prejudicing any potential prosecution.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Mandelson’s arrest is the defining moment of Keir Starmer’s premiership.

‘It wasn’t long ago the PM looked me in the eye at PMQs and said he had ‘full confidence’ in Mandelson.

‘Time to release the Mandelson files in full. We must know who knew what and when. No more delays.’

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood claimed that ‘the Government’s progress moves with the urgency of a tired sloth on a Bank Holiday Monday’.

He added: ‘It is time the Government stopped treating Parliament like an inconvenient interruption to their schedule, stopped giving every impression that they have priorities working out whose back to cover, and started providing some actual answers so that we can start to get to the bottom of this murky matter.’

Labour backbencher Andy McDonald referred to the peer as ‘the lord of the files’, saying: ‘There are many people in this place and across the country who would not have touched Peter Mandelson with a bargepole and they’re trying to get their head round why on earth this Government wasn’t of the same view.’

Andrew is pictured leaving Aylsham police station in Norfolk shortly after 7pm on February 19

Lord Mandelson is pictured and mentioned many times throughout the released Epstein files 

Downing Street yesterday denied reports that corners were cut in Mandelson’s security vetting ahead of his Washington posting. 

Although his clearance to access top-secret documents was reportedly fast-tracked within weeks rather than months, No 10 insisted full checks were completed.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘No part of the vetting process was skipped or removed. It is normal procedure for vetting sponsors to prioritise cases based on deployment deadlines.’

Police raids on Mandelson’s homes followed the release of three million pages of documents by the US Department of Justice relating to Epstein. 

Emails contained within the files are said to suggest that Mandelson, while business secretary and de-facto deputy prime minister to Gordon Brown, and Mountbatten-Windsor, as UK trade envoy, passed potentially sensitive information from official briefings to Epstein.

Documents released in the US indicate Mandelson may have disclosed details of potential policy measures – including an asset sales plan, a tax on bankers’ bonuses and a bailout package for the euro – the day before public announcement in 2010. Gordon Brown has accused him of ‘betrayal’.

Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing. Following revelations in the Epstein emails, the former minister without portfolio said he had ‘no recollection’ of receiving payments totalling $75,000 from Epstein between 2003 and 2004. 

Epstein is also said to have paid for an osteopathy course for Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila Da Silva, in 2009. 

The peer has insisted he broke no laws and did not act for personal gain, though he has repeatedly expressed regret over his friendship with Epstein, which continued after the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.

• Do you know the preacher? Email matt.strudwick@dailymail.co.uk 

By MATT STRUDWICK, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 06:29 EST, 22 February 2026 | Updated: 13:24 EST, 22 February 2026

This is the moment a police officer defends a Christian preacher in Whitechapel and is told: ‘This is a Muslim area.’ 

The confrontation sees a female Met Police officer being surrounded by males and telling them: ‘In this country, we have freedom of speech.’ 

She continued: ‘I understand that you guys don’t want to hear it, so I would just recommend that you walk away and don’t listen to him. He’s not in your home.’ 

In a noisy and chaotic scene, a man wearing a black surgical mask appears to tell the officer in reply: ‘This is Whitechapel, this is a Muslim area.’

The Scotland Yard officer has been widely praised for how she handled the situation, and, in some quarters, was hailed as a hero. 

The situation at times threatened to boil over, with footage from the encounter in Whitechapel Road widely shared on social media. 

A male clutching a microphone and Bible can be heard preaching the Gospel in the viral footage, which is believed to have happened on Monday, a day before Ramadan began.

It took place just yards from the East London Mosque, one of the largest in Western Europe, which can accommodate up to 7,000 worshippers for daily prayers. 

This is the moment a police officer defends a Christian preacher in Whitechapel and is told: ‘This is a Muslim area’

A male clutching a microphone and Bible (right) can be heard preaching the Gospel in Whitechapel Road, just yards from the East London Mosque

In one clip, a bearded male shouts at the preacher ‘talk about Jesus, don’t talk about Muhammad. Don’t say Muhammad.’ 

A male wearing a knee-length black duffel coat and mask then shoves the preacher in the back, which causes him to stumble forward. 

Another man is later repeatedly heard shouting at the preacher: ‘Your God is a Jew.’

A male later explained to the female officer that he phoned police as the preacher was ‘talking about the prophet, then he said like a donkey’ which was upsetting ‘hundreds of people’ walking past. 

He then accuses the preacher of ‘spreading hatred’ and alleges he was calling the Black Stone in the sacred Kaaba building in Mecca ‘a box’. 

But the evangelist denies this and says he was quoting from Muhammad ‘who says if a donkey brays it’s because he is seeing Satan’. 

The female officer defends the preacher and explains to a group of males that ‘in this country we have freedom of speech, the same way you guys have your freedom of speech’.

‘You guys don’t need to see eye-to-eye, and you don’t need to agree,’ she says.

The evangelist denies he was calling Muhammad a donkey and explained he was quoting the prophet ‘who says if a donkey brays it’s because he is seeing Satan’

‘You’re all more than welcome to stand here and have conversations with them, but they’re not being aggressive.’ 

According to the most recent Census, 52.2 per cent of the 18,841 people who live in Whitechapel are Muslim. 

The officer continues: ‘I understand that you guys don’t want to hear it, so I would recommend that you just move away and don’t listen to him.’

Another male approaches the officer and complains that ‘he is in our community, and you don’t see Muslims walking around and insulting other faiths’. 

The police constable responds: ‘You guys can preach about your religion the same way he is.’

She denies that he is inciting hatred but admits he is at risk of being assaulted. But she reassures the group that cameras are monitoring the area in what she describes as a ‘heavily Muslim community’. 

The Daily Mail has contacted the Met Police for comment.