PM rejects ‘far-fetched’ claims casting doubt on McSweeney’s account of phone theft

Keir Starmer responds after Kemi Badenoch spokesperson says she ‘raised eyebrow’ in relation to account of theft

Keir Starmer has said it is “far-fetched” to suggest that the theft of his former chief of staff’s mobile phone is somehow connected to a subsequent push for the release of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.

Downing Street has come under pressure to say whether key messages between Morgan McSweeney and the former ambassador were lost after it emerged that the government-issue phone was stolen last year.