Cabinet Office under fire after it kept no record of Morgan McSweeney's phone theft or bullying claims against Whitehall chief

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:20, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 11:24, 25 May 2026 Whitehall officials have come under fire after it was revealed the Cabinet Office kept no substantive report about the theft of Morgan McSweeney's phone. The Prime Minister's former chief of staff had his work device stolen last year after being mugged in Westminster. The theft of Mr McSweeney's phone, which was not backed up, has led to concerns about the loss of correspondence in the Peter Mandelson scandal. Downing Street is said to have immediately wiped the device as soon as Keir Starmer's then-top aide reported the mugging on 20 October 2025. It means the bulk of Mr McSweeney's WhatsApp messages will not be released as part of the Government's disclosure to Parliament of correspondence with Lord Mandelson.  A fresh row has now broken out after it emerged no substantive record of the theft was retained, or report produced, and it was notified to the Cabinet Office 'only verbally'. Freedom of information requests also revealed the Cabinet Office did not retain a copy of a report into allegations of bullying by Antonia Romeo, who is now the Cabinet Secretary. Lord Beamish, the chair of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), has demanded the Government start properly recording key matters. Whitehall officials have come under fire after it was revealed the Cabinet Office kept no substantive report about the theft of Morgan McSweeney's phone  Freedom of information requests also revealed the Cabinet Office did not retain a copy of a report into allegations of bullying by Antonia Romeo, who is now the Cabinet Secretary  The ISC has been given the final say on what is published as the Government complies with a 'humble address' motion demanding the release of all files relating to Sir Keir's appointment of Lord Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to the US. Although he did not wish to comment on specific cases, Lord Beamish told The Times: 'This lack of audit trail is an issue which has concerned the committee on this [Mandelson] inquiry but was also raised with the last government. 'It needs to change as a matter of urgency.' Damien Shannon, head of governance at the Prosperity Institute and a former Cabinet Office official said: 'The Prime Minister has proposed a statutory duty of candour to be placed upon holders of public office, with strict criminal penalties for those who do not comply. 'He must recognise such a law would become a dead letter if officials can, with impunity, destroy evidence of alleged misconduct, divulge secrets by anonymous press briefing, or simply refuse to create records of advice and decisions. 'It is essential to the rule of law, democratic accountability, and the preservation of historic records that advice to and decisions by ministers are faithfully recorded and preserved.' In the freedom of information disclosures, the Cabinet Office said that Mr McSweeney followed policy in full and 'contacted the Prime Minister's office immediately from his personal phone to report that his No10 phone had been stolen, before then calling the police'. However, the department also told the newspaper that 'as this theft was reported verbally, I can confirm that we do not hold recorded information as envisaged in your request'. Dame Antonia, who was appointed head of the civil service by Sir Keir earlier this year, previously faced accusations of bullying related to her time as consul-general in New York in 2017. Tim Hitchens is said to have conducted an investigation into the claims on behalf of the Foreign Office, which concluded there was a case for Dame Antonia to answer about her behaviour towards colleagues, before the case was dropped by the Cabinet Office - the department from which she was on secondment at the time.  A Cabinet Office spokesman told The Times: 'Sir Jeremy Wright, deputy chair of the ISC, has provided a statement making clear that the ISC's comments are not linked to the nine-year-old Tim Hitchens report. 'He said 'the ISC's comments have nothing whatsoever to do with the HR document from nine years ago.' The spokesman added: 'The Government is considering the observations of the ISC about record keeping in the documents it reviewed relating to Lord Mandelson and will learn lessons where necessary.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. 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