Early evening summary
Downing Street has said it is “categorically untrue” to suggest that there was a link between Morgan McSweeney’s phone being stolen and the humble address motion passed by MPs saying messages with Peter Mandelson would have to be exchanged. (See 12.28pm.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Almost 900 Afghan ex-special forces members given path to UK resettlement
Almost 900 former members of the Afghan special forces have been given a path to resettlement in the UK after a government review of previously rejected cases, the Press Association reports. In a written ministerial statement, Luke Pollard, a defence minister, announced 884 decisions, affecting ex-soldiers from two elite units known as the “Triples”, had been overturned. They will be eligible to stay in Britain under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap), subject to visa checks.
Trump says Iran war won't stop king's state visit to US going ahead
In his Q&A in the White House earlier, Donald Trump insisted that the Iran war would not stop the king’s state visit to the US taking place next month.
In the UK some politicians say it should be cancelled, or postponed. Asked if the war would affect plans for the trip, Trump replied:
Trump insisted the King’s state visit would go ahead.
No. He’s going to be here very soon, as you know, we’re going have a state dinner. It’s going be great.
Updated
UK has paid more than £25bn to EU since it left under Brexit liabilities deal, Treasury says
Britain has paid more than £25bn to the European Union since it left in 2020, the Treasury has revealed in a report published today. As part of the withdrawal agreement, the UK agreed to cover liabilities accruing from commitments made when it was a member and this meant a promise to pay some costs going ahead, according to an agreed formula. The government publishes a report every year saying what these payments have been and today says £25.7bn has been paid since the EU left.
The report says the final value of the payments made to the EU under the withdrawal agreement is expected to be £30.9bn. But it also says this is lower than the orginal estimate of the cost, which was put at between £35bn and £39bn.
Updated
Campaigners welcome figures showing fuel poverty fell in 2025
Fuel poverty fell in 2025, according to government statistics.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published its annual fuel poverty statistics and it says:
In 2025, there were an estimated 9.4% of households (2.36 million) in fuel poverty in England under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric. This is a reduction from 9.9% of households (2.47 million) in 2024.
DESNZ says the fall is “driven primarily by the expansion of the Warm Home Discount scheme from 2025/26 and energy efficiency improvements to households, but also by decreases in energy prices”.
The LILEE measure of fuel poverty used by the department takes into account the fuel efficiency of homes, disposable income, and the cost of heating homes. Campaigners use a different definition.
Peter Smith, director of policy and advocacy at National Energy Action, welcomed today’s figures. In a statement, he said:
It is welcome to see the number of households now falling, albeit far too slowly.
‘More than 100,000 households in England no longer face the virtually impossible task of trying to survive on the lowest incomes, at the same time as attempting to keep warm in an expensive-to-heat home. It is particularly welcome and vital that this progress is being made for households who are most at risk of a cold home, households with children or households with long-term illnesses or disabilities.
Recent progress, particularly to reduce rates of fuel poverty for people who own their own home is, however, slowing. This is a major concern as owner-occupiers are by far the greatest number of households living in fuel poverty in England. Unless the UK government provides more support in the Warm Homes Plan, this worrying trend is very likely to continue and it could take another 20 years to meet the UK government’s legal requirement to ensure that as many households are free from the fear of not being able to keep warm.
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Cabinet Office unveils 'sludgebusting' plan which it claims will 'rip up consultation culture'
The Cabinet Office has today announced plans to speed up government decision-making by reducing consultation requirements.
In its news release, which is headlined “Ministers rip up consultation culture”, the Cabinet Office says:
As the next step in a wider programme of clearing out Whitehall’s layers of unnecessary bureaucracy, ministers have today announced immediate measures that will:
• End the introduction of unnecessary reporting and consultation requirements through introducing a higher bar to their inclusion in legislation.
• Use AI to identify existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties that are slowing down delivery.
• Take action to ensure Equalities Impact Assessments are proportionate and actually improve policy and outcomes.
• Replace Environmental Impact Assessments with Environmental Outcomes Reports as part of a significant step in reducing bureaucracy around new infrastructure projects.
But that does not mean the end of all consultations. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has today announced a public consultation on banning trail hunting.
UPDATE: In a written ministerial statement on this, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, calls this “sludgebusting”.
Updated
New counting method implies poverty lower than previously thought - but IFS says it's too soon to say for sure
Today’s poverty figures (see 10.38am) incorporate a new method of measuring poverty. The DWP uses a survey but, instead of relying on what people tell researchers about the benefits they are getting, it uses the actual figures, by cross-referencing to official records.
In a briefing note, the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank says this method produces a lower headline poverty figure than the old system. It explains:
Since this change particularly increases incomes for poorer households, it means measured relative poverty over 2021–22 to 2023–24 is lower by 2 percentage points on average. Reductions are particularly large for child and pensioner poverty (2 and 3 percentage points respectively). This is because pensioners and families with children receive more benefit income than other families. Using the new methodology, relative poverty (measured after accounting for housing costs) in 2024–25 was 20% overall (13.4 million people), 27% for children (4.0 million) and 14% for pensioners (1.7 million).
But the IFS says it is too soon to say whether this means the actual poverty really is lower than previously thought. It explains:
DWP’s improvements to the source of income data used for measuring poverty and income inequality mean some previously uncounted benefit income will now be reflected in official statistics. Unsurprisingly, this results in lower estimates of poverty. But there are further welcome improvements to the data on the horizon, and we do not yet know what the effect of these will be – some may push in the opposite direction.
Updated
In Wales Neil Roberts has stood down as a Plaid Cymru candidate for the Senedd, the BBC reports. It was over an offensive comment he made about children in a social media post five years ago. (It is too rude for the BBC, but you can find it on X without much difficulty.)
Reform in Wales highlighted the Roberts post. But Reform is also being urged to suspend one of its own candidates photographed at some point in the past making a Nazi salute.
Ministers vow to spend record £8.4bn on road maintenance in England
Ministers have pledged to spend record amounts on road maintenance as part of a £27bn five-year investment plan for England’s major roads and motorways, Gwyn Topham reports.
Trump says Starmer 'lovely man' who 'did something shocking' by not helping US in Iran
Donald Trump is still chuntering away in the White House. It is a very stream of consciousness, and 98% a compilation boast, slanders and falsehoods that we’ve heard before.
He has just been asked about Keir Starmer. He said Starmer was “a lovely man”, but he “did something that was shocking”. That was not helping the US in Iran, he said.
Scottish Tories only party that 'fundamentally support the union', their leader Russell Findlay says
The Scottish Conservative have claimed that they are the only party that “fundamentally supports the union”.
Speaking at his campaign launch, Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said:
[John Swinney, the first minister] has said that an SNP majority is a mandate for another divisive independence referendum and he will push relentlessly for it. This threat is real.
We are the only party that fundamentally supports the union and we have a track record of standing up to this dismal SNP government.
Reform are not a unionist party. They field pro-independence candidates, court nationalists and Lord Offord has provided a roadmap to another referendum.
An SNP majority is the nightmare scenario facing Scots – and it’s up to the Scottish Conservatives to stop it, like we did in 2016 and 2021.
Findlay was referring to Offord suggesting that, after 10 years, he might be open to another independence referendum.
Labour criticises Farage for hinting James McMurdock might be allowed to rejoin Reform UK
Labour has criticised Nigel Farage for suggesting in an interview with the BBC that he might let James McMurdock rejoin his party.
McMurdock was elected for Reform UK in 2024 in South Basildon and East Thurrock, a seat the party never expected to win. He was soon embroiled in controversy when it emerged that, as a teenager, he had been jailed for assaulting his then girlfriend. Last year he left the party over allegations about his business conduct during the coronavirus pandemic. Later an inquiry opened into claims he racially abused a female journalist on X.
A Labour spokesperson said:
McMurdock is still under investigation for alleged racism and if Reform are intent on letting him back into their party, it will tell you everything you need know about Farage’s judgement. Reform simply cannot be trusted to uphold the high standards expected in public life.
NS&I boss replaced as bank faces record payout over missing savings
The boss of National Savings and Investments has stepped down after it emerged that the bank will have to repay hundreds of millions of pounds to its customers over missing savings, Lauren Almeida reports.
Trump claims UK's aircraft carriers are just 'toys' as he renews his attack on Nato allies for doing 'nothing' over Iran
Donald Trump has claimed that the UK’s two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are little better than “toys”.
The president hit out as he spoke on camera at the start of a cabinet meeting in the White House.
In a rambling address, that covered a range of subjects, Trump revived his complaint about the UK not offering military help with the Iran war.
He said that Nato had done “absolutely nothing” to support the US and he went on:
Now they all want to help. When they’re annihilated, the other side is annihilated, they said ‘we’d love to send ships’.
Actually made a statement, a couple of them, that ‘we want to get involved when the war is over’. No, it’s supposed to get involved with the war’s beginning, or even before it begins.
We had the UK say that ‘we’ll send’ – this is three weeks ago – ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers’, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers by the way. They’re toys compared to what we have.
But ‘we’ll send our aircraft carrier when the war is over’. I said ‘oh that’s wonderful, thank you very much. Don’t bother. We don’t need it’.
This is not the first time Trump has claimed that the UK has offered to send aircraft carriers to the Gulf. Downing Street has said this is not true.
On Monday, asked about Trump’s repeated insults about the UK recently, Starmer said he thought they were designed to put pressure on him. He told MPs that he had chosen to respond just by focusing on doing his job and acting in the national interest.
Anas Sarwar claims at campaign launch Scottish Labour only party that can replace SNP government
Anas Sarwar has claimed that Scottish Labour is the only party that can beat the SNP and form a government in this year’s Holyrood elections.
Speaking at the launch of his party’s election campaign, he said:
After 20 years of SNP government, Scotland needs change, and this is the only party that can deliver it. Because the fact is that only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP …
And only I can replace John Swinney as first minister
Recent polling suggests that the SNP is well ahead, and that Labour and Reform UK are in a tight contest for second place in the May elections.
But Sarwar described Reform as “Tories in disguise” and insisted they had no chance in Scotland.
Reform can’t win in Scotland and they can’t beat the SNP.
He also insisted that, while the SNP and Reform were both divisive parties, Labour was not.
We know what they will say about us and what they will say about me.
The SNP will say I am not for Scotland.
Reform will say I am not Scottish enough [a reference to Sarwar’s ethnicity].
But they misunderstand the mood of the nation.
People are fed up of the old politics of division.
They want a more positive and hopeful government and a more positive and hopeful future for Scotland.
Because friends, there are now two kinds of politician in this country.
Those like John Swinney and Nigel Farage who see problems and use them to divide us.
Or leaders who see problems, get to work fixing them and bring our country together in the process.
Sarwar said Scotland needed change, and he claimed Labour could offer this across many areas.
But he specifically focused on a promise to “drive up standards in reading, writing, maths and science with 2,000 new specialist teachers to help children who have fallen behind in literacy and numeracy”.
Updated
Streeting tells BMA resident doctors economic impact of war means no chance of strike leading to better pay offer
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that if resident doctors don’t call off their planned strike, they may find that the economic consequences of the Iran war will mean they never got a better offer.
Speaking in the Commons hours after the OECD said the war will damage the UK’s economy more than any other industrialised nation’s, Streeting said:
I do not want resident doctors in three years’ time to look back on this moment with regret as they turn down three years of guaranteed pay rises, more money in their pockets through reimbursement of exam fees and more jobs.
As Denis Campbell reports, yesterday the BMA announced plans for a six-day strike by resident doctors in England after Easter.
In a statement to MPs, Streeting said the BMA’s announcement was “deeply disappointing after months of highly constructive and good-natured talks between the government and the leadership of the RDC (the BMA’s resident doctors committee)“.
Streeting said the deal on offer would have given resident doctors an average pay rise of 4.9% this year, with starting pay for new graduates entering the profession this year nearly £12,000 higher than four years ago.
He went on:
The BMA has pointed to the war in Iran as reason to reject the deal, so let me spell out the consequences of what this country is facing.
This country wants to see de-escalation, a swift resolution to the conflict with a negotiated agreement that puts tough conditions on Iran and specifically its nuclear ambitions.
However, we are planning on the basis of a prolonged conflict because that is the prudent thing to do.
In that eventuality, there would be an impact on the economy and on the public finances. Were that to happen, a future offer to resident doctors will not look better than what is on offer today.
Streeting said the government was losing patience with the BMA, which has organised a series of strikes by resident doctors (previously known as junior doctors) since the general election.
The government’s tolerance for costly and disruptive action that undermines a critical public service is fast diminishing.
He said the BMA had until next Thursday to call off the strike action, or face the prospect of the money set aside by the government to fund its pay offer being spent instead on minimising disruption.
And he urged the BMA to meet him in person.
I am asking the BMA’s resident doctor committee to reconsider. I will meet again with their officers.
I am also repeating my offer to meet with the entire committee, who have thus far refused to meet me since I became the Secretary of State. Indeed, they are the only group of people I’ve offered to meet who have declined, which I find extraordinary in these circumstances.
Updated
Chinese offshore wind firm MingYang blocked from supplying turbines for use in North Sea, minister confirms
The government has confirmed that it has blocked MingYang, China’s biggest offshore wind company, from supplying turbines for use in the North Sea.
The Chinese firm was in talks with Green Volt, which is jointly owned by Flotation Energy, a Scottish company and Vårgrønn, a Norwegian one, about supplying turbines for a floating offshore windfarm.
But, in a written ministerial statement, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, says the government will not let any deal go ahead.
He says:
After careful consideration, government’s view is that we cannot support the use of [MingYang] in UK offshore wind projects. We have informed offshore wind developers of this.
We will always act to protect our national security, and we are committed to strengthening and prioritising resilient and sustainable offshore wind supply chains.
We welcome investment from China where it’s in our national interest – as demonstrated through the announcement of significant inward investment during the prime minister’s visit to Beijing early in the year. We will continue to take a long term and strategic approach to managing relations with China – cooperating where we can, while being clear-eyed to any risks and ensuring security and resilience.
‘Give the guy a chance’: Wes Streeting says he does not want Starmer ousted
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has made no secret of the fact that he would like to be prime minister one day. And, as speculation intensified at Westminster towards the end of last year, and again earlier this year, about possible challenges to Keir Starmer, Streeting’s name was always at or near the top of the list of those cabinet ministers said to be weighing up their chances.
But Streeting now seems to accept that he may have to wait. In an interview with Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey for the Guaridan’s Politics Weekly podcast, he says that he does not think there should be a change of leadership, that Keir Starmer must be given more time, and that, over Iran, Starmer has shown “his finest qualities”.
Streeting says:
I think there is a risk for the Labour party if people look at us and think, hang on a minute, we voted for change. We thought you were going to draw a line under chaos and now it looks like you’re going to chop and change …
There is no doubt whatsoever that people have seen in Keir’s leadership through the Iran crisis his finest qualities.
Judgment, level-headedness, and an ability to see the bigger picture and make big calls, and the calls in our national interest as well as the interests of our allies and our collective security and world stability. And I think that has set him apart from many other prime ministers we’ve seen over the years.
We all know that there are lots of people in this country who voted for change, who are still demanding change and are finding us wanting because of some of the mistakes we’ve made and because they’re not yet feeling change in their own lives …
We all know this. Keir knows this. But look at the scale of the challenges we inherited when we came in. There was never going to be an overnight transformation. We are beginning to see this country moving in the right direction. He’s only been prime minister for 20 months. Give the guy and the government a chance.
Here is the story by Pippa and Kiran.
And here is the podcast.
SNP ‘ready to win big’ and put Scotland on path to independence, says Swinney at campaign launch
The SNP is “ready to win big” in the Holyrood election, John Swinney has declared, as he insisted a majority for his party will deliver the “fresh start” of independence. The Press Association says:
The first minister has set his targets firmly on winning an overall majority in the 7 May election, believing such a result will lead to a second referendum on the future of the UK.
Speaking at the start of a “crucial election campaign for our country”, he said the SNP will run its “biggest and best campaign” over the next six weeks.
He said he will lead “our campaign from the front”, and told supporters at the campaign launch in Glasgow that the SNP is “ready not just to fight this election, not just to win this election, but to win big”.
He said an SNP majority at Holyrood will not only achieve the goal of another referendum, but will also lock Nigel Farage’s Reform UK out of power in Scotland.
Polls have suggested Reform – led in Scotland by Malcolm Offord – could come second in the vote.
Swinney warned: “Depending on how the numbers stack up after the election, without an SNP majority there is always the potential for a grubby, backroom deal between Labour and Reform.”
But he said it is the prospect of using the election to force a referendum that could give Scotland the “greatest prize”.
An overall SNP majority – as happened in 2011 under Alex Salmond – will “send a message that the Westminster establishment cannot sweep under the carpet”, Swinney said.
Updated
Home Office names panel of experts to advise inquiry into battle of Orgreave during miners' strike
The Home Office has named the panel of experts that will assist the inquiry into the violent confrontation between the police and mineworkers at Orgreave in 1984. Last year it was announced that an inquiry will take place, chaired by the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield.
Today it has been announced he will be assisted by four experts: Mary Bousted, a former teachers’ union leader; Wendy Williams, a former chief prosecutor; Joanna Gilmore, a law lecturer who has reseached the miners’ strike; and Angie Sutton-Vane, a historian.
In a written ministerial statement announcing the appointments, Sarah Jones, a Home Office minister, said:
This inquiry delivers on the government’s manifesto commitment to uncover the truth about Orgreave and to rebuild public confidence in policing. It will investigate the events of that day, resulting in the arrest of 95 picketers and scores of injuries, which left a lasting impact on communities across South Yorkshire and beyond.
King's speech to take place on Wednesday 13 May, less than week after local elections, MPs told
Alan Campbell, the leader of the Commons, has told MPs that the state opening of parliament and the king’s speech will take place on Wednesday 13 May.
The king’s speech sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the new session of parliament. It will take place less than a week after the Scottish parliament, Welsh Senedd and English local elections, which are expected to go very badly for Labour, and having the state opening so soon afterwards may help the government move forward after what could be a severe electoral setback.
The current parliamentary session, which started after the general election, has lasted 22 months, which is much longer than usual. Campbell told MPs that more than 50 bills have been passed.
He said the date of prorogation, the last day of the current session, will be announced in due course.
Updated
No 10 says it's 'categorically untrue' to say McSweeney's phone theft linked to Mandelson humble address
Downing Street has firmed up its insistence that there was no link between Morgan McSweeney’s phone being stolen and the humble address motion passed by MPs saying messages with Peter Mandelson would have to be exchanged.
When asked about this this morning, Keir Starmer said:
The idea that somehow everybody could have seen that sometime in the future there’d be a request over the phone is, to my mind, a little bit far-fetched.
But, at the Downing Street lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said that it was “categorically untrue” to claim there was a link between the theft of the phone and the humble address requiring the disclosure of messages between Peter Mandelson and government ministers and officials.
The spokesperson said:
The point the prime minister was making was that the idea that the theft was connected to the humble address is categorically untrue.
We’re committed to complying with the humble address in full. All government departments, ministers and relevant individuals been asked to provide all the relevant information they hold in the scope of the humble address.
This denial is unlikely to silence those alleging a conspiracy, some of whom are alleging the phone was never stolen in the first place. (See 11.30am.)
McSweeney reported his phone stolen in October last year, more than three months before the humble address motion was passed. But there have been reports saying that even then at that point, in the light of the fact that Mandelson had recently been sacked over his links with Jeffrey Epstein, officials in No 10 were starting to worry about a humble address motion being table at some point down the line. A humble address is a Commons mechanism forcing the government to release information.
The spokesperson would not discuss what action was taken by No 10 to disable McSweeney’s phone after it was reported missing last year, or what impact that might have on attempts to retrieve message. He just said that Downing Street responded to the incident in line with procedures that were “longstanding and robust”.
The spokesperson did not challenge the Guardian report saying some messages between McSweeney and Mandelson have been retained.
Asked about this, the spokesperson just said that it was the government’s intention to comply with the humble address motion (requiring the publication of these exchanges and others) “in full”. The government has already published one set of documents required by the humble address. Another tranche is expected relatively soon, but the spokesperson would not say when. And some documents are being held back pending the police investigation into Mandelson.
Jenrick claims Labour acting like 'banana republic' in banning political parties from accepting crypto donations
Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, has claimed Labour is acting like a “banana republic” in banning political parties from receiving donations in cryptocurrency.
Speaking about the announcement at a media event this morning, Jenrick accepted that this was aimed at Reform UK, the only main party encouraging people to donate in crypto, and he accused Labour of wanting to “stop its opponents from succeeding”.
He said:
Look, the government is failing. It’s losing the argument. So what’s it doing? It’s like a banana republic - resorting to attacking how political parties raise money – perfectly legitimate ways for British citizens to donate, as they’ve always done, to political parties.
He went on:
This isn’t serious politics. It’s just the mark of a government that is failing and is having to use every lever at its disposal to try and stop its opponents from succeeding. It’s not going to work.
We’re going to see in May that people across the country come out to vote, to send a signal, a very clear message, to Keir Starmer that he is one of the worst prime ministers we’ve ever had, and we want to get him out of office as quickly as possible and have real change, which is what Reform offer.
Jenrick was speaking at a petrol station where he was to promoting Reform UK’s call for the government to halve VAT on petrol for three months in the face of rising oil prices caused by the Iran war.
Updated
Steve Reed rejects Tory call for political parties to be banned from distributing campaign literature in foreign languages
Yesterday the Conservative party said that it wanted to ban political parties from distributing campaign literature in a foreign language. Announcing a plan to propose an amendement to the representation of the people bill to make this law, the shadow communities minister Paul Holmes said:
Campaigning in a foreign language as the Greens did in Gorton and Denton only fosters greater division. A coherent national culture relies on shared values, and an inclusive electoral process relies on a common tongue.
Steve Reed, the local government secretary, has rejected this proposal. In an interview with GB News, he said:
I think it’s for political parties to choose how they campaign and communicate with British voters. If they’re using British money that is funding their campaigns and they’re speaking to people who have the right to vote, then why would you not show those voters the respect of communication?
What fuels division is Nick Timothy standing up and singling out Muslim forms of worship for a ban when he’s not applying that to forms of worship that other religions are talking about.
Labour MP joins Tories in suggesting full truth about McSweeney's stolen phone not being told
The Conservatives are continuing to suggest that Morgan McSweeney has been engaged in some sort of conspiracy to dispose of his mobile phone, and stop parliament getting hold of his messages with Peter Mandelson. Yesterday Kemi Badenoch said “it is only right that Morgan McSweeney testifies in Parliament and explains exactly what happened”. And this morning Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, told Sky New that “the whole thing is as smelly as a fish market on a hot summer’s afternoon”.
Referring to claims that McSweeney’s account of how he had his phone stolen (meaning the messages potentially cannot be recovered) and that the police did not investigate it propertly, Griffith went on:
It just doesn’t compute, does it? I worked in Number 10. Briefly, I had a Number 10 phone. There was a paranoia about devices like that falling into other people’s hands.
And so whether it was the Met Police, whether it was Morgan McSweeney, and what sounds like pretty evasive set of reporting, even when you look at that transcript, or whether it was the Number 10 security team following up something that at the time they could not have been sure had not been taken by a state actor, a phone with all sorts of government secrets potentially in it, that’s precisely why people in government have two separate phones.
Griffith worked in No 10 for Boris Johnson, who reportedly told the Covid inquiry that it could not read messages on one of his phones because he had forgotten his password. Perhaps this explains why Griffith is sceptical about explanations from No 10 figures about why phone messages cannot be obtained.
Keir Starmer has said that the idea that McSweeney was engaged in a plot to dispose of the phone is “far-fetched”. Others are more dismissive, suggesting the Tories have gone into full conspiracy theory mode. There is precedent for this; last year Badenoch and her team spent several weeks pushing the theory that Jonathan Powell, the PM’s national security adviser, has intervened to get the CPS to drop the China spy case, before they eventually gave up after an inquiry by a parliamentary inquiry found no evidence at all to support the claim.
But it is not just the Tories who think there is something fishy going on.
Last night the Labour MP Karl Turner posted these on social media, accusing McSweeney of lying when he told the police his phone had been stolen.
I don’t believe McSwindle had his iPhone stolen
Honest believe, Matt. It’s smacks of the liar Johnson defence of ‘lost all my WhatsApp messages’. We mustn’t take the public for fools. And I am afraid this smacks of too convenient by far. I won’t do it. I will say what I actually think. And I don’t believe it. End of!
I believe the report was made. McSwindle didn’t mention that he was the chief of staff to the PM. A significant omission of he’d wanted the police to prioritise the offence.
Turner is an outspoken MP who is willing to go much further than his colleagues in saying things that are provocative. But this morning he has received partial backing from Richard Burgon. He has tabled some parliamentary written questions about McSweeney’s phone which suggest he does not think the full truth is being told.
I’ve submitted these formal Parliamentary Written Questions following reports that Morgan McSweeney’s phone was stolen.
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) March 26, 2026
Given the serious impact this could have on getting the truth about the Mandelson scandal (and even on the Labour Together scandal), we need answers. pic.twitter.com/uUKZxCMuVC
Burgon is a leading figure in the Socialist Campaign group in parliament, which represents leftwingers, and he was a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour left hate McSweeney because he masterminded the Labour Together operation to destroy Corbynism, and some respects Burgon’s intervention might be best understood as a new instalment of Labour internal feuding.
Starmer says threat from Russia 'has grown' as he meets fellow JEF leaders in Helsinki
Keir Starmer has been speaking at the JEF leaders’ summit in Helsinki. He said that the war in Iran should not distract attention from the threat from Russia, which he said “has grown”.
He said:
A couple of months ago all eyes of the world were on the High North, and now they’re on the Gulf. And, of course, we will continue to defend our interests, there.
But the threat from Russia in the north and the east has not gone away. And therefore it’s important that we’re here today.
In fact, in my view, that threat has grown, and we all know very well the impact of that threat for our security, for our economies and the cost of living for families in each of our countries.
So it’s right that we’re focussed, as ever, on Euro-Atlantic security and on Ukraine, and bringing those two together the Joint Expeditionary Force has a vital role to play here.
Jakub Krupa has more coverage on his Europe live blog.
Average household income rose in real terms by 5% in Labour's first year in office, DWP says
Keir Starmer likes to point out that, under Labour, real household incomes have been going up – which did not happen when the last Conservative government first took office. This morning the Department of Work and Pensions has published its annual poverty figures and it backs this up. It says:
-median household income increased in real terms between FYE [financial year end] 2024 and FYE 2025, rising by 5% before housing costs (BHC) and 5% after housing costs (AHC) to £719 and £623 per week respectively. The increases for both these measures were statistically significant
-household incomes increased across almost the entire BHC distribution, with the largest increases in the central deciles. Smaller increases were recorded at the top and bottom ends of the distribution. For AHC, increases were also seen across most percentiles, except at the very lowest end, which experienced a slight fall
-for the more central deciles, income increases were statistically significant, though changes at the extremes of the distribution are more uncertain due to wider confidence intervals
The report also says poverty rates were relatively stable.
-relative low‑income rates increased slightly, rising from 15% to 16% (BHC) and 19% to 20% (AHC). These changes were less than 1 percentage point (the AHC change was less than 0.5 percentage points) and not statistically significant
The DWP has changed the way it collects poverty data and that means exact comparisons with the historic data are not possible. The DWP explains this in its report.
UK set to suffer bigger GDP setback than any other major country due to Iran war, OECD says
The conflict in the Middle East will damage the UK’s economy more than any other industrialised nation, according to analysis by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which warned over rising inflation. Phillip Inman has the story.
Inman says:
Noting a weakening of the UK jobs market and a contraction in business investment towards the end of 2025, the OECD attributed the downgrade to a lack of momentum going into 2026 as well as the shock from rising oil and gas prices as a result of the US-Israel attacks on Iran.
Illustrating the UK’s dependence on international trade and imports of fuel, the OECD said it had downgraded the UK’s growth in 2026 because it was likely to suffer higher inflation than previously expected.
The forecast 0.5 percentage point cut in UK growth compares with expectations of a much more limited reduction in growth for France, Germany and Italy, which were more insulated from spiralling energy prices and are all expected to suffer a more modest hit to growth of 0.2 percentage points.
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Tories claim plan to create 15 new councils involves 'outright gerrymandering' to benefit Labour
Yesterday Steve Reed, the local government secretary, announced that 15 new councils will be created in the south and east of England as part of the government’s local government reorganisation. Patrick Butler has the story here.
James Cleverly, the shadow local government secretary, responded with a statement saying:
This is outright gerrymandering from a Labour government desperate to shore up its collapsing support.
Reorganisation should be bottom-up, informed by and reflecting local priorities and voices. Instead, Labour are imposing top-down decisions on communities while claiming to be empowering them.
To justify the “gerrymandering” claim, the Tories say the plans will “expand the Labour-run local authorities’ boundaries of Portsmouth and Southampton, as well as Brighton and Hove”.
Doctors waiting on asylum decisions can work in NHS as Home Office lifts ban
Doctors who have been prevented from working in the NHS while they wait for asylum decisions are celebrating after the Home Office agreed to lift the ban, Diane Taylor reports.
Here are some pictures from the JEF meeting in Helsinki.
Starmer PM rejects ‘far-fetched’ scepticism about Morgan McSweeney phone 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, Ben Quinn reports.
Starmer promises to tackle ‘addictive’ social media platforms after peers inflict fresh defeat on government over teen ban
Good morning. It is going to be a busy political news day, but potentially quite a mixed and messy one. Keir Starmer is in Helsinki for a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (the northern European military pact – the Nordics, the Baltics, the Dutch and the UK), and he has already been speaking to the media. In the Commons it is the last day before the Easter recess, which means it is “take out the trash day” – the trash, in this case, being government announcements that have to be reported to parliament (so they can’t be announced during the recesss), but which have been held back because they’re moderately embarrassing (or sometimes just too dull). There are 24 written ministerial statements (full list here). Few, if any, of these are likely to produce big headline stories, but there should be a lot here for people interested in the workings of government.
And, with the parliamentary session also about to end soon (the new king’s speech is expected to take place on Wednesday 13 May), the government is also trying to get all its bills onto the statute book. And it faced a new problem last night after peers voted for a second time to insert a clause into the bill committing the government to an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s.
The government has already launched a consultation on the case for a ban, and it is including provisions in the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that would allow it to implement a ban very quickly, and so the gap between what the Lords are demanding and what the government is already offering is quite narrow. But Starmer does not want to commit to a full social media ban for under-16s, because he thinks other options might be more effective.
Speaking to reporters in Helsinki, Starmer said he was determined to do more to tackle “addictive features in social media” and that he would announce more on this tomorrow. Asked about the Los Angeles court case where Meta and YouTube were found liable for deliberately designing addictive products, he said he thought it should that the public wanted to see social media companies regulated more aggressively. He went on:
Obviously we’ll study that ruling very carefully, but I’m absolutely clear that we need to go further.
The status quo isn’t good enough. We need to do more to protect children.
That’s why we’re consulting about issues such as banning social media for under-16s.
I’m very keen that we do more on addictive features within social media.
We’ve already taken the powers so that when we get to the end of the consultation, we don’t have to wait years to implement this.
But I want to be really clear, it’s not if things are going to change, things are going to change. The question is, how much and what are we going to do?
And that’s what we’re working on. I’ll be saying some more about this tomorrow.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The Department for Work and Pensions publishes annual poverty figures. And the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes fuel poverty figures.
10am: Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, holds a media event at a Dover petrol station to promote the party’s call for VAT on petrol to be halved for three months.
10am: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, launches the SNP’s 2026 election campaign. At 10.30am Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, launches his party’s Holryood election campaign, and at 1.30pm Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, launches his campaign.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
After 11.30am: Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, is expected to make a Commons statement about the failure of National Savings and Investments to pay money owed to the families of people who have died.
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