All phones have a tracking device on them. When a much more junior member of government had their government phone stolen and it was reported to the Met Police (like McSweeney's was reported), they immediately set out to track it. And police officers were sent, and they tracked it down to a housing estate, but because it was a housing estate, they couldn't pinpoint the actual correct address.

No such event happened with the Met Police tracking McSweeney's phone, a much more senior member of government and with much more sensitive information on that phone.