Sir Sadiq Khan has defended his attendance at a Taylor Swift concert as “work” as the row over the £3,000 of free tickets he accepted took a new twist.
It was reported on Wednesday that that firm that gifted the mayor the free tickets had won almost £45m of City Hall contracts – including for work on the Queen’s funeral procession.
In another development, football-mad Sir Sadiq has declared more free tickets to see his beloved Liverpool FC as the Reds bid to win the Premier League title for the first time in five years, The Standard can reveal.
This included two tickets from Liverpool FC to watch their last-gasp 0-2 away victory over Brentford on January 18, and their 3-6 humiliation of Spurs on December, a match he attended as a guest of Spurs.
The two tickets to Brentford were of “unknown” monetary value as they were not available for sale to the public, while the Spurs tickets were worth £575 each, according to the mayor’s latest declarations in the City Hall gifts register.
Sir Sadiq is currently under investigation by the City Hall monitoring officer over whether he “exercised an appropriate level of caution” prior to accepting the Taylor Swift tickets from LS Events for her Wembley Stadium concert on August 15 last year.
Asked if the concert was a “work event”, Sir Sadiq said: “Yes.”
In a written response to Tory assembly member Emma Best, he said: “I work tirelessly to bang the drum for London and act as a champion of the capital's creative and sporting sectors.
“Events like this – just like when I attend major sporting events, community events like Notting Hill Carnival and cultural events like London Fashion Week – help the GLA promote London in order to generate investment in our economy and engage with key decision makers for the good of our city.”
Speaking to The Standard on Wednesday, Sir Sadiq insisted he always followed the rules on declaring girts - and said he had played no role in the awarding of any contracts, whether to LS Events or other firms.
He said: “The Conservatives have made various complaints to the monitoring officer about me – I think three-quarters have been kicked out in the first instance, and have not even been worthy of investigation.
“I’m quite clear: I’m somebody who follows the rules, makes declarations. As somebody who is unashamedly pro-London I will not hesitate to bang the drum for our city.
“I’m not in charge of procurement decisions for obvious reasons. It’s really important that those who are in charge of procurement decisions follow the rules as well.”
He added: “These are the same rules that applied under the previous two mayors, so I will carry on following the rules.”
Rory McKenna, the Greater London Authority’s monitoring officer, decided earlier this month not to pursue three of the four allegations made by Tory assembly member Susan Hall in relation to the Taylor Swift concert.
He said Ms Hall’s concerns that the tickets had come from a GLA contractor did not justify further investigation.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said on Wednesday: “The mayor is a proud champion of the capital’s world-leading creative and sporting industries, which play a key role in London’s economy.
“He is not involved in the tendering of contracts, which follow full and open processes. Gifts accepted are declared openly and transparently in keeping with the GLA gifts and hospitality code.”
According to a report by The Londoner website, LS Events has won a £44.7m of business in three years and has been awarded a share of about £16m worth of future contracts.
City Hall did not dispute the figures.
LS Events’ work for the GLA includes the “planning and delivery of Operation London Bridge” – the code name for the Queen’s funeral – in September 2022, as well as events linked to the 2024 Champions League Final 2024, the Euro 2024 final, St Patrick’s Day 2024 and 2025 and Diwali on the Square 2024 and 2025.
The Standard was told that the majority of the funding received by LS Events from the GLA was for its planning and delivery of Operation London Bridge.
The work involved a “significant period of planning and 12 days of delivery”, City Hall said.
The cost of the contract was covered by a Government grant.
It followed a “thorough procurement process” which was led by the GLA, with close involvement from the Government, which agreed budgets.
Last month Sir Sadiq, in response to a question from Ms Best asking whether he had consulted the monitoring officer prior to accepting the tickets, said: “This is not standard practice and was not thought to be necessary in this case, as there was no actual or potential conflict of interest.
“I have no personal involvement with or connection to GLA procurement decisions. I understand that LS Events was not involved in any open tender processes at the time at which the tickets were offered to and accepted by me.”
The concert was on August 15. Sir Sadiq said he was offered the tickets the day before the concert.
The mayor said neither he nor his officials had requested the tickets.
Four of his officials also accepted tickets for the same concert. One representative of LS Events attended the concert.
He said the tickets were declared late because of an “administrative error”.
Asked whether LS Events was being considered for any contracts at the time the tickets were offered, Sir Sadiq replied: “I understand that LS Events was not involved in any open tender processes at the time at which the tickets were offered to and accepted by me, nor has it been since that date and the present day.”
Speaking a month after the Queen’s funeral, Sir Sadiq said the GLA “coordinated successful partnership working” between London agencies and central Government to ensure that the events during the period were delivered safely and sensitively.
He said: “I represented London on daily Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA) meetings, working with and updating Ministers on London’s preparedness and response over the period.
“The GLA was responsible for establishing and running the London Coordination Centre and the Palestra Event Liaison Facility to enable partners to work effectively together.
“As part of the planning and delivery, the GLA also oversaw the work of an event management company that coordinated stewarding and infrastructure on the ground.
“We also recruited and supported the volunteering effort, including many GLA staff, and delivered the GLA’s own plans.
“I am immensely proud of the work of GLA officers and many others to deliver Operation London Bridge.
“The dedication, long hours and expertise officers offered during this time ensured that Londoners, visitors and international dignitaries were able to honour the life and service of Her Majesty.”
A spokesperson for LS Events told The Londoner that the practice of giving tickets was “commonplace”.
The spokesperson stressed that in all its work to win contracts for City Hall it was subject to “the rigorous contracting and procurement requirements each of them entails”.
