Sir Keir Starmer’s government faced a growing Taylor Swift tickets row as a Cabinet minister was forced to deny that Labour politicians intervened to get her a police escort through London.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy insisted the decision for an escort with motorcyclists was an operational one made by the Metropolitan Police, not Home Secretary Yvette Cooper or London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
She denied any wrongdoing by the Government or City Hall after a claim in The Sun that an elite Scotland Yard protection unit initially opposed a request for a motorbike convoy, which can use blue lights, for Swift.
She told Sky News: “You would expect the Home Secretary and the Mayor of the city where this event is taking place, given the history of what has happened in Vienna, to be involved in a conversation about security arrangements.”
But she stressed the decision was ultimately an operational one for the Met Police.
Controversy surrounds the escort decision as Mr Khan, as well as Sir Keir and a string of other Labour politicians, but not Ms Cooper, were given Swift concert tickets for Wembley in the summer.
Ms Nandy said: “Neither the Prime Minister, nor the Home Secretary, nor the Mayor of London, has the power to override the police on this matter.
“It’s an operational decision.”
But pressed by presenter Kay Burley whether the politicians could ask the Met to reconsider a decision, she added: “They can put their own view.”
However, she said that would have been expected given that shortly before the Wembley concerts police in Austria allegedly foiled a terror plot which was feared to have been targeted at Swift gigs in Vienna.
The Sun reported that police controllers on the Special Escort Group of motorcyclists were initially reluctant to agree to an escort for Swift.
But her team, it claimed, then threatened to axe the Wembley concerts if one was not provided.
Discussions were alleged to have taken place between the Home Office, City Hall, and Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s office, including over the potential economic damage from the cancellation of the concerts.
MI5 and the police were reported to have carried out an assessment and not found any specific threat to the Wembley concerts, and additional security checks were reportedly also put on.
But one source told The Sun: “There was a great deal of concern about security in the Swift camp and they were threatening to call off the shows unless there was a police escort.”
The SEG does not normally put on escorts for private individuals.
A Home Office source said: “This was an operational decision for the police. Of course, when events of this scale take place you would expect the Government, the Mayor’s office and the Met Police to work together to ensure they can be held safely and securely.”
A spokesman for the Mayor said: “We don’t comment on the Met’s security arrangements.“
Swift thanked the police for their involvement in security for her Wembley concerts, saying: “We commend the police for their work to ensure these events went off smoothly and safely.”
The Met said: “The Met is operationally independent. Our decision-making is based on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm and circumstances of each case.”
