A senior Conservative who heads a committee scrutinising the Met has demanded a probe into why Taylor Swift was given a blue light police escort to her Wembley gigs.
Susan Hall said the US star being granted taxpayer-funded police protection was “highly concerning” and has asked the Cabinet Office to investigate.
Ms Hall, a former Conservative mayoral candidate who now chairs the Police and Crime Committee on the Greater London Assembly wants to establish if Labour figures including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan put the Met under “undue pressure” to grant the motorcycle outrider escort.
Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan both held discussions with police chiefs who changed their minds on providing an escort after initially concluding one was not warranted.
Labour's Attorney General, Lord Herner, was also asked to intervene after the Met warned that granting Swift 'VVIP' protection - normally reserved for royalty and heads of state - would breach its operational protocols, it has been claimed.
The star’s management team had requested a police escort in London after her shows in Austria were cancelled when police there uncovered and stopped a planned terror attack.
Ms Hall wrote in a letter to Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden: “It is highly concerning to me that senior Labour politicians in positions of power and responsibility have sought to create this worrying precedent for future policing matters.
“Given that two of the three politicians involved subsequently accepted free tickets to Taylor Swift's concerts, it is right and proper that the Cabinet Office now opens a full investigation into this matter.”
Citing reports that the Met's original security assessment “found that Swift did not require the level of security usually reserved for the Royal Family and senior politicians,”
She said it appears “lobbying” by the Home Secretary and London Mayor led the police force to “reverse its decision”.
Ms Hall said: “After this intervention by a third senior Labour figure, it appears the Met subsequently changed its security assessment and provided Swift with 'VVIP' status, at substantial cost to the taxpayer. over the ten-night period.”
She asked Mr McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to launch an inquiry to find out whether 'any undue and inappropriate pressure' was applied to the Met, on 'what operational basis' the Met reversed its decision, and whether the Home Secretary and mayor receiving freebie tickets had 'impacted the lobbying' undertaken by these two politicians.
The senior Tory figure added: “It is my belief that only a full inquiry undertaken by the Cabinet Office can offer clarity on the very serious matters raised by this issue.
“Our system of policing must be free from political interference, a principle which is now evidently under threat from this new Labour government.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among senior Labour figures handed free tickets to Swift's concerts this year. He has subsequently repaid thousands of pounds following heavy criticism of his actions.
His official spokesman said: “We've been clear and we remain clear that operational decisions are for the Met independently of the Government.
“Clearly, you would expect the Government, the police and the Mayor of London to be involved in planning significant events in the capital to ensure that the public is kept safe.
“You will remember the context that these concerts happened in, particularly following the planned terrorist attacks in Vienna.
“But all operational decisions are made by the Metropolitan Police independently of government.”
Mr Khan said: “What I'd say to people who aren't aware is that our police have operational independence.”
He said Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley would have taken on board “a whole host of views before he himself, as the commissioner, decided what was right and proper to do”.
The Met said: “The Met is operationally independent. Our decision-making is based on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case.”
Mr Khan received six Swift tickets for her Wembley dates that were worth £194 each and paid for by the FA.
It is understood he was offered his free tickets before the security arrangements for the show had been put in place.
A source close to the home secretary told Sky News: “We can make categorically clear that all operational decisions were made by the Metropolitan Police and they do not discuss security arrangements.”
