Ministers are struggling to shake off claims that they pressed the Metropolitan police into giving Taylor Swift a motorbike escort as she travelled to Wembley for her sold-out summer shows. Downing Street and Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, have repeatedly insisted the Met makes decisions independently from politicians. How much of a problem is this for Labour? What’s the background? For weeks, senior Labour politicians have been dogged by criticism over gifts and hospitality declared by Keir Starmer and other frontbenchers. The prime minister declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leader in recent times, with his total now topping £100,000, including £4,000 of hospitality at a Swift concert and £698 worth of Coldplay tickets in Manchester. It looked as though Labour had managed to finally draw a line under the accusations with a vow to close a loophole that meant different rules applied to what ministers had to declare. But last week the Sun reported that Khan and the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, had been involved in talks over providing extra security for Swift’s Eras Tour shows at Wembley, after initial reservations from the police. The Met is reported to have thought such a move would breach its longstanding protocols.
The talks came after Swift had pulled out of three planned concerts in Vienna after Austrian police foiled a terror plot. It is understood that Swift’s mother, who doubles as her manager, wanted a police escort from where the singer was staying to Wembley and threatened to cancel the London concerts if one was not provided. The newspaper claimed that the Met’s special escort group were at first reluctant to give Swift a blue-light escort, usually given to senior royalty and politicians. It is VVIP protection that even Prince Harry was repeatedly denied. Cooper attended one of the concerts with her husband, Ed Balls. This weekend the Sunday Times reported that the attorney general, Richard Hermer, told the Met he would provide it with “legal cover” to provide an escort. He is not known to have attended one of Swift’s concerts. All this has led to claims that the Met was pressed into giving Swift the security because of “undue influence” from senior politicians who attended the concerts. Do celebrities routinely get police escorts? It is not unusual for event organisers who oversee events on the scale of Swift’s summer tour to work with police forces on security arrangements. Whether or not the celebrities get police escorts is linked to the current threat level and how many people are due to attend a specific event. Transport for London (TfL) data shows that exits at Wembley Park tube station between June and August, around the time of Swift’s shows, were up 18.2% on the same period in summer 2019. Wembley Park ranked in the top 5% out of 434 stations operated by TfL, ahead of many prime central London locations. Swift’s concerts are said to have generated approximately £300m from tourists, meaning any cancellation would have represented a huge loss to London’s economy. What was the evidence of a threat against Swift? Swift was forced to cancel three shows in Vienna in August after two people were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks inspired by Islamic State. Weeks before this threat was revealed, Swift expressed her “complete shock” when three children were killed and seven people were left in a critical condition in an attack at a dance and yoga class inspired by her music in Southport, Merseyside. A Downing Street source told the Sun that Swift’s August concerts were “a major event for the country”. What role did the home secretary and attorney general play? Given the number of security incidents linked to Swift at the time, there were high-level meetings held between government, police and event organisers to discuss safety. The government has insisted it is right for ministers to work closely with other agencies to ensure major events can take place securely. The Times reported on Monday night that Scotland Yard had sought legal advice from the attorney general about providing a blue-light escort. He was asked to intervene after the Met warned that granting the US pop star “VVIP” protection would breach its longstanding protocols. A spokesperson for Lord Hermer previously said the decision was “solely an operational decision for the police”. The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, defended Cooper’s involvement. “When you have major events, whether in London or in other parts of the UK, the home secretary will be involved in a conversation where there is a security risk,” she said. Nandy rejected the suggestion there had “been any kind of wrongdoing or undue influence”. Is this a storm in a teacup? Given the nature of the security discussions, the ministers and politicians concerned insist they are unable to divulge what was said in the meetings. This may allow the row to continue to bubble, and the Tories are certainly capitalising on this.