Bridget Phillipson has said she does not know of any cabinet minister who turned down free Taylor Swift tickets amid a row about freebies and the pop star’s security arrangements. The education secretary said she would not accept more free tickets after the controversy, which has dogged Labour’s first few months in government. Asked whether she knew of any colleagues who declined free tickets to see Swift, the education secretary told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I don’t. I know many of us were very lucky to receive those tickets, it’s a real privilege and I completely recognise how fortunate I’ve been in doing so.” She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that while she would not repay the £522.54 cost of the two tickets, which she was given as a gift by the FA, she would not accept further freebies in future. On Wednesday Peter Kyle, the science and technology secretary, became the sixth cabinet minister to declare he had accepted free Swift tickets this summer. He made the disclosure in the latest parliamentary register of interests. Ministers have faced questions over the extra security granted to the megastar during her stay in London, which included a blue-light escort usually reserved for royalty and senior politicians.
It has emerged that senior politicians and officials spoke to the Metropolitan police after the force refused Swift’s request for extra security, made after she cancelled a series of concerts in Vienna because of a foiled terror plot. Despite the Met’s initial reservations, the pop star was escorted by a motorcycle convoy to and from Wembley. The government has insisted that the police force took its decision independently. It also emerged this week that Keir Starmer met Swift and her mother after attending one of her concerts days after a decision was taken to grant her a blue-light escort. Downing Street has said there is no conflict of interest and that the matter would not be referred to the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser. Asked whether there was a potential conflict in ministers accepting freebies, Phillipson told the Today programme: “I’m not quite sure, in the case that you’re describing, how a conflict of interest would arise, but I am aware, as a member of the Cabinet, that it is important I follow everything that’s asked of me in terms of declarations both as an MP, through the register of members’ interests, but also my responsibilities under the ministerial code. “And I do everything I can to make sure that I am respecting that, honouring that and fulfilling my obligations.”