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Yvette Cooper is facing demands to make a statement to the House of Commons in which she lifts the “veil of secrecy” over whether she helped Taylor Swift provide her with a police escort VVIP London can be seen.
The Minister of the Interior was asked to come to the mailbox and reveal all details of conversations with the Metropolitan Police Committee in connection with this extraordinary decision.
The demands come amid growing controversy over how the billionaire singer received a blue light motorcycle escort – usually reserved only for royalty and politicians. Sources close to the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, insisted the decision was left to the police.
However, Senior Tory Last night John Glen MP called on Mrs Cooper to come to the House of Commons this week and make a statement on the matter.
He told The Mail on Sunday: 'It is highly unusual – if not entirely unprecedented – that the rich and famous obtain taxpayer-funded security in this way.
Yvette Cooper is facing demands to make a statement to the House of Commons to lift the “veil of secrecy” over whether she helped Taylor Swift provide her with a police escort to her London shows, which the Home Secretary attended with her husband Ed Balls
The American megastar played eight concerts at Wembley Stadium in June and August
Last night John Glen called on Mrs Cooper to come to the House of Commons this week to make a statement on this matter
“For this reason we hear that the Met initially refused to provide it and then reversed that decision following the involvement of Ms Cooper and Mr Khan.
“The Secretary of the Interior cannot hide behind the veil of secrecy over this extraordinary decision.”
Glen also demanded to know how much it costs to protect the Special Escort Group and whether Ms Swift's representatives made any contribution to the bill.
It is understood Scotland Yard reversed its decision on the VVIP escort following discussions with Ms Cooper and Mr Khan, who has overall responsibility for policing in the capital.
Ms Cooper is understood to have attended a Taylor Swift concert on August 16, but sources are unable to say whether the pop star was blue lighted on that particular occasion.
A source close to Ms Cooper told The Mail on Sunday that she was refusing any calls for talks in the House of Commons about police operational decisions.
However, Tory leadership challenger Robert Jenrick expressed surprise that the Home Secretary was in any way involved.
Sources close to the Home Secretary and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan insist the decision is left to the police
He said: “These decisions should be made by the police, which are operationally independent.
“Yvette Cooper's decision to intervene to help a celebrity slip through the streets of London while she and her cabinet colleagues were accepting concert tickets was strange.”
Former Tory home secretary Damian Green added: “It's good that Yvette Cooper has been completely transparent.”
Last week, former Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote to Ms Cooper that the Special Escort Group was intended for “senior government ministers and government and state guests… not private individuals or pop stars' traffic assistants”.
