Questions have been raised about whether ministers intervened in providing VIP police protection to prevent Taylor Swift from canceling her London concerts.
James, the shadow home secretary, wisely wrote to his opposite number Yvette Cooper on Wednesday to ask if she had personally represented him.
Swift performed at Wembley in August days after pulling out of three planned concerts in Vienna after police foiled a terror plot. The popstar and his entourage were given a police escort by the Special Escort Group (SEC), a special unit of the Metropolitan Police usually reserved for royals and senior politicians.
Swift's mother, who doubles as her manager, wanted a police escort to Wembley Stadium from where the singer was staying and threatened to cancel, the Guardian understands. Concerts unless a London one is offered. A source familiar with the row said: “The mother made a series of security requests in light of what happened in Vienna.”
The Met initially rejected it, believing it was unnecessary, leading to representations from the Home Office and Mayor Sadiq Conlondon. According to the Sun, which first reported the story, Cooper insisted to the Met that canceling the concerts would be financially damaging and embarrassing, but police were unmoved.
One source said an operational risk assessment was carried out in Vienna “not based on what Taylor Swift wanted, but on risk factors”, while another of those who pressed the Met insisted there was no interference with the Met's operation. Freedom, but added: “They don't listen to us at the best of times, so why are they asking about this?”
In his letter, Cooper smartly asked whether any ministers had spoken to Met chief Mark Rowley about Swift's police security and whether they had accepted tickets to her concerts before or after decisions on security arrangements were made.
Khan was one of several Labor politicians to accept free tickets to Swift's Eras tour shows this year. Khan's tickets are understood to have been issued ahead of discussions about security arrangements and Swift's not.
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, insisted the arrangements were “an operational decision of the police” and not under the authority of the home secretary or other ministers.
Both the Mayor of London and the Home Secretary oversee the meeting. One source said there were “concerns” that elements within the police had been leaked to “embarrass the Labor government and the mayor”.
A source close to the Home Secretary said: “Taylor Swift's London concerts in August came shortly after her Vienna concerts were canceled following the discovery of a terror plot designed to kill 'tens of thousands' of people, the CIA's deputy director said. Participants.
“We can categorically clarify that all operational decisions were taken by the Metropolitan Police and they did not discuss security arrangements.
A Met spokesman said: “The Met is operationally independent. Our decision-making is based on a thorough assessment of the threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case. It has been our longstanding position that we do not comment on the specifics of security arrangements.
