Keir Starmer faces calls for an independent inquiry into the decision to give Taylor Swift a police escort.
Outrage escalated last night when it emerged the US pop star had been given taxpayer-funded protection after the government's chief legal officer was called in to put pressure on Scotland Yard.
The senior Tory MP demanded answers amid claims that ministers “inappropriately interfered” with the decision, which has come to be known as “Taylorgate”.
Sources say Attorney General Lord Hermer, a close friend of the prime minister, was asked to intervene after the Met warned that granting the singer “VVIP” protection would breach its long-standing protocols.
According to sources, it was only after this intervention that senior officers reversed their initial decision and granted a level of security usually reserved for members of the royal family and top politicians.
Sir Keir also received free tickets to a Taylor Swift performance, where he was photographed hugging his wife Victoria
Outrage escalated last night as it emerged US pop star Taylor Swift had been given taxpayer-funded protection
Downing Street and Scotland Yard refused to answer questions about who asked the Attorney General to get involved in this unprecedented decision.
Last night Boris Johnson said: 'Why the hell is the Attorney General interfering with the Met's operational decision on blue light escorts? What legal point might be involved? We need to be told, otherwise we will have to state the obvious: Hermer is Starmer's puppet and sponsor, and he was only following his buddy's orders.
Last week it emerged that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan had urged the Met to provide the star with special protection during two August concerts on his Eras tour.
Khan and Cooper received free tickets to Ms. Swift's concerts, but both say this had nothing to do with the decision.
Sir Keir also received free tickets to the show, where he hugged his wife Victoria.
It was the first time the service provided by the Met's Special Escort Motorcycle Group (SEG) had been awarded to a pop star.
The police are to operate without political interference, and decisions on who receives protection are made by the Royal Executive Committee and the VIP (Ravec).
Last night media lawyer Mark Stephens said the decision to grant police protection to the pop star could help Prince Harry argue his case against the Home Office. The Duke of Sussex is facing a legal battle after being stripped of police protection when he stepped down as a member of the royal family.
Last week it emerged that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan had urged the Met to provide the star with special protection
Stephens said: “It is likely that Harry's lawyers will be looking closely at the threat assessment in the Taylor Swift case to agree terms of protection for him and his family.”
Former Police Minister Chris Philp suggested yesterday that a “red line” had been crossed.
A Conservative MP told the Mail: “It appears that ministers have inappropriately interfered with the operational independence of the police. This deserves an immediate independent investigation.
“Labour must explain who authorized the Attorney General's involvement.”
The Met never discusses security arrangements, but it is understood that officers' initial assessment was that there was no particular risk to Ms Swift in the UK.
However, the Home Secretary and the Mayor intervened after the star's mother and manager, Andrea, threatened to cancel the singer's August appearances in London. It came days after Ms. Swift canceled her concerts in Austria following a thwarted suicide attack.
The Attorney General was consulted during the talks, which also included Sue Gray when she was the Prime Minister's chief of staff.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at a reception for the London Labor Party ahead of the Labor Party conference
The content of his letter is unclear, but it is believed that he provided the Met with the necessary “legal protection” to issue a blue light escort. Sources say it was only after his intervention that the Met relented.
London Assembly member Susan Hall, who came second in the London mayoral election, said yesterday: “I'm amazed to be able to be honest with you.
“I know there was a threat in Vienna and that's why mother (Ms. Swift) wanted it, but having that kind of protection for a pop star is ridiculous. This is not a security agency for hire, as Prince Harry found out.
What the hell happened? The public deserves to know.
Downing Street has denied any suggestion that the discussions were linked to ministers' attendance at the concerts and last night said it would not comment on the work of the Attorney General.
However, Lord Hermer's spokesman also backed down on the decision, saying it was “purely an operational police decision”.
A spokesman for the Met Police said the force was “operationally independent” and its decisions were based “on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm”.
Who is Keir Starmer's lead lawyer who 'pressured' Scotland Yard to provide Taylor Swift with a police escort?
Author: Rebecca Camber
When former shadow attorney-general Emily Thornberry was snubbed for the work she did in opposition, she slurred: “I'm very sorry and surprised.”
But perhaps Lord Hermer's appointment shouldn't have come as such a shock.
The 56-year-old, a long-time friend and former colleague of the Prime Minister, worked with Sir Keir Starmer at Doughty Street Chambers.
In 2019 he donated £5,000 to Sir Keir's Work leadership campaign. Unusually for the role of Attorney General, the Prime Minister decided to recruit from outside politics and, after the election, made Lord Hermer a life partner.
The pair became close when Lord Hermer joined Doughty Street in 1993 after completing his education in Wales.
Lord (Richard) Hermer, Attorney General, in Downing Street for the last cabinet meeting before the summer break
He attended Cardiff High School, then studied politics and modern history at the University of Manchester, and qualified as a barrister in 1993.
When Lord Hermer was appointed Central Committee in 2009, the future Prime Minister made a toast during a silk ceremony.
Friends are said to share similar views.
Lord Hermer once told a newspaper that if he could pass a bill it would be the “European Union (Can We Go Back?) Act”.
He also commented on the illegality of the so-called Rwanda Bill in a podcast before the project was abandoned by Sir Keir.
The attorney, formerly known as Richard Hermer, KC, has made a career of high-profile human rights cases and is not afraid to cause controversy.
Last year he represented Gerry Adams in a lawsuit brought against him and the Provisional IRA by victims of the London and Manchester bombings.
He controversially argued that part of the case against Mr. Adams and the Provisional IRA should be dismissed because PIRA is an “unincorporated association” that “cannot legally be sued.”
The barrister, who was appointed a deputy judge of the Supreme Court in 2019, advised the Labor Party last year on a bill aimed at prohibiting public bodies from boycotting other countries.
The lawyer previously represented the mother of one of the 'Beatles' Isis landmark killer in the Supreme Court case, which prevented the UK from sharing evidence with the US for criminal proceedings.
In another high-profile case, he argued that Isis, who is Shamima Begum's fiancée, should have been allowed to return to the UK to take part in an appeal to have her citizenship revoked.
Lord Hermer represented former Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah, who alleged that the British security and intelligence services were complicit in his ill-treatment and torture.
He also brought a legal case on behalf of Afghan families to the UK's official inquiry into allegations that British special forces covered up murders there.
