Why Is Taylor Swift’s London Police Escort Causing Bad Blood Within the U.K. Government?
Months after Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour said “So Long, London,” the pop star’s police escort to her five sold-out Wembley Stadium shows in August is causing quite a stir within the U.K. government.
Last week, U.K. tabloid The Sun claimed that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and home secretary Yvette Cooper had been involved in talks with the Metropolitan Police to provide Swift with extra security to and from Wembley. This was directly following the threat of a terrorist attack at her Vienna shows, which were ultimately canceled, and in the wake of a fatal stabbing attack at a Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
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According to The Sun, the Met initially had reservations about this, given that this type of escort is typically reserved for senior royals and politicians (for perspective, Prince Harry doesn’t receive private police protection anymore). However, according to The Guardian and other publications, there was an understood risk of the concerts being canceled if a police escort was not provided. The Times of London reported that the Met’s headquarters even sought legal advice from U.K. Attorney General Lord Hermer on the matter — a move that would be considered out of the ordinary — and Swift was eventually granted a special blue-light escort.
These claims came as politicians in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s newly established Labour government were under fire for accepting gifts and hospitality, with Starmer, Khan and Cooper all attending Swift’s Eras Tour for free. However, The Telegraph reports that Khan’s tickets were provided by the Football Association and were offered before security arrangements had been put in place. According to The Guardian, Cooper attended as the guest of her husband, former Labour minister turned morning show anchor Ed Balls, who was invited by Universal Music. Starmer also paid back over ￡3,000 for his tickets in response to backlash over the hospitality. Still, reports in The Sun and other tabloids have questioned if the decision to provide extra security came down to “undue influence.”
When grilled about the situation on Monday, Khan insisted the police have “operational independence, whether it’s policing a protest, whether it’s policing a concert, a sporting event, New Year’s Eve fireworks,” The Telegraph reported.
But Khan added that he and Cooper do “speak regularly with the Met Police Service about a whole host of security issues and, of course, we’re going to raise the issue of security around world-breaking concerts.”
A source close to Cooper told the BBC last week that “we can make categorically clear that all operational decisions were made by the Metropolitan Police and they do not discuss security arrangements.” Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also defended Cooper, saying in a statement that there was no “undue influence.”
“But,” Nandy said, “you would expect the home secretary and the mayor of the city where this event is taking place, given the history of what had just happened in Vienna, to be involved in the conversation about security arrangements.”
In a statement to The Telegraph, a spokesperson for Hermer said, “This was solely an operational decision for the police.” The Prime Minister’s spokesperson echoed this, saying that “operational decisions are for the Met independently of the Government, but “you’d expect Government, the police, the Mayor of London to be involved in planning significant events in the capital to ensure the public is kept safe.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Met told The Telegraph: “The Met is operationally independent. Our decision-making is based on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case. It is our longstanding position that we don’t comment on the specific details of protective security arrangements.”
A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
The discussion surrounding Swift’s police escort has certainly highlighted the U.K.’s political divide, with many right-leaning politicians — like former Prime Minister Boris Johnson — believing it not to be fair for the singer to get special treatment. In a column for the Daily Mail, Johnson opined that the escort was granted “because the Labour Government is deeply and personally beholden to Taylor Swift, and they were terrified she was going to cancel her August concerts.”
However, others, like Tony Blair’s former director of political operations John McTernan, think it was the right call. “Can you imagine the headlines if the Metropolitan Police had decided that there was no real threat to Taylor Swift?” McTernan told Channel 4. “We know that there are terrorists who will attack fans in arenas, going to watch music, pop music. And so a serious threat had to be dealt with a serious response.”
Swift’s Eras Tour ended up generating around ￡1 billion for the U.K. economy, with 1.2 million people attending her shows in the country.
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