Lisa Nandy denies “undue influence” of police escort

A police escort for Taylor Swift was not the result of “undue influence” from senior politicians who attended the singer’s London concerts, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said.

The decision was made by senior police officials even though Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were involved in discussions over the summer about security around the US superstar’s shows, Nandy said.

Despite initial police reservations, Swift was assigned a motorbike convoy to protect her on the way to Wembley. The Sun reported.

Senior Labor politicians including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Khan and Nandy were given free tickets to Eras Tour shows.

A source close to the Home Secretary said: “The London Taylor Swift concerts in August took place immediately afterwards.” the cancellation of their Vienna concertsafter a terrorist attack was uncovered that the CIA deputy director said aimed to kill “tens of thousands” of attendees and led to widespread questions about whether the London concerts would go ahead.

“They also came after two weeks of serious and violent unrest in several British cities, following the horrific attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.”

“Following the Manchester Arena attack at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017, security precautions for events such as this are taken extremely seriously.

“Indeed, the government will soon legislate for Martyn’s Law to improve venue security.

“We can make it categorically clear that all operational decisions have been made by the Metropolitan Police and they do not discuss security arrangements.”

On Wednesday night it emerged that Cooper attended one of the concerts for free as the tickets were given to her husband Ed Balls, a presenter on Good Morning Britain.

The source told the BBC that she tried to declare the ticket on her parliamentary register of interests, but was told this was not possible because it was under £300, which is the threshold for declarations, and because it was her husband and wasn’t given to her husband directly by Cooper.

The source said she then contacted the Cabinet Office in September to try to include this in her ministerial statements and formally did so on Wednesday.

Earlier, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Neither the Prime Minister, nor the Home Secretary, nor the Mayor of London have the power to overrule the police in this matter. It is an operational decision by the police.”

“You can express your own opinion. That is certainly the case.”

“But one would expect that the interior minister and the mayor of the city where this event is taking place would be included in the conversation about security precautions given the history of what just happened in Vienna.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was “operationally independent”.

“Our decision-making is based on a thorough assessment of the threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each individual case,” the spokesman said.

The force added it would not comment on specific details of security arrangements.

A Home Office spokesman reiterated the Met Police’s operational independence but said the mayor and home secretary would be included in discussions about major events.

The spokesman also quoted Swift’s comments after the foiled terrorist attack in Vienna: “I have decided that I must devote all my energy to protecting the almost half a million people who have come to the shows in London.”

“My team and I have worked hand in hand with the stadium staff and the UK authorities every day to achieve this goal and I would like to thank them for everything they have done for us.”

The singer gave three performances at Wembley Stadium in June and five in August.

City Hall said it would not comment on the Met’s security arrangements.

The Prime Minister has returned almost £3,400 for four Taylor Swift tickets donated by Universal Music Group and two by the Football Association.