DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Swift reply wanted on police escort row
The mystery surrounding the Government’s role in Scotland Yard giving Taylor Swift a full police escort to her London concerts grows murkier by the day.
There has rightly been outrage that taxpayers’ money was used to whisk the pop star to and from Wembley Stadium under the protection of blue-light motorcyclists.
Such a high level of security, provided by the Met Police’s Special Escort Group (SEG), is normally reserved for royalty, the Prime Minister and visiting heads of state. Even Prince Harry no longer qualifies.
So how did the American billionaire and her entourage come to enjoy this privilege in August? What is certain is this was not purely an ‘operational’ decision by police.
While Ms Swift’s Vienna shows were axed after an Islamic State bomb plot was foiled, the Met concluded there was no risk to her in the UK and refused her VVIP protection.
Sir Keir also received free tickets to the Taylor Swift show, where he was pictured hugging his wife Victoria
US pop star Taylor Swift was given taxpayer-funded protection while in London for her Eras tour
As a result, the singer’s mother – also her manager – complained to the Home Office, threatening to cancel the London dates. What happened next is deeply concerning.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour mayor, reportedly leaned on Scotland Yard to reverse its original decision. Both had accepted freebie tickets to see Ms Swift perform.
Now the scandal has deepened. We learn that someone in the Government asked the Attorney General to twist arms at the Met.
Lord Hermer, the country’s most senior law officer, allegedly wrote to give the force ‘legal cover’ to breach its protocols and provide blue-light security for the pop star. Only then did Scotland Yard relent.
But why on earth did he intervene in the first place? It’s hardly as if there was some point of law at stake. And who authorised him to put pen to paper? He surely didn’t do it on his own initiative.
Was Sir Keir Starmer involved? Lord Hermer is, after all, a close friend and Labour donor. Of course, the PM also had a personal interest in appeasing Ms Swift’s demands. For he had been gifted expensive tickets for his family to watch the showbusiness event of the year.
How disappointed Sir Keir and Co would have been had the show not gone on.
Lord (Richard) Hermer, Attorney General, at Downing Street for the final Cabinet meeting before the summer recess
This whole episode stinks. First, there is the hypocrisy. In opposition, Labour screamed blue murder at any hint of the Tories meddling in the operational independence of the police.
Secondly, ministers look hopelessly compromised. They appear to see no harm in pressuring police to give special treatment to a VIP – at public expense –while they themselves stand to benefit.
The drip, drip, drip of troubling revelations is not stopping. The Government must come clean about exactly what went on.
Business blockers
Rarely has Sir Keir sounded so business friendly. At a summit today, he’ll vow to ‘rip out’ the red tape that deters entrepreneurs from investing billions in Britain.
The problem is, Labour’s track record suggests the opposite. Its workers’ rights revolution will burden employers with extra costs and more bureaucracy.
Expected tax hikes in the Budget threaten to drive firms away. Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh’s intemperate attack on P&O Ferries almost saw its owner withdraw £1billion of investment in Britain.
Whatever warm words Sir Keir bandies about, Ms Haigh has given us a clear glimpse of Labour’s antipathy to business, wealth creation and capitalism.
The party needs to realise that while such hostility remains, companies will find Britain an unappealing place to put their money.
