Taylor Swift‘s mother discussed her daughter’s VVIP security directly with Sue Gray, insiders have claimed.
It comes as a Labour minister stonewalled MP’s questions yesterday over why the Government’s top lawyer intervened in a decision to grant Taylor Swift a police escort in London.
There has been intense scrutiny of the involvement of senior Labour figures after Swift was provided with a taxpayer-funded motorbike convoy this summer.
Scotland Yard initially dismissed the idea of providing special security, which is usually reserved for royals and heads of state.
But the force backtracked after intervention from the Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, The Times previously reported.
Sources claim Andrea Swift, Taylor’s mother and manager, threatened to cancel the August Wembley dates of the Eras tour if the security demands were not met.
Now, a No10 source has claimed that Sir Keir Starmer‘s then Chief of Staff played a central role in convincing Met Police bosses to rethink, The Sun reported.
Taylor Swift ‘s mother Andrea (pictured) discussed her daughter’s VVIP security directly with Sue Gray, insiders have claimed
There has been intense scrutiny of the involvement of senior Labour figures after Taylor Swift was provided with a taxpayer-funded motorbike convoy this summer
London mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper were both revealed to have been involved in talks around Swift’s security for her recent Wembley concerts.
Both Mr Khan and Ms Cooper were among top politicians, including Sir Keir Starmer, to have attended Swift’s Eras tour concerts in London for free.
The involvement of Lord Hermer, who was handed a peerage by the PM in order to join the Government, in discussions with the Met Police is seen as highly unusual.
But Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves dodged questions over the Attorney General’s role when quizzed in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon.
Tory MP Sir Gavin Williamson, a former defence secretary, was among those to press Ms Reeves about Lord Hermer’s involvement.
He said: ‘There’s a lot of concern among constituents about how, for the giving away of free tickets, the Government seems to have been involved in compromising the operational independence of the police.
Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves swerved queries about the actions of Attorney General Richard Hermer amid a growing row
Sir Keir Starmer, pictured with his wife Victoria, was among top Labour politicians to have attended Swift’s Eras tour concerts in London for free
The involvement of Lord Hermer, who was handed a peerage by the PM in order to join the Government, in discussions with the Met Police is seen as highly unusual
‘I appreciate the minister can’t set out what the Attorney General’s advice was. But can she explain to the House why the Attorney General was asked to give advice?
‘And what question the Attorney General was asked to answer?’
Ms Reeves replied: ‘Policing is an operational matter for the police, so not something I can comment on directly.’
Dr Andrew Murrison, another Conservative backbencher, asked: ‘Does the minister agree that the use of police outriders, whistles and sirens to facilitate the ferrying of the favoured few around capital cities characterise the capital cities of less enlightened realms and not, until this point, our own?
‘And does she agree with me that the Special Escort Group needs to be used sparingly and not to ferry entertainers around regardless of the number of free tickets dispensed to senior members of the Government?’.
In response, Ms Reeves repeated it was an ‘operational matter for the police and not something I can comment on further’.