Sadiq Khan has admitted to having discussed Taylor Swift’s security arrangements with the Metropolitan Police ahead of her tour performances in London – joining a host of Sir Keir Starmer’s top brass in a row over safety.
Swift, 34, had been handed a Met motorbike escort – labelled “VVIP” protection, and typically reserved for heads of state and members of the Royal Family – much to the police’s chagrin.
The Met is understood to have warned officials that the convoy could break its own protocols – even though Swift’s own concerts in Austria had been cancelled over terror threats earlier this year.
On Monday, Khan said: “The Government, the Home Secretary [Yvette Cooper]… myself as the Mayor, 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.”
But it wasn’t just the Mayor of London involved in ensuring the country star was surrounded by police, new reports say.
Over the weekend, The Sunday Times revealed that Attorney General Lord Hermer KC had been told to step in to assuage the Met’s protocol qualms.
The paper’s sources said it was only after Lord Hermer’s intervention that Swift was given protection – though it remains unclear who asked for his involvement.
One former Government law officer said that if he directly gave advice to Scotland Yard, it would appear to go beyond his remit – advising the Government on the legality of policy – not other bodies.
And last night, The Sun claimed that recently-departed No10 chief of staff Sue Gray had been in negotiations with Swift’s mother Andrea – who is the singer’s manager.
Sources said that Gray was key in convincing the Met to relent – and also alleged that Andrea Swift had threatened to call off her daughter’s London dates entirely if her security demands were not met.
A Downing Street source told the paper that the security was a “matter for the police regardless of what conversations or meetings took place”.
Despite the row having been probed by a Tory shadow minister in the Commons, the Home Secretary joked at a Westminster reception last night: “As [my husband] Ed Balls taught me, you just have to shake it off because the haters gonna hate, hate, hate.”
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Unemployment rate falls to 4% – but claims for DWP jobless benefits INCREASE
UK economy and people waiting on job interview GETTY
Britain’s unemployment rate dropped to four per cent in the three-month period leading up to August 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
Prior forecasts had estimated unemployment would fall at 4.1 per cent – but the latest ONS data has marginally undercut the predictions in a boon for the UK economy.
Despite the drop, the number of people claiming jobless benefits soared by 27,900 in September and 23,700 in August, surpassing the ONS’s expected 20,200 figure.
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