LONDON, Oct 9 — US star Taylor Swift got a special police escort for her London concerts after an alleged suicide attack plot led to the cancellation of three performances in Vienna. Culture Minister Lisa Nandy denied the singer was given preferential treatment, after reports she had a motorbike escort usually reserved for senior members of the royal family and politicians. Her denial comes with the new Labour government under attack for accepting free gifts, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was given six tickets to the Swift concert.
Starmer, who attended the concert with his wife Victoria, announced last week that he had repaid thousands of pounds worth of gifts including the concert tickets. But Nandy said the police escort, first reported by The Sun newspaper, was not the result of pressure from senior politicians. “I utterly reject that there’s been any kind of wrongdoing or undue influence in this case,” she told Sky News television.
The interior minister, Yvette Cooper, would not have insisted “any individual got the top level of private security arrangements. That is an operational matter for the police, not for the government,” she said. Other Labour politicians who enjoyed free tickets for the “Eras” tour shows included Education Minister Bridget Phillipson, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Nandy herself.
The Swift tour wrapped up its European leg in August in London following dates across a dozen countries. The last month of the Europe tour, ho.
