Lisa Nandy denies Taylor Swift intervention by top Labour figures over blue-light police escort in London
A cabinet minister has denied top Labour politicians personally intervened to give Taylor Swift a blue-light police escort to Wembley.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan allegedly spoke to the Metropolitan Police to encourage them to give the megastar a “VVIP escort” through London in August for her Wembley Stadium concerts.
The Met were reportedly reluctant to sign it off as a blue-light escort is typically reserved for senior members of the Royal Family and high-level politicians, as it comes at huge expense to the taxpayer, The Sun reported.
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Swift’s mother Andrea, who is also her manager, apparently threatened to pull her daughter’s three shows if the police convoy was not provided.
Days before, the musician was forced to axe her shows in Vienna due to a foiled suicide bomb plot targeting her Eras tour, which the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later said was intended to kill tens of thousands of people.
Taylor Swift pictured performing at Wembley Stadium in July. Pic: Invision/AP
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News she “utterly rejected” there was “any kind of wrongdoing” by the Labour government or London’s Labour mayor.
She said “you would expect” the home secretary and the mayor to be involved in a conversation “where there is a security risk”, such as after the Vienna bomb plot.
“It’s an operational matter for the police, not for the government,” she told Sky News.
Fans gather outside Wembley Stadium ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concert. Pic: PA
The minister added Ms Cooper will have made a “considered judgement about that and expressed a view”.
She added: “Don’t forget that when it comes to Taylor Swift, what had just happened was that a series of concerts have been cancelled in Vienna because of the very serious security threat.
“I really utterly reject that there’s been any kind of wrongdoing or undue influence in this case.”
Ms Nandy said no politician, not even the prime minister, “has the power to override the police on this matter”.
Leading Conservative MP James Cleverly, currently the frontrunner to win the Tory leadership, has written to the home secretary asking if it is true she intervened to grant “VVIP protection” to Swift.
He also asked her whether any minister spoke to Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley about protection for Swift and if they were offered tickets to her concerts before or after decisions about her protection were made.
Mr Cleverly said motorcycle escorts provided by the Met “are not for use by private individuals or as traffic assistants for popstars”.
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Swift’s mother, who is her manager, reportedly threatened to pull the three August shows at Wembley. Pic: PA
A Home Office source told Sky News “this was an operational decision for the police”.
“Of course, when events of this scale take place you would expect the government, the Mayor’s Office and the Met Police to work together to ensure they can be held safely and securely,” they said.
Mr Khan’s spokesman said: “We don’t comment on the Met’s security arrangements – they are operational decisions for them.”
Sky News understands Mr Khan and Ms Cooper did discuss the tour’s security arrangements. Tickets provided to the mayor were not from Swift’s team and were offered before any security discussions took place, it’s also understood.
Yvette Cooper and Sadiq Khan discussed Swift’s security. Pic: PA
The London mayor attended one of Swift’s Wembley gigs. Pic: Reuters
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A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “The Met is operationally independent.
“Our decision making is based on a thorough assessment of threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case.
“It is our longstanding position that we don’t comment on the specific details of protective security arrangements.”
Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.
Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.
They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.
There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.
But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.
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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.
Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.
The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.
Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.
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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem
Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.
‘Missing in action’
General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”
She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.
“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.
“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.
“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”
Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.
He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.
“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.
A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.
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