Downing Street has denied the Prime Minister received free tickets from Taylor Swift as a thank you for the singer’s police escort to a Wembley concert in August.
Despite police initial reservations about the arrangement, Swift was protected by a convoy of motorcycles on the way to the London Stadium.
It has emerged that the prime minister met the singer backstage after the show.
He received four tickets worth £2,800 from the singer’s record label, Universal Music, to one of her concerts that month. Sir Keir later reimbursed Universal for the cost of the tickets.
Asked whether this was a “thank you” for Downing Street’s preference for the Metropolitan Police, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I completely reject that characterization”.
“Ultimately it is the police who make operational decisions on these major incidents,” he said.
It is understood the prime minister and her family had a 10-minute chat with Swift and her mother Andrea, which only concerned the Southport attack, which took place at a Taylor Swift-themed dance studio .
Two government sources told the BBC that senior members of Starmer’s team had been in contact with the singer’s management over her security arrangements.
Downing Street refused to deny this, but a spokesman said: “It is right that the Government engages in dialogue and conversation around the arrangements for major events to ensure they run safely and smoothly”.
Government sources said Starmer received tickets from Universal Music because it is based in his central London constituency.
Labor politicians who have received free tickets to Taylor Swift concerts in recent months include Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones, the newly elected Beckenham MP and Penger, the son of Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Grey. Liam Conlon.
Conlon has yet to respond to the BBC’s inquiry into whether he used two tickets to take his mother to the concert.
Last week it was revealed that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were involved in talks over security at summer shows after the US star’s Vienna show was canceled due to a foiled terror plot.
Both Cooper and Khan received free tickets to the Wembley show.
The home secretary gave the ticket to her husband Ed Balls, presenter of Good Morning Britain. Khan’s tickets were provided by the football association, which owns the stadium.
A source close to the home secretary said last week: “Taylor Swift gave a London concert in August immediately after her Vienna concert was cancelled, after the deputy director of the CIA said a terror plot had been discovered , aiming to kill “tens of thousands of people.”
“The horrific attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport comes after two weeks of serious violent disorder in a number of towns across the UK.
“Following the attack on Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena in 2017, security arrangements for such events are taken extremely seriously.
“In fact, the government will soon legislate Martin’s Law to improve venue safety.
“We can make it clear that all operational decisions are made by the Metropolitan Police and they do not discuss security arrangements.”
Sources told the BBC she had tried to declare the ticket on the parliamentary register of interests but was told she could not do so because the ticket was below £300 (the declaration threshold) and because the ticket was for her husband , instead of giving it to her.
Sources said she then contacted the Cabinet Office in September to try to include it in a ministerial statement and officially did so on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the force “operates independently”.
“Our decisions are based on a comprehensive assessment of the threat, risk and harm and the circumstances of each case,” the spokesman said.
The force added that it would not comment on the specific details of security arrangements.
A Home Office spokesman reiterated the Met Police’s operational independence but said the mayor and home secretary would be involved in conversations about major events.
The spokesperson also quoted Swift’s words after foiling a terrorist plot in Vienna: “I have decided to devote all my energy to helping protect the nearly half a million people who came to London to attend my show.
“My team and I are working hand-in-hand with stadium staff and the UK authorities every day to make this happen and I’d like to thank them for everything they do for us.”
The singer played three shows at Wembley Arena in June and five shows in August.
London’s City Hall said it would not comment on security arrangements at the Met.
The Prime Minister received a total of ten tickets for the three concerts.
He has repaid nearly £3,400 for four Taylor Swift tickets donated by Universal Music Group and two tickets donated by the Football Association.
He has yet to refund Taylor Swift tickets worth £4,000 he received from the Premier League before becoming Prime Minister.
