Sir Keir Starmer allegedly met with pop superstar Taylor Swift backstage at one of her gigs in August after accepting free tickets.
The Prime Minister received four tickets worth £2,800 to the singer’s concert in Wembley after his former chief of staff Sue Grey negotiated a police escort for Swift following security concerns.
Police initially refused the escort, which is usually reserved for royals and senior foreign diplomats, but reportedly caved in following orders from Starmer’s team.
The PM was then offered tickets to the show by Universal Music, which is based in his constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.
It is believed the tickets were then given as a ‘thank you’ to Starmer after he secured a police escort for Swift, which No.10 has refused to deny.
Starmer also reportedly had a 10-minute ‘meet-n-greet’ with Swift and her mother after the show, in which they discussed the recent Southport attacks which took place at a children’s dance class.
Swift’s mother Andrea, who acts as her daughter’s manager, reportedly threatened to cancel the Wembley shows if the escort was not provided, according to the Sun.
And the BBC has confirmed that senior members of Starmer’s team had been in contact with Swift’s management over her security arrangements following an attempted terror attack at her show in Austria.
A Downing St spokesman said: ‘It is right for the government to have conversations and a dialogue around the arrangements pertaining to major events to ensure that these go forward safely and smoothly’.
When asked if there was a potential conflict of interest, the spokesperson said: ‘I completely reject that characterisation because it’s ultimately up to the police to take operational decisions in relation to the security of these major events.’
‘Operational decisions are for the Met. That’s the bottom line.’
Other Labour politicians who received free tickets to Taylor Swift concerts in recent months include chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones and Liam Conlon, the newly-elected MP for Beckenham and Penge and son of Starmer’s former chief of staff Sue Gray.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also received free tickets to the show.
Starmer later paid back the cost of the tickets along with around £6,0000 of free gifts and hospitality he had received from the private sector after a row over ‘freebies’ accepted by minister became a major scandal over the summer.
Sarah Jones, the industry minister, said the prime minister’s motivation for repaying the money was ‘to do more to make people trust politicians’.
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