The Home Secretary attended Taylor Swift’s London concerts using tickets provided to her husband, Ed Balls, a presenter on Good Morning Britain.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Sadiq Khan received his tickets from the Football Association, the organization that owns Wembley Stadium.
According to a source close to the Home Secretary, these concerts, held in August, took place shortly after Swift canceled her Vienna shows due to a terror plot.
The CIA’s deputy director revealed that the plot aimed to kill “tens of thousands” of attendees.
This led to heightened concerns about whether Swift’s London performances would proceed, especially given recent violent disorder in several British towns and cities and the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
In the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing during Ariana Grande’s concert in 2017, security for major events like these has been taken extremely seriously.
The government is also preparing to introduce Martyn’s Law, legislation aimed at enhancing the security of public venues.
The source emphasized that all decisions regarding security for the concerts were made by the Metropolitan Police, which does not publicly discuss security protocols.
Regarding the concert tickets, the source added that the Home Secretary had initially attempted to declare the ticket on her parliamentary register of interests.
However, she was informed that the ticket was exempt from declaration because it fell below the £300 threshold and was gifted to her husband, not to her directly.
In September, she contacted the Cabinet Office and formally declared the ticket in her ministerial register on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police reiterated the force’s operational independence, explaining that all decisions are based on thorough threat assessments.
The police force declined to comment on specific security arrangements.
A Home Office spokesperson echoed this, affirming the Metropolitan Police’s autonomy but noting that both the mayor and the Home Secretary are involved in discussions surrounding large-scale events.
Following the foiled terror plot in Vienna, Taylor Swift shared her thoughts, saying, “I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London.”
She thanked stadium staff and British authorities for their support.
Swift performed three concerts at Wembley Stadium in June and five more in August.
London’s City Hall declined to comment on the Metropolitan Police’s security measures.
