Taylor Swift’s police escort was approved after pressure from attorney-general

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/taylor-swifts-police-escort-was-approved-after-pressure-from-attorney-general-h0b09ckl5

Posted by 457655676

12 Comments

  1. OfficialGarwood on

    We still going on about this?

    On the whole, it makes sense for her to have it. The risk for terrorism, assassination and/or kidnapping would be extremely high.

    I don’t like it when celebrities get preferential treatment, but there are cases where there is legitimate security risk, and a star as big as she is right now, is that risk.

  2. Slight-Water-3419 on

    My daughter went to one of these concerts. I’m very grateful that, considering the Vienna terrorist threat and the Southport murders (edited because I’m a moron), managing the risk for Swift and the concert goers was taken so seriously. Knowing that she got this enhanced security suggests to me that the security around the concert itself was also significantly increased.

  3. Imagine for a second there was no police protection after bomb and death threats, and something had happened. The furore in the the press would be unimaginable.

    Personally I’m glad she’s safe and managed to perform at her shows

  4. Natural-Crow-2922 on

    As long as she pays for the extra policing i can’t see a problem. I’m sure she can afford it.

  5. Few-Double3609 on

    Seen the front page on Sky News press preview around the same time so scrolled back to comment.

    It reads like the very high bar for this sort of protection hadn’t been reached – the Met applied the rules fairly and consistently. However ‘government’ applied pressure to ensure the arrangements were put in place. The unusual bit being government is considered political which shouldn’t be applying pressure like this.

    Either intelligence wasn’t being shared with the Met, it was political or Taylor’s camp used a connection to push for it.

    Honestly, I don’t care. It was the right decision to provide it even at tax payers expense. I know some might suggest it’s non story but the transparency is important.

  6. MoanyTonyBalony on

    She needed protection. It would make the UK look awful if something happened.

    It’s not that long ago someone bombed an Arianna Grande concert in Manchester. I’d prefer it if we make an effort to avoid things like that.

  7. Are we paying for this shit? No way we as UK taxpayers should be fronting some celebs security.

  8. We saw a convoy with police motorbikes on our way to Wembley on Aug 15, and wondered if it was her, but it seemed a bit early in the day.

  9. There was a statistic published recently that showed that her concerts temporarily raise GDP, so I guess the security stuff will pay for itself anyway.

  10. Useless_or_inept on

    She’s a global megastar, and people are fretting about a police escort?

    This is what brings down Great Britain. Not a revolution or a war, but the people who want to review spending on biscuits for visiting diplomats to dunk in their tea (the committee is considering withdrawing the custard cream option, since the Shadow Foreign Secretary submitted a paper arguing there’s a significant structural similarity to the bourbons)

  11. >taxpayer-funded blue-light escort to her Wembley concerts this summer.

    >Scotland Yard warned that granting the US pop star “VVIP” protection would breach its long-standing protocols.

    You can guarantee that now this precedent has been broken, other super celebrities will aquire the priviledge as if they were visiting dignitaries.