Keir Starmer is facing calls for an independent inquiry over the decision to grant Taylor Swift a police escort.
Fury grew last night as it emerged the US pop star was given taxpayer-funded protection after the Government’s chief law officer was called in to put pressure on Scotland Yard.
Senior Tories demanded answers amid claims that ministers ‘improperly interfered’ in the decision, which has come to be dubbed ‘Taylorgate’.
Sources said that Attorney General Lord Hermer, who is a close friend of the Prime Minister, was asked to intervene after the Met warned that granting the singer ‘VVIP’ protection would breach its long-standing protocols.
It was only after this intervention that senior officers reversed their original decision and granted a level of security normally reserved for royalty and top-level politicians, according to sources.
Last night Boris Johnson said: ‘Why on earth is the Attorney General interfering with an operational decision of the Met about a blue-light escort? What point of law can conceivably be at stake? We need to be told or else we must conclude the obvious: Hermer is Starmer’s stooge and sponsor and he was just doing his buddy’s bidding.’
Last week it emerged that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged the Met to give the star special protection for two of her Eras tour concerts in August.
Mr Khan and Ms Cooper received free tickets to Ms Swift’s concerts, but both say this was wholly unrelated to the decision.
Sir Keir also received free tickets to the show, where he was pictured hugging his wife Victoria.
It was the first time the service, provided by the Met’s Special Escort Group of motorcyclists (SEG), had been granted to a pop star.
Police are supposed to operate without political interference, with decisions on who gets protection being made by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec).
Last night media lawyer Mark Stephens said the decision to grant a pop star police protection may help Prince Harry argue his case against the Home Office. The Duke of Sussex is waging a legal battle after he was stripped of police protection when he stood down as a working royal.
