'Needed to make sure she was safe': Rayner defends Taylor Swift's London police escort

Angela Rayner has defended Taylor Swift being given a blue-light escort through London as they "needed to make sure she was safe".

The deputy prime minister denied senior Labour figures, including the home secretary and London mayor, were given tickets to Swift's August shows in the capital in exchange for police protection.

Ms Rayner reiterated what other Labour politicians have said, that the decision to give the megastar a police escort was "an operational decision" by the Met Police.

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"I absolutely dispute that somehow that this was, in any way, connected to whether somebody went to a concert or not," she said.

She said it was down to the fact Swift's concerts in Vienna had been cancelled due to a foiled terror attack, which was meant to kill tens of thousands of fans.

"We needed to make sure that that person was safe. And it was a policing matter, not an issue for politicians. It was the police that make the decision," she said.

"It's right that they make the decision. And I fully support them in that."

Ms Rayner added that police provided the security to ensure Swift could continue with the concerts "which brought in huge amounts of investment of money into our economy, including those small businesses that need that support".

Sky News reported on Wednesday Ms Cooper's husband, former Labour MP Ed Balls, had been given free tickets by Swift's label Universal and she went as his guest.

Mr Balls was offered the four tickets on 4 August, before Swift's shows in Vienna were cancelled, and the couple attended the gig on 16 August after the security discussions.

Ms Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke to the Metropolitan Police to encourage them to give the megastar a "VVIP escort" through London for her Wembley Stadium concerts.

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The Met were reportedly reluctant to sign it off as a blue-light escort is typically reserved for senior members of the Royal Family and high-level politicians, as it comes at huge expense to the taxpayer, The Sun reported.

No information about the tickets appeared in the public domain until Wednesday.

The tickets were understood to be worth £170 - less than the £300 that would make it a declarable expense - but the home secretary made the declaration to the Cabinet Office on Wednesday.

Sky News understands the Home Office department was informed as soon as the tickets were offered and the permanent secretary's office informed the Cabinet Office on 23 September. At this point there was concern that the Commons Parliamentary commissioner was not willing to make it public.

It also understood the home secretary's team had been liaising with their permanent secretary's office about this for the last week or so.