Huge cost of policing Taylor Swift’s London gigs revealed & it SOARED after she demanded blue light escort
POLICING Taylor Swift’s London concerts cost the Met more than £700,000 of taxpayers’ cash.
And that figure soared by £150,000 after she demanded extra security including a blue-light escort.
The cost of supplying 1,100 cops across the Eras Tour’s eight sell-out shows rose from £68,000 a night in June to nearly £100,000 a night on her return in August.
Experts said the 45 per cent surge was caused by extra fears for Swift, 34, who came to London days after three concerts in Vienna were axed over a bomb plot.
The Anti-Hero singer’s team, including “momager” Andrea, then demanded a police escort with specialist outriders.
Andrea even threatened to cancel the August dates, which would have been a blow to the live music economy and a huge disappointment to hundreds of thousands of Swifties.
We previously told how Andrea, 66, negotiated directly with government officials, including Keir Starmer’s ex-aide Sue Gray, for the blue-light escort.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper even intervened, urging the Met to relax its rules.
Police statistics show Swift’s concerts were one of the most costly events to patrol this year.
It dwarfs the sum splashed on cops for ex-One Direction singer Harry Styles, who sold out Wembley for a four-night run last summer.
His shows cost a total of £220,000 to police – around £55k a night.
The As It Was singer later paid back £55k.