Oh dear and now Yvette!

[Icanthinkformyselfthanks]

Yvette Cooper’s husband was given Taylor Swift tickets worth hundreds of pounds and he invited his wife. Following this Ms Swift was given security she worth millions she might not have necessarily expected to receive. The Labour sleaze just does not let up!

I work in music- this kind of thing is totally 100% normal at any event where there is any kind of very large gatherings or security risk to public or artist. Talk about making mountains out of molehills- my H as tour manager has had police escorts a few times.

I can't get excited about a few free ( and declared ) tickets either which are of no cost to the public purse . Given the scale of the Tory's freebies, helicopters, huge contracts to mates, and generally taking the piss with actual public funds the press clearly haven't got much of interest to them to write about - what's their intention given we mainly have a right wing press ? No doubt to keep at it for almost 5 years and herald a Tory/reform gvt probably led by Farage- a man who has done very nicely on constant freeby homes and money from donors of influence plus public 'asked for' donations at one point from gullible people and not actually spied much in constituency . You couldn't make it up!!

I think the police are in a better position to judge security needs than a politician. That is their professional expertise.

@Dorisbonson they work in conjunction with the Home Secretary and mayor of London on events like this.

"I think the police are in a better position to judge security needs than a politician. That is their professional expertise."

Which, I guess, is why police escorts where used at other UK venues.

were not where!

The media too are relying on the fact too that things tight and people are begrudging of anyone 'doing ok' - plus of course we have the far left lunatics still around who want to discredit Starmer at any opportunity purely because 'their guy' never got the top job and they somehow think there's an untapped fountain of funds to spend on their pet causes- I've come to the conclusion common sense for many of the public has totally gone out the window - the Tory's turned it into dog eat dog

People forget media is 'a business' they need physical sales and clicks and people chuntering on forums and need content constantly for people to 'react' to - no matter how piffling an issue it is or how factual their reporting are - why tell people that this is the norm!' Football matches etc are all policed and it's not for free

Can you imagine if the police were not used and an incident occurred- next days headlines 'where were the police' ??

I don't remember any threads on all the freebies enjoyed by Tories and Labour last Summer.

It was OK in 2023 for MPs to have freebies to Billy Joel, Glastonbury, the Flower Show, the Ashes, Royal Opera House, Coldplay (which was Starmer, but no one said a dicky bird on MN about it at the time) and more but not Taylor Swift in 2024, it seems.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/aug/23/more-than-100-mps-received-freebies-worth-180000-this-summer

A Tory MP, Scott Benton, was filmed by undercover journalists talking of how MPs can get around the hospitality rules by accepting tickets worth just under the £300 limit for declarations. “You’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295,” he said.

I wonder why freebies have only been a major issue since July, when all MPs of all stripes have been at it for years?

This is not a story. Ed Balls is not a politician and the security was ramped up because of threats against Taylor Swift that were deemed serious enough for her Vienna concerts to be cancelled.

Have you been angry about that, and expressing your anger, for the past 14 years? Or is it only since there’s been a Labour government?

You are wrong.
Are the security services barred from involvement in planning major events? Does the Mayor of London have no input?
chief Constables do have operational independence but work every day in consultation and agreement with other agencies. I’m astonished that you appear to be ignorant of this.

@icanthinkfor myself

You don't seem to make a point of the right making excuses for their scummy politicians for years- only the left - the excuses for Johnson in particular were off the scale -

I am very much a centreist- we aren't all some radical lefty ideologists - the fact is when large crowds are involved involving celebrities then safety is paramount and I certainly would involve police escorts in this situation- if there was a stabbing or shooting then next day the papers would be full of 'where were the police' - and I'm personally not remotely a fan of this person -

So why would TS give Ed Balls free tickets? Cos they're such good friends? I mean, it's possible, but I'd be very surprised.

The tickets were given by the music company's CEO. Why would you be surprised that an entertainment manager would give free tickets to someone who else who now works in a high profile position in the entertainment industry?

@MrTiddlesTheCat yep- I'm going to at least 4 decent gigs over next 5 weeks including one at RAH and not paying for any - there's no 'back scratching going on' or 'influence' - it's just something that's done in entertainment - a certain amount are always allocated as promo list and there are often tix spare and people email round asking if anyone wants to go- it's one of the better things about working in those areas. I really can't get excited about a few free tix- whether it be Tory's, Labour, liberals or whoever- what I don't like is hugely unnecessary things benefitting individuals paid by the public purse

The fact that the express used "millions of fans missed out", as if they'd be buying the executive boxes 😂

Are we to believe that security at the last London TS's concerts was beefed up because Yvette Cooper's husband was given tickets? Or a more likely story is than only the week before,her Vienna concerts had had to be cancelled due to a very credible threat and of course,earlier on in the summer an individual had targeted a TS themed event and killed 3 little girls?

I agree.

If you want to look at dubious or worse practices by politicians, just look at those by one of the Tory leadership candidates. The one making scurrilous allegations about the armed forces.

"The tickets were given by the music company's CEO. Why would you be surprised that an entertainment manager would give free tickets to someone who else who now works in a high profile position in the entertainment industry?"

Someone who just happens to be married to the Home Secretary.
Just a happy coincidence, I'm sure.

The problem isn't the CEO offering them, it's on EB and YC for accepting them.
To me this is entirely separate from whether there should be increased security at the concert and whose job it is to decide this. FWIW I think they did the right thing in increasing security. But the optics of accepting a pricey gift afterwards are not good. Not in a govt that's promised a new kind of politics.
I get why they did it - hard to say no when your own party leader and deputy are accepting new clothes and holiday apartments in New York.

How have you worked that out about the budget? Nobody outside the cabinet/civil service knows anything about it. Use your brain and stop believing rumours.

"Mr Balls was offered the four tickets on 4 August, before the shows in Vienna were cancelled"

AKA it wasn't political in the slightest.

Oh don't spoil their fun with facts!

@Icanthinkformyselfthanks

I assume you're equally frothing at the mouth about the previous government's seemingly endless trough of sleaze? For someone on such a righteous crusade, I certainly hope so. If I listed the A to Z of Tory sleaze over the last 14 years I'd be typing for hours. Let me give you just a few examples - "M" is for Michelle Mone £200m. Also Mustique - £15,000. "N" is for non dom tax status. "P" is for paid lobying - lots of it. The list is almost endless. To say nothing of at least 22 sex crimes involving MP's in the previous government (that we know of). I have absolute faith in you OP. I'm sure this utter cesspit of sleaze, criminality and corruption was giving you sleepless nights. Perhaps you'd like to come back and tell us how you coped?

And those saying labours time has been shocking- that's because media are feeding you that it's shocking- and are unlikely to hilight any good things

Personally I'm all in agreement with most things so far and don't give a monkeys about the odd free tix or even clothes as presents not out the public purse-- let me know when they give a mate a 35 billion contract from public money and don't follow it through or insist on a gym for the kids on downing st paid for by the public purse etc - then I might view it differently

Oh right, well that’s fine, the rest of us do take issue with politicians creaming off the top to line their pockets

Personally I like to see politicians attending stuff in the arts-maybe they will actually acknowledge creative industry is one of our success stories and support it - rather than just bunging contracts to people like Bamford and Mone