Keir Starmer met Taylor Swift at London gig as row rumbles on over VIP security

Keir Starmer is understood to have gone backstage with his family to meet American pop superstar Taylor Swift on August 20, the last of her run of sell-out shows in the Capital.

Keir Starmer and his family met Taylor Swift at Wembley on the final night of the Eras Tour in London.

The Prime Minister is understood to have gone backstage with his family to meet the American pop superstar on August 20, the last of her run of sell-out shows in the Capital. He accepted free tickets worth £2,600 from her label, Universal Music for show on August 16 - which he has repaid after a backlash over MP freebies.

The news comes amid a row over VIP security afforded to Swift during her August shows in London. She was granted blue-light escorts - usually reserved for the Royal family and top ministers - after a foiled terror plot forced her to cancel her concerts in Austria.

In a 10-minute meeting, the PM and Swift are understood to have discussed the horrific Southport stabbings in July, when Bebe King, 6, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, were killed at a Taylor Swift themed dance class. They are not thought to have discussed her security.

Swift met some of the survivors of the Southport attack during her shows and reached out to their families privately. In a statement after the tragedy, the 34-year-old said she was "at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families".

The news about the PM's meeting with Swift, first revealed by the Sun, fuelled further scrutiny of the decision to offer her heightened security while in London. It emerged last week that London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper were involved in talks about the request, which was originally rejected by the Metropolitan Police.

Swift's mother Andrea reportedly threatened to cancel the shows if the singer was refused the police escort. Scotland Yard are said to have sought advice over from Attorney General Richard Hermer KC over concerns that officers could be liable if there were any incidents and about the legal impact of breaking protocol.

Mr Khan, Ms Cooper and No10 have all repeatedly said that operational decisions are taken by the Met. Downing Street also cited the terror threat faced by Swift in Vienna as one of the reasons the Government was involved in security talks.

Asked whether the PM was given the tickets as a "thank you" for Swift getting beefed up security, the PM's official spokesman said: "I completely reject that characterisation because it's ultimately up to the police to take operational decisions in relation to the security of these major events."