London’s Metropolitan Police have confirmed that Taylor Swift’s upcoming London shows will not be impacted by the Vienna terror plot.
All three of the pop star’s shows in the Austrian capital were cancelled earlier this week, after it was revealed that two people had been arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack during the gigs.
After playing three sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium back in June, pop star Swift is set to return to the UK capital later this month for five more shows – featuring support from Raye, Holly Humberstone, Suki Waterhouse and Paramore.
There had been some speculation that the incident in Vienna might have put the London shows in doubt, but a police spokesperson has assured fans that that is not currently the case.
“The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place,” they said (via Reuters).
“There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London.”
“As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review,” they concluded.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was interviewed about the shows. “We are a capital city, we are an international city, on a regular basis we host major events, whether it’s concerts – Bruce Springsteen was most recently at Wembley Stadium – we’re looking forward to welcoming Taylor Swift back,” he told Sky News.
“We have a huge amount of experience in policing these events, we’re never complacent, many lessons were learnt after the awful Manchester Arena attack.
“I’m sure Vienna has got its own reasons to cancel the Taylor Swift concerts, we’re going to carry on, working closely with police (and) ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely.”
The ‘Midnights’ singer was set to play at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium tonight (Thursday, August 8) Friday (9) and Saturday (10), but event organiser Barracuda Music confirmed last night that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”.
A 19-year-old suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, followed by a second person in the Austrian capital. It was widely reported that the former had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group, and the public security director at Austria’s interior ministry Franz Ruf confirmed that authorities were aware of “preparatory actions” for a possible attack in Austria.
Earlier today, the first man confessed to planning a terror attack, with authorities stating that “a tragedy was prevented” with the arrests. He reportedly wanted to use knives or self-made explosives outside the Ernst Happel Stadium to kill as many people as possible.
A police search of his house is said to have found chemicals, explosives, knives and machete knives. Authorities also identified Islamic State and al-Qaida material at the residence.
The man, who reportedly has North Macedonian roots, is said to have been working closely with a 17-year-old Austrian, who was also arrested. The latter has a Turkish and Croatian background and had started a job at the concert venue days before the event was cancelled over the terror threat, according to officials.
According to authorities, the Vienna shows were expected to bring in roughly 65,000 concertgoers per day, with an additional 10,000 to 15,000 fans outside of the area. Prior to the cancellation of the gigs, Ruf had shared that security at the concerts would be increased.