Lisa Nandy has confirmed that legislation to ban ticket touting will be brought forward “as soon as possible”, with the new Labour government treating the measure as a priority. The Culture Secretary issued the update in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon, following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s reappointment of Ms Nandy to the brief when he became PM.
Ms Nandy told MPs: “It is my intention that we introduce it as soon as possible, and I think we may be in a position to do better than that, but I will update the House shortly.” She added: “I have heard the strength of feeling on all sides of this House about this, and I share it. And we intend to treat this piece of legislation as a priority as a Government in order to ensure that we get this on to the statute book without delay.”
Government plan to end ticket touting
The proposed law is designed to stamp out ticket touting, which has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. Touts buy large volumes of tickets online, often using automated bots, before relisting them on resale platforms at hugely inflated prices. This has caused misery for millions of fans and damaged the live events industry, the government has said.
Under the new proposals, event organisers will maintain control of ticket distribution, helping more people to access tickets at face value and protecting against price gouging, which has harmed sporting events for too long. The reforms are part of the government’s plan for national renewal by creating fairer systems and giving hard-working people the respect they deserve.
Framework for major events
Ms Nandy said: “We need to make sure that we’re in the best possible position to tap into the opportunities that exist, and that is what this Bill is for, and what this Bill will achieve. It will deliver a framework for delivering major events, sending a clear message to event organisers across the world that the UK is serious about being a world leader in major sporting events.”
She added: “As well as providing important commercial protections, the Bill will tackle ticket touting for qualifying events, complementing the Government’s broader legislation on secondary ticketing. For too long, fans have been locked out, priced out and ripped off.”
The new rules will improve access for genuine fans when tickets originally go on sale and end rip-off pricing on the resale market. The Culture Secretary’s statement follows the government’s confirmation of £70,000 for some Armed Forces veterans who served before 2000.
