Maria Eagle MP A Strong Voice in Tough Times
This week I backed Labour frontbencher Sharon Hodgson’s campaign to tackle rip off touts raking in millions of pounds from consumers in the current UK ticketing market.
The secondary ticketing market is unregulated and thus leaves fans at the mercy of unscrupulous practices and fraud. The widespread use of online “bots” to harvest tickets and inflate prices is a deplorable practice that rips off artists, robs fans of the chance to buy at the intended value, and undermines the integrity of our creative and music industries.
Touts make millions taking profit from someone else’s work and many loyal fans are priced out of events they would love to see. Sharon has worked tirelessly over the years to tackle these abuses but the Tories have repeatedly failed to take action to ensure that fans get a fair deal. During Monday’s remaining stages of the Digital Economy Bill, they had a chance to put all this right but instead the Government sided with the touts by rejecting an amendment that would have put an end to this corrupt practice. I voted for it but it was defeated by Tory votes.