Huge change to concert ticket prices under Labour plans to stop ticket sharks reselling at higher charge
PRICES for resale concert tickets will be capped under Labour to stop fans being ripped off by greedy touts.
Sir Keir Starmer is teaming up with pop star Will Young to ban profiteers from hoovering them up and reselling at a higher charge.
He said: “Access to music, art and theatre for hard working Brits can’t be at the mercy of ruthless ticket touts driving up prices.”
It came as two people were today convicted of buying and reselling £6.5million worth of gig tickets for the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga.
Many resale websites are dominated by large-scale, unethical touts rather than individuals who just can no longer attend an event.
Labour is pledging to impose a maximum percentage above the original price that resellers can charge, which is believed will be around 10 per cent.
It means someone who buys a ticket for £100 will not be able to resell it for any more than £110.
The party will also limit the number of tickets individuals can sell on a platform to flush out widespread touting.
And Sir Keir is promising to give the Competition and Markets Authority fresh powers to clamp down on websites allowing customers to be mugged off.
He said: “Hours spent refreshing ticket resale websites only to pay through the nose to see an artist you love, is frustrating and unfair.
“Labour will cap resale prices and ban ticket hoarding. Culture should be for fans, not excessive profits.”
Singer Will Young backed the plan, saying: “This will ensure that more people can get to events for the correct and fair price and that people passionate about the arts win rather than those looking to misuse the system for financial gain.”
A Government spokesman said: “The Government’s approach to secondary ticketing strikes the right balance between allowing fans to buy and resell tickets fairly, while cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the market.
“We have introduced tough measures to crack down on ticket touting, including making it a criminal offence to use automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed.
“We continue to work closely with industry on this and welcome providers introducing their own price-capping processes where appropriate.”