John Robertson, the MP for Glasgow North West, has called for a ban on ticket touting today in response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Report on the subject.

The report, followed Robertson’s debate on this last year, recommended that the entertainment industry co-operate with the touts so they can provide consumers with more information, in exchange for a share of the profits.

However, Robertson said: “Touts leach off of the cultural life of the country and get away with daylight robbery. We shouldn’t think just because Dick Turpin has taken off his mask and moved out of the shadows onto the internet, that what he’s doing is any more acceptable.

“We have rightly brought in a ban on touting for the Olympics and will do so for Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games but I can’t understand the inconsistency. How is it wrong for someone to exploit the public for these two sporting events, but not for T in the Park or the many gigs or comedians we see coming to Glasgow?”

While the Select Committee noted the benefits to consumers of being able to resell their tickets in their argument against a ban, Robertson said: “It’s simply wrong to think that to keep these advantages we need to allow vast profits on the ‘secondary market’. We need to work towards getting better policies towards refunds, which could include an industry endorsed and supported market place for resale at the initial cost, and we should look at a percentage of tickets being sold in batches over time.

“If we were looking for one individual measure the ban on ticket sales for more than 110% of their face value which is in place in Queensland in Australia, would be a far fairer path for us to follow.”

He added: “Touting hurts both the fans and the industry. All of us will know someone who has found tickets sold out within minutes, only to see them being sold online at hugely inflated prices the next day, and even those who eventually end up purchasing them are victims of exploitation. The industry deliberately sells below the maximum ‘clearing’ price they could get because they want a strong fan base and support for the smaller events, not just the grand scale concerts or matches.

“The committee’s recommendation for the profits of touting to be shared between the touts and the entertainment industry doesn’t recognise the harm these auctions do. Moreover, whilst the events themselves may have a moral right to these extra profits, I can’t understand where the tout’s moral right comes from.”

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