As an announcement, ‘Government bans ticket touting to protect fans from rip-off prices’ seems crystal clear.
But has the UK government – which announced exactly that last November – actually banned ticket touting (scalping)? No it hasn’t. And it may not be doing so for another year at least.
“Sir Keir Starmer [the UK Prime Minister] has no current plans to include a full bill to ban ticket touts in the King’s Speech next month after officials concluded there was insufficient space in the UK parliamentary calendar for the legislation,” reported the Financial Times this morning.
Its report suggested there may be a draft bill in the speech – which sets out the government’s legislative plans for the next session of parliament – but that this would be “unlikely to become law until the 2027/28 session of parliament”.
Music-industry groups are unhappy with this, as a recent Guardian article – published when rumours of the delay were swirling – made clear.
