The government has stepped up work on new laws to stop ticket touts fleecing fans, as the prime minister came under pressure from artists including the drummer from the Smiths, one of his favourite bands.
Keir Starmer said last year that the government would “stop fans from being ripped off” by outlawing the for-profit resale of tickets on sites such as Viagogo and StubHub, a pledge Labour first made in its 2024 election manifesto.
Despite support from a host of globally renowned artists, including Radiohead, Dua Lipa and Coldplay, the measure was not included in this year’s king’s speech, prompting concern among music industry figures that the proposal had been shelved.
But multiple sources told the Guardian that the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has assembled a sizeable “bill team”, a group of civil servants who are drafting the policy and will help shepherd it through parliament.
They are understood to be considering ways to mitigate the risk that touts and resale platforms simply base themselves offshore to bypass any new legislation.
The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told the House of Commons this month that Andy Burnham “feels particularly passionate” about the issue and the government would treat it as a priority. Nandy is due to give a speech at Labour conference on Wednesday, at which she could provide further detail.
On Friday, industry figures and artists including the rapper Tinie Tempah and the Smiths’ drummer Mike Joyce called on the prime minister to act fast, citing new evidence of touts targeting small venues in Greater Manchester.
Research examined 300 events across 13 venues where tickets were being touted on Viagogo, including Band On The Wall, Gorilla, YES, Rebellion, New Century and the White Hotel.
All were advertised at significantly over cost price, while some did not feature information about the seller, an apparent breach of competition rules. Under government plans, companies would face much tougher penalties for failing to enforce these rules.
Other tickets appeared to be “speculative”, meaning that they had been fraudulently listed by touts who do not have them but hope to procure some once they have agreed a sale.
The most expensive was £5,899 for Mica Millar’s show at New Century – a 19,728% mark-up.
Tickets to a 40th anniversary celebration of the Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead, featuring a conversation between Joyce and the producer Stephen Street, were being touted for £549 each.
Joyce said it was “time to stop this for good”, while Tempah said fans and artists deserved better than to see tickets “siphoned away by people who contribute nothing to live music but are happy to profit from it”.
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Just three touts – based in Latvia, North America and Germany – were responsible for more than 75% of the listings, research by the music industry group FanFair Alliance found. Viagogo dispute the claim, saying the proportion held by the trio was significantly lower.
Viagogo also listed tickets for tiny, obscure events, including an evening with the “world’s greatest psychic” in Inverness, a rum tasting in Devizes, and stargazing in Tavistock.
The company said actual sale prices were much lower than the high-priced listings identified by FanFair Alliance.
“Viagogo takes its obligations under the law seriously and is fully compliant in the UK. Our policies prohibit speculative listings,” it added.
If the government does go ahead with a ban on ticket touting, it would bring the UK in line with Ireland, which outlawed touting in 2021.
At present, the unauthorised resale of football tickets is illegal across the UK.
Resale of concert or theatre tickets without authorisation is permitted, although individual touts have been prosecuted and jailed in rare instances where they have been judged to have committed fraud.
Fans lost £60m to touts between Labour’s announcement of the policy and April this year, the telecoms company and venue sponsor O2 has estimated, with fans of acts including Olivia Dean, Bad Bunny and Ariana Grande “fleeced” by markups of up to 1,000%.
The Guardian has repeatedly exposed exploitative tactics in secondary ticketing, including speculative selling and the use by touts of specialist software to hoover up tickets and flip them for profit, often via sites such as StubHub and Viagogo.
A DCMS spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to stamping out ticket touting for good. For too long, fans have been ripped off and we’re determined to right that wrong.
“That’s why we are bringing forward draft legislation in this parliamentary session to ensure that our measures are truly effective, enforceable and future-proof and fans get the protection and security they have always deserved.”
