Daltrey plea to outlaw charity ticket touts
ROCK star Roger Daltrey has let rip at ‘immoral’ ticket touts who re-sell seats for charity concerts at rip-off prices online.
The Who singer said that the abuse was ‘damaging’ to the music industry, fans and charities and should be outlawed.
He hit out after touts snapped up thousands of tickets costing between £10 and £40 for an Ed Sheeran cancer charity gig, only to put them up for sale for thousands of pounds.
Daltrey, 73, said he was ‘appalled’ to see tickets for Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall offered at inflated prices. The singer, a patron of the trust who organises concerts on its behalf, said in a letter to The Times: ‘All the parties perform for free and the only people who should profit are young people with cancer.
‘For touts to take advantage of the trust’s work for personal gain is immoral and should be illegal.’ The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is examining measures to crack down on secondary ticket sites, while the Government is acting against software that allows touts to buy thousands of tickets at a time. A Bill is set to be passed which will make it illegal for websites using sophisticated technology to buy more than ten tickets for a single event. Those who breach the rules will reportedly face a fine of up to £5,000 or even imprisonment. MPs hope it will be a major blow to touts who harvest tickets to re-sell at vast sums.