Business of the House

Gavin Newlands Excerpts

Thursday 9th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I suggest to the hon. Lady that she might wish to question the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on that at the oral questions session coming up next week.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

Following the unfortunate comments made by Peter Duthie, the chief executive of Scottish Events Campus, in which he appeared to defend ticket touts and said that any recent issues were down to just

“a bit of…bad press”,

can we have a debate on the secondary ticket market to ensure that our constituents do not continue to be ripped off?

[Mr Lidington]

I think we are all well aware of how aggrieved genuine fans of musicians and sports feel when they are denied the opportunity to get tickets to their chosen event because of the activities of touts. Passing a new Act of Parliament will not necessarily guarantee an answer of the type that the hon. Gentleman wants, but it is something that the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), continues to keep under review.