29.05.2026: UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl has urged the Government to “pick a side” in the fight against unscrupulous ticket touts, after the Government backed down on its promise to set a secondary ticketing price cap and end the exploitation of real music fans.

Tom’s remarks follow a piece by IQ Magazine, which discussed the Government’s move to drop new legislation from the King’s Speech on May 13 that would have seen a price cap introduced to stop true music fans being ripped off on the secondary ticketing market. You can read the piece here.

Tom said: “It’s time for the Government to pick a side. Are they going to support millions of UK music fans in a cost-of-living crisis or help foreign mega-corps further swell their multi-billion dollar profits?”

Ahead of the King’s Speech, Tom wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the PM to deliver on his manifesto promise to crack down on profiteering ticket touts. He also appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme to demand strong action on the matter. His call came amid reports that the urgently needed clampdown – promised in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto – would be dropped or downgraded in the King’s Speech.

The proposed legislation was included in the King’s Speech, but only as a “draft Bill” which means the process of it becoming law will take much longer and is far more uncertain.

Giving his reaction, Tom said: “The Government’s failure to take long promised action on the shady ticket touts and rogue businesses who continue to rip off consumers is a betrayal of millions of music fans.

“Until we get action on sky-high ticket resales, we will continue to see cash siphoned overseas from the wallets of UK fans and the UK music industry in order to swell the already huge profits of ticket resale businesses.

“The Government appears to prefer keeping FIFA, UEFA and the IOC happy, as opposed to music fans, by the bizarre decision to announce immediate plans to ban resale at major sporting events, instead of introducing caps on the live music secondary ticketing market.

“I urge MPs to explore the legislative programme and identify alternative opportunities to ensure primary legislation is passed in this year’s Parliamentary session.”

You can read details of Tom’s letter to the Prime Minister here.