Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)

My Lords, I am more than happy to be a co-signatory to this amendment. In agreeing with it, I want to make it plain that I bear the Royal Albert Hall, an iconic national and international institution, no malice or ill will. Who among us has not been to the Royal Albert Hall to enjoy its performances? I think I first went there at the age of 17, when I watched a rock band where the principal singer and flautist stood on one leg. They were called Jethro Tull; some noble Lords may have seen them. My family’s link with the Royal Albert Hall is not just that; my mother must have attended some 20 remembrance services on the trot, as a proud servant of the Royal British Legion, in her finery and uniform. This amendment gets to the heart of the issue. It deals directly with the conflict of interest which the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, has so expertly outlined. To his great credit, he has fought this fight for a very long time and has brought a group of us together in support of his position. It is a scam and an outrage that the current situation persists. So far as I am concerned, I might describe it, indelicately, as an operation which involves ticket touting for posh people—certainly, very rich people. We need to sort this out because it is wrong. It excludes ordinary members of the public from enjoying the benefits and delights of the Royal Albert Hall, because the tickets that then go on sale from the box owners are at a premium price. The noble Lord has given one very good example concerning Ed Sheeran. That is not right. Those tickets should be returned to the institution itself and go on sale to the general public, so that they can enjoy the pleasures the hall provides. The other point is simply this: the Royal Albert Hall itself derives no benefit from those ticket sales, and that cannot be right. That hall, like any other, requires upkeep, maintenance and conservation, and it is a very expensive venue to preserve. I would like to think that, at the end of this process, ticket sales will make a direct contribution to the preservation of what is a fine institution. With those few comments, I am more than happy to support the amendment. The noble Lord has clearly outlined the Charity Commission’s and the former Attorney-General’s position on this issue. We have also been given the benefit of advice from the House of Lords Special Committee. So I invite others to join the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, in the Division Lobby to vote “Content” and support his amendment.