My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to briefly say a few words on this good news day for sports fans. It is fair to say that it has been a long time coming, but in the measures that we are adding to the Bill today we are giving greater choice and information to sports fans to help in the fight against those who commit fraud or seek to exploit the pockets of hard-working families.
My own role in this battle dates back two decades to 1994, when I led from the Labour Benches in the other place a campaign to have the then Government extend the provisions they were introducing to ban ticket touting at football events to other sports in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. We were partly successful in that we had reserve powers added to that Bill to allow the Home Secretary of the day to designate other sporting events.
Ever since then, together with other Members of both Houses, from all parties, I have called for more effective action as the problem has grown and grown, especially with the introduction of the internet, which created a fertile new environment for the problems we have heard explained so well by the proposer of this Motion. I therefore wholeheartedly endorse the measures being added to the Bill. Most of all, I pay tribute, as others have done, to the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan. He was battling 21 years ago in support of the kind of measure we have here now, and is still fighting as hard as ever to protect the sports that he loves.
I have spoken to some sports governing bodies today, and I know that they are hugely grateful for the enormous amount of time and effort that the noble Lord has put into this issue ever since the amendment
was voted for by this House in November. There have been many hours of meetings with Ministers, Bill teams, lawyers and experts, and that shows in the well balanced and fair proposals that have addressed the concerns raised by the House. Certainly on this issue, I think that the House will respond favourably to the words of the noble Lord and the amendments. Through his grasp of how the sports sector works and of the way to get things done in this place, we now have an effective improvement in the law and, alongside it, a review that allows the matter to be considered in greater detail. I hope that the noble Lord’s expertise will remain on tap for the review; he will certainly add weight to it.
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One reason why the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, was committed to this cause was that he saw how the London Olympics benefited from a touting ban. He was determined that what was right for that showpiece event would work for other sporting events. It is an example of using the legacy from London for the wider good. I wish only that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would put as much effort into securing improvements in participation in sport as a legacy as the noble Lord has—I could say “my noble friend”, because in this context he certainly is a noble friend of mine because of his love of sport.
That brings me to a final point and a question for the Minister. The Rugby World Cup 2015 starts in just six months’ time. Can she confirm that the measures that we are passing today will be operational for that event? If she cannot give that commitment today, will she work hard to see that that is brought about? I will end as I began, in saying that it is a good news day for literally thousands of loyal sports fans, and also for major sports organisations, which wish to sell tickets to real fans, not to investors who wish to make quick profits. These measures are all about putting limits on “Rip-off Britain” for the public benefit.