You would think there was enough financial scandal in the world to keep MPs exercised without denouncing the owners of private boxes at the Royal Albert Hall. But no. Sharon Hodgson, member for Washington and Sunderland West, has just shown once again that what really gets a Labour MP seething with indignation is not wrongdoing or injustice – it is the whiff of class. Sharon is upset that the Royal Albert Hall’s 330 members – who individually own 1276 privately-owned seats — are exercising their right to sell tickets for those seats through third party websites. A ticket for the Last Night of the Proms in September has, shock, horror, been spotted for sale at £1,500. According to Sharon ‘privilege is being abused for greed’. She is not alone in thinking this, either. The Royal Albert Hall’s former president, Richard Lyttelton, has added his name to the list of those lobbying for the practice to stop.
But why? There is nothing in the deeds to these seats to say that members cannot sell the right to occupy them for particular performances.
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