The Know Daily - Monday 20 January 2025

_{Read in 4m 39s ∙ Listening to The Cardigans ∙}

Surplus food will be sent from farms to homeless shelters, food banks and charities, thanks to a new £15m fund from the UK government. The initiative will make £20k grants available to farmers and charities to support their efforts to redistribute food that would otherwise go to waste.

🎶 Ticket touts

Resale ticket prices for live events are set to be capped to combat professional resellers who mark up tickets.

What’s the story?
Resale ticket prices for live events are set to be capped to combat fans missing out due to inflated mark-up prices by professional resellers who hoover up tickets. A report by Trading Standards found some tickets have been resold at six times their original cost. After making this one of their election promises, the government announced new plans this month as it aims to tackle the issue amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

What’s the plan?
The UK’s culture minister, Lisa Nandy, has set out “gamechanging” proposals that will include limiting the number of tickets a reseller can list, capping these tickets to a maximum 30% price rise, and holding resale websites to account with trading standards and watchdogs. Dynamic pricing – where ticket prices rise based upon demand – will also be considered, as well as higher fines against resellers breaking rules.

The new regulations are set to be discussed in a public consultation through to April and, if successful, will allow fans a “fair shot” at getting tickets to cultural events, whilst also pumping money back into the live events sector rather than touts’ pockets.

What’s the reaction been?
Resale websites have suggested price caps could lead to more scams as criminals attempt to sell fake tickets, whilst dynamic pricing has already proven unpopular after fans struggled to obtain tickets for Oasis last year when prices became disproportionately high the longer they queued.

However, the plans have been praised by the music, theatre and sports industries, with the CEO of the Competition and Marketing Authority watchdog saying it will stop fans “having to jump through hoops, being left out of pocket or turned away at the door”. What’s more, campaign group FanFair Alliance has said the UK now has an opportunity to follow the success of Ireland, which banned ticket touting in 2021.

💰 Money Monday: Mobile and broadband companies can no longer surprise customers with higher prices mid-contract.

• The new ban came into force last Friday – here’s what it means for you and your phone bill.

🇦🇶 Remote working: Looking for the job of a lifetime in Antarctica? You’re in luck.

🇺🇸 Oath of office: President-elect Trump’s inauguration will take place today – here’s what to expect.

🐳 Aquatic animals: The number of whale sightings off the Cornish coast has “gone through the roof”.

📱 Restored service: TikTok is back online for US users, following a brief shutdown over the weekend.

🎭 Culture hub: Celebrations kicked off in Chemnitz in Germany, the 2025 European Capital of Culture.

🔗 Last week’s most clicked: Healthy haircare, how to get back into reading and the UK’s favourite Tesco meal deal combo.

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Trivia answer: C) Cape Town claimed the top spot – see what other cities made the shortlist. 

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