This week, the government announced new measures to crack down on ticket touts. After years of campaigning from fans, the reselling of live music tickets for outrageous prices well above face value will be banned. This is a huge win for live music and for the co-operative movement, which has campaigned throughout our history for consumers to be treated fairly.

When I raised this in Parliament last year, it came off the back of the Oasis ticketing scandal. After years of anticipation for a reunion tour, fans were faced with a system that allowed genuine tickets to be bought up by organised ticket touts or automated bots, then charging eye-watering resale prices, as high as £5,000 for a single ticket. This left fans with a choice; pay up or miss out. The Oasis tour brought these practices into the spotlight but this has been an issue facing fans for years, pricing people out of experiences that should be accessible to all. So extreme and widespread are these practices that people have even gone to prison for ticket touting, but for the most part regulation has been weak and ticket resale above face value has technically been legal, with fans paying the price.

The co-operative movement has always been a champion for consumers. It’s in our political DNA, the idea that our economy and society should serve everyone, and that power and wealth should always be shared. It’s that belief which led our party and our movement to fight for foundational consumer protection laws throughout history, and it’s the same belief that drove me in this campaign. We don’t believe it’s right for hardworking people to be scammed and driven out of the market in pursuit of doing something they love.

But when I raised this in a question to the Prime Minister last September, I was accused by some of focusing on small, insignificant issues, and told to talk about something more important. I reject this view, and I think we all should. I think arts and culture are vital to our wellbeing, and to our sense of community. They are the things that make life worth living; the trips to the cinema with our families, the football matches where we cheer alongside our neighbours, the gigs and concerts where we get to see our favourite songs performed live. There are countless studies proving just how important these experiences are to our health and happiness, and that their absence makes us sicker and sadder. Ensuring good access to shared experiences like these should absolutely be the work of government, and I’m proud that it is a Labour government that has finally taken action to protect fans.

There will be a long journey ahead to ensure these changes are properly implemented and that touts can’t find loopholes to continue their exploitation of fans. But next time you hear that politics is a waste of time and that change is impossible, tell them about announcements like this one. Tell them about the millions of music fans who will now have fair and proper access to the experiences that make our lives full and rich. And tell them about the co-operative movement that helped get us here.

Our movement has the power and influence to stand up for our values, and to see change as a result. The ticketing announcement is our shared achievement, and I look forward to the next campaign.