Nearly 10,000 attempts to purchase Oasis tickets were made using Scottish Government devices on the day they went on sale.
Holyrood servers recorded thousands logins to Ticketmaster for the band’s Edinburgh gigs next year when the gold-dust briefs were released at the end of August, in ‘a blatant abuse of government resources’.
Official laptops and mobile phones clocked 9,078 visits to the site with fans desperate to secure their entrance to Murrayfield when the Mancunian outfit arrives for the Scottish leg of its world tour.
Scotland’s Health and Social Care Secretary, Neil Gray, was one of those who used a government device to try and secure his place, with the SNP politician admitting he joined the queue for tickets during a discussion on Alzheimer’s disease.
However, with repeat visits likely it is not possible to say exactly how many civil servants and politicians logged in overall.
Figures released under the freedom of information laws show some 1,014 visits to the main Ticketmaster Oasis page from Scottish Government devices in August.
The August 8 gig was the most popular among government staff with 3,263 visits, while the August 9 date recorded 2,302 and the final night, on August 12, clocked 2,499 visits.
Alexander Stewart, the Scottish Conservative’s deputy culture spokesman, told the Courier: ‘This appears to be a blatant abuse of government resources.
‘Most ordinary Scots outside the Holyrood bubble won’t have had access to multiple devices in this way to try and secure Oasis tickets which were like gold dust.
‘The SNP government must come clean as to why there was such extensive use of government devices to access Ticketmaster.’
Most government officials can now access a taxpayer-funded laptop or mobile phone due to increased levels of home working.
Mr Gray admitted to joining the queue for tickets in the middle of an Alzheimer’s panel at the SNP annual party conference after initially denying the accusation as ‘total nonsense’.
He reportedly said during the meeting: ‘I’m in the queue to buy Oasis tickets… on multiple devices. Hope is very important… that I get these tickets.’
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie described his behaviour as ‘a painful summary of the SNP’s approach to the NHS’.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘This relates to a computer network that can be accessed by people employed by nearly 50 different public sector organisations, not just the Scottish Government.
‘The number of Scottish Government users was 180 out of 22,500 system users… Scottish Government staff can use devices for personal use if this is within their own time, for example during the weekend or a lunch break.
‘This is subject to restrictions on certain activities such as running a personal website or attempting to access inappropriate material online.’
Tickets for the Edinburgh shows sold for up to £355 after the original £135 price increased because of Ticketmaster’s controversial ‘dynamic’ pricing.
The system is supposedly a way to deter ticket touts, but many genuine fans were left fuming by the extortionate costs and missed out on the Britpop icons’ fist tour in over 15 years.
The group, which split in 2009, went on to claim they were ‘not aware’ the system would be used for their gigs, saying it was agreed in meetings between Ticketmaster, promoters and Oasis management.
Frustrating British and Irish fans further, was the fact that freshly announced dates for the North American leg of the Oasis Live ’25 world tour will not be subject to the dynamic pricing.
A statement shared by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher said ‘dynamic pricing remains a useful took to combat ticket touting’ but suggested the unprecedented demand for tickets in combination with ‘technology that cannot cope with that demand’ rendered it less effective.