Psychic
crackdown on the cards Mediums
are fighting new EU rules designed to protect the public from dodgy traders, fearing
that honest spiritualists could be targeted
Caroline
Davies The Observer, The
evocative question 'Is there anybody there?' conjures up images of mediums summoning
spirits in a darkened room. But now psychics must add a few riders before they
invoke the voices of the dead, thanks to new consumer laws due to come into force.
Breathless audiences are now likely to be asked: 'Is there anybody here... who
is vulnerable, of nervous disposition, or likely to sue?' Indeed,
a whole list of disclaimers must be added to the spiritualists' spiel if they
are to avoid an avalanche of writs following the repeal next month of the Fraudulent
Mediums Act, to be replaced by the new Consumer Protection Regulations. Promises
to raise the dead, secure good fortune or heal through the laying on of hands
are all at risk of legal action from disgruntled customers. Spiritualists say
they will be forced to issue disclaimers, such as 'this is a scientific experiment,
the results of which cannot be guaranteed'. They claim the new regulations will
leave them open to malicious civil action by sceptics. The
problem is that very little in the multi-million-pound psychic industry in Britain
is for free, and anyone charging or accepting 'gifts' in exchange for a service
is bound by the new regulations. There are charges for seances, Tarot, psychic
readings and clairvoyance. Spiritualist church service-goers - and there are more
than 300 spiritualist churches in Britain - are charged or asked for donations.
Psychic mailings - letters promising spiritualist services in exchange for a cheque
- are estimated to have cost Britons £40m in 2006-07, according to Office
of Fair Trading research. Psychic services via telephone, online and satellite
TV keep the tills ringing further. For
the past half-century, 'genuine' mediums have been protected by the 1951 Fraudulent
Mediums Act, under which prosecutors had to prove fraud and dishonest intent to
secure a criminal conviction, which was difficult. There have been fewer than
10 convictions in the past 20 years. With that protection gone, there will now
be nothing between the medium and the trading standards officer - and no need
to prove fraud. Instead it will be up to the trader, in this case the medium,
to prove they did not mislead, coerce or take advantage of any 'vulnerable' consumers. Carole
McEntee-Taylor, a spiritualist healer in Essex, said having to stand up and describe
the invoking of spirits as an 'experiment' was forcing spiritualists to 'lie and
deny our beliefs'. She added: 'No other religion has to do that. And how can you
tell if someone is vulnerable? You would have to ask them if they felt vulnerable,
or had mental health issues, or were of a nervous disposition.' With
her husband, David, a spiritualist minister, she has set up the Spiritualist Workers'
Association, to help regulate the industry and offer guidance on the law. They
will be presenting a petition to 10 Downing Street on 18 April. Their website
warns: 'The changes in the legislation are a minefield... given Britain's litigation
culture. We have to fight it. If not, we will go back to the Dark Ages, where
we will be persecuted and prosecuted.' The
Fraudulent Mediums Act replaced the 1735 Witchcraft Act. The government is set
to repeal it and many other laws alongside the introduction of the Consumer Protection
Regulations. If they are approved by Parliament, as is likely - there are debates
in the Lords on 23 April and in the Commons on 6 May - the regulations will come
into force on 26 May. They will ban 31 types of unfair sales practice outright,
including bogus closing-down sales, prize-draw scams and aggressive doorstep selling,
and will for the first time establish a catch-all duty not to trade unfairly,
closing loopholes that rogue traders have been able to exploit. But spiritualists
say the measures fail to take account of their religion. 'It
is taking a religion, a way of life, and making it a commercial transaction,'
said David McEntee-Taylor. 'If we hold a service in a village hall, we have to
charge or ask for a donation to cover the cost of hiring the hall. There are bad
mediums out there, and we would like to regulate them. But this is unfair on genuine
spiritualists. Some people are very nervous of entrapment.' Emma-Louise
Rhodes, a researcher for BadPsychics, which seeks to expose malpractice, said:
'Hopefully, the new regulations will bring to justice those who have cruelly sought
to exploit the bereaved for personal financial gain.' A
legal specialist said: 'Now there is no difference between a psychic and a double-glazing
salesman in law.' | 
