Psychic crackdown on the cards

Old news i know! this was from April 2008

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

Article history
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.'

Sad news for spiritual healer and psychic separatists.

Why sad news? A lot of people welcome the new laws. Why should a psychic or medium or tarot reader be treated any differently under the law? The legislation protects the consumer and as long as we do things correctly there should be no problem. Hopefully some of the fraudsters will be caught and fined or even better closed down.

I have to totally agree with you there Ood's, too many frauds about targeting vulnerable people, hopefully this new law will help in some way to eliminate the charlatans etc, it's the same with anything really, not just Psychic and Mediumship. But there will still be some clever enough to get round this i'm sure. If you are honest and genuine, then there's nothing to worry about and i feel the law with this actually leans on our side.