D-Day approaches for fraudulent mediums

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) was adopted three years ago today, on 11 May 2005. Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations implementing the Directive in the UK will come in to force on 26 May 2008.

The Directive:

. harmonises unfair trading laws in all EU Member States;

. introduces a general prohibition on traders not to treat consumers unfairly. This prohibition is intended to act as safety-net consumer protection legislation.

In particular, the Directive will oblige businesses not to mislead consumers through acts or omissions; or subject them to aggressive commercial practices such as high pressure selling techniques. The Directive also provides additional protections for vulnerable consumers who are often the target of unscrupulous traders.

The Directive's wide scope - it applies to all business sectors - and flexible provisions means that it will plug gaps in existing EU and UK consumer protection legislation; and set standards against which new practices will automatically be judged.

Implementation of this Directive should help ensure the UK has a consumer regime amongst the level of the best in the world.

The Directive's broad scope means that it overlaps with with many existing laws. In addition, because the UCPD is a maximum harmonisation Directive (ie setting out the maximum level of restriction permissible in respect of unfair commercial practices which harm consumers' economic interests) a supplementary objective in transposing the Directive is to achieve, where possible, some regulatory simplification. The Consumer Protection from Unfair trading Regulations repeal provisions in a number of overlapping laws, including most of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and Part 3 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (misleading price indications).

So what has that to do with fraudulent mediums? Everything. Mediums are among those who managed to escape prosecution under the convoluted Fraudulent Mediums Act, and are now well and truly in the firing line.

Mediums already shown to be faking are frantically trying to play the religion card. Derek Acorah, publicly exposed by Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe and Yvette Fielding of Most Haunted as having faked several 'possessions', has adopted the mantle of righteousness in a recent interview.

Entitled 'How I would beat phonies' he makes ridiculous claims.

“If this government bill is passed then could have a serious effect on religion.

“What we do is a religion like any other and the government should not be getting involved."

The Government has not "got involved in religion". Nothing in the Act interferes with an individual's right to his or her beliefs. Nothing in the Act prevents them from attending a religious service in a spiritualist church. Nothing in the Act stops anyone from giving what they might call 'a reading' to those present at such a service.

What the Act does do is protect anyone who pays money to visit a theatre, club, pub, hotel suite, or indeed any other venue including their own home, to see a medium perform.

It's interesting that those who are protesting the loudest about the new Act are those who have made the most money out of the public. The only interests they are protecting are their own!

How many religions require you to buy a ticket for, say, £20, to see their 'religious leader' perform? I'm not aware of any in the United Kingdom. Yet Acorah is trying to persuade people that he is on a par with someone like the Archbishop of Canterbury. He isn't!

Acorah also falsely claims:

“Every spiritual medium is tried and tested under the Spiritualist Church. I’m not perturbed at all, I’ve been working as a spiritual medium for 30 odd years.”

What's false about his claims?

Firstly, there are several Spiritualist Churches, and "every spiritual medium" is not tried or tested by them.

Secondly, Acorah has never been a member of any Spiritualist Church, nor was he trained by one, according to those Spiritualist Churches. Yes, he's performed in one or two on a few occasions, but he has never been accredited by any of them. He used to describe himself as a Spiritualist Medium until I first pointed out this awkward fact; now he calls himself a Spiritual Medium...

... except, of course, for his stage shows where he's suddenly not a Spiritual Medium, but reinvents himself as a Psychic Clairvoyant, the modern-day Merlin! The fact that his act is precisely that of a 'spiritual medium' is obviously not important to him. But then, he's so often shown himself to be less than truthful.

However, Acorah's claims that this Act will damage 'his religion' are blown out of the water by those who do hold regular religious services in Spiritualist churches across the country. They are quoted recently:

SNU spokesman Minister Steven Upton said, "We are quite happy with the Act being repealed. We have no problems with the new legislation and think it will be good news for spiritualists."

The same article throws light on how these con men and women might try to evade the new law:

Lawyers have advised that mediums can avoid the problem of having to prove their psychic abilities in court by describing their services as entertainment or even scientific experiments.

So will Acorah at last be forced to admit that what he does is for entertainment purposes only if it means he can protect his cash cow? I'm watching with bated breath!