Psychics: Getting The Respect They Deserve

"Even as mainstream religiosity collapses, popular belief in the more outlandish elements of a piecemeal spirituality is astonishingly strong. Some 58 per cent of us believe in premonitions; 38 per cent believe in guardian angels; and a hardcore quarter have visited a psychic or medium, which goes some way toward explaining why it's a £40m-a-year industry, and the baffling popularity of Most Haunted Live. A sceptic might argue that it's less the [clairvoyants] we need protecting from than ourselves.

Tomorrow, the Fraudulent Mediums Act will be repealed and replaced by general consumer protection legislation that many say will do just that. The Crown Prosecution Service, which has not traditionally expended a great deal of energy on tarot readers, will cede responsibility for policing the spirit world to the Office of Fair Trading. Anyone taking money for psychic services will be barred from aggressively targeting the vulnerable. And, crucially, complainants will no longer have to demonstrate deliberate malice to have a chance of success. In short, psychics and mediums will be judged on a par with door-to-door salesmen and second-hand car dealers."

-- From The Independent