Eastleigh Tories breaking the law on nuisance phone calls

1.28.45pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 25th Apr 2005

Eastleigh Conservatives have been breaking the law by telephoning people who have specifically opted not to receive cold-calling phone calls, according to local residents.

Local resident Tonia Craig of Peewit Hill, Bursledon is making a complaint to the Information Commissioner following a telephone call from a Conservative canvasser seeking her support. She is registered with the Telephone Preference Service that prohibits cold calling.

Ms Craig's experience was repeated by another local resident in Bishopstoke. The resident was also registered for TPS. On checking the number that the caller had rung from, Ms Craig found that it was in London.

"This was clearly one of the candidate's friends who had been given local phone numbers to ring as the Conservative call centre is elsewhere, but the local Tories had not taken out those of us who have opted for the Telephone Preference Service" said Ms Craig.

The Liberal Democrats, who have backed the Southern Daily Echo's campaign against nuisance calls, announced at the beginning of the campaign that they would respect people's wishes and not telephone anyone who had registered with the TPS.

Hampshire MEP and Eastleigh Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Chris Huhne said that the Eastleigh Conservatives had also backed the campaign against nuisance calls, and should practice what the preach. "There was a time when Conservatives could be relied on to uphold the law, but they are now breaking it every time they pick up a telephone to someone who wants privacy" said Mr Huhne.

"The Conservatives risk prosecution and massive financial penalties if they continue with this pratice" said Anders Hanson, the Eastleigh agent for the Liberal Democrats. "The penalties can be as much as £5,000 per phone call".

Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner who is responsible for policing the TPS rules, wrote to all the political parties at the beginning of April to stress that the legislation expressly forbids automated calls and that many people consider such calls "to be extremely intrusive and even disturbing". Nationally, the Conservatives have been using automated calls of Michael Howard's pre-recorded voice.

However, Mr Thomas's office has confirmed that unsolicited calls from a canvasser are illegal if they are to any one of the 7 million people across the country who are registered with the Telephone Preference Service. This is the breach in the law by local Conservatives in Eastleigh.