Huge fines could be levied on Labour and Tories for nuisance calling

Liberal Democrats today launched their campaign (www.stopnuisancecalls.com) to stop illegal nuisance calls from Labour and Conservative call centres in the run-up to the General Election.

Both Labour and Conservatives could end up with legal bills running into many hundred thousand pounds if they continue to behave inappropriately and illegally.

Households registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) are being telephoned by both Labour and Tory telephone canvassers - on the questionable basis that they are conducting "polling" rather than "marketing". But the numbers of voters being contacted go far beyond what is needed for a statistically significant opinion poll.

The Conservatives have announced that they will call over 400,000 voters in target seats. This data is almost certain to be used to target swing voters with follow-up materials and to get supporters to the polls on election day.

The Liberal Democrats are setting up a new website (www.stopnuisancecalls.com) today, Wednesday 23rd February, to encourage voters to register formal complaints when they receive nuisance calls from Labour and the Tories. Liberal Democrats are also writing to thousands of TPS-registered households across the UK outlining how to complain if they receive nuisance calls from either of the other two main parties. Fines of up to £5,000 per call can be imposed by the Information Commission for abusing the TPS system.

Simon Hughes MP, President of Liberal Democrats, said:

"Members of the public register with the Telephone Preference Service because they don't want to be called at home. Conservatives and Labour are now improperly pestering voters by telephoning them against their will.

"The Liberal Democrats are the only major party now to respect their wishes. We are rigorous about cleansing our phone lists of numbers registered under the TPS system.

"We demand that the Labour and Conservative parties now demonstrate that they are not breaking the spirit or the letter of the law by using information for any campaigning purposes if they call TPS-registered consumers.

"From today, we will be willing to help voters make complaints - each one of which could lead to a £5,000 fine for the party concerned.

"It is time that the other two parties respected the rights of voters and consumers."