CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

COLD-CALLING (ELDERLY PEOPLE) - 12 March 2004

COLD-CALLING (ELDERLY PEOPLE) - 12 March 2004

Dr Julian Lewis: I cannot over-emphasise the importance of what my hon. Friend [Andrew Robathan] is trying to achieve in his Bill. He may be aware that I brought to the attention of the House a similar experience when my then 89-year-old father was tricked into repeatedly going to the bank to withdraw a total of £7,500 in cash to give to a builder, purely because the builder recognised that he had a short-term memory problem. The only reason why this scoundrel was exposed was that I was able to raise the matter in the House, and "The Ferret" – an investigative programme in Wales – exposed him. We definitely need protection from this form of ruthless exploitation.