I promised you that we had not yet heard the last of the sorry Psychic News saga, and here’s the latest chapter. It follows on rapidly after the news that the SNU has had yet another change of mind and has declared its intention to liquidate the company that published it – a revelation that has already been reported in the Comments to our previous story on the subject.
Let me just declare an interest here. I am one of the trustees of the Spiritual Truth Foundation, all of whom have agreed that the following statement should be issued immediately. It will also be sent to the members of the National Executive Committee of the Spiritualists’ National Union (SNU) as well as to the liquidator:
IMPORTANT STATEMENT
In view of continuing speculation about the demise of Psychic News and the intentions of the Spiritualists’ National Union (SNU) with regard to its title and other assets, the trustees of the Spiritual Truth Foundation (STF) – previous owners of Psychic News – met in London today to discuss the matter. They wish to make it very clear that:
1. The assets of Psychic Press Ltd, the original publishers of Psychic News until 1995, were transferred to the SNU in that year to ensure that the weekly newspaper could continue as an independent voice of Spiritualism.
2. It was agreed between the parties – STF and SNU – that those assets, which included the newspaper’s title, its bound volumes, its newspaper archives and its photographic library, would be transferred to a new company, trading as Psychic News. Other items, including portrait paintings of the newspaper’s founders, were gifted to the SNU to be kept in its museum.
3. The SNU’s newly-established company, Psychic Press (1995) Ltd, has published the newspaper ever since, until the SNU took the decision to cease publication with the issue of 24 July this year.
4. The SNU has now decided, after conflicting statements of intention, that this company will be put into voluntary creditors liquidation.
5. The STF is concerned that, during discussion about the newspaper’s future, the SNU appears to have informed a respected third party, which was interested in saving the publication, that the newspaper’s title and other assets were not part of the business that was to be liquidated. As a result, no agreement was reached and no lifeline has been thrown to the newspaper, which had been published weekly for almost eight decades.
6. The STF advises the SNU that, if it is claiming ownership of the assets, then this is contrary to the agreement that was made with the STF in 1995.
7. The STF calls upon the SNU to confirm immediately that it does not own the Psychic News title and other assets, that they belong to Psychic Press (1995) Ltd – the company it is now liquidating – and that the liquidator will include these in discussions with any interested party wishing to purchase the newspaper and re-publish it.
18 October, 2010
For the record, the STF trustees are: Bob Clarke (chairman), Geoffrey Craggs (secretary), Roy Stemman, Debbie De Vito, Susan Farrow, Robert Wallace and Eric Hatton who, incidentally, is Life President of the SNU and was also its President at the time ownership transferred from the STF.