Since there are quite a few Pommies here, I wonder what you all think about the Madeleine McCann story?
The parents are innocent, or are they evil?
The story has so many parallels to the Jon Bennet Ramsey story.
21 thoughts on “What do Brits think of Madeleine McCann?”
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Perhaps some are not so familiar with the case (About the young girl who went missing during a Portuguese holiday) . I suspect all Brits are.
There are so many conflicting accounts online, that I have refrained from referencing any yet.
But it is an amazing story that touches a lot of British society and politics.
Such as?
OMagain,
Rich couple. Initially agreed to co-operate with the police, but quickly stopped answering questions. Insisted on being together during police questioning. Convoluted relationships with police investigators. Many stories about abductors. Allegations of child abuse. Large PR campaign. Disagreements within the different investigative divisions about who is suspect. Other children in the house at same time. Weird forensic evidence.
More that I would probably get into later.
It seems the amount of government agencies that got involved in this case, from the very beginning, is really incredible. Not only from Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who sent special cabinet level posts people to Portugal immediately (Tony Blair’s wife was calling the couple immediately) , but from all sorts of shadowy agencies. Within less than one day of her being missing, at the first press conference, there already was at least 7 British government people (including the British ambassador to Portugal, the British consul for Lisbon, the Head of Crisis management for private public relations firm Bell Pottinger-a firm which controversially represents several African dictator regimes, as well as the former PM of Thailand, Augusto Pinochet, and Syrian President Assads wife, and the government of Belarus, plus a trauma psychologist from the Center for Crisis Psychology-weird!) in Portugal to attend the press conference, even though no one was even sure what happened with the girl yet.
The story gets even more weird from there. For those who don’t believe in conspiracy theories, I suggest you read a bit about this case.
I also just read that the McCanns have kept this guy Clarence Mitchell as the PR consultant on this case for over 9 years, and they just fired him this past August. His fees were being paid by the government of England, which has spent over 12 million pounds on this investigation.
Mitchell is a Conservative Party candidate, and was the Central Office of Information Director of the government’s Media Monitoring Unit. He was sent to Portugal to help the McCanns by the UK Foreign Ministry office.
Why?
Well the police haven’t uncovered a clue in nine years. No reason we can’t solve the case in a day or two by thinking about it.
I see this from the same people I see rabid conspiracy theories – the chemtrailers and so on. That’s what I think it is. There’s been some real hatred of them from Facebook ‘friends’ that has made me think twice about that status.
It is possible that they did her in and are now involved in an almight cover-up. It’s also possible they not only lost their sweet daughter but are now going through hell at the hands of trolls. I don’t wish to make that call.
Hey, it’s already been solved!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann
The source is kooky, but the images are real.
The police composites are actually from Wikipedia.
Works for ID.
Although that depends on what “works” means.
Glen Davidson
petrushka,
I am not asking people to solve it, I am asking what the average UK person thinks about it. I don’t know what the media coverage of this was like, but it was probably the most enduring news story of 2007.
The part that I find amazing is the amount of government involvement within just one day of her disappearance. For instance the government assigned two civil servants to go to Portugal and be PR people for this couple on the very same day of her disappearance. One woman assigned to help them writes back a report and asks why the government is putting so much backing in this couple, when their stories have so many inconsistencies that could make them suspects, and then she is then promptly send back to England, and they send other people.
Then this guy Clarence Mitchell becomes their PR guy for over nine years, paid for by the government. Do you think your government would do that for you if your daughter went missing?
I think just reading what is said on wikipedia is barely even scratching how weird the story is, especially how much the stories changed over time.
Allan Miller,
Is that your take on what has happened Allan? That it is trolls that have questioned the voracity of their stories?
Do you think the Portugal police are part of the conspiracy against them?
petrushka,
In fact Petrushka, you know reading what is said on Wikipedia is totally suspect, because most of what is quoted there comes from the PR firm that represents the McCanns.
The guy who heads that PR campaign is called Clarence Mitchell. The other firm involved with this case is called Bell Pottinger. Mitchells job was to spin the media coverage of the case to always show them in a favorable light. He is a government official doing this, and not only that, he also worked for Rupert Murdochs son in law, Matthew Freud. Thus he controlled many of the stories printed in UK media.
So for example, when it say on Wikipedia that the Portuguese police initially believed an abductor broke in and took her, that is a complete lie. That is pure Clarence Mitchell written spin. They never believed anyone broke in, because the wife first claimed someone entered through a shuttered window, which would have been all but impossible. The bed also didn’t look like it was ever slept in, that is clear from the photos. There are also photos of the window, and it shows it was never opened like they claimed. So the police were skeptical from the beginning. The McCanns and their friends were also un-cooperative with the police, and changed their stories many times, which made them more suspicious.
So when things are said on Wikipedia which clearly are not true, you have to consider who wrote it.
Even the very notion of a composite sketch is a joke, if you read where it comes from. This was devised a full month after her disappearance, with one of the Mccanns friends saying she now remembers what some guy looks like who she saw in the dark, and claims was carrying a baby that evening, wearing pink pajamas just like Madeleines. Of course this is not at all what she originally said, but we do have a PR firm now.
Its these constant weird editing of reality that has lead many people to question what really happened.
And Matthew Freud’s father was…?
phoodoo,
You seem to take the view that anyone who does not 100% agree with your take on a matter is 100% convinced the other way. Read what I said again.
No. I don’t think there is a conspiracy against them. I think there is a lot of loose and ill-informed talk on social media. Hardly a conspiracy. Conspiracy-theorists are marked by their unshakeable desire to believe that there is more to something than meets the eye. Social-media warriors are acting like such conspiracy-theorists, not like conspiracists.
Actually I don’t really have a take on their innocence or guilt. I just think there must be more to the story, that is why I want to know what the feeling is in England.
To me it seems like maybe he could work for MI6 or something else secretive. Why did the government send so many people there so fast? Is that not strange?
Also what is up with Robert Murat? He is the known pedophile who ended up being the MCCanns original interpreter during the first few days, and then later became a suspect himself, and Gerry McCann was asked on television if he knew him before this incident and he says he refuses to answer that question. I saw McCann say exactly that, and I am wondering why?
There are a lot of seemingly easy to answer questions like this, which McCann kept refusing to answer. Like he was asked if he gave his children sleeping medicine, and his answer is “I refuse to answer that.” They also are very coy about whether or not their daughter had a genetic eye disorder, and they refused to release any medical records of hers. When people are asking these questions, to try to help find your daughter, why would you answer like this?
Allan Miller,
I don’t think you can call people conspiracy kooks for thinking his answers are weird.
Allan Miller,
There are also police photos of the window sealed up tight, the bed unslept in, and even though they say they found her missing at 10 pm, the first call to police was almost an hour later.
Its not just internet trolls who think these things are strange.
Allan Miller,
Then there is Sheree Dodd. She is not an internet troll.
She was sent by Tony Blair the day after this occurred to be the special media liaison officer for the McCanns, while Madeleine was still just consider a missing child. She became suspicious of the McCanns and was then withdrawn from Portugal after two weeks. Her report to the Foreign Ministers Office, critical of the McCanns was leaked to a Belgian newspaper.
These are all facts Allan, this is not internet trolling.
Well Freuds father was Clement Freud, another accused pedophile. And his great grandfather is of course Sigmund Freud.
One of the McCanns other friends, who was on the trip with them and who gave testimony for the McCanns claiming he saw Madeleine that evening, is Dr. David Paine. He was also suspected of strange behavior towards kids by another doctor friend of theirs, who advised her husband never to leave their kids alone with him. There is videotape of some of his testimony and his story is all over the map, and changes constantly.
Alan Fox,
So you are from England Alan, what is your take from the coverage you have seen?
phoodoo,
BTW, here is a funny clip about Clement Freud.