Police Funding for Madeleine McCann

I think it's wrong. If there is something else going on, for example hoping to uncover organised crime which includes kidnapping children, then it should be stated that that is what this money is for.

How must Ben's mother feel? She'll never know what happened to her son and although the same can be said for the McCann's, at least they know that everything that could have been done has been done.

Have the police not recently been digging the grounds of the house little Ben Needham vanished from?

If the police have some possible evidence of organised crime be rather stupid to make it public surely ?

I had to Google this. 250,000 children go missing in Europe every year. Some are kidnapped by family some are taken across borders. Sad as the McCann case may be I'd far rather some money went to these people missingchildreneurope.eu/facts&figures

ab yes they did - was it in the last year or two? There was an alleged deathbed confession from the driver of one of the trucks that were working on the site doing some building I believe. And yes any suspicions would be kept quiet - why should we know? There’s huge amounts we never know eg about counterterrorism and that’s quite right. I feel sorry for both families - just not knowing - I look at my dgc and the thought brings tears to my eyes. It’s not a competition - theBN case was pre social media etc and it would probably be handled differently now.

trisher I was referring to British children abroad disappearing. It’s vanishingly rare thank goodness but I do think that British resources should be used in these cases.

I can only assume, and hope, that the police are following specific and credible leads and that's why they've had further funding.

How many of you who are critical don't mind the 'few pennies' it costs each of us to fund the royal family?

Oh River I just said that to DH. I’ve also just read up
on the BN case and given how long ago it was I think there’s some misremembering about what’shsppened over the years. Even last year forensics were carried out on blood on a sandal. It’s worth reading the Wiki entry on it as it’s detsiked and gives the official UK police view on what they believe truly happened

maryeliza, when the little girl was abducted AOL had very active forums, the hatred for the parents really distressed me, I can only say it was so evil. How can one mother condemn another mother as so many did.

I can’t allow myself to think what these parents must feel

Kerry Needham had to move heaven and earth and kick up a public fuss to be able to get the same resources and national publicity put into Ben’s case as the McCann’s had. She and her family tirelessly followed up every lead, however small, both on Kos and in this country and eventually, last year, the police decided to fund a dig on Ben’s grandfather’s property where he disappeared, to try and find further evidence. Twenty seven years on, she still has no closure. Neither have the McCanns. I am so very sad for every family, no matter what their circumstances, of a child who disappears seemingly without trace. How on earth can you give up on them?

Anniebach I remember those arguments. I was ripped to shreds for supporting the McCanns it was terrible.
All the anti's kept repeating was that " they were doctors,they had a big house,they had big cars,they had money " What on earth that had anything to do with a stolen child I don't know but it didn't take me long to realise that these people were as thick as the proverbial. Included in that foray was a solicitor who had leaflets printed to spread in various places particularly Leicester where the family live spreading hatred and gathering money to back Amaral's cause. The solicitor was finally caught up with and given a 3 month suspended sentence for spreading lies and hatred.

EllanVannin, it realy was horrific, I too got a verbal battering, the truth ! .put forward, Gerry killed her because he wasn’t realy her father, they kept her little body in the boot of their car, and when the press reported the parents had gone to church the priest and parents had buried the child in the crypt.

When Theresa May was Home Secretary she set up a special unit to look for Madeleine McCann. It seems to me that this situation is untenable in a period of time when our police are severely underfunded, ….

Grannyactivist would you have started such a thread if it were your granddaughter who was missing?

I'm happy for the few pennies it personally costs me for this investigation to continue ….. the situation is almost unique in recent decades.

Riverwalk I found your comment to grannyactivisit a bit harsh. Maybe I'm having an overly sensitive day but my memory of ga's life on gransnet is that her posts are generally kind and considerate to others.

Having direct knowledge of the harm caused by the gangs involved in child sexual exploitation, I'd be pleased if more resources went into that. There have been any number of discussions about the impact of austerity on our pubic services and I don't see it as unreasonable or unkind to raise the issue of the amount of public money put into the search for one child.

And if that one child was your child ?

I understand that people should question why more money is spent on one investigation of a missing child, more than on others.I think unfortunately it’s because some things capture the public imagination and some don’t.
I can think of nothing worse than for your child to be taken, so that you never know what happened to them, a living nightmare.

Iam I don't know what's harsh about asking a direct question.

Presumably Madeleine McCann has a grandmother, maybe two, and I doubt if they were regulars on GN they would start such a thread.

This child's disappearance, in those circumstances, is almost without precedence.

As for the OP's history on GN - are we really not to question someone because in the past they have been kind and considerate?

How many small children who disappeared in this country have not been found , dead or alive ?

Why does the debate have to be about lack of resources rather than why that is? Secondly where does comparing money spent on BN and MM take us? Should the HO have said we spent x on BN so will only spend x on MM even though with hindsight we should have spent more on BN.

Exactly ab and if we limit it to very young
British children disappearing abroad are there any others? It’s hardly as though we are opening the floodgates.

When little Ben disappeared there was no internet . When little Madeline disappeared her parents were able to appeal for funds on the internet .

The press gave more publicity to the little girl’s disappearance than to the little boy’s because her parents were doctors and many of the public wanted them hanged within weeks

Riverwalk, my reference to GA's posts wasn't to say we shouldn't challenge people if they're usually kind. I was clumsily trying to suggest that her question wasn't posed in a way that raised historical criticisms of the family involved.

I don't support the austerity agenda. I do believe its appropriate to discuss where resources should be targeted and money spent.

As I implied in the OP, if I were Madeleine's parent I would move heaven and earth to do everything I could to find her and yes, I would lobby the government, the police and anyone else who might help me.

My question was about the effective use of limited police resources. The number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen by over 20,000 between March 2010 and March 2018. The number of police officers in England and Wales is the lowest recorded level since the early 1980s. (Full Fact) What happened to Madeleine we shall likely never know, but we do know that if £11 million were focused on crime reduction that many more little girls (and boys) might escape dreadful fates (c.f. Rotherham et al ). It is not for the McCanns to ask the police to 'stand down' the investigation, but it is, in my view, a matter for those who audit police expenditure to look at what is cost effective.

Sorry Riverwalk I forgot to answer your question. No, I most definitely would not have started this thread if it was my granddaughter who was missing; I would most likely be setting up a petition to raise funds.

I have every sympathy for Madeleine's family, but I am also aware that the consequence of continuing to fund this particular investigation is that there is less money available for other crimes - ones that may prevent further harm being done to child victims.

There is a whole other debate to be had about why our police are so under-funded.

I understand Grannyactivist but bringing one child into it ? Why not the money spent on police investigating allegations against the dead ?