The Gall of Gerry McCann
Whatever public opinion as to Leveson, his recommendations with regards press reporting, whatever their view it is theirs to have.
But I cannot read McCanns words and feel any sympathy for him. The points he raised mirror what the couple themselves have acted out. Their description of the press their conduct, does not differ from that of McCanns their own actions.
McCann speaking therefore takes away from the Hacked Off Campaign. His speaking for them makes it very much less credible.
McCann -
“Our elected politicians face a critical choice. They can either do what Leveson recommends – wholeheartedly and properly – or they can turn their backs on the issue, and turn their backs on us, the victims of press abuse.:
REPLY -
MADELEINE was a victim of abuse, an abuse of her rights to be cared for and protected.
The adults who holidayed in Portugal from where the child disappeared faced a critical choice – they could either do as the Portuguese Police requested of them, co-operate by answering questions, take part in a reconstruction of the night the child vanished- WHOLEHEARTEDLY and PROPERLY - or turn their backs on her.
They turned their backs!
McCann-
We were subjected to round-the-clock intrusion at a time of terrible stress, with photographers camped outside our door.
REPLY -
And much of the time being there was at the request of Clarence Mitchell, McCanns PR man drafted in at a cost of £70,000 per annum to shape the stories certain sections of the press would publish!
McCann -
We were intimidated. Our young children, especially, were scared out of their wits.
REPLY -
The McCann children when left alone in the unlocked holiday apartment in a country foreign to them, crying upset and afraid one witness stating the cries lasted for over an hour on one of the FIVE consecutive nights these children were left SCARED OUT OF THEIR WITS.
McCann -
My wife’s private diary, revealing her innermost thoughts in her darkest days, was published without her consent.
REPLY -
A lot of her dark days were spent, according to her diary, jogging, shopping, preparing for the couples next PRESS conference, where Kate is delighted that Gerry once again puts in a GREAT PERFORMANCE, arranging visits with the Pope, flying around Europe leaving their twin children behind and dining out with celebrities, drinking brandy!
And did not this woman SPLASH, of her own accord, WITH HER CONSENT some of the most sordid details of her dark days, and dare I say it, revealing her innermost thoughts about her sex life, which the world could have jogged along nicely without knowing - across the front pages?
But then she was PAID for this – so that is okay then?
The £ Sign, is it this which dictates the level of pain or pleasure Kate McCann experiences when she sees her words on the front pages?
McCann -
Rumours were dressed up as the truth
REPLY -
That has been the norm in the McCann case – many times statements by their spokesperson, Clarence Mitchell have been 'dressed up' to appear truthful - that is what he is paid to do - spin tales to show his clients in the best possible light. It is reputation management! But why do the parents of a missing child require the services of such an unsavoury character?
McCann -
and downright lies became front-page news. One newspaper claimed that we sold Madeleine into slavery in order to pay off our mortgage.
REPLY -
Indeed many DOWNRIGHT lies became front page news. The lies told about the Portuguese police for one, and one officer in particular - Dr Goncalo Amaral who was getting ever closer to the truth. The efforts and vast sums of money thrown in attempts to silence this man by the McCanns - disturbing. Again why would they need to?
And one can see how perhaps such a rumour as selling Madeleine in order to pay off their mortgage may come about. They DID in fact make a number of payments from the MADELEINE FUND to do exactly that – PAY THEIR MORTGAGE!
McCann -
The slurs went on for months- despite our best efforts: Meetings with editors, assurances from our lawyers, a letter from the Chief Constable of Leicestershire police calling for restraint- all ignored. And they continued for the simple reason that there was no-one and nothing with the power to stop them.
REPLY -
Yes they did go on and on and still do despite best efforts to stop the McCanns in their tracks still there are the slurs and shaped stories by Mitchell condemning others – Any call for restraint ignored.
McCann -
People say: ‘Your experience was so unusual, we can’t draw any lessons from it.’ Well I disagree. Our experience was extreme, but it was a consequence of the same sick culture that led to the abuse of many other people, some of whom are here in this room today.
REPLY -
Oh it is rather unusual for parents to leave three little kids alone night after night – it was extreme – extremely cruel. But abuse of children is part of a sick culture, and when it is not addressed, when perpetrators are not punished, but protected, it leads to the abuse of many other children.
McCann -
An insatiable hunt for headlines combined with a total lack of respect for other people. The mentality that can turn a family’s distress into cold, hard cash. Profit from misery.
REPLY -
Absolutely – the McCanns hunt for headlines has been insatiable that is for sure – and it shows a total lack of respect for others. Their mentality has without question turned the distress of other families into cold hard cash. Their aim to profit from the misery of others!
McCann –
In our case it led to the sacrifice, not only of the truth, but of our dignity, privacy, well-being and most importantly the search for our missing daughter, Madeleine.
REPLY -
No they did not sacrifice their dignity they sacrificed Madeleine - this was not dignified honest or honourable!
And once more we hear that the search for Madeleine was affected, THIS TIME BY THE PRESS, so everybody and everyone is responsible for their daughter not being here, what a quaint idea!
McCann –
I believe we have a responsibility, as decent citizens in a democratic and caring society, to learn lessons from it
REPLY -
I believe that as the parents of the missing child they have more than a responsibility to learn from what they did to their children which affected each and every one of them, Sean, Amelie and Madeleine paying highest price. Their actions were not those of decent citizens, caring parents living in a caring society. Decent citizens do NOT repeatedly leave their three under 4 year old children alone to fend for themselves in an unlocked holiday apartment while they wine and dine out with friends.
McCann re the
The Parliamentary Select Committee comment on the media from - 2010:
Three years later, I see little remorse, no contrition. Sections of the press are still in denial. The sick culture has not changed, and they can’t be trusted to change it of their own accord.
REPLY -
Never a truer word spoken!
Almost 6 years on since Madeleine vanished and I see no remorse, no contrition for what they did to the child for what THEY allowed happen. It is this sick irresponsible culture which has not changed in neglectful parents. Still the McCanns are in denial that they in any way did wrong. They will never change of their own accord, do the right thing.
They cannot be trusted to.
McCann -
The reason Kate and I put ourselves through the ordeal of giving evidence to Leveson was simple: Nobody should have to endure what we went through. A system has to be put in place to protect ordinary people from the devastating damage that the media can cause.
REPLY -
More simply – No one, no child should have to be put through what the McCann couple did to their children. They should never have had to endure the suffering which they did. What reason do Kate and Gerry McCann have for having put their children through such an ordeal.? They should never have had to go through this, and the outcome so devastating, a child lost! The damage caused by their reckless abandonment of their children.
A couple of hours at Leveson Inquiry does not compare to what their daughter if alive has had to endure these past 6 years.
There are systems in place to protect ordinary children, like the McCann children, from the devastating damage caused by being neglected/abused by their parents but sadly and tragically systems fail.
So many times in the UK systems have failed, so many children, like the McCann children, failed by their parents, children who have suffered at the hands of their parents, abused by their parents, their rights to be cared for and protected, ignored by the parents.
There are many forms of child abuse, many degrees, but all equally as bad as the other.
Never should we sit back and say...'but they (McCanns) only left them for FIVE NIGHTS - but astonishingly and shockingly some do.
The damage their actions caused young Madeleine - was devastating!
ZERO tolerance, and that applies no matter if the offender is the butcher the baker or the CARDIOLOGIST!
McCann -
When David Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry he said in Parliament: “We must keep the public – and the victims of what has now emerged – front and centre at all times.” And he also said: ‘We will have to be guided by what the inquiry finds.”
REPLY -
I am so glad to hear that McCann feels the public should be guided by what the inquiry finds. As the other inquiry the police inquiry in Portugal found that the evidence/information gathered pointed to parental involvement in the child’s disappearance! Let us ALL be guided by the POLICE findings and NOT the half baked story told by McCanns and their buddies!
McCann -
When he gave his own evidence to the Leveson inquiry he promised to protect the people who have been thrown to the wolves as we were. We saw this as grounds for hope that we’d see real change.
REPLY -
When McCanns gave their own evidence/statements at police interviews, the public saw this as grounds for hope, that we would see real change – that they would stick to ONE story and not continue to REFUSE TO CO-OPERATE WITH THE INVESTIGATION. But no, no hope of that - MADELEINE WAS THROWN TO THE WOLVES!
McCann -
What Leveson proposed last November is not tough on the press and it’s not a threat to free speech. For me personally, he did not go far enough. It seems to me that the judge did everything he could to make his proposals workable for the newspapers while giving the public some protection.
REPLY –
What Portuguese and British Police proposed to McCanns was not tough on them – asking for them to tell the truth to co-operate never is. Being ASKED is not a threat unless you have something to hide. For me, personally, police did not go far enough, they were soft on them.
McCann -
In the end they get to regulate themselves, which is something very few industries are allowed to do, and which many people felt they had lost the right to do so.
REPLY –
It is not the end yet, but on the road there,McCanns have been allowed to ‘regulate’ allowed to have books banned, silencing persons by threats from their solicitors Carter Ruck, SOMETHING which NO parents of the missing child, the parents who remain the prime suspects though unofficially, should ever get to do, and which many people feel they had NO right from start to have.
McCann -
For us and for other victims of press abuses, Leveson’s proposal is the minimum acceptable compromise – and, judging by the opinion polls, the public feels the same way.
REPLY – For we the public and all children, victims of abuses in whatever form, there is NO compromise. Child abuse is NOT acceptable full stop!
We have no need of a poll to know this.
McCann -
But what has happened? Two and a half months on we can see precious little progress towards implementation of Leveson, and we are hearing backsliding words from politicians. This is an opportunity for our elected MP’s, whose reputation with the British public is at an all time low, to redeem themselves. The Leveson report is not something to be negotiated with their friends in the press. Any watering down of the Leveson plan now, whether in a Bill or a Royal Charter or whatever, would be like surrendering to the press and saying the whole Leveson process was a waste of time.
REPLY -
Almost 6 years on and WE can see precious little progress towards the McCanns and their group of friends offering to re-open this case by whatever means they can, and they CAN, to help discover what became of this child.
Their reputation is at an ALL TIME LOW. Their backsliding words are all we hear– Whatever happened to -WE WILL LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED?
A child’s life is NOT something this group of adults, buddies from the medical profession, key witnesses, should have been negotiating with police, the many letters back and forth between Portugal and the U.K while they tried to decide whether or not to assist with police inquiries quite beggars belief.
What was there to decide - little Madeleine was missing and they could help?
They chose NOT to! Shocking!
Can they, the McCanns EVER redeem themselves after that?
McCann -
And the idea that Kate and I, and all those other victims, might have relived our darkest days in the full glare of the media, for no good reason, is offensive. If our testimony was in vain, it will be a permanent stain on the reputation of this Government, and I believe that many other families will pay a heavy price in press mistreatment.”
REPLY -
And the idea, that McCann thinks for an instant that all will believe his ‘re-living his darkest days’ comment to be an honest and truthful one – is offensive!
This group of adults who holidayed with the child, in the main medical professionals, their neglectful actions, their refusal to assist police in the investigation, leaves a permanent stain on the British families who they claimed, behave in the same way as they do, that British parents put their children to bed and then abandon them. That's the kind of statement £70,000 gets you, when you pay a hired spokesman (Clarence Mitchell) to shape stories for the press to cover your backside.
I believe many children will pay a heavy price, as the mistreatment the McCann children suffered has gone unpunished. Their parents have had fancy lawyers, press stories shaped, and put out for public consumption declaring that what they did was WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF RESPONSIBLE PARENTING - £70,000
That’s a ‘twist’ on child neglect.
It gives abusers the green light to do as they the McCanns and their buddies have done, and think they will get away with it! Leaves children so vulnerable. It is children who will suffer by such selfish and irresponsible comments by McCanns and their spokesperson Clarence Mitchell.
McCann –
Sometimes it seems as if our politicians just don’t know what the right thing to do is. Just like in the past, they seem to be so compromised by their own relationships with the press that they are unable to see what needs to be done for the sake of the public. And that is exactly what the newspapers want. They want politicians to squabble and manoeuvre, so that they get to carry on business as usual. They need a compliant Government to tiptoe around them and avoid hurting their feelings. (...)
REPLY -
All of the time it seems these parents just don’t know what the right thing to do is.
Just like now as in past, they compromise ever finding this child by their refusal to co-operate with the police – failing or CHOOSING not to see what needs to be done for the sake of Madeleine.
McCanns want everyone to tiptoe around them, be compliant, so that they can carry on BUSINESS AS USUAL – as though a little girl by the name of Madeleine never vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal their little girl. They want the public to squabble, take sides, detract from the real issue – the missing child, their negligence and more probably, much more!
McCann -
It’s obvious that no one wants the Government to shackle the press. What we all want is a free press –indeed Leveson would enshrine it- but we need a free press which is both responsible and accountable- two values which are in short supply. So that if the press trample on people, they have some remedy.
REPLY -
Is it obvious? Obvious to me McCann does!
All the public want from McCanns is for them to act responsibly, be accountable, two values which quite clearly are in short supply. And when they trample on others, using the Fund monies donated for Madeleine to do so, there should be some remedy!
McCann –
We need a proper watchdog whose independence and effectiveness is guaranteed. That is what Leveson recommends. He says the press can regulate themselves, on condition that their regulator meets some basic standards. He says what those standards are, and he says there must be an independent body that checks those standards are met. He says that it is essential- not desirable, ESSENTIAL- that the body carrying out the checks is set up in statute, though it must be completely free of political influence after that.
Considering what the press has been doing to people, they should see that as a good deal. All the polls show that is what the public thinks. And it looks as though most parliamentarians think that too.
REPLY –
It is ESSENTIAL that the McCanns and friends step up to the mark for Madeleine, completely free of political influence, the financial backing of others which allows them to trample innocents.
As to watchdogs or let's talk the canine variety - The highly trained police dogs used in the investigation, re Madeleine's disappearance were most effective 'alerting' in the McCann holiday apartment, items of Kate McCanns clothing, the keys to their car and boot of the McCann car also.
Gerry McCann insists highly trained police dogs in general are NOT reliable!
McCann –
Leveson without the law is no change. It’s the PCC all over again. It’s the world we know, of newspapers abusing innocent families with impunity. What happened to us would happen to other British families in the future. It is up to our Prime Minister and our other politicians to prevent that. He promised he would. To keep his promise, all he has to do is follow what Leveson said, and put the Leveson recommendations into law through parliament, without meddling and back-door deals. And without checking whether the press is happy about it.
There can’t be any half measures or compromises. Leveson made many concessions to the press so his recommendations are already a compromise. In fact they are the minimum acceptable compromise for the people who, in the Prime Minister’s words, were “picked up and thrown to the wolves.” That is us. That is Kate and I, and some of the people in this room, and many other people around the country.
I said at the beginning that we are at a crossroads. Please, this time, let’s choose the right road.
REPLY -
Seems McCann needs to call on his pal Brooks to again twist Cameron's arm if McCann wants Cameron to keep his promises – Oops she’s already been charged with meddling and back-door deals – the deal done on behalf of McCanns!
The person I can see who was thrown to wolves is Madeleine.
Madeleine and all of the other little children abused.
The McCann message - THAT IT IS OKAY TO DO WHAT THEY DID TO THEIR CHILDREN, as it is according to them, the actions of responsible parents.
There is no crossroads in this case, there is but ONE road – the RIGHT ROAD, but McCanns, just refuse to go down it.
McCann was very much the wrong choice to represent this group today. It took from the core issue.
When one knows what the McCanns have done to their children, their dealings with press, the stories they themselves have put out there - it is nothing short of the most astonishing arrogance and hypocrisy!
Such a great pity as there are genuine victims!
l-azzeri-lies-in-the-sun.com
11th Feb 2013