Re: Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support?

by **Tony Bennett** 05.09.11 10:10

Stella wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:
Dear Mr Bennett,
I am in receipt of your letter of 22 July regarding Madeleine McCann. I am sure you would appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment too much, as we do not know each other, and I have no idea what your connection to the case is. However, I would also not want further conspiracy theories to fester by simply ignoring your letter.
Therefore, I can confirm that whatever information I had (including some photos of my sons taken on the day Madeleine disappeared, which showed her in the background) was passed both to the police and to the McCanns at the time. Having been in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance and seen all of the events first hand, there is not one shred of doubt in my mind that the events as reported were correct.
In fact one of the most terrible parts of this tragedy is that there are people out there who are questioning this, just adding further to the nightmare that the McCann family have suffered. I cannot imagine anything crueller.
I’m afraid I won’t enter into further correspondence on this matter with you.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Edmonds
This is rather odd statement to make. Mr Edmonds boys were 6, 7 & 8 years of age at that time. They were not in the same creche group as Madeleine. Madeleine was never taken to the evening Tapas restaurant. At lunch time, the McCanns' claim to have eaten back at their apartment. So how did these children come to be in the same picture as Madeleine?

I have to say I am highly sceptical as to whether our Mr Philip Edmonds is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about that photograph.

For a start, he is vague about it, doesn't tell us where or when it was taken.

Second, if this is proof that Madeleine was alive on Thursday 3 May, why on earth has that photo not been reproduced, along with an affidavit of evidence from Mr Edmonds saying: "Here is a photograph I took of my boys playing with Madeleine at ___am/pm on Thursday 3 May"?

I am not accusing Mr Edmonds of lying, but I do think he should clear this up.

He cannot imagine anything 'crueller' than questioning the McCanns' account of events, as has been done by the original detectives who investigated the case.n

Well, I can - and without having a vivid imagination

by greenwatch 05.09.11 12:10

Tony Bennett wrote:
Stella wrote:Thanks to the Portuguese Police and the release of the guest lists, we have now come to piece together, that one of the people socialising with Kate and Gerry McCann that week, is very closely related to the Right Honourable Margaret Hodge MBE, MP.

REST SNIPPED
I think it's important for this discussion that we now identify the person closely related to Margaret ('Lady') Hodge who was at Praia da Luz with the McCanns that week, for his name is publicly available in the files: Mr Philip Martin Edmonds. He is Margaret Hodge's nephew.

Mr Edwards has a fascinating family history. Born on 31 August 1962 according to his entry on Geni.Com, he married Reina Hazenberg and they have three boys, all of whom were out with Philip in Praia da Luz for the week the McCanns were there. But not his wife Reina, so it seems. We also know from the Portuguese Police files that he mysteriously jetted off to Switzerland, where he lives, early on Friday morning (4 May 2011), apparnetly cutting short his holiday just as news was surfacing that a child had been abducted from Praia da Luz.

Visit the website of Stemcor.com, the world's largest steel company, with a turnover measured in billions, and Philip Edmonds' name again comes up as one of their 11-strong Board of Directors.

How did Philip Edmonds get so far? A clue is apparent from the same Stemcor.com website: Philips' Uncle Ralph - Ralph Oppenheimer - is also on the Stemcor Board.

Indeed, Stemcor, as a brief internet search reveals, is an Oppenheimer family business.

All this has come about because Philip's father, Herbert Edmonds, made a wise choice in marrying into the Oppenheimer family.

Hannah Oppenheimer was the eldest of five children of Hans Oppenheimer and his wife Lisbeth Hollitscher, an Austrian Jewess. Hans was born in Stuttgart, Germany but fled to Alexandria in the mid-1930s as Hitler's anti-Semitic Nazi regime was stepping up its persecution of Jews, in the lead-up to World War II.

His first four children, including Hannah, and of course her sister Margaret Eve Hodge, nee Oppenheimer, were all born in Alexandria, Egypt, Hodge being born on 8 September 1944 in Alexandria, Hannah three years later in Orpington, Kent. Hannah still lives in Kent (see below).

In the 1980s, Margaret Hodge did two things that made her famous (or infamous). She married Sir Henry Hodge (her second marriage), and became known as Margaret Hodge. And she became a prominent Labour Councillor in left-wing Islington, where she was later notorious for covering up extensive child abuse in what became known as the 'Islington Children's Home Scandal', fully exposed in the 1990s (there's a lot about this on the internet).

In 2003, despite this appalling record, Prime Minister Tony Blair made her Britain's first-ever 'Minister for Children' (!)

Lady Hodge inherited a substantial slice of the Oppenheimer fortune, and is one of Britain's wealthiest women; despite that, she claimed excessive Parliamentary expenses from us, the British taxpayers (see reports on the MPs' expenses scandal).

Philip's father and mother, Herbert and Hannah Edmonds, aged 81 and 74 resepctively, live in Bromley, Kent. Philip is beleived to be based in Switzerland.

Hannah Oppenheimer's father Hans was the son of Salomon Oppenheimer, born 1871 in Ohringen, west Germany, and in turn Salomon is the son of Abraham Oppenheimer, who in turn was the son of another Abraham Oppenheimer, from one of the many branches of this powerful German-Hewish family.

Edmonds is not an English name, it's an anglicised version of the German 'Emsheimer'. Philip Edmonds' father, Herbert Emsheimer, was born in Karlsruhe, wast Germany, in 1930, and the family changed their name to Edmonds on arriving in England.

Why Philip Edmonds should choose Praia da Luz as his choice of holiday venue for the week 28 April to 5 May 2007 is not known. And there is no explanation as to why Edmonds and his three sons jetted away from Praia da Luz on the morning of Friday 4 May 2007, just as the British public were tuning in to the news and learning that a British girl had been mysteriously abducted.

I wrote to Mr Edmonds recently about some of these matters and received this courteous but brief reply:

Dear Mr Bennett,

I am in receipt of your letter of 22 July regarding Madeleine McCann. I am sure you would appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment too much, as we do not know each other, and I have no idea what your connection to the case is. However, I would also not want further conspiracy theories to fester by simply ignoring your letter.

Therefore, I can confirm that whatever information I had (including some photos of my sons taken on the day Madeleine disappeared, which showed her in the background) was passed both to the police and to the McCanns at the time. Having been in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance and seen all of the events first hand, there is not one shred of doubt in my mind that the events as reported were correct.

In fact one of the most terrible parts of this tragedy is that there are people out there who are questioning this, just adding further to the nightmare that the McCann family have suffered. I cannot imagine anything crueller.

I’m afraid I won’t enter into further correspondence on this matter with you.

Yours sincerely,

Philip Edmonds

TONY BENNETT, I AM CERTAIN YOU ARE UNABLE TO READ/COMPREHEND WHAT YOU ARE READING. READ THE LETTER AGAIN.

QUOTE
I can confirm that whatever information I had (including some photos of my sons taken on the day Madeleine disappeared, WHICH SHOWED HER IN THE BACKGROUND)
UNQUOTE

NOWHERE DOES IT STATE THAT PHILIP EDMOND'S CHILDREN WERE 'PLAYING WITH MADELEINE'.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO TWIST FACTS?

by Guest 05.09.11 12:20

As previously mentioned, the children were of different ages, so how could they have been in the same place at the same time?

by **Tony Bennett** 05.09.11 12:44

greenwatch wrote:TONY BENNETT, I AM CERTAIN YOU ARE UNABLE TO READ/COMPREHEND WHAT YOU ARE READING. READ THE LETTER AGAIN.

QUOTE

I can confirm that whatever information I had (including some photos of my sons taken on the day Madeleine disappeared, WHICH SHOWED HER IN THE BACKGROUND)

UNQUOTE

NOWHERE DOES IT STATE THAT PHILIP EDMONDS' CHILDREN WERE 'PLAYING WITH MADELEINE'.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO TWIST FACTS?

I concede you make a valid point, though far too aggressively. Please note that contributors here are polite to each other; please observe the usual courtesies on this forum or you will be banned.

Now, I wrote:

Second, if this is proof that Madeleine was alive on Thursday 3 May, why on earth has that photo not been reproduced, along with an affidavit of evidence from Mr Edmonds saying: "Here is a photograph I took of my boys playing with Madeleine at ___am/pm on Thursday 3 May"?

I agree that it would have been better and more accurate if I had written:

Second, if this is proof that Madeleine was alive on Thursday 3 May, why on earth has that photo not been reproduced, along with an affidavit of evidence from Mr Edmonds saying: "Here is a photograph I took of my boys with Madeleine in the background at ___am/pm on Thursday 3 May"?

That remains a question that both the McCanns and Philip Edmonds might like to answer.

by greenwatch 05.09.11 12:47

Stella wrote:As previously mentioned, the children were of different ages, so how could they have been in the same place at the same time?

DO YOU LIVE ON THE MOON, STELLA? WHY DON'T you ask Mark Warner why they allow residents and NON-residents to wander through the communal grounds which are very pleasant and attract people from other villas/apartments/hotels (A PRACTICE IN COMMON WITH ALL THE OTHER RESORTS)

Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 6sz1wz

Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 6sz1wz

LOOKIE ABOVE, horror, a couple wandering thru the playground and they are not 'playing' with Madeleine.

by Guest 05.09.11 12:58

Stephen Carpenter arrives at the Tapas Bar at 7.00 pm.

He saw Philip Edmonds already sitting there with his 3 children and he mentions that he was flying to Switzerland the next day to return his children to their Mother (obviously they are seperated).

Edmonds joins Carpenter for coffee (presumably after their meal).

At 8.30 Gerry, Kate and the others are seated at their table.

Carpenter’s table is so close to the McCann table, it was possible for both tables to converse (presumably Edmond's is still there at this point).

Carpenter’s wife remembers someone calling “Madeleine, Madeleine”, on the way back to their apartment.

Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 234726

Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 234726

I wonder what time Edmonds left the table?

by greenwatch 05.09.11 13:00

TONY BENNET said

\\"Here is a photograph I took of my boys with Madeleine in the background at ___am/pm on Thursday 3 May\\"?

It would have been much nicer if you had posted the above in the first place. It is the fact that in your role play you dramatically change the entire picture to suit your own agenda and this is what disgusts mosts right-thinking people.

by **Tony Bennett** 05.09.11 13:03

greenwatch wrote:
Stella wrote:As previously mentioned, the children were of different ages, so how could they have been in the same place at the same time?
DO YOU LIVE ON THE MOON, STELLA? WHY DON'T you ask Mark Warner why they allow residents and NON-residents to wander through the communal grounds which are very pleasant and attract people from other villas/apartments/hotels (A PRACTICE IN COMMON WITH ALL THE OTHER RESORTS)

LOOKIE ABOVE, horror, a couple wandering thru the playground and they are not 'playing' with Madeleine.

Again, you miss the key point and once again have been far too aggressive in your remarks; there will be no third warning about your failure to treat fellow forum-members with respect.

Clearly Stella is right to point out that the Edmonds' boys were 'in the same place' as Madeleine when the photo was taken. In the pool area, for example, or in a restaurant area.

For Madeleine to be recognisable in this photo, she can't have been far from the three boys.

But as Stella suggests, where were they all?

We are told by a Stemcor Board member - Edmonds - that he has this photograph showing Madeleine alive on 3 May. The 'last photo' purports to prove that Madeleine was alive at 2.29pm on 3 May, although there are many question marks about the provenance of that photo.

Why doesn't Edmonds produce the photo? - his boys' faces can be blacked out.

Why don't the McCanns produce this photo?

In fact, instead of asking silly questions of me and Stella, why don't you go to the McCanns/Philip Edmonds and ask them to produce the photo?

by Guest 05.09.11 13:05

greenwatch wrote:
Stella wrote:As previously mentioned, the children were of different ages, so how could they have been in the same place at the same time?
DO YOU LIVE ON THE MOON, STELLA? WHY DON'T you ask Mark Warner why they allow residents and NON-residents to wander through the communal grounds which are very pleasant and attract people from other villas/apartments/hotels

I think you are deliberately missing the point greenwatch.

Mr Edmonds claims to have taken photo's of his boys with Madeleine in the background. A man with 3 boys age 6, 7 and 8, would not be in the play area for toddlers.

by Newintown 05.09.11 13:10

Stella wrote:
greenwatch wrote:
Stella wrote:As previously mentioned, the children were of different ages, so how could they have been in the same place at the same time?
DO YOU LIVE ON THE MOON, STELLA? WHY DON'T you ask Mark Warner why they allow residents and NON-residents to wander through the communal grounds which are very pleasant and attract people from other villas/apartments/hotels

I think you are deliberately missing the point greenwatch.

Mr Edmonds claims to have taken photo's of his boys with Madeleine in the background. A man with 3 boys age 6, 7 and 8, would not be in the play area for toddlers.

Greenwatch is deliberately missing the point. No doubt she is one of the paid McCann's keyboard monkeys or is a McCann / friend/ relative, trying to cover the McCanns' backs at every opportunity she has, but is making a very poor job of it.

by Guest 05.09.11 13:28

It looks like Greenwatch has left the building. Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 375754

by Guest 05.09.11 13:33

Does anyone remember who it was, who allegedly called someone in the Government as soon as the alarm was raised? Was that David Payne?

Is it possible that Margaret Hodge could have given David Payne the right number to call for help? Or else, how we he have got that number?

by lj 05.09.11 13:50

I hope the McCanns are not paying her, absolutely no qualities, not even for a keyboard monkey.

by The Rooster 05.09.11 14:42

"Therefore, I can confirm that whatever information I had (including some photos of my sons taken on the day Madeleine disappeared, which showed her in the background) was passed both to the police and to the McCann’s at the time.”

I find the above sentence particularly interesting both believable and at the same time unbelievable. The writer in an attempt to discourage further conspiracy theory and to ligitimise his position tells Mr Bennett that he passed (presumably) relevant information held to the police (this I can believe) and to the McCann’s at the time (this I find unbelievable).

Why pass this information to the McCann’s and why the need to explain the information in such detail to Mr Bennett. What is his motivation for doing so, particularly as he clearly points out that he and Mr Bennett are not known to one another? If I were Mr Edmonds replying to Mr Bennett’s letter I would write the sentence as follows…

"Therefore, I can confirm that whatever information I had was passed to the police at the time.”

And be done with the detail. Too much information, why? Or is it so transparent...

Ah say Boy just like the hand grenade in the barrel of oatmeal!

by Guest 05.09.11 15:32

I don't see how he could have passed it onto the Police, as he allegedly left the following morning, before the McCann's had even given their statements.

Alarm bells should have been ringing from the moment GNR first arrived. They must have asked reception, is there any suspicious activity that we need to know about, either people checking in or checking out?? One of them should have said, yes we have a guest who was due to leave on the 5th and he arranged today(on the 3rd) to leave on the 4th !!!

There could have been a very genuine reason for this, nothing suspicious whatsoever, but if they never asked these questions, how would they know?

Perhaps he didn't officially check out, which is why he is still on the internal report on the 5th and why they didn't think to speak to him.

by Guest 05.09.11 15:44

I've just had a thought. If it is proven one day that Madeleine had died on the night of the 28th, where does this leave Mr Edmonds and his comment about Madeleine being in the background of his photographs?

Perhaps Mr Edmonds has been duped by the others into believing that this little girl was Madeleine McCann, simply because her name was almost identical to Madeleine?

I wonder if Scotland Yard know about these photographs?

by **Tony Bennett** 05.09.11 16:04

Stella wrote:I've just had a thought. If it is proven one day that Madeleine had died on the night of the 28th, where does this leave Mr Edmonds and his comment about Madeleine being in the background of his photographs?

Perhaps Mr Edmonds has been duped by the others into believing that this little girl was Madeleine McCann, simply because her name was almost identical to Madeleine?

I wonder if Scotland Yard know about these photographs?

Scotland Yard should be told. I have Edmonds' address.

by aiyoyo 05.09.11 17:07

Having been in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance and seen all
of the events first hand, there is not one shred of doubt in my mind
that the events as reported were correct.

Yours sincerely,
Philip Edmonds

I find that part of his statement (as above) particularly intriguing.

Has anyone else wondered what he meant by "seen all of the events first hand...?" Did he mean he was with the group at the Tapas when the alarm was raised or did he mean he was part of the search group or he was there throughout? Is he confirming McCanns and friends' lies as correct?

Then what about the bit where he stated "there is not one shred of doubt in my mind that the events as reported were correct." Either he's blindly defending the mccanns because he's part of their social circle, or he's implicating himself in it.

In fact one of the most terrible parts of this tragedy is that there are
people out there who are questioning this, just adding further to the
nightmare that the McCann family have suffered. I cannot imagine
anything crueller.

This bit seems to me he's been in close touch with Team McCann and heard of MF hence the jib.

When a case is unsolved there is always going to be people questioning McCanns' events so why did he have to state the obvious, unless he's having a dig at TB, in which case, it would indicative he's been informed about MF and internet critics of the McCanns' fake abduction.

It's almost as if he's trying to provide an alibi for McCanns for May 3rd which probably only goes to reinforce the story Maddie met her fate earlier than that date. I mean if he'd forwarded the pic to the Police surely he would become special 'person of interest' to the Police in that the Police would want to interview him as a witness.

AFAIK, he wasn't interviewed. It would make his pic last one of Maddie taken by an independent person and that would have been the focus and the McCanns didn't have to invent the May 3rd convo with Maddie.

I am also surprised someone of his wealth would chose such middle of the road type resort for his holiday.

by Guest 06.09.11 0:04

Tony Bennett wrote:In fact one of the most terrible parts of this tragedy is that there are people out there who are questioning this, just adding further to the nightmare that the McCann family have suffered. I cannot imagine anything crueller.

The nightmare and cruelty what we live through having witnessed the actions and non actions of the McCann's.

by happychick 06.09.11 6:51

Molly wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:In fact one of the most terrible parts of this tragedy is that there are people out there who are questioning this, just adding further to the nightmare that the McCann family have suffered. I cannot imagine anything crueller.

The nightmare and cruelty what we live through having witnessed the actions and non actions of the McCann's.

Is this guy serious? tearhairout

Could leaving 3 children, under 4 years of age, alone in an unlocked apartment be crueller? Imagine the cruelty of one of those vulnerable children being 'abducted' or getting up and dying alone behind the sofa just because mommy and daddy dearest wanted to go out and get pissed.

Oh yes, I certainly can imagine a lot of things that are more cruel than someone questioning the McCanns!! They have lied and cheated the public and not co-operated with the investigation and of course they SHOULD be questioned !!

angry2

by Guest 06.09.11 9:03

aiyoyo wrote:
Having been in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance and seen all
of the events first hand, there is not one shred of doubt in my mind
that the events as reported were correct.

Yours sincerely,
Philip Edmonds

I find that part of his statement (as above) particularly intriguing.

Has anyone else wondered what he meant by "seen all of the events first hand...?"

Yes aiyoyo, that one comment opens up a myriad of questions that need answering.

There is a part of me that thinks he did not write that email. I get the impression that the person who did was a woman, quite possibly a PA, or someone in their legal department. The counter balancing of lack of information over conspiracy, leads me to believe this. Along with the cannot think of anything worse bit.

Where have all the disciples gone, committed to providing innocent explantions for everything?

by Guest 06.09.11 10:19

The Universal Child Database was set up in 2004, as part of the Children Act 2004. It cost £224m to set up and £41m a year to run and was backed by Margaret Hodge.

It has been heavily criticised by a wide range of groups, mainly for privacy, security and child protection reasons.

What was the point of the database?

The Labour Government said the database was set up to improve child protection by improving the way information about children was shared between services. Information that would be available to approx. 330,000 different people.

Only professionals whose job involves supporting children would be able to access the database, and they would be required to undergo enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks and training.

The database would hold information on about 11 million children in England. Records would be kept until six years after the child turns 18, or if they leave England and Wales with no intention of returning. The database could also apply to 18–25-year-olds who were care leavers or had learning disabilities (although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child only applies to those under 18 in England and Wales), and their permission was needed.

In May 2010, the new Coalition Government switched it off. From that date onwards, the Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007, as amended in 2010, is no longer applicable.

Could this have been the brain child of a Government who was trying to pave the way for Masonichip?

by Guest 06.09.11 10:45

Philip Edmonds was staying in room DP03.

I am led to believe that DP stands for Date Palm. Having checked all of the guest records, I can only see 3 seperate reservations, using 2 different rooms.

Date Palm

28/04-05/05 DP01 Burlton

05/05-12/05 DP01 Neil Berry

29/04-05/05 DP03 Philip Edmonds

What I think is quite interesting, is that the Date Palm block must be one of the nicest blocks in OC to have housed Mr Edmonds in the first place. So why did Neil Berry move to the Date Palm block after the alarm was raised? Was it at the request of the PJ, MW or someone else? Why did he not stay in his original apartment G606 for his extended week, the block adjacent to the McCann's? No one moved into G606 after he left, so who paid for this upgrade and why?

by Guest 06.09.11 13:13

Tony Bennett wrote:Mr Edwards has a fascinating family history. Born on 31 August 1962 according to his entry on Geni.Com, he married Reina Hazenberg and they have three boys, all of whom were out with Philip in Praia da Luz for the week the McCanns were there. But not his wife Reina, so it seems. We also know from the Portuguese Police files that he mysteriously jetted off to Switzerland, where he lives, early on Friday morning (4 May 2011), apparnetly cutting short his holiday just as news was surfacing that a child had been abducted from Praia da Luz.

I'm not so sure he does live in Switzerland, based on something Stephen Carpenter said;

"He was going to take a plane the next day to Switzerland, given that the children's mother lived there"

Which is an odd thing to say really, if Philip also lives there. Surely he would have just said we are all going home to Switzerland, or something along those lines.

by Guest 06.09.11 13:35

Tony Bennett wrote:
Stella wrote:I've just had a thought. If it is proven one day that Madeleine had died on the night of the 28th, where does this leave Mr Edmonds and his comment about Madeleine being in the background of his photographs?

Perhaps Mr Edmonds has been duped by the others into believing that this little girl was Madeleine McCann, simply because her name was almost identical to Madeleine?

I wonder if Scotland Yard know about these photographs?
Scotland Yard should be told. I have Edmonds' address.

Tony, would it be possible for you write to Scotland Yard about this please. I think it would be more appropriate coming from you, seeing as his communication was originally addressed to you.

I hope they follow this lead up Would this account for the unprecedented high level of political support? - Page 2 3934901622