Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: British Police / Government Interference :: Leveson Inquiry / Murdoch Empire
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Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by Tony Bennett 12.07.11 11:58
Extracts from The Madeleine Foundation's letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, sent on18 May 2011, raising several serious questions about the Scotland Yard Review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. He has not replied yet, though the Freedom ofof Information Act questions have been (sort of) answered.
The rest of our letter may be viewed on the Madeleine Foundation website, www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk
The influence of Rupert Murdoch
We must also raise in particular, as many others have done, the undue influence of Rupert Murdoch in this particular case, as Lord Harris for example has touched on. It is well known that the Sun’s campaign on behalf of Labour in 1996 and 1997 was a major contributory factor to Labour winning the General Election of 1997. Indeed, Ropert Murdoch’s Sun famously boasted: ‘It was the Sun wot won it’. More recently, your own closeness to the Murdoch empire has been noted. Many observed that the political attitude of the Sun switched from supporting Labour to supporting the Conservatives, after you met with Rupert Murdoch in 2009.
You also appointed ex-Murdoch man Andy Coulson, former Editor of the News of the World, to be your Director of Communcations. And in March 2010 you appointed the McCanns’ chief public relations adviser, Clarence Mitchell, to be No. 2 to Andy Coulson in your General Election team. Andy Coulson was recently forced to resign as your Director of Communications because of his apparent association with the illegal ’phone tapping carried out by many of his staff, full details of which are yet to be revealed.
Along with alleagtions of ’phone tapping by Murdoch’s News of the World, there have been repeated and credible suggestions that senior Police Officers from the Met regularly supplied the News of the World and other media with confidential police information, contrary to their terms of contract. The close relationship between top Met Officers and the Murdoch empire was exemplified by former top officer Andy Hayman moving to work for Murdoch almost immediately on leaving the Met.
Returning to Clarence Mitchell, it is clear that he has a close relationship with Murdoch and his newspapers. It is clearly relevant that in October 2008, when he began working for the McCanns on a part-time instead of a full-time basis, that he was immediately employed by Murdoch’s son-in-law, Matthew Freud, at Freud Communications. His ability to work both as Head of the 40-strong Labour government’s Media Monitoring Unit and then be employed by yourself suggests he is a person of major influence in top government circles. There remain major question marks as to why former Prime Minister Tony Blair considered it essential to despatch the Head of the government’s Media Monitoring Unit (Mitchell) to Portugal and of course about Gordon Brown’s interventions in the case.
Another indication of Mitchell’s close relationship with Murdoch is the number of times he has co-operated with both the Sun and the News of the World in promoting ‘exclusive’ stories about the McCanns in those newspapers. These stories have often been lacking in any serious evidential basis and were just media sensationalism.
I provide just one example: the Sun article of 1 September 2010. The basis of this was the claim that a notorious British paedophile, Raymond Hewlett, on his death-bed in a German hospital, had written a letter to his son, Wayne Hewlett, who hated him and from whom he had been estranged for over two decades. The letter had apparently been delivered by a ‘mystery man’, according to the Sun, and was said by Wayne Hewlett to contain an account of how his father had been drinking with a gypsy gang leader who was supposed to have admitted taking Madeleine McCann and arranging for her, for money, to be placed with a wealthy North African family. To cap it all, Wayne Hewlett said he had burnt the letter before going to the Sun with his story. The Sun’s promotion, with Clarence Mitchell’s help, of this clearly ridiculous story, casts doubt on the role of both the Sun and Clarence Mitchell in their promotion of such stories.
Added to the above, it is clear that the demands for this ‘Scotland Yard Review’ have been very much promoted by the Sun who published the McCanns’ letter to you and your reply simultaneously last Thursday.
Further, there was a disturbing article published in The Independent on 23 February this year by Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman. Amonst other concerns, they noted that:
“Sir Paul Stephenson, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, dined privately with senior executives at the News of the World seven times over a four-year period, during which the force turned down calls for the heavily criticised investigation into phone hacking to be reopened. Following a demand that it disclose its contacts with Rupert Murdoch's News International, Scotland Yard revealed that senior officers met News of the World editors 13 times between 2006 and 2010 in the aftermath of the arrest of a reporter for phone hacking. Almost half of the meetings were between Sir Paul, now Britain's most senior police officer, and an executive at the News of the World, Deputy Editor Neil Wallis. The Met…failed to investigate the full extent of the scandal. Dee Doocey, a Liberal Democrat Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, branded the contacts ‘extraordinary’…She said: ‘Imagine the outcry there would be if the Commissioner was seen dining with a member of the public who was the subject of a police investigation’.”
Their report continued: “The closeness of the relationship between Scotland Yard and the News of the World has been repeatedly raised by critics of the original police inquiry into the activities of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and royal editor Clive Goodman…Despite the discovery by detectives of 4,332 names, 2,978 mobile phone numbers and 91 PIN codes at Mulcaire's home, no-one was interviewed at the News of the World beyond Goodman…The Met said there was nothing unusual in senior officers dining with editors, but declined to detail meetings with other titles over the same period which would reveal if contact with the Sunday tabloid was unusually frequent. The meetings began with a dinner between Sir Paul and Mr Wallis in September 2006…They became more frequent in 2008 and 2009 with eight private dinners and social engagements, including an invitation for Sir Paul to attend the News Corporation summer party two years ago. Sir Paul also attended a private dinner that month with Mr Wallis, who was appointed Andy Coulson's deputy in 2003.
The Independent report continued: “In July 2009, John Yates, now Deputy Commissioner, refused to re-open the criminal investigation into hacking despite revelations by The Guardian that ‘thousands’ of mobile phones may been targeted and that more than £1m had been paid to settle cases out of court. Four months later, Mr Yates had dinner with the News of the World’s editor, Colin Myler. Ms Doocey said: ‘I find it quite extraordinary that when allegations about illegal phone hacking were still unresolved the Commissioner thought it was appropriate to be regularly dining with the News of the World and News Corporation’.”
The Guardian pointed out that the number of meetings between Sir Paul Stephenson and the News of the World editors did not include many other social contacts, for example, “After the Annual Bravery Awards…ten days after the Yard had elected not to reopen its inquiry into the phone hacking, Stephenson and Yates dined with Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the News of the World and the then editor of the Sun, which sponsored the awards.” Reference was also made to ‘many other meetings and lunches shared between senior Met officers and former News of the World personnel who worked for the paper during the phone hacking investigation”.
Journalists have continued to cast doubt on the actions of the Met’s chief officers in relation to the ’phone hacking scandal, for example:
“There is now intense scrutiny of the police’s limited original investigation into the hacking affair, with claims of a cover-up. Although the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is reviewing all the evidence and will hold talks with Scotland Yard this week, there are demands for this investigation to be handed to a different police force or to the Inspectorate of Constabulary. Paul Farrelly, Labour member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: “They cannot be judge and jury in their own actions. In the past, the CPS has just done a cut-and-paste of the Met Police’s press releases on this matter. We must inject some independence into the review of how the Met Police shut it down and the CPS decisions on that.”
There were further criticisms of your meeting with Rupert Murdoch’s son James at a time when Rupert Murdoch’s bid for complete ownership of BSkyB was being discussed, with continuing debate about the closeness of your relationship to Rupert Murdoch and his media outlets including his newspaper editors. Questions being asked included:
· Did James Murdoch authorise the payment of £700,000 to Gordon Taylor, the head of the footballers' union, after his phone was hacked? And if so, why?
· Why did News International pay private investigator Glenn Mulcaire £80,000, and also pay its former royal editor Clive Goodman, after they were both convicted of illegally intercepting phone messages and jailed?
· How many people have received payments from the News of the World, or its parent companies, after threatening to reveal evidence of its journalists' involvement in illegal phone hacking?
· Did James Murdoch or Rebekah Brooks discuss the proposed News Corporation purchase of BSkyB with David Cameron during their dinner together at her house over Christmas?
· Was Andy Coulson, or any other more senior News International executive, aware of Glenn Mulcaire's £2,000-a-week payment? What services did they suppose Mulcaire was providing for that pay?
On 15 February this year, The Guardian wrote: “A high court judge, Mr Justice Vos, has criticised the Metropolitan Police for failing to adequately investigate allegations of ’phone hacking by the News of the World’. He said: “The Metropolitan Police had not done an appropriate job in analysing phone-hacking...information in their possession. They didn't disclose highly relevant information. Scotland Yard had failed to fully comply with court orders requiring it to produce copies of Mulcaire’s notes relating to the two men”.
REST SNIPPED
The rest of our letter may be viewed on the Madeleine Foundation website, www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk
The influence of Rupert Murdoch
We must also raise in particular, as many others have done, the undue influence of Rupert Murdoch in this particular case, as Lord Harris for example has touched on. It is well known that the Sun’s campaign on behalf of Labour in 1996 and 1997 was a major contributory factor to Labour winning the General Election of 1997. Indeed, Ropert Murdoch’s Sun famously boasted: ‘It was the Sun wot won it’. More recently, your own closeness to the Murdoch empire has been noted. Many observed that the political attitude of the Sun switched from supporting Labour to supporting the Conservatives, after you met with Rupert Murdoch in 2009.
You also appointed ex-Murdoch man Andy Coulson, former Editor of the News of the World, to be your Director of Communcations. And in March 2010 you appointed the McCanns’ chief public relations adviser, Clarence Mitchell, to be No. 2 to Andy Coulson in your General Election team. Andy Coulson was recently forced to resign as your Director of Communications because of his apparent association with the illegal ’phone tapping carried out by many of his staff, full details of which are yet to be revealed.
Along with alleagtions of ’phone tapping by Murdoch’s News of the World, there have been repeated and credible suggestions that senior Police Officers from the Met regularly supplied the News of the World and other media with confidential police information, contrary to their terms of contract. The close relationship between top Met Officers and the Murdoch empire was exemplified by former top officer Andy Hayman moving to work for Murdoch almost immediately on leaving the Met.
Returning to Clarence Mitchell, it is clear that he has a close relationship with Murdoch and his newspapers. It is clearly relevant that in October 2008, when he began working for the McCanns on a part-time instead of a full-time basis, that he was immediately employed by Murdoch’s son-in-law, Matthew Freud, at Freud Communications. His ability to work both as Head of the 40-strong Labour government’s Media Monitoring Unit and then be employed by yourself suggests he is a person of major influence in top government circles. There remain major question marks as to why former Prime Minister Tony Blair considered it essential to despatch the Head of the government’s Media Monitoring Unit (Mitchell) to Portugal and of course about Gordon Brown’s interventions in the case.
Another indication of Mitchell’s close relationship with Murdoch is the number of times he has co-operated with both the Sun and the News of the World in promoting ‘exclusive’ stories about the McCanns in those newspapers. These stories have often been lacking in any serious evidential basis and were just media sensationalism.
I provide just one example: the Sun article of 1 September 2010. The basis of this was the claim that a notorious British paedophile, Raymond Hewlett, on his death-bed in a German hospital, had written a letter to his son, Wayne Hewlett, who hated him and from whom he had been estranged for over two decades. The letter had apparently been delivered by a ‘mystery man’, according to the Sun, and was said by Wayne Hewlett to contain an account of how his father had been drinking with a gypsy gang leader who was supposed to have admitted taking Madeleine McCann and arranging for her, for money, to be placed with a wealthy North African family. To cap it all, Wayne Hewlett said he had burnt the letter before going to the Sun with his story. The Sun’s promotion, with Clarence Mitchell’s help, of this clearly ridiculous story, casts doubt on the role of both the Sun and Clarence Mitchell in their promotion of such stories.
Added to the above, it is clear that the demands for this ‘Scotland Yard Review’ have been very much promoted by the Sun who published the McCanns’ letter to you and your reply simultaneously last Thursday.
Further, there was a disturbing article published in The Independent on 23 February this year by Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman. Amonst other concerns, they noted that:
“Sir Paul Stephenson, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, dined privately with senior executives at the News of the World seven times over a four-year period, during which the force turned down calls for the heavily criticised investigation into phone hacking to be reopened. Following a demand that it disclose its contacts with Rupert Murdoch's News International, Scotland Yard revealed that senior officers met News of the World editors 13 times between 2006 and 2010 in the aftermath of the arrest of a reporter for phone hacking. Almost half of the meetings were between Sir Paul, now Britain's most senior police officer, and an executive at the News of the World, Deputy Editor Neil Wallis. The Met…failed to investigate the full extent of the scandal. Dee Doocey, a Liberal Democrat Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, branded the contacts ‘extraordinary’…She said: ‘Imagine the outcry there would be if the Commissioner was seen dining with a member of the public who was the subject of a police investigation’.”
Their report continued: “The closeness of the relationship between Scotland Yard and the News of the World has been repeatedly raised by critics of the original police inquiry into the activities of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and royal editor Clive Goodman…Despite the discovery by detectives of 4,332 names, 2,978 mobile phone numbers and 91 PIN codes at Mulcaire's home, no-one was interviewed at the News of the World beyond Goodman…The Met said there was nothing unusual in senior officers dining with editors, but declined to detail meetings with other titles over the same period which would reveal if contact with the Sunday tabloid was unusually frequent. The meetings began with a dinner between Sir Paul and Mr Wallis in September 2006…They became more frequent in 2008 and 2009 with eight private dinners and social engagements, including an invitation for Sir Paul to attend the News Corporation summer party two years ago. Sir Paul also attended a private dinner that month with Mr Wallis, who was appointed Andy Coulson's deputy in 2003.
The Independent report continued: “In July 2009, John Yates, now Deputy Commissioner, refused to re-open the criminal investigation into hacking despite revelations by The Guardian that ‘thousands’ of mobile phones may been targeted and that more than £1m had been paid to settle cases out of court. Four months later, Mr Yates had dinner with the News of the World’s editor, Colin Myler. Ms Doocey said: ‘I find it quite extraordinary that when allegations about illegal phone hacking were still unresolved the Commissioner thought it was appropriate to be regularly dining with the News of the World and News Corporation’.”
The Guardian pointed out that the number of meetings between Sir Paul Stephenson and the News of the World editors did not include many other social contacts, for example, “After the Annual Bravery Awards…ten days after the Yard had elected not to reopen its inquiry into the phone hacking, Stephenson and Yates dined with Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the News of the World and the then editor of the Sun, which sponsored the awards.” Reference was also made to ‘many other meetings and lunches shared between senior Met officers and former News of the World personnel who worked for the paper during the phone hacking investigation”.
Journalists have continued to cast doubt on the actions of the Met’s chief officers in relation to the ’phone hacking scandal, for example:
“There is now intense scrutiny of the police’s limited original investigation into the hacking affair, with claims of a cover-up. Although the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is reviewing all the evidence and will hold talks with Scotland Yard this week, there are demands for this investigation to be handed to a different police force or to the Inspectorate of Constabulary. Paul Farrelly, Labour member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: “They cannot be judge and jury in their own actions. In the past, the CPS has just done a cut-and-paste of the Met Police’s press releases on this matter. We must inject some independence into the review of how the Met Police shut it down and the CPS decisions on that.”
There were further criticisms of your meeting with Rupert Murdoch’s son James at a time when Rupert Murdoch’s bid for complete ownership of BSkyB was being discussed, with continuing debate about the closeness of your relationship to Rupert Murdoch and his media outlets including his newspaper editors. Questions being asked included:
· Did James Murdoch authorise the payment of £700,000 to Gordon Taylor, the head of the footballers' union, after his phone was hacked? And if so, why?
· Why did News International pay private investigator Glenn Mulcaire £80,000, and also pay its former royal editor Clive Goodman, after they were both convicted of illegally intercepting phone messages and jailed?
· How many people have received payments from the News of the World, or its parent companies, after threatening to reveal evidence of its journalists' involvement in illegal phone hacking?
· Did James Murdoch or Rebekah Brooks discuss the proposed News Corporation purchase of BSkyB with David Cameron during their dinner together at her house over Christmas?
· Was Andy Coulson, or any other more senior News International executive, aware of Glenn Mulcaire's £2,000-a-week payment? What services did they suppose Mulcaire was providing for that pay?
On 15 February this year, The Guardian wrote: “A high court judge, Mr Justice Vos, has criticised the Metropolitan Police for failing to adequately investigate allegations of ’phone hacking by the News of the World’. He said: “The Metropolitan Police had not done an appropriate job in analysing phone-hacking...information in their possession. They didn't disclose highly relevant information. Scotland Yard had failed to fully comply with court orders requiring it to produce copies of Mulcaire’s notes relating to the two men”.
REST SNIPPED
Tony Bennett- Researcher
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by ufercoffy 12.07.11 12:37
Please do not go walking through the woods Mr B, especially by yourself.
____________________
Whose cadaver scent and bodily fluid was found in the McCann's apartment and hire car if not Madeleine's?
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First John Yates, then 'call me Stu' Stuart Prior?
by Tony Bennett 12.07.11 12:46
I see that Assistant Commissioner John Yates (he who tried to cover up the News International scandal and also did nothing about cash for honours, which was also illegal), admits that his so-called 'investigation', lasting around 5 hours, into further credible allegations of 'phone hacking, was, and I quote, 'c_ap'.ufercoffy wrote:Please do not go walking through the woods Mr B, especially by yourself.
I look forward to the day when Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior of Leicestershire Police makes similar admissions about (a) his investigation of what really happened to Madeleine McCann and (b) his force's shameless promotion of the McCanns' fund-raising website on his force's own website.
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by aiyoyo 12.07.11 13:57
Following hackergate, mccanngate coming up next then to dominate headlines!
If this hackergate combined with review doesnt flash out the mccanns secret.....then I don't know what will?
If this hackergate combined with review doesnt flash out the mccanns secret.....then I don't know what will?
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by PeterMac 12.07.11 14:52
Sir,
I would advise sending this letter again, as a copy, direct to
DAC Sue Akers
OIC Operation Weeting,
who specifically asked in her evidence to the Parliamentary Select committee this morning for anyone with information to send it direct to her.
Sincerely
PeterMac
I would advise sending this letter again, as a copy, direct to
DAC Sue Akers
OIC Operation Weeting,
who specifically asked in her evidence to the Parliamentary Select committee this morning for anyone with information to send it direct to her.
Sincerely
PeterMac
PeterMac- Investigator
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by ufercoffy 12.07.11 14:56
Tony, you said you sent this letter to David Cameron 8 weeks ago yet I cannot find the response from David Cameron that, like his swift response to the McCanns, you would have received the very next day.
Can you please let me know where I can read his response?
Can you please let me know where I can read his response?
____________________
Whose cadaver scent and bodily fluid was found in the McCann's apartment and hire car if not Madeleine's?
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by PeterMac 12.07.11 18:20
Cameron need not reply.
Akers cannot NOT reply, given what she said at the Committee today.
Akers cannot NOT reply, given what she said at the Committee today.
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by aiyoyo 13.07.11 16:41
PeterMac wrote:Sir,
I would advise sending this letter again, as a copy, direct to
DAC Sue Akers
OIC Operation Weeting,
who specifically asked in her evidence to the Parliamentary Select committee this morning for anyone with information to send it direct to her.
Sincerely
PeterMac
I doubt Cameron's office reply if it comes about would be any good.
It would just be the usual few short lines standard fob off reply that gives away nothing.
And, if Sue Akers at Operation Weeting reply to the points I would also be dead surprised.
But TB's effort is admirable. At least his letters will go on files as records.
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Re: Madeleine Foundation to David Cameron 8 weeks ago
by PeterMac 13.07.11 18:10
I doubt he wil get a fully reply, but he should get an acknowledgement, and that in itself will show that the letter has been received and read.aiyoyo wrote:
And, if Sue Akers at Operation Weeting reply to the points I would also be dead surprised.
But TB's effort is admirable. At least his letters will go on files as records.
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The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: British Police / Government Interference :: Leveson Inquiry / Murdoch Empire
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