Home Office Response to My Concerns about SY Review

As you all may recall I wrote to my MP on 20th July 2011 - just after Stephenson & Yates resigned

Here is my letter

"Dear ....

Many thanks for your letter regarding the News International takeover of BSkyB it was very informative. (got letter back in 3 days from my email)

I have another major concern at this time and this is regarding the Metropolitan Police's current review into the Madeleine McCann disappearance. I feel that with all the current doubts regarding this police force and its apparent lack impartiality that this review should be moved to another UK police force. The McCann's publicist Clarence Mitchell has close ties to senior figures within the Murdoch empire. This coupled with the latest scandal coming out over the last weekend regarding the Ex Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson and also his Assistant Commissioner John Yates seeming inability to carry out a review in 2009 of the telephone hacking scandal of 2006 stating that there was no evidence (but had only spent 8 hours reviewing the evidence if the media are correct), leads me to believe that the Metropolitan Police may not be trusted or at least be seen to be trusted (if recent events and allegations are anything to go on).

Could you please contact Mr David Cameron and ask him if he will consider this option please.

This review is costing the tax payer (including me) a large amount of money and therefore it should be an open and transparent review and any results and the reasons and any evidence that has led to them should be published in a full dossier available for all to read. Also I am concerned that the McCann's "open letter" in the Sun (a Murdoch paper) on 12th May 2011 was responded the following day by Mr Cameron. This seems a remarkable short period of time for him to agree to their demands particularly as we as a country are in a large financial hole and every penny that can be saved should be saved in my opinion.

Perhaps I am being too cynical but I am very concerned that this review doesn't have the appearance of a whitewash which it may well do if it carried out by the Metropolitan Police.

Please can you write back and give me your thoughts on this matter."

I received no response so sent another one in September stating that I was aware the review would continue to be carried out by SY and that won't change but also mentioned several other concerns regarding the honesty and trustworthiness of SY because of the scandals that were continuing in the news (and still are).

FINALLY got a reply last month from the Home Office.

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I am going to write again to the senior person in the home office (and cc David Cameron and my MP).

Does anyone have any questions you want me to ask?

Gillyspot wrote:I am going to write again to the senior person in the Home Office (and cc David Cameron and my MP). Does anyone have any questions you want me to ask?

Thank you very much Gillyspot for persisting with this and getting your M.P. to take up the matter with the government - no small feat, very well done.

One little snippet from the reply which I think is of interest is that D.C.I. Redwood and his supervisors have been 'regulalrly updating the Home Secretary'. This is fascinating. What with, I wonder? With details of possible abductors? Or with the volume of evidence they have received that Madeleine might have died in Apartment 5A?

Here are a couple of questions you might like to raise directly:

1. Will the government hold a full public enquiry, with the power to summons witnesses, into all aspects of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, including the role of the government? (There are now 895 signatories to the petition calling for just this, on the CarePetitions site).

2. Will the govenrment (not the MPS) be sending an observer to the trial in February of the McCanns' libel claim against Goncalo Amaral over 'The Truth About A Lie'? Remember it was at the hearing of Goncalo Amaral's appeal against the book-banning in January 2010 that we first heard about Lee Rainbow's report and learned that it was the British police who first seriously suggested that the McCanns should be the lead suspects over theor daughter's disappearance. A Home Office official plus translator should surely be present throughout the forthcoming trial?

I don't know if this is a question for the Home Office but is one that needs answering

How is it possible that the twins grew YOUNGER from April 2007 to May 2007? ( and a lot younger)

The topic 'McCanns Easter break To Donegal 2007' brought this up and the link below has the pictures in question

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And why did Leicestershire police withhold the Gaspar statement for 6 months from the enquiry, and only told the PJ about it 'after' the case was dropped

Is it true that the MET has to liaise with mccanns or rather update mccanns of their work if the papers are to be believed?

Who was the papers source for such misinformation?

Could the govt. not request that the mccanns refrain from putting out stories or commenting while the review is ongoing to prevent misinformation given to the public hence misleading the public?

aiyoyo wrote:Is it true that the MET has to liaise with mccanns or rather update mccanns of their work if the papers are to be believed?

Who was the papers source for such misinformation?

Could the govt. not request that the mccanns refrain from putting out stories or commenting while the review is ongoing to prevent misinformation given to the public hence misleading the public?

The papers make up stories as they go along. I can't believe the drivel printed in today's online Daily Mail, there are only 10 messages and they closed at 3.00 p.m. this afternoon. Nobody has the chance to pull them up on their cr*p reporting, it's truly shocking what the papers print without checking the facts. They're going to look pretty stupid if the real truth of what happened comes out.

I don't believe that the McCanns are being updated by the MET, it's all spin and lies, just to make them seem important and that they're been kept in the loop - no doubt Mitchell has something to do with keeping the McCanns looking sparkly clean and innocent for all their fans/donators to the Fund).

If the MET do find anything incriminating against anyone who was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine I doubt very much that the McCanns would be advised of what's been found.

Gillyspot wrote:I am going to write again to the senior person in the home office (and cc David Cameron and my MP).

Does anyone have any questions you want me to ask?

Gillyspot, you might ask why is SY not acknowledging receipt of submissions from interested parties. It is surely normal practice when receiving submissions in a case like this to at least send an email of acknowledgement and say that it will receive attention. I understand they are not issueing anything - does anyone on this forum know otherwise. Given the SY team budget surely they can afford clerical time to send emails?

And maybe ask how many submissions they have received to date?