Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

by **Tony Bennett** 07.10.13 23:28

Esther McVey is the new Secretary of State for Employment.

She brings more than a hint of glamour...

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...and was described as 'a long-time personal friend of Kate McCann', as higlighted in her Wikipedia entry:

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She was appointed Director to the Find Madeleine Fund in the very early days (20 June 2007), but resigned within months (January 2008).

She represents a Cheshire constituency, West Wirral, just across the Mersey from Liverpool.

She has worked mostly in public relations, and founded 'Making It (UK) Ltd' in Liverpool.

by Who?What?Where? 07.10.13 23:43

Great stuff. She is a friend of kate's and was involved in the fund.

Presumably she know's what the truth really is, in this case, compared to us mere mortals. I hope she will spill the bean's, so to speak. She is a public servant, after all, paid for from the public purse. Just like the SY review.

I wonder where her real loyalties lie? Maybe we will find out?

by ultimaThule 08.10.13 6:27

Who?What?Where? wrote:Great stuff. She is a friend of kate's and was involved in the fund.

Presumably she know's what the truth really is, in this case, compared to us mere mortals. I hope she will spill the bean's, so to speak. She is a public servant, after all, paid for from the public purse. Just like the SY review.

I wonder where her real loyalties lie? Maybe we will find out?

The ~~totally up herself~~ former televison presenter Esther McVey became MP for Wirral West at the last General Election in May 2010. In 2012 she was made Minister for Disabled People and became Secretary of State for Employment in Cameron's Cabinet reshuffle yesterday.

This rapid, some would say meteoric, rise through the ranks suggests that Ms McVey is more inclined to swallow, rather than spill beans Who?What?Where?

As for "She is a public servant, after all, paid for from the public purse", many of the elected have an alarming tendency to view themselves as ~~God's anointed~~ doing the ~~peasants~~ electorate a great favour by deigning to park their bums on benches occasionally and generate enough hot air to heat London and the Home Counties - if it could be piped to homes, hospitals, and schools, even I might consider the self-seeking, self-serving, ego driven bunch of bores, misfits, and social inadequates that sit in the House of Commons have some value other than fodder for comedians.

NB: EMcV is RC as is KMcM ~~when it suits her~~.

by plebgate 08.10.13 8:05

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Say no more.

Every time I googled a name lately the Daily Mail have not failed.

Say what you like about the Mail but they said they would not apologise even though they paid out.

by ultimaThule 08.10.13 8:16

plebgate wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Say no more.

Every time I googled a name lately the Daily Mail have not failed.

Say what you like about the Mail but they said they would not apologise even though they paid out.

Don'cha just luurvvve a newspaper that stands by its principles, plebgate? big grin

After his reshuffle, Dave's Cabinet meetings are going to be ~~bitchfests~~ full of new purpose laughat

(memo to self: instruct stockbroker to buy Kleenex)

by plebgate 08.10.13 9:00

ultimaThule wrote:
plebgate wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Say no more.

Every time I googled a name lately the Daily Mail have not failed.

Say what you like about the Mail but they said they would not apologise even though they paid out.
Don'cha just luurvvve a newspaper that stands by its principles, plebgate?

After his reshuffle, Dave's Cabinet meetings are going to be ~~bitchfests~~ full of new purpose

(memo to self: instruct stockbroker to buy Kleenex)

                                                                                    ......................................................................................

What I like best about the Mail is they have not whooshed their earlys reports.

by plebgate 08.10.13 9:10

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Towards the end of this article one worker says sumat like - she evaded the questions we asked. What a politician evading questions!!!! Would never have believed it.

I have heard of others doing the same thing.

by Guest 08.10.13 9:12

There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.

by Cristobell 08.10.13 9:36

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.

Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.

by Liz Eagles 08.10.13 9:42

Cristobell wrote:
No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.
Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.

Brian Cathcart is on Sky News right now speaking about Hacked Off - he obviously sent in the Highland terrier yesterday.

by Guest 08.10.13 9:42

At least he can't be American president unless they change the rule about having to be born there! No debates please as to where Barack Obama was born.......

I was thinking more that his and Kate's innate inability to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will guarantee that they would thrive in politics.

by **sharonl** 08.10.13 9:52

Some interesting connections here from a 2010 'Blackwatch' article:

What's more unusual is that Bates Wells & Braithwaite [Madeleine Fund Solicitors in London] should represent Cancer Research UK and Kevin Halligen's previous employer at Inkerman, Sir Richard Ryder should be Chairman of the Institute of Cancer Research - key partners to the charity. So not only is Sir Richard Ryder a friend and colleague of Dame Pauline Neville-Jones of UK Defense agency, Qinetiq (pronounced kinetic) and Sarah Hogg (investor in Brian Kennedy's Double Glazing projects and Control Risks Group) - all of whom feature in Halligen's career - he also shares interests with the legal representatives of Madeleine Fund, Bates Wells & Braithwaites. It's the old school tie network at its most scholarly and most tightly knotted.

But Sir Richard is not the only one with crossover Charity/Defence interests, the lady who set up the fund, Rosamund McCarthy is also a respected and committed member of NCVO Advisory Committee on Counter Terrorism 2007 - making Halligen's work on the Minerva Programme for Inkerman and Qinetiq (risk assessment and threat management) all the more conspicuous.

In fact the man who The Times alleges put Halligen's name forward for the Special Forces Club, Major John Holmes, is likely to have worked alongside legal advisors like Rosamund McCarthy during the consultancy stages of SOE and Project Unicorn - both of which focused on the role played by Counter-Terrorism within Civil Society and its effect upon the corporate sector. Holmes had previously served as Special Operations Liaison Officer at the British Embassy in Washington DC.

The good news for Clarence Mitchell and the Conservative Party is that Rosamund is particularly interested in the inter-relationship between political activities, campaigning and charitable status.

Inkerman Director, Richard Ryder - previous employer of Kevin Halligen

We might also note that the first FindMadeline.com (with the wrong spelling of Madeleine's name) had been registered in the Washington area before being handed across to the McCann family several days later - all of which suggests that Madeleine's plight was reappropriated with lightning speed. The details of the person/persons who registered the domain on May 10th 2007, were protected by 'Domains By Proxy' - a privacy service offered in the US and partly owned by Go Daddy! The registry details have since been altered. The service at this time was especially popular with charities and government funded bodies. However, the general belief at the time was that the domain had been registered by cybersquatters who saw a commercial opportunity develop.

It's also interesting to note that Esther McVey - friend of Kate McCann and Conservative MP for West Wirral had similarly campaigned on behalf of Cancer Research. McVey's friend, Emma Loach, who produced the Madeleine Documentary for ITV also got her first big break a Channel 4 documentary called: Children Fighting Cancer.

The man who eventually replaced McVey as a Fund Director, millionaire property developer and lawyer, Edward Smethurst is an Ambassador for Cancer Research UK in the North of England as well as being the youngest ever Chairman of the Law Society’s commerce & industry group.

by Cristobell 08.10.13 9:59

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:At least he can't be American president unless they change the rule about having to be born there! No debates please as to where Barack Obama was born.......

I was thinking more that his and Kate's innate inability to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth will guarantee that they would thrive in politics.

I agree, they found a soul mate in Clarence.

Kate's book Madeleine, truly is the 'longest suicide' note in history [Blacksmith, I believe], as she gives as a day to day guide to their amazing lies and we can find hundreds of corresponding video interviews that show them, cool, calm and articulate (and in some cases laughing), while behind the scenes there was all sorts of weeping, wailing and hysteria.

I wonder sometimes what the hell more do Scotland Yard need?

by **sharonl** 08.10.13 10:02

Also found this on 'Blackwatch' - from as far back as 2007:

Quote:

UPDATES: THE MCCANN'S PR MACHINE

Media and Public Relations companies associated with the McCanns include

Making It Ltd (Esther McVey - Find Madeleine Fund Director),

River Media Ltd (Jon Corner, twin's Godparent),

Justine McGuinness (lobbyist and PR Manager),

Clarence Mitchell,

Mark Williams-Thomas's WT Associates, and

Alex Woolfall (Head of Issues and Crisis Management for the Bell Pottinger Group).

Unquote

That's a lot of PR companies - but I know there were more than this.

by **Tony Bennett** 08.10.13 10:34

Esther McVey, Kate McCann, and the Wirral connections

Esther McVey represents the Wirral West constituency. The Wirral is a peninsula, at the top of which is Birkenhead. From there, it is a 10-minute ferry journey across the Mersey to Liverpool, home town of Dr Kate McCann.

For those with long memories back to the days of the ‘3 Arguidos’, there was a prominent poster there called ‘nicked’. As one observer wrote at the time (2008), ‘nicked’ made, “confident, apparently fact-laden posts, but which have been shown to be distorted…she seems to be on a disinformation mission”.

She appeared to obtain a copy of the Portuguese police files DVD before anyone else (August 2008) and appeared to be very knowledgeable about the case. The general consensus was that she was close to the McCanns and was discrediting the arguments of those who were querying the McCanns’ account of events.

At least two sources said that ‘nicked’ was Lucy O’Brien, who lived in Liverpool, at an address just 10 minutes’ walk away from Jon Coner (half a mile). She had a child but was not married to her partner.

There was a great deal of speculation that Lucy O’Brien was related to Russell O’Brien, but AFAIK that was never established.

Russell O’Brien was however born in the Wirral and his parents still live there.

Russell’s father trained in Dublin and his parents may have married there. Many members of the extended O’Brien family are medics in Liverpool - but again it can’t be proved that Lucy O’Brien is part of that family.

A frequent blogger about Madeleine McCann was Andy Griffin, also known as ‘Chaos Engine’, ‘Majic’ and ‘Flashing Blade’, who inter alia ran the ‘Chaosraptors’ site. His partner is Sharon L Urcher who was born in he Wirral, and whose mother's maiden name is O'Brien.

Correspondence between Andy Griffin and 'Bonnybraes' of the JATYK forum was leaked which showed that they were plotting together to destabilise 'McCann-doubter' forums as far back as early 2008.

Andy Griffin did once, on a pro-McCann forum, make reference to “the people that pay me”...

by T4two 08.10.13 10:36

Freud Communications and the Hobsbawn + Brown company?

by jeanmonroe 08.10.13 10:40

Deleted

had a series of romances. Before becoming an MP she dated Ed Vaizey, now a fellow Tory Minister. Until recently she was dating Shipley Tory MP Philip Davies.

by tasprin 08.10.13 11:38

Cristobell wrote:
No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.
Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.

The sun shone out of every orifice - he positively glowed.

by tasprin 08.10.13 11:52

Esther McVey and Kate McCann could very well still be friends. Because of her political aspirations McVey may have thought it expedient to resign from the fund when she did but if you're in a position of authority there is a lot you can do from behind the scenes and it would suit the McCanns for the public to be under the illusion she was no longer on side (IMO)
Clarence Mitchell has reigned it in since he became PPC for Brighton Pavilion but I've no doubt he'll use any new found influence to benefit the McCanns.

by jeanmonroe 08.10.13 13:10

You know what they say:

The Higher you Climb, The Harder You Fall.

IF the McS are 'involved' EM had better get a parachute ready, imo.

by tasprin 08.10.13 13:27

tasprin wrote:
Cristobell wrote:
No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.
Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.
The sun shone out of every orifice - he positively glowed.

Gerry McCann outside Whitehouse 24 July 2007
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by Mirage 20.02.14 0:32

I just happened on the name Esther McVey on Twitter with regard to excessive expenses. I Googled and came up with this from the Wirral Globe showing her expenses for 2012/13:
Wirral West MP Esther McVey (Cons) claimed £170,928: £120,066 on staff; £20,000 for accommodation and £6,924 for travel.

Must have some staff is all I can say.
So that lot totals £146.990. What about the missing £23,938?
Nice round figure that £20,000 for accommodation, isn't it?

by Guest 20.02.14 9:05

tasprin wrote:
tasprin wrote:
Cristobell wrote:
No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.
Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.
The sun shone out of every orifice - he positively glowed.
Gerry McCann outside Whitehouse 24 July 2007
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I think I've gone down with some kind of forum related mental condition.... because now even that photograph looks photoshopped to me. Was Gerry even there? big grin

by Mirage 20.02.14 9:22

Clay Regazzoni wrote:
tasprin wrote:
tasprin wrote:
Cristobell wrote:
No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:There is definitely a future in politics for both the McCanns.
Indeed. Who can forget Gerry's gleeful little face on the White House Lawn.
The sun shone out of every orifice - he positively glowed.
Gerry McCann outside Whitehouse 24 July 2007
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I think I've gone down with some kind of forum related mental condition.... because now even that photograph looks photoshopped to me. Was Gerry even there?

Ha ha Clay. I read it as "Was Gerry even three?" Hmm, debatable.
Don't worry about the mental condition. When you've seen so many badly executed photoshops you are forgiven. You're just feeling a bit cut and pasty old fella and it will pass.
I imagine Gerry could well be wearing his shorts and running shoes on the bottom half of this pic. Bit like when you don't see the newsreaders legs.
You can just hear the whiny old voice when challenged: And why would it be my fault if there was an accident in the photoshopping department?

by Guest 04.03.14 15:00

She's been made a member of the Privy Council...............

Esther McVey is made member of Privy Council

. 7:00am Saturday 1st March 2014 in News .

Wirral Globe: Esther McVey is made member of Privy Council
Esther McVey is made member of Privy Council

WIRRAL West MP and Minister for Employment Esther McVey has been appointed by the Queen as a member of the Privy Council.

The centuries-old body is made up of senior politicians, judges and clergymen who advise the sovereign on matters of state.

Ms McVey said, “This is a huge honour and I am absolutely delighted and privileged to become a member.”

The body can trace its origins back to Norman times, and today there are about 400 members.

Leaders of the opposition parties, senior judges, top bishops and some Commonwealth representatives are also included in the membership, as are some members of the royal family – Prince Phillip is the longest-serving member, having been appointed to the role by King George VI.

There are official meetings of the council once a month at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, although only a handful of invited members attend.

Appointment to the council, which is for life, means that Ms McVey can now use the title ‘Right Honourable.’

As well as advising the Queen, the council has a range of other responsibilities.

It has a role in overseeing the affairs of hundreds of institutions, charities and companies which have been incorporated by royal charter.

Ms McVey will be expected to take a formal oath of allegiance to the Queen as she takes up his appointment.

More here:

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by Woofer 04.03.14 15:42

Charming to have this woman as a member of the Queen`s privy council titter

something very fishy going on.

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by Guest 04.03.14 15:48

Good heavens, when were those taken Woofer?

by Woofer 04.03.14 15:59

candyfloss wrote:Good heavens, when were those taken Woofer?

There`s more here :-

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I`m sure the Queen will be overjoyed at having this woman advise her big grin

by Guest 04.03.14 16:14

Woofer wrote:Charming to have this woman as a member of the Queen`s privy council something very fishy going on.

Weh, and indeed, heh!

by bobbin 04.03.14 16:21

Woofer wrote:
candyfloss wrote:Good heavens, when were those taken Woofer?

There`s more here :-

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I`m sure the Queen will be overjoyed at having this woman advise her

Prince Philip might too. laughat

Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Esther McVey, Emma Loach, Edward Smethurst, Cancer Research and the McCanns

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Esther McVey, Kate McCann, the O'Briens and the Liverpool & Wirral connections

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

Re: Former Director of the McCanns' private company (Madeleine's Fund) promoted to the Cabinet

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