Are the McCanns in PDL today?

Weren't the McCanns supposed to be going to PDL today in a fanfare of trumpets for the service at the little PDL church for 7th annniversary of Madeleine's 'disappearance' together with an entourage of SY detectives and journalists.

Gosh, I bet the residence of PDL have breathed a sigh of relief if they and their entourage haven't shown up.

Or have I missed something?

I've been watching the BBC and Sky News I haven't seen any sycophantic journalists fawning over their arrival as yet. I've even checked their online services and can't find any mention.

I don't know  whether the McCanns are in PDL but this was reported 2 days ago

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Madeleine McCann's mother still returns to Portuguese resort where her daughter disappeared twice a year to 'walk those streets and look for answers'
Mother of Madeleine McCann says she returns to resort at least once a year
Kate McCann says she is desperate to know what happened

She says the family just want answers, even if it emerges Madeleine has died

46-year-old says she also wants closure for Madeleine's younger siblings

By John Hall and Wills Robinson and Ted Thornhill

Published: 02:03, 1 May 2014  | Updated: 17:52, 1 May 2014  



The mother of missing Madeleine McCann has revealed that she privately returns to the Portuguese resort where her daughter disappeared to 'walk those streets' and 'look for answers'.

Ahead of the seventh anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, Kate McCann told the BBC that she returns 'quietly' to Praia da Luz at least once or twice a year to feel close to her eldest daughter.

Madeleine, then aged three, went missing on May 3 2007 from a holiday apartment in the Algarve village as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

She went on: 'It's difficult because we don't want to go back and generate publicity because I know that local people don't like that... and, while we have some really good friends in Praia da Luz, I know some people would like it to go away.

'So when I go to Praia da Luz, I go quietly.'

Asked if the visits were a chance to be close to Madeleine, Mrs McCann said: 'It is - that was the last place we were with Madeleine, and I'll still walk those streets and I guess try to look for answers. It helps me.'

Asked what she and husband Gerry would do to mark the seventh anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, she said: 'We usually have a small gathering in the village, which we've done the last so many years.'

But she added that it was Madeleine's birthday, which comes shortly afterwards and would see her turn 11, that was more difficult.


Her comments come as a new system that sends out alerts if a child is abducted is launched.

Mrs McCann urged members of the public to sign up for Child Rescue Alerts, which will be overhauled later this month.

She said: 'When a child is abducted, families are devastated and entire communities are torn apart. The agony of not knowing where your child is is almost impossible to imagine. The helplessness is at times overwhelming.

'But there is now something we can all do to help. Please sign up to receive alerts - you could save a child's life.'

The new system will allow alerts to be issued via text, email, social media, digital billboards and to the media.

Members of the public can already sign up to receive alerts, although the new system will come into play on International Missing Children's Day on May 25.


Mrs McCann said she is desperate for some form of closure over the disappearance, not least because she wants to be able to provide answers for Madeleine's younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie, who are now aged nine.

'Sean and Amelie need to know. They've got their whole lives ahead of them an no one is ever going to say to be they will not try to look for their sister - they will. I don't want them having to carry this on,' she told the Sun.

Speaking of her own desire to know what happened to her then three-year-old daughter, Mrs McCann added: 'We obviously want Madeleine back number one - but we want an answer whatever.'

'I'm not underestimating the blow of hearing bad news that your child has been killed, because obviously we're not going to go 'OK, at least we know.' But I've spent hours thinking about that and, each time, I still come up thinking we need to know. Regardless, we need to know.'


Earlier this week a former Scotland Yard detective says the man wanted in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine wore a rare long-sleeve t-shirt designed by a beer company.

Peter Bleksley, 54, a founding member of the Metropolitan Police's undercover unit, believes the 'pot-bellied' suspect had a shirt with a logo from the Portuguese drinks company Super Bock.


He is said to have worn the distinctive burgundy shirt on two occasions in Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale, with one witness saying the clothing had a white circle on it.

The suspect has been linked with attacks on another five British girls and is said to have targeted 12 families in the region between 2004 and 2010.


The victims – including a ten-year-old molested in Praia da Luz – were sexually assaulted and there was one ‘near miss’ when the intruder was disturbed in neighbouring resorts.

Police have received more than 500 calls about attacks that could be linked to the unidentified man, but the detail of the shirt's design could be a significant development in the search for the girl, who would now be 10-years old.

The circular logo has the manufacturer's name on a maroon background and can be seen in bars and pubs around Portugal.





Mr Bleksley told the Sunday Express: 'Some people have suggested it bore resemblance to a strip once worn by the Arsenal football team.





'However, I think a more likely explanation could be that the man was wearing one of these Super Bock promotional t-shirts.



'Therefore it would be possible to check back on all the designs and the years they were produced and see which one bears most similarity to that witnessed by families.

The suspect, who is said to have broken into the apartments of five young girls to assault them believe he may be a local binman described as ‘smelly and pot-bellied’.

The tanned, dark-haired man is suspected of breaking into holiday properties where British families were staying and sexually abusing five white British girls aged between seven and 10, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said last month.

The mystery man is also said to have ‘a vile interest in young, white, female children’.

Since launching an appeal into other alleged attacks, six other British families have come forward to report that their children aged six to 12 fell victim to the offender over the same period.

Scotland Yard are hoping to begin ‘operational activity’ on the ground in Portugal, raising hopes that arrests could be imminent.

Scotland Yard said anyone with information on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann should call police on 020 7321 9251 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The Madeleine McCann disappearance – a timeline of events

Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, from the seaside Ocean Club resort in Praia de Luz, Portugal.

She went missing as her parents Gerry and Kate ate dinner with friends about 50 yards away from where she slept at a tapas bar.


She had been left in the family's rented apartment along with twin siblings Sean and Amelie.


Kate and Gerry checked on them regularly and at around 9pm, Mr McCann finds nothing amiss when he returned to their room.

At 10pm Mrs McCann checked on them again and found the shutter slid up, the bedroom window open and Madeleine gone.

The police began the hunt for Madeleine on the following day and on May 15 announce that British expatriate Robert Murat had become an official suspect, or arguido.

He immediately stated his innocence.

On May 30 Mr and Mrs McCann met the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

However, in September the police then made Mr and Mrs McCann 'arguidos' in their daughter's disappearance.

The following year Mr Murat and the McCanns both successfully sued British newspapers over suggestions that they were connected with Madeleine’s disappearance.

In March 2008 Kate and Gerry McCann received an apology and £550,000 from Express Newspapers, while Mr Murat received £600,000 in libel damages and an apology from four newspaper groups in July over ‘seriously defamatory’ articles.

On July 21the Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the 'arguido' status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

The McCanns had set up a fund to find Madeleine and on January 29 2009 it was announced that £2million in donations had been sent in.

On May 12, 2011, Mrs McCann published a book about her daughter's disappearance on Madeleine's eighth birthday and Scotland Yard launched a review of the case after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May, supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The following year, on April 25, Scotland Yard detectives said they believe Madeleine could still be alive and released an age-progression picture of how she might look now as a nine-year-old.

They called on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case.

Last year, Mr and Mrs McCann attended an evening ceremony in their village to mark the sixth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.

The heartbroken couple attended the ceremony at the candle which burns continually in the centre of Rothley, Leicestershire.

Mr and Mrs McCann said their family, including twins Sean and Amelie, now eight, had found a 'new normality' since Madeleine's disappearance

Speaking at the time, Mr McCann said: ‘In many ways things haven't changed and you could argue that we are actually in a better place because so much more information has been collated and lots of pieces of the jigsaw have been filled.

'It's just about keeping looking, find out what's happened to Madeleine and hopefully finding those responsible.'

On June 21, 2013, prosecutors confirmed that London's chief crown prosecutor Alison Saunders and her deputy Jenny Hopkins flew to Portugal with Scotland Yard detectives in April to discuss the case with their Portuguese counterparts

On July 4 Scotland Yard confirmed that it had launched its own investigation into Madeleine's disappearance two years into a review of the case. It said it had 'genuinely new' lines of inquiry and had identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.


In October 2013 Portugal's Attorney General announced that the case was being officially reopened and in March 2014 British police investigating the disappearance said they were looking for a prolific paedophile who sexually abused five girls at holiday homes in the Algarve before the British toddler went missing.

The detectives announced their breakthrough as it emerged three of the reports linked to the same man were only reported to them after they launched a fresh appeal for information in October 2013.

"It is - that was the last place we were with Madeleine, and I'll still walk those streets and I guess try to look for answers. It helps me."

So helpful is it to Mrs McCann to 'walk those streets', she hasn't been back to Praia del Luz since April of last year and, following her abrupt departure from Portugal in September 2007, on her first return in 2009  she chose to stay in Lisbon for the puprose of briefing lawyers.

I didn't realise that Kate "walked the streets" ! ! !

(A particularly English expression, so sorry.)
The whole thing is a disgrace.
Kate knows what happened. She said so. She said I know. I was there.
And if she does not, (surely not lying !) then Edgar has told her what happened and where Madeleine still is. (Hellish Lair 10 miles away ! !)
They have NEVER resiled from that, but still pretend that they don't know, and by extension that every one of their million pound PIs are similarly clueless.

The McCans are not in Portugal today, but had a brief meeting with some 100 people in Rothley today.

I think that this answers the question of the whereabouts of the McCanns

Competition - click on the link below, hidden somewhere in the gallery are 100 well wishers, can you spot them?


'Thanks for supporting us': Kate and Gerry McCann's message to the public on seventh anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance


 May 03, 2014 19:08  
By Anthony Bond
 

About 100 well-wishers, friends and relatives gathered in the McCann's hometown to mark the seventh year since Madeleine went missing in Portugal


Maddie McCann, 7th anniversary of disappearance
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Kate and Gerry McCann today thanked the public for their support during a prayer service to mark the seventh anniversary of their daughter's disappearance.

The couple were joined by about 100 well-wishers, friends and relatives for the low-key open-air service in the centre of their hometown.

The half-hour service saw candles being lit for all children around the world who have been taken away from their parents against their will.

Madeleine, then aged three, went missing on May 3 2007, part-way through a family holiday in Portgual.

During the service in Rothley, Leicestershire, Mrs McCann gave a reading adapted from the words of a song.

"Here we are again, and more significantly, here you are again," she told those present.

"Having your support has a huge difference, so thank you."

Mr McCann expressed his family's gratitude that the Metropolitan Police team investigating Madeleine's disappearance was now moving on to a "very active" phase in their investigation.

"I would just like to echo what Kate said and thank you all for coming to support us over the past seven years," he said.

Referring to the latest inquiries into Madeleine's disappearance, Mr McCann added: "They are chipping away and obviously there is new evidence so we are going to continue to hope that we will get a happy outcome."

Speaking before the service, Mrs McCann's uncle, Brian Kennedy, said all four churches in the village had provided a tremendous support to the family.

The retired headmaster, who lives in Rothley, said local people had also been extremely supportive.

Asked how he felt on the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, Mr Kennedy, 75, said: "Much the same as I was seven years ago - hopeful.

"But, as Kate always says, we would just like to know something. The worst part is not knowing where Madeleine is."

Speaking earlier this week, Mrs McCann revealed that she privately returns to the Portuguese resort where her daughter disappeared to "walk those streets" and "look for answers".

She told the BBC that she returns quietly to Praia da Luz at least once or twice a year to feel close to her eldest daughter.

Mrs McCann's comments to the BBC came as she backed a revamped alert system triggered when missing children are kidnapped or their lives are at risk - known as Child Rescue Alerts.

She said: "When a child is abducted, families are devastated and entire communities are torn apart.

"The agony of not knowing where your child is is almost impossible to imagine."

Kate McCann said: "When a child is abducted, families are devastated and entire communities are torn apart."

What Kate McCann should have said is that "In cases of genuine child abduction by stranger(s), families are devastated, but where child abductions are contrived to hide the guilt of relatives entire communities are torn apart for no reason whatsoever and the innocent can find themselves subject to unwarranted suspicion even after death.

Eta I see Kate dressed for the occasion of another jog with her spouse after she'd said a few token words at a shrine that would be more fitting in the place where her daughter was 'taken' but, understandably, it's highly unlikely the good people of Praia del Luz are minded to tolerate a monument to the disruption caused to their lives and the blight caused to their town by this couple.

PeterMac, you aren't alone in smiling at the double meaning of walking the streets!

For those not in the know, a streetwalker is a prostitute.

In the photos in the Mirror link, Gerry looks as if he's chewing a wasp and Kate seems to have got dressed in the dark.

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:PeterMac, you aren't alone in smiling at the double meaning of walking the streets!

For those not in the know, a streetwalker is a prostitute.

In the photos in the Mirror link, Gerry looks as if he's chewing a wasp and Kate seems to have got dressed in the dark.

Why make the effort to meet up with 100 supporters 3 neighbours and a dog?

People could read a lot into Kate's returning to Portugal once or twice a year, and I think she stumbled when she realised what she had said, and tried to compensate with a saintly reason, she walks the streets looking for Madeleine.

sharonl wrote:

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:PeterMac, you aren't alone in smiling at the double meaning of walking the streets!

For those not in the know, a streetwalker is a prostitute.

In the photos in the Mirror link, Gerry looks as if he's chewing a wasp and Kate seems to have got dressed in the dark.

Why make the effort to meet up with 100 supporters 3 neighbours and a dog?

Yes, looks like the Mirror arrived too late to picture those alleged 100 supporters -looks deserted to me  - 3 neighbours and a dog if you're lucky

Cristobell wrote:People could read a lot into Kate's returning to Portugal once or twice a year, and I think she stumbled when she realised what she had said, and tried to compensate with a saintly reason, she walks the streets looking for Madeleine.

I totally agree Cristobell.
It just makes no sense for Kate to say she feels closest to Madeleine in a holiday resort miles from home, where they had only been for 6 days and spent negligible time with any of their children as they were put in a creche all day and *allegedly* home alone in the evenings! Surely you would feel closest to them at home, where you woke with them every day, put them to bed every evening and *hopefully* have happy family memories?
IMO there is only one scenario that would make sense of the claim to feeling closest to her in PdL/Pt, and IMO yes, Kate realised her gaffe (she makes a lot, doesn't she?)

Just to add - WHY are papers still printing that the shutter was up and the window was open? The statements pretty much refute that and whose print, the only print, was on that window that was closed when the GNR arrived? Oh yes, Ms Healy/Mrs McCann.....

Much as I support this forum and its debunking of the preposterous myth that the MCCs have constructed, I have to object to to Peter Mac's sexist analogy of KM walking the street and her being a "streetwalker". This is really unnecessary and will only add fuel to the fire of those who seek to undermine those of us who question the version of events that the media and the MCCs have tried to make the public accept.

I respect and have learnt from many of PeterMac's posts, but I think that in this case he has made a poor comment that he should withdraw. There are sufficient people out there who are prepared to condemn those who don 't believe the MCCs as nutters, without os adding more fuel to their fire.

coati mundi wrote:Much as I support this forum and its debunking of the preposterous myth that the MCCs have constructed, I have to object to to Peter Mac's sexist analogy of KM walking the street and her being a "streetwalker". This is really unnecessary and will only add fuel to the fire of those who seek to undermine those of us who question the version of events that the media and the MCCs have tried to make the public accept.

I respect and have learnt from many of PeterMac's posts, but I think that in this case he has made a poor comment that he should withdraw. There are sufficient people out there who are prepared to condemn those who don 't believe the MCCs as nutters, without os adding more fuel to their fire.

I don't think PeterMac was being sexist nor insinuating KM is a prostitute coati mundi. Like PM and NFWTD I had a chuckle at the double meaning - something non-native English speakers may have missed. It doesn't make you a nutter having a wry laugh every so often, there is nothing funny about the case itself - I read the comment as smiling at the wording, not casting aspersions.

As an aside though, its nice to know, Kate, that after seven years you are finally 'walking the streets looking for answers' - we know you didn't when Maddie went missing as you told us so. It was dark and you were busy!

HelenMeg wrote:

sharonl wrote:

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:PeterMac, you aren't alone in smiling at the double meaning of walking the streets!

For those not in the know, a streetwalker is a prostitute.

In the photos in the Mirror link, Gerry looks as if he's chewing a wasp and Kate seems to have got dressed in the dark.

Why make the effort to meet up with 100 supporters 3 neighbours and a dog?

Yes, looks like the Mirror arrived too late to picture those alleged 100 supporters -looks deserted to me  - 3 neighbours and a dog if you're lucky

100 at a War Memorial ground is hardly a crowd, a small gathering compromising mostly people from 4 churches congregation flock isn't a great turn out. Surprisingly they wheeled out Uncle Brian to speak up for them. I didn't realise Uncle Brian is local to Rothley area.

Speaking before the service, Mrs McCann's uncle, Brian Kennedy, said all four churches in the village had provided a tremendous support to the family.The retired headmaster, who lives in Rothley, said local people had also been extremely supportive.

Asked how he felt on the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, Mr Kennedy, 75, said: "Much the same as I was seven years ago - hopeful.

"But, as Kate always says, we would just like to know something. The worst part is not knowing where Madeleine is."

PeterMac wrote:I didn't realise that Kate "walked the streets" ! ! !

(A particularly English expression, so sorry.)
The whole thing is a disgrace.
Kate knows what happened. She said so. She said I know.  I was there.
And if she does not, (surely not lying !)  then Edgar has told her what happened and where Madeleine still is. (Hellish Lair 10 miles away ! !)
They have NEVER resiled from that, but still pretend that they don't know, and by extension that every one of their million pound PIs are similarly clueless.

The whole thing is an utter disgrace, PeterM, and I find it particularly shameful that the McCanns have been allowed to hold a public assembly at the Rothley War Memorial and cheapen this listed monument with a tacky display which would appear to have been hastily assembled for the occasion.  

If, as Uncle Brian Kennedy claimed, 'all four churches in the village' have provided 'tremendous support to the family' it would doubtless have been a small matter to arrange a dignified gathering in one of those churches or a church hall but, that said, I cannot comprehend why the bereaved parents of a child who is alleged to have been abducted by stranger(s) would seek to publicise their grief on the anniversary of the last day they saw her alive, or why they would wish to do so in any place other than the one she was taken from.

I couldn't agree more ultimaThule , I get the same nauseous feeling when I see tony bliar at the cenotaph ....a total disgrace.

Cristobell wrote:People could read a lot into Kate's returning to Portugal once or twice a year, and I think she stumbled when she realised what she had said, and tried to compensate with a saintly reason, she walks the streets looking for Madeleine.

Stumble or red herring?

A bit late I know but have only just watched this short interview:



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BBC 20130501 McCann Interview with Fiona Bruce lunchtime

Having watched this interview with Fiona Bruce there are numerous occasions when their body language contradicts what they say.

FB Do you go back to PdL ?

KM yes I have been back last April and walked the streets - negative shaking of head.

FB How do you celebrate the anniversary ?

KM  Shakes head negative - Very quietly err - a small gathering in the village - big sigh.

FB how do you mark Madeleine's birthday.

GM It's very hard - shakes head negative- she's not there. We should be celebrating her - shakes head negative. It's by far the toughest day of our year - shakes head negative.

FB And it's harder every year ?

KM Oh yeah - shakes head negative - when you think - 11 - she is due to start school in September.

FB what's your best hope of where Madeleine is now ?

GM I suppose the scenario and it's not been ruled out - shakes head negative - is Madeleine was taken by someone who wanted a child and that she is being loved and cared for. That's the best scenario but of course there are many others - still shaking his head negatively.

FB If Madeleine is alive and she could hear you what would you say to her ?

KM Sigh  - smile - We love you Madeleine, we miss you every day as we did that very first day - shakes head negatively - and we are waiting for you.  We are never gonna give up. We will do whatever we can to find you - shakes head negatively then changing to nodding yes ? 

What a pair!

Too little to late

Kate should have been searching the streets looking for 4 year Madeleine the moment that she discovered her missing (if that's what really happened) and kept searching all night.

Oh, but I forgot, it was too late, far too cold and dark to search, so they went to bed and left the child out there on a cold dark night and started their search the following morning (or so they tell us).

If any this was true than leaving the child out all night is far worse an offence than leaving her home alone whilst they partied at the Tapas.

verb [ trans. ]
2 figurative put (oneself or one's talents) to an unworthy or corrupt use or purpose for the sake of personal or financial gain :

Sounds about right

The McCann's full interview can be seen here:

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[quote="rainbow-fairy"] I don't think PeterMac was being sexist nor insinuating KM is a prostitute coati mundi. Like PM and NFWTD I had a chuckle at the double meaning - something non-native English speakers may have missed. It doesn't make you a nutter having a wry laugh every so often, there is nothing funny about the case itself - I read the comment as smiling at the wording, not casting aspersions. quote]

Thank you RF. As you say, it was simply a joke about the double meaning of the words. I used the word streetwalker myself merely to explain what it means.

Kate goes back to PDL for 'personal reasons'. Is that to visit Madeleine's grave? or does she go and sit on 'her rocks' ?
It would be good to think that if Kate really does go back to Portugal, someone somewhere keeps an eye where she likes to visit.

Hicks wrote:Kate goes back to PDL for 'personal reasons'. Is that to visit Madeleine's grave? or does she go and sit on 'her rocks' ?
It would be good to think that if Kate really does go back to Portugal, someone somewhere keeps an eye where she likes to visit.

Whatever reason she gives, it is clearly not to search for the Hellish Lair within 10 miles . .

They could have finished that search 5 years ago, but have never even started.

PeterMac wrote:

Hicks wrote:Kate goes back to PDL for 'personal reasons'. Is that to visit Madeleine's grave? or does she go and sit on 'her rocks' ?
It would be good to think that if Kate really does go back to Portugal, someone somewhere keeps an eye where she likes to visit.

Whatever reason she gives, it is clearly not to search for the Hellish Lair within 10 miles . .

They could have finished that search 5 years ago, but have never even started.

Quite peterMac.

Fiona Bruce made Kate feel uncomfortable didn't she? Kate's eyes were darting about everywhere in order to avoid eye contact with her.
I have a feeling that something is afoot as Kate appears very jittery and not her normal composed self. Also I expect the strain of keeping up this pretence is beginning to take it's toll. Gerry though is still playing a game he intends to win at all costs. 

I have much respect for the PJ as they will not be distracted from getting to the truth. Britain and most of it's institutions have been tainted by corruption.  Sadly that includes SY. The name should inspire confidence but sadly it doesn't anymore.

MILLIE wrote:The McCann's full interview can be seen here:

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Why, why, why do they do it?

Give interviews that is.  There is no need to raise awareness that Madeleine is missing, that been covered globally on several occasions and the interviews seem to focus almost entirely on the parents, their suffering and their innocence.  I wonder if the news channels ask the McCanns for these interviews
or if it is the other way around?   

It was obvious to anyone not wearing blinkers, that from the beginning the McCanns craved the limelight, in the way as a mother suffering from Munchausens by proxy - it appears to be all about the child, but the one begging for attention is the mother.  The McCanns I think, honestly believe, that if they can appeal to the public just one more time, their natural charisma will convince people they are innocent, thats all it will take.  This does of course fly in the face of all the empirical evidence - every time they step in front of the cameras they make their situation catastrophically worse. Its like a defence barrister putting his client in the dock and telling him to speak freely.  If the McCanns have any legal advisors or indeed friends, they should be telling them to shut the feck up, as they digging themselves deeper and deeper.  They are persuading no-one, they are merely reminding people of the phenomenal amount of help they have already financially from the public (£4m!) and practically from the police forces of two countries, yet still they whine and complain.  Peoples' natural inclination not to think badly of the victims of crime wears thin with time, and when someone keeps banging on and on and on that 'they didn't do it', it arouses suspicion rather than sympathy.  

I don't believe Gerry and Kate listen to advice - despot wannabe Gerry likes complete control, and he knows best.  Such is his character, he would interpret any advice he receives as people plotting against him.  Because he is untrustworthy, he will be unable to trust others, he will judge people by his own standards, ie. what would he do in their circumstances which leads to the kind of paranoia that can eat you alive - look at Shakespeare's Kings. 

The McCanns can't trust anyone.  They have to appear themselves, because only they can plead their case.  Whilst they shared the limelight in the first few weeks with all those enthusiastic members of Team McCann who rushed out to join them at the holiday resort, they quickly changed tack when they lost control of what the excitable Team were saying.  Since then I don't think we have heard a peep from anyone other themselves and their official spokesman.    

At this stage, the McCanns still believe only they can make it right, that the public will hate Goncalo Amaral as much as they do, and they can influence the public by appearing in person to plead their case.  As the missing libel trial descended in shambles, both Gerry and Kate made last minute pleas to appear and given evidence - clearly everyone else let them down.  Its all fascinating to watch, I think we will be discussing this shared madness for years and years to come.

Hicks wrote:Quite peterMac.

Fiona Bruce made Kate feel uncomfortable didn't she? Kate's eyes were darting about everywhere in order to avoid eye contact with her.
I have a feeling that something is afoot as Kate appears very jittery and not her normal composed self. Also I expect the strain of keeping up this pretence is beginning to take it's toll. Gerry though is still playing a game he intends to win at all costs. 

I have much respect for the PJ as they will not be distracted from getting to the truth. Britain and most of it's institutions have been tainted by corruption.  Sadly that includes SY. The name should inspire confidence but sadly it doesn't anymore.

Personally I think Fiona Bruce comes across as much sharper than the likes of Lorraine Kelly and also her pace is slower, which gives a longer period of time for the points to be reflected upon.

'Sean and Amelie need to know. They've got their whole lives ahead of them an no one is ever going to say to be they will not try to look for their sister - they will. I don't want them having to carry this on,' she told the Sun.

Shared madness indeed.  Why is no-one ever going to say the twins will not try to look for their sister?  It is a far from foregone conclusion that two children would attempt to continue "the search" of their own volition when adults.  Despite adding "I don't want them having to carry this on" the first sentence can be read as nobody will be/is allowed to say that they will not try to look for her.  If that is the case then Mr & Mrs McC might consider that it may be better for their remaining children's welfare, as well as for themselves, to undergo counselling, if necessary, in order to reach a level of acceptance that they may in fact never know.  If this is kept up within the home as it relentlessly is publicly this must have/have had an enormous effect on their children, who should be allowed to grow up normally and not living in the shadow of their missing elder sister and the publicity her parents seem to have no desire to see diminish.

Monty Heck wrote:'Sean and Amelie need to know. They've got their whole lives ahead of them an no one is ever going to say to be they will not try to look for their sister - they will. I don't want them having to carry this on,' she told the Sun.

Shared madness indeed.  Why is no-one ever going to say the twins will not try to look for their sister?  It is a far from foregone conclusion that two children would attempt to continue "the search" of their own volition when adults.  Despite adding "I don't want them having to carry this on" the first sentence can be read as nobody will be/is allowed to say that they will not try to look for her.  If that is the case then Mr & Mrs McC might consider that it may be better for their remaining children's welfare, as well as for themselves, to undergo counselling, if necessary, in order to reach a level of acceptance that they may in fact never know.  If this is kept up within the home as it relentlessly is publicly this must have/have had an enormous effect on their children, who should be allowed to grow up normally and not living in the shadow of their missing elder sister and the publicity her parents seem to have no desire to see diminish.

Changed her tune, IIRC she said in an interview couple years back that the twins would carry on 'flying the flag' when they were older.