Cuts hold up Maddie UK probe

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/923573/Cuts-hold-up-Maddie-UK-probe.html

Cuts hold up Maddie UK probe

Who'll pay, ask police


RIDDLE: Madeleine vanished in 2007 PHOTO: PA
By Lucy Panton, 29/08/2010

A NEW probe by British cops into missing Madeleine McCann is being held up in a row over funding, we can reveal.

Police forces face cuts of tens of millions of pounds to their budgets leaving no spare cash to pay for what would be a costly re-investigation.

Home Secretary Theresa May held a meeting with Kate and Gerry McCann early this month to discuss the search for their daughter.

Senior officers at Scotland Yard have been consulted about taking on the case. But despite the apparent early progress we can reveal that there are two key stumbling blocks.

No police force can afford to take on the job which could take at least two detectives away from other duties for as long as a year.

A source said: "The real issue that needs to be resolved is who is going to pay for it? No police force can afford to agree to take on the case without knowing where the funding will come from.

"The other issue which is as important to resolve is to ensure that British officers will have full access in Portugal.

"At the moment there is no agreement in place that the Portuguese authorities are going to allow and co-operate with a British re-investigation.

"The review has highlighted the need for a thorough re-investigation starting from scratch. The Metropolitan Police have been consulted and are likely to be given the job, but not until all the problems have been ironed out."

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, appealed directly to former Home Secretary Alan Johnson and now Mrs May for extra help.

Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in May 2007. This year we broke the news that the Met's Homicide Command have been approached to discuss taking on the investigation.

Jim Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, told Labour ministers there were huge holes in the original inquiry.The treasury are set to slash eight per cent of the policing budget for the next three years threatening jobs.

GGGGRRRRRRR

It seems that a few papers today are reporting this story but we don´t know whether the papers are telling the truth about this issue. As we all know, August is regarded as being the “silly season” for news in the UK as so many people are on holiday and the papers are desperate for stories so print anything. So, I hope this is not true, only published with the purpose of sell newspapers, using this news / speculation.

I knew this would happen. Excuse after excuse after excuse!!

Very disappointing.

This review needs to be funded in part by the govt directly, due to the review involving the review of another country's police force. Not quite the same as reviewing a British case.

It is very important that this case be reviewed, as it highlighted obvious flaws in dealing with PJ, and these need to be sorted out ASAP before the same thing happens again. Obviously the framework for dealing with foreign forces is far from ideal, and part of this review should be recommendations for improving this framework. And this is all apart from the need to find Madeleine. It clearly needs to be funded from several sources of funds.

I have to say: I´m sick of words, I´m so fed up with excuses, I want to see real positive action immediately.

I find this part very telling.

"The other issue which is as important to resolve is to ensure that British officers will have full access in Portugal.

"At the moment there is no agreement in place that the Portuguese authorities are going to allow and co-operate with a British re-investigation."

Will that permission ever be given without immense pressure. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear that not upsetting a fellow EU state with a risk of divisions within the EU will come before a missing little girl.

jackf wrote:I find this part very telling.

"The other issue which is as important to resolve is to ensure that British officers will have full access in Portugal.

"At the moment there is no agreement in place that the Portuguese authorities are going to allow and co-operate with a British re-investigation."

Will that permission ever be given without immense pressure. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear that not upsetting a fellow EU state with a risk of divisions within the EU will come before a missing little girl.

Probably correct jf...........
But....you would think if they had nothing to hide....Why won't they just co operate?

They won't co-operate because they made a complete shambles of the investigation in the first place. It's different when the media make accusations, but if the British police got their hands on the complete 'story' they would show the Portuguese cops up for what they were worth, and as Jack says diplomatic relations are far more important than the truth about one little girl!!!

I took some comfort in the fact that Keir Simmons tweeted that he asked HIS Home Office source if the costs were what was holding things up and the source said that's not true. I trust his source over NOTW any day of the week.

The way the article was written, the quote about costs looks like it comes from someone that was just rattling off all the potential problems with such an investigation - problems that any one of us, brainstorming, could probably think of ourselves.

If the Home Office wants to do it, they'll find the money.