Downing Street Says » Madeliene McCann

» Friday, May 13, 2011

Madeliene McCann

Asked if the decision by Downing Street and the Home Office to direct the Met to conduct an investigation raised questions about the political interference in the operating of the police force, the PMS said that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary had agreed with Sir Paul Stephenson that this should happen; that was not direction. This was a very high profile case that had been going on for some time and there was a huge amount of public interest in the case. We had been clear as a government that we would do everything we could to support the family.

Asked if it was unusual for Downing Street to get directly involved in an investigation, the PMS said that this was an exceptional case. The Metropolitan police were going to review the case. The review and the way they approached it was an operational matter and something for the Met police.
Asked if there would be an impact on the Police and Social Responsibility Bill, the PMS said the fact the Metropolitan police were going to conduct this review had been agreed by them. It was done at the request of the Home Secretary but it had been agreed by the Metropolitan police and Sir Paul Stephenson.

Asked if there had been contact with the government of Portugal, the PMS said there had been contact between the two governments since the start of the case.

Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that it was a good use of the police budget, the PMS said there were specific arrangements to allow this to be funded by the Home Office.

Asked if the action was driven by the tabloid agenda, the PMS said we were responding to a request from the family in a particularly exceptional case. The PMS went on to say the request had come from a family who had been through a great deal and who were asking for the help of the government because their daughter was missing. The Prime Minister had been clear that he wanted to do everything he could to support the family.

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» Friday, May 13, 2011

Madeliene McCann

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