H_B

Given that they aren't the parents of his children, then yes!

Who knows, and I agree that it is still very unlikely. It was always a significantly more likely scenario than the abduction theory. I've been baffled by the shock and horror when the above has been pointed out. People do nasty things every day.

I'd have thought if it had been either them, or someone from their circle, the stories would have unravelled before now. Who knows though. I am sure one element of the campaign fund was relating to missing children worldwide, so presumably the money will be channeled immediately to a body responsible for investigating such things.

I noticed the lawyer they are using to sue the Portuguese papers is doing it for free. the money isn't coming out of the campaign fund. Anyone know what is happening to the campaign fund, now that they have sensibly decided to return home and try and get on with their lives?

This is absolutely true. The point here is that regardless of whether the McCanns or their friends had anything to do with it at all, the hysteria and outrage from their media pals, and even people on this thread when it was suggested this was possible, was outrageous. The whole "you should be ashamed of yourself" routine was dusted off when people asked questions of the events of that night, when that was exactly where the bulk of the investigation should have been focused on, after the initial search of the area.

Solicitor present for the "formal" interview. Interesting.

I didn't say it wouldn't, but it indicates the class bias which exists in the UK.

Last week's Times and Guardian went into full scale outrage mode when it emerged that the Portuguese press were asking serious questions about the inconsistencies in the stories given, which led to an article which stated it was ludicrous to suggest the McCanns could be suspects because of their demeanour. Make your own mind up as to why such disbelief exists in the broadsheets, and whether a similar level of disbelief would be expressed should a similar situation arise, and the parents not be white, middle class professionals.

There you go again. And that is utter rubbish. There are terrible parents out there - absolutely awful, who have no empathy with their children at all, and whose children absolutely despise them. To try and create such a bond through accident of birth is laughable.

That's bollocks though - to appropriate some sense of "special" understanding because you have children yourself. Almost everyone who is here will have nieces, nephews, little brothers and sisters etc. and are therefore well capable of empathising with the loss of a loved one in this situation.

I've always wondered if I could write a book, then I read someone with talent and realise how hopeless I would be in comparison. The I read someone like Jardine and think, actually, I am pretty sure I could do better than that. I read one recently from Anthony Jimenez - who can only be described as a poor man's Grisham. Hard to believe that is possible, yet it is!

I thought it was good too.

I only realised when I saw he was appearing at the book festival this year that he had written several books. Goes to show that some Publishers will print anything. I suppose he must sell enough books to make a living, against all the odds.

I read one of his books and it scanned to me like something a high school pupil would write. Laughable lack of depth to any of the characters.

On the contrary - I think it is very important to them, hence their attempts last week in the British broadsheets to repair the damage caused by the media backlash in Portugal. They have far better chance of controlling and using a compliant media (and therefore public), than one which has turned against them. The only rule of selling newspapers is "what the public wants, the public gets".

But that's exactly what families around the world have to do every year. There are a number of child abductions worldwide. Because those families aren't wealthy enough to take an indefinite sabbatical, they have to go back to work and resume some kind of normality for the sake of their remaining children, albeit they may always spend their spare time still hunting, which is only to be expected. Well said.

I think anyone who contributed to that fund, with it's terms, can have no complaints about how it is being spent.

I would never have donated to the fund with the terms they came up with. Shockingly vague and open to abuse.

I would suspect they will both be off on Extended leave, though I vaguely remember hearing that Gerry had chucked his job. I suspect with his specialisation he would have no problem getting a similar role in the future however. I know other parents whose children have died have had to return to work after a couple of weeks though. Companies tend to be sympathetic to a point, after which they insist on a return to work.

Agreed.

People who are weird are those who have kids I have nieces, who have the added feature that you can hand them back to their parents and go to the pub whenever you want.

But you have no idea what the McCanns are feeling about this, any more than any of the rest of us do. You can't project the idea of a supposed "normal" parent on the McCanns, as you have no idea what their psyche is like, or even if they are innocent of any involvement.

Exactly. It is utterly irrelevant. It comes back to the whole middle class thing, which really returns the thread to page 1.

Yep She said anyone who had seen the anguish on their faces couldn't possibly believe they were involved. What naive nonsense. Note that I am not suggesting they are involved, merely that to exclude them from suspicion based on their demeanour is ludicrous.

Heard on the radio this morning the McCann's are unhappy with the way the Portuguese investigation is turning towards them and their pals. I note the broadsheets (Times and Telegraph) yesterday were rushing to rally around. Some daft bint in The Times thinks it is ludicrous they are even under suspicion as she can tell by "looking at their faces" that the McCanns are innocent. With this gift she could save the Criminal Justice system a fortune and prove invaluable in the anti-Terrorism stakes.