Minute's silence too much

[NikkiB]

Sorry, but much as I'd love Maddy to be reunited with her family, and I support all the publicity generated to find her, the minutes silence that took place today for her was TOO MUCH.
What will that minute achieve? It isn't constructive. It won't find her or comfort her. It really does reek of bandwagon jumping now. And as minutes silences are generally reserved for those who've passed away, it's very morbid and negative.

[Hammer Head]

Couldn't agree more. If I was her father, I would be absolutely horrified at the thought of her being given a minutes silence. The Portuguese police must be chuckling quietly to themselves as all this codswallop is deflecting from their inept handling of this case.

[stokeace]

at the end of the day the little girl is STILL missing and anything that will draw attention to her plight must be welcomed if my little girl went missing i wouldnt give a flying f**k what people did to keep her in the spotlight......

[bigmalc]

Kids go missing every day all over the world. Why is this case so prevalent? Is it because she is a white, middle-class girl from Britain?

[Hammer Head]

I hope that once this case is resolved (happily I hope) the parents are held to account as to why they left such young children alone.

If it had been a working class single mother who had gone to the pub, the authorities would be clamouring for her neck. I see no difference.

[cascarelli]

I must admit, tragic as it is, I've got to saturation point with this now. I really can't see the point of showing videos on the big screen at Wembley before the cup final or Liverpool football players holding up a banner with a telephone number.

Saying that it's to keep it in the public eye is fine but to what purpose? What are we supposed to do?

I know it must be really difficult for the parents but the rest of the world has to move on.

[Neilzulu1]

bigmalc
Tue 22/05/07
00:30


Kids go missing every day all over the world. Why is this case so prevalent? Is it because she is a white, middle-class girl from Britain? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!! WHAT HAS COLOUR OR CLASS GOT TO DO WITH THIS ??

[I.Don No]

the only worth I can find in a one minute's silence is for the parents to really think what they did...or should I say...didnt do that night.

Maddie, whereever you may be, I hope you are safe and happy

[chazza]

Totally agree - we don't know if the child is dead, so why hold a minutes silence - how will this raise awareness?

[sp1814]

I doubt if there is anyone in this country who doesn't know the story of Madeline.

In fact, I know that I could be presented with a picture of one hundred 4 year old girls and I could pick her out.

If anyone had information about her, they would've come forward by now.

What's happening right now in this country is a 'clamouring to care'.

This is where groups of people try to show they care more than others.

[teag1rl]

I agree with you NikkiB. I found it quite disconcerting.

[anotheoldgit]

Quite agree with you Neilzulu1, this latest post is typical of what we have come to expect from bigmalc, anti British, anti white, and class conscious to boot. This does not fit in somehow with the caring attitude he likes to portray regarding immigrants, except of course the anti-British bit.

[Neilzulu1]

Well he should f#ck off and live elsewhere then. I am sick of all his anti British crap. Go and live somewhere else and close the door on your way out !!

[sp1814]

A minutes silence is entire wrong. I don't know about other posters here, but I would expect that to happen when someone, or a group of people have died.

We cannot/should not assume that about Madeline because right now, she's just missing.

So it's inappropriate in that sense.

[LeMarchand]

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!! WHAT HAS COLOUR OR CLASS GOT TO DO WITH THIS ??

To the tragedy of a child going missing, nothing. To the press/public, seemingly quite a lot. As Hammer Head pointed out, it seems to be much more worrying to some when a middle class child is taken. I'd be surprised if other children haven't gone missing since Maddie's disappearance, but (for whatever reason) their stories haven't been force-fed to us.

BTW, I think some members here are showing their own prejudices - HH didn't mention colour at all...

[Hammer Head]

LeMarchand, you've slightly missed my point. I wasn't suggesting that middle class children attract more attention when they go missing. I was making the point that very little seems to have been said about the circumstances that lead to her disappearance. A working class single mother who had left her child alone would have been hung out to dry by the authorities.

[LeMarchand]

Sorry for the misrepresentation, Hammer Head.

[naomi24]

Under British law, the parents would be prosecuted, but surely foreigners are subject to the laws of the countries they're visiting, and therefore Portuguese law would apply in this case. Does anyone know the Portuguese ruling on leaving children alone?