Video of Madeleine McCann opening her presents last Christmas has been shown as part of a new festive appeal. Kate and Gerry McCann made the renewed plea for information, saying they faced the 'hardest Christmas imaginable'.

 

 

*

 

 

 

Gerry McCann: This special time of year is all about families coming together with love and peace. Many people in nations all around the world will be spending time with their loved ones. People will be reflecting on the year which has gone and the one which is about to come. It's usually a time of great joy, especially for children. Clearly for us and the rest of our family it's going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without our Madeleine here.

 

Kate McCann: For the past seven and a half months so many people have been, errm... so kind and helpful. They've come forward with pieces of information. They've offered us help and support in so many ways. We'd like to thank everybody who has shown us that compassion; to us and to Madeleine, and for all the help they've given us. We'd also like to thank our friends in Portugal who have stayed with us and continued to support us since those very early desperate and vulnerable days.

 

Gerry McCann: However, since Madeleine was taken from us on the 3rd of May, someone knows what happened to her and may well know where she is now. That person has it within their power to show us the compassion to end this terrible ordeal for us.

 

Kate McCann: If that person is you, we understand that you may be staying silent because of fear for yourself or through misguided loyalty to other people. But you must understand that you hold the key to ending all this despair and anguish, for both us and Madeleine. You can help an innocent 4-year-old little girl. At this time of year, when so many families are coming together, we beg you to help us be reunited with Madeleine. Please do the right thing and come forward.

 

Gerry McCann: Please, please, give us that information. Give it to your local police or phone our confidential helpline number which is 00 34 902 300 213. If you can't do that please tell a priest or another religious minister or someone else. Our beautiful daughter should be home with us at Christmas time. Please do it. Please help Madeleine.

 

Kate McCann: Madeleine, it seems unlikely that you'll hear this but, just in case, it's Mummy and Daddy here. Just know how much we love you, Madeleine. We all miss you so much. Sean and Amelie talk about you all the time, every day. They really want you back with them. We're doing everything we can, Madeleine, to find you and there are so many good and very kind people helping us. Be brave sweetheart. Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again and we're hoping and praying that that will happen. Love you Madeleine.

 

Gerry McCann: Love you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strange or what? I now have to confess that my Christmas would get a real lift if little Maddie McCann suddenly turned up alive in a sled drawn by six reindeer, with a happy smile on her face and the world’s TV cameras in attendance. If that happened and there was a global fundraiser to buy the toddler a Ferrari Testarossa, a night of passion with David Beckham (to be delivered not before 2020 of course!) and all the marshmallows she can eat I would cheerfully chip in a few euros. And believe me: I’m not given to chipping in lightly.

 

Unfortunately I know with almost total certainty that I will be able to keep my money in my pocket and that my seasonal joy will have to be drawn from the knowledge that Christmas is going to be over by Thursday and life will return to its normal state. Yes, there's still the hurdle of New Year's Eve to overcome (why celebrate when, as every year before it, 2008 is going to be the world's worst year ever?) but I'm already looking forward to the next eleven months and three weeks of ill will to all men. In other words: I'm not a fan of the 'festive' season; that time of year when, ostrich-like, people put their heads in the sage and onion stuffing, pretending that everything that seems bad is about to take a turn for the better, that old hatreds can be forgotten and that a free meal of turkey slices, Brussels sprouts and cranberry compote will see the homeless through to next December. Give me a choice between false, hyped-up cheer and genuine, comfortable gloom and I know what I'll pick every time.

 

Funny thing is: I say this as a generally pretty contented person, with no major worries, a happy home life and a cold six-pack in de fridge. So what I cannot for the life of me understand is why the parents of Maddie McCann are having a Christmas at all. I would have thought that, to a family plunged into the darkest fear and despair, haunted day and night by unspeakable images of what may have become of their darling little daughter, the very thought of Christmas trees, carol singing, angelic messages of peace and joy - let alone intrusive, round the clock media attention - would be anathema. Yet here we are: expensive detectives, retained with your money, having made no progress whatsoever (trust me on this!) suddenly start talking in terms of Maddie's possible return home by Christmas. "We've got a pretty good idea who took her and where she is being held…..there may be an arrest soon." Not now, you sucker. Not if she was taken by British paedophiles who read the papers.

 

And then came the McCanns themselves. Aware that they're spending your hard-earned dough as if tomorrow will never come they felt it best to rein in the hired gumshoes a little, lest the inevitable public disappointment come Boxing Day might lead to a reduction of the cash flow. But, since there was a lot of dosh in the kitty already, there seemed no harm in keeping the public on their toes, interested and ready to invest in future wild goose chases, by means of a special Christmas video appeal. And so, the "Be Brave My Sweetheart" tape was born. Oddly, it wasn't addressed to us, the general public, but to Maddie herself. Consistent, of course, with the McCanns' campaign slogan "we believe, nay: we know she's alive" yet, even if that were the case, the little girl would be unlikely to be given a chance by her captors to watch it. Tagged on to that was an appeal to whoever might be holding Maddie to get in touch with their better selves and chuck the whole thing in.

 

So no: the McCanns weren't really talking to Maddie and they weren't really talking to anyone they think may be holding the girl captive. They were, in fact, talking to us after all. Could we please help them keep the show on the road and the circus going until she's back or buried? My answer is: no. What we need is closure. The thing must now be declared over and done with and everyone, the McCanns first and foremost, must get on with their lives. If Maddie should, at some point, turn up alive that would be both miraculous and - depending on the state she'd be in - marvelous. Until then there's only one sensible position to take: she's dead. No need to throw more good money after bad.