Without Fear or Favour

I have heard these words spoken a number of times in the last few days with regard to the investigation of this phone hacking scandal. and also the words 'wherever the investigation leads'. I hope that will apply to ALL reviews and investigations.

Did you hear one of the interviews with Yates of the Yard (I think I have this accurate) who said in somewhat affronted fashion that he had intended to explain to, I think it was the PM, but didn't get the chance, the difference between a scoping exercise, a review, and a reopening of a case?... Hmmm. The people on this website who have been insisting that the only NSY input that will really help to find out what really happened to Madeleine, would be a reopening of the case are correct. Yates 'review' of masses and masses of hard evidence simply involved a few hours of asking around etc and a decision that no further action was necessary.

In the McCann case similar hard evidence of the same quality does not exist. However, a reconstruction might throw up enough evidence to reopen the case. If all possibilities of what happened to the child are not investigated, and if only the abduction theory is considered, and a review of later 'sightings' are the main focus, the investigation will likely lead nowhere. Only by going back to the very beginning, and finding out who was where, and who did what at the time, and who, outside the family and close friends, was the last to see Madeleine alive, will progress be made. A reconstruction, whether (preferably) by the witnesses themselves, or crime watch style by actors even, using information from the PJ files and the UK rogatory notes, would be another less helpful, but possible, option.

Surely the Met would not want to do another bum job? Maybe they would like to redeem their reputation by solving the case[/b].