SARAH VINE: Maddie, my little girl and why life is a risk you can't avoid

SARAH VINE: Maddie, my little girl and why life is a risk you can't avoid

By Sarah Vine

PUBLISHED: 22:48, 15 October 2013 | UPDATED: 22:48, 15 October 2013

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If the McCanns were the victim of a premeditated crime, the perpetrators could have just as easily spirited away Madeleine while Gerry and Kate were sleeping

If the McCanns were the victim of a premeditated crime, the perpetrators could have just as easily spirited away Madeleine while Gerry and Kate were sleeping

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been one of those awful stories that, as a parent, I’ve never quite been able to look in the eye.

It’s mostly cowardice on my behalf, born out of the fact that my daughter, now ten, is the same age as Madeleine.

She was born on May 12, 2003; my daughter on May 7. They both had those enormous, almond-shaped eyes and that fringe. It was all a bit too close for comfort.

So Monday night’s Crimewatch was something of a revelation to me. It was the first time I really understood what had happened on that evening, and the first time I had properly sat down and listened to the McCanns talking about Madeleine.

Whatever the reasons for Madeleine’s disappearance, one possibility is emerging: even if they had not dined 50 yards away from their apartment that evening, it might have happened anyway.

If, as Scotland Yard now seems to suspect, the family were the victim of a premeditated crime, the perpetrators could have just as easily spirited away Madeleine while Gerry and Kate were sleeping.

Of course, in terms of solving this mystery, this fact is wholly irrelevant. But psychologically, it’s very important. It’s a tiny crumb of sanity, the merest sliver of respite in what must have been six years of unimaginable guilt.

Their friends and relatives will have told them it wasn’t their fault; but to know that is very different. If the reconstruction shown last night was correct, it was bad luck and evil, not negligence, that took Madeleine away from them.

Besides, it’s not as if we haven’t all been there. I can remember having two children under the age of four. I couldn’t wait for the little monkeys to go to bed so that I could, as my husband and I used to call it, ‘reclaim the night’.

More...

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   Just minutes from saving Maddie: 10pm sighting suggests mother almost caught kidnapper in the act

Be adult again, hold a conversation without being interrupted, eat a meal without someone wanting the loo or putting their food in their shoe.

The McCanns were only trying to do what countless loving but exhausted mothers and fathers of small children have done throughout the decades: have a well-earned break with their friends.

Generations of children have been left in situations theoretically far riskier than Madeleine without anything untoward happening to them.

I have a friend whose parents regularly used to leave him in the pub car park with a packet of crisps and a lemonade, while they drank happily inside.
As parents, we must not allow our own fears to overshadow the freedoms of our children. As the McCanns know, you can be the most loving and most well-intentioned of parents. But life is a risk you can't avoid

As parents, we must not allow our own fears to overshadow the freedoms of our children. As the McCanns know, you can be the most loving and most well-intentioned of parents. But life is a risk you can't avoid

And when I was about nine or ten, and we were living just outside Rome, my parents used to pop out for supper at the trattoria at the end of the road all the time, leaving my little brother and me alone at home.

Nothing terrible ever happened — but the truth is that it never occurred to them that it might.

In the days before mobile phones, the internet and satellite TV, your local community was your world.

There was safety and security in familiar places and faces. You could pop out for a drink or let your child walk to school alone without giving it a second thought.

These days, those things feel like major risks.

It’s only natural for parents to want to protect their children. But there is a moment when protection becomes paranoia.

As parents, we must not allow our own fears to overshadow the freedoms of our children.

As the McCanns know, you can be the most loving and most well-intentioned of parents. But life is a risk you can’t avoid.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2461994/SARAH-VINE-Maddie-little-girl-life-risk-avoid.html#ixzz2hpsYfKZu
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What a load of tosh.  I think the chances of her being abducted whilst her parents were actually in the apartment, are minuscule.

If she was abducted, it's only because the parents weren't there, looking after their babies.

And of course, generations of children, may well have been put at risk, and nothing happened. I would say the majority of people have never been burgled, but that doesn't stop us locking our house or our car, just in case. It's called risk management.

It's been said many times before, but if the McCanns had £1 million in bank notes in the apartment, are you telling me they would have left it unattended, with the doors unlocked?...

Well gobsmacked i'm gobsmacked, is this stupid woman for real and for anyone searching these forums for Mr and Mrs Mccann I HAVE AND WOULD NEVER LEAVE MY CHILDREN UNDER 4 YEARS OLD TO GO ON THE LASH WITH MY MATES

What an absolute doughnut!

Let's "assume" for ten seconds that Madaleine was abducted, why then would her mother not answer ALL questions?

This woman is completely off her rocker! Not only is she excusing the McCann's for what they did (abandon their children to wine and dine with friends), but she is saying that people should continue the practice as surely their kids' freedoms should not be overshadowed by parents' fears. WTF? This woman actually believes that kids have a right to be alone, free of their parents, to have the complete run of the place. This is ridiculous!

And of course the McCanns would have locked the door if there were even just £1000 in bank notes in the apartment. The McCanns have their priorities you know 1) themselves - it was their holiday too, 2) their reputations - Amaral's book allegedly caused more distress than Madeleine going missing, 3) money - can't waste £10 per hour to have the kids looked after properly whilst they were out, and 4) the kids.

no offense but she makes uk parents look crazy

The McCanns were ill prepared for this Holiday, no Buggy to take the twins around, no Monitor so they could hear if one of the children cried, and to top it all, they leave the Patio Door unlocked so they didn't have to walk a bit further. They knew Madeleine was a bad sleeper and the worst thing they could do was go out again the night that Madeleine had told them she had been crying . None of this has been aired outside the internet Forums though has it.
Gerry's comment "it was our Holiday too", sums up their attitude ........how has it happened that Madeleine's disappearance was a direct result of their negligence yet is never mentioned outside the Internet?

Besides, it’s not as if we haven’t all been there.

No, we haven't ALL been there , you irresponsible ***ch!
And btw, doesn't that phrase sound awfully familiar?

Sarah Vine.
Would that be the Sarah Vine who is Michael Gove's wife?
Say no more ......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gove#Personal_life

Yes, the link is confirmed.

I'd wondered if the latest bimbo airhead on the block was related to Jeremy Vine who, along with his charmless guest Nina Myscow, was abusive to McCann sceptics on his radio show.

If the reconstruction shown last night was correct

(my bold)

Why wouldn't it be correct? Does she have doubts?