McCanns dump Clarence Mitchell

This was mentioned on the Cristobel blog topic but I think it deserves its own mention now...
Lots of speculation about this previously.. but it's officially noted on the UK Polling Report site for Brighton Pavilion..

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/brightonpavilion/
CLARENCE MITCHELL (Conservative) Educated at Friern Barnet County School. Media strategy advisor, former spokesman for the McCann family and former BBC journalist

This may go a long way to explaining why there is silence from the McCann camp, and why there's been no pinky spin in the press in recent months.

No surprise the rat has deserted the sinking ship.

Thanks for that canada12, it is a good idea to have it as a topic and easy to find in future and verify.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-dump-key-8731091

Has Clarence really been given the boot? It is from daft Tracey Kandohla so let's wait and see.

Freedom wrote:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-dump-key-8731091

Has Clarence really been given the boot? It is from daft Tracey Kandohla so let's wait and see.

As I said over the way...
So who gave the story to the newspaper?
Did it come from Kate and Gerry?
Did it come from Clarence?
If it came from Kate and Gerry, do we really think he was axed? Is it possible he was the one who axed them as clients?

Slash costs my arse! Personally,I have always thought someone else picked up Clarries tab? But as usual the Kandhola story twists the facts. The bold headline first implies a sacking then they can't afford him so he's going ........ But wait on he will still help for free! More interesting... who pays for Tracey Kandohlas crap. This girl is a one trick pony.....whose only job in life is to file copy on the McCann's. Fantastic work particularly these days......just a day a the races with your mates!

Madeleine McCann's parents dump a key member of their team in a bid to slash spiralling costs




Kate and Gerry axed PR expert Clarence Mitchell after nine years as they face uncertainty over the future of the £12million investigation


The parents of Madeleine McCann have dumped their spokesman in a bid to reduce spiralling costs.

Kate and Gerry axed PR expert Clarence Mitchell after nine years as they face uncertainty over the future of the £12million investigation – codenamed Operation Grange – into the disappearance of their daughter.


Kate and Gerry have just five more weeks of guaranteed Government funding towards the search.

The couple have vowed to use money from the official fund to continue the probe themselves, saying: “We will continue to do everything we can to help find our daughter. Our hope and resolve continues.”

Mr Mitchell was told his “services were no longer needed” in an email from heart doctor Gerry, who explained the family had to “cut costs”.

The Tory MP hopeful and former BBC journalist, who has helped keep Maddie’s disappearance in the global spotlight, was said to be “hurt” but respects their “more pressing agenda”.

The fund stands at £480,000, but the McCanns face a £434,000 libel bill to ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.
It is the first time since the three-year-old vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz, in May 2007, that the family have not had an official spokesman.


Mr Mitchell told the Mirror last night: “It makes perfect sense for Kate and Gerry to keep careful consideration over all their costs. I will continue to help them as circumstances require.”

Former GP Kate and Gerry, both 48, are bracing themselves for Scotland Yard shelving the investigation on October 5. Officers have said there is now only one lead “worth pursuing”.

What spiralling costs??

Moved your post here now Bampots, it is third one down in time order.

The fund stands at £480,000, but the McCanns face a £434,000 libel bill to ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.

I wonder where that cost has come from and where the rest of the money has gone, they were supposed to have £700 and some thousand left?

Hmmm. Interesting stuff.

So they now only have 480k left. It was less than a year ago they had 750k? left. And we now have a date then according to this... October the 5th. So was this date plucked out the air as it's certainly not been mentioned by OG....

So what ever was printed here will have had Clarences' approval. So what is the real story?

Has he finally jumped ship himself and wanted to distance himself now and this is the best 'story' for both to come up with. Likewise if they had a falling out behind the scenes.

Are they trying to appeal for for more cash with the spiralling costs malarkey... Is news on the horizon that they have 'lost' and therefore have to pay out the majority of this 'what's left cash'....  

As per every story there'll be a reason behind this one. What is it?

This article is almost exactly 3 months old:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kate-and-gerry-mccann-appeal-against-former-detective-who-claims-they-killed-madeleine-a7057171.html

It says they had £750k left.

Spent a lot of money in those 3 months then.........

Looking at it from a wishful thinking point of view I wonder if they've been hauled in for questioning and he's decided it's time to go!

It's just Tracey that's picked up the baton and ran with this story so far.

Nobody else has bothered with it. Yet anyway. Won't be long I suppose.

Mo wrote:Looking at it from a wishful thinking point of view I wonder if they've been hauled in for questioning and he's decided it's time to go!

Hope so but he will need to be hauled in as well at some point if not already.

I missed this bit first time round....

Mr Mitchell was told his “services were no longer needed” in an email from heart doctor Gerry, who explained the family had to “cut costs”.

Poor Clarence doesn't even get the courtesy of a face to face meeting or even a phone call. Nope - he logs onto his emails the other morning to find he's been sacked...

Gerry's all heart.

But I'm wondering if he'll get called back in to do the PR for the 10th Anniversary as advertised in one of his boring talks in Austrailia

Andrew wrote:This article is almost exactly 3 months old:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kate-and-gerry-mccann-appeal-against-former-detective-who-claims-they-killed-madeleine-a7057171.html

It says they had £750k left.

Spent a lot of money in those 3 months then.........

Must be an expensive business appealing to the supreme court.

candyfloss wrote:Madeleine McCann's parents dump a key member of their team in a bid to slash spiralling costs





Former GP Kate and Gerry, both 48, are bracing themselves for Scotland Yard shelving the investigation on October 5. Officers have said there is now only one lead “worth pursuing”.

Strange innit,a week ago OG may ask for more money because of some outstanding work left to do,now its for definite to be over in October,wish these so called journalist could muster a consistent story.

Mo wrote:The fund stands at £480,000, but the McCanns face a £434,000 libel bill to ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.

I wonder where that cost has come from and where the rest of the money has gone, they were supposed to have £700 and some thousand left?

It perhaps includes all the costs from the original book banning series of trials that the McCanns were ordered to pay, which were, iirc, held back to be off-set against any payment/costs awarded against Goncalo Amaral in the second series of trials. The appeal court judge not only overturned the libel payout but also awarded costs against them, so that's two lots of legal expenses they'll have to pay at some point.

Having said that, perhaps they've paid it - that would explain the big drop in the fund

I'm not sure they would pay anything unless they already know the outcome

AndyB wrote:

Mo wrote:The fund stands at £480,000, but the McCanns face a £434,000 libel bill to ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.

I wonder where that cost has come from and where the rest of the money has gone, they were supposed to have £700 and some thousand left?

It perhaps includes all the costs from the original book banning series of trials that the McCanns were ordered to pay, which were, iirc, held back to be off-set against any payment/costs awarded against Goncalo Amaral in the second series of trials. The appeal court judge not only overturned the libel payout but also awarded costs against them, so that's two lots of legal expenses they'll have to pay at some point.

Having said that, perhaps they've paid it - that would explain the big drop in the fund

Mo wrote:I'm not sure they would pay anything unless they already know the outcome

Wouldn't that depend on what can be appealed to the supreme court,the original verdict as AndyB points out was overturned and cost's awarded against the McCann's,isn't the thinking that the supreme court only sits in judgement on legal issues not the actual verdict's in which case AnbyB may well be right.

Now that he has more time on his hands, he'll be able to update his LinkedIn page!

Family spokesman
Kate and Gerry McCann
September 2007 – Present (9 years)
Appointed as full-time official spokesman for the McCann family following the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine from Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3rd 2007. Daily liaison with, and frequent on-air contributions to, international, UK national and regional media.

Yes I see what you mean thanks

Freedom wrote:Now that he has more time on his hands, he'll be able to update his LinkedIn page!

Family spokesman
Kate and Gerry McCann
September 2007 – Present (9 years)
Appointed as full-time official spokesman for the McCann family following the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine from Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3rd 2007. Daily liaison with, and frequent on-air contributions to, international, UK national and regional media.

He's too busy taking selfies of himself for that.

See tweet from yesterday:

https://twitter.com/mitch_1uk/with_replies