“[the McCanns] will become a leading force in the world to get rid of the hidden evil in our society, and to out those who try to cover up for the tragedies these criminals can cause”.

Daily Mirror Madeleine Forum Member, October 2007

There are clearly many strands to the story - and I sincerely doubt that tugging one strand in particular will see the whole thing unravel - but the supporting role played by the McCanns in the efforts of the European Commission to centralise the Criminal Justice System in Europe, surely has to rank as one of the more fascinating of the threads. There's lobbies and there's 'super-lobbies'.

• The McCanns EU Justice and Home Affairs Lobby - Quotes - "The McCanns hope to lobby politicians to create an international system that would alert police, media and the public within hours of a child going missing" (June 17, The Times) "Kate McCann may quit as GP to fight child trafficking" (June 17, The Times) "We do feel that perhaps these types of disappearances should be considered in a pan-European fashion, the same way that other EU movement of people is considered." (The Times June 1st 2007) "We need openness and willingness. Cross border agencies need to work together.’’ (Daily Star, February 2010).
  
  
• Andre Hollis - Chief-Executive at Kevin Halligen's Oakley International. In 2007-2008 Hollis was Vice President of Van Scoyoc Associates, a powerful lobbying firm that performs services on behalf of the British Embassy's Defense Procurement programme. Hollis - a former Marine - was the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. Hollis was the senior Department official responsible for efforts to train and equip security forces in Colombia and Afghanistan. Regular Defense commentator on Fox News.
  
  
• Van Scoyoc: Powerful lobbying company in the US. The company is registered as a foreign agent of the United Kingdom's Defence Research projects. Kevin Halligen's business partner Andre Hollis, was President of Van Scoyoc during the 2007-2009 period. In addition to lobbying on behalf of the UK's Forensic Science Services (at the time they were conducting their analysis of the DNA crime scene material for the Portuguese Police) Van Scoyoc also won a Pentagon/Boeing deal for Vulture, an unmanned endurance vehicle developed by the British-based Qinetiq in a deal with American Aerospace. Van Scoyoc performed lobbying to Ricardo UK who were collaborating with Qinetiq on a number of military projects (including high-energy Lithium-Ion battery technology and unmanned military vehicles). One of Ricardo UK's major investors is 3i Equity Plc (non-automotive interests) - the company behind Brian Kennedy and Control Risks Group.
  
  

  

• Forensic Science Services: Based in Birmingham and responsible for handling all the major DNA testing for the Portuguese Police during the McCann Investigations. Government-owend and serving the British Police, Crown Prosecution Service and HM Revenue and Customs, the Forensic Science Services is due to be privatised under Brown and is currently looking for investors. The FSS is headed by Simon Bennett - former Managing Director of Qinetiq - the former Government Defence Company run by Baroness Neville-Jones. At the time the McCann's DNA was being tested by the FSS, the US Defence lobby shop, Van Scoyoc was lobbying in the US on their behalf. The President of Van Scoyoc at this time was one of Halligen's investors, Andre Hollis - CEO of Oakley International - the company employed by the McCanns to search for Madeleine. It is the principal provider of forensic science to the UK criminal justice system and is now looking to extend its grip into Europe and the US. One of the US Senators Van Scoyoc approached on behalf of the FSS was Richard Shelby - one of a handful of Defence & Intelligence representaives Gerry McCann met in Washington in June 2007.
  
  The National DNA Database is also managed by the Forensic Science Services, under contract to the British Home Office. By the end of 2005 over 3.4 million DNA profiles were held on the database – the profiles of the majority of the known active offender population. The expansion and investment is being closely followed by Europe and America who are keen to emulate the crime-solving successes of the database. Globalising the product will play a crucial role in any attempt to privatise it's services.
  
  Between April 2000 and March 2005, Blair’s Government had spearheaded a major expansion; the database would now include known active offenders. It was funded at a cost of over £300 million. When Labour took office in 1997, it held only 700,000 samples. By 2008, the government estimated that the database would hold the samples of some 4.2 million people – seven per cent of the population – and it is growing by about half a million a year.
  
  The loss of up to 800 jobs at the Forensic Science Services and the ongoing streaming of work at the sites is clearly being performed with the sole purpose of making the FSS more attractive to private sector buyers.
  
  
• The National DNA Database: The database is currently managed by the Forensic Science Services but will move across to the National Policing Improvement Agency in to make way for privatisation. Between 2006 and 2008 a concerted media campaign was lauched to sell the idea of extending the DNA database to the British Public. In October 2006, during a tour of the Forensic Science Service headquarters in London, Tony Blair rolled out a case for extending the use of DNA database and urged police forces across the country to make use of technological advances to reopen thousands of unresolved "cold cases". All the UK, we were told, must be on the DNA Database. The Conservatives and the Media reacted furiously to the moves, accusing Blair and New Labour of attempting to expand the DNA database by stealth. New Labour's campaign to extend the DNA database, was bouyed up by the McCann investigation and a series of media devices. In Sepetmber 2007, shortly before the McCanns were made formal suspects in their daughter's disappearence, Lord Justice Stephen Sedley and Police and Defence Minister, Tony McNulty were given a primetime platform to launch a defence of the Government move, appearing on the BBC's flagship, 'Today' programme. McNulty, who earned his MA in Political Science from Virginia Tech in the United States, and wholse family, olike Gerry's were from County Donegal in Ireland, argued that the database had helped police solve as many as 20,000 crimes a year. A little later in July 2009, Mentorn Productions produced a ground-breaking BBC documentary called 'Double Jeopardy' which used the case of Hazel Backwell to highlight the effectiveness of DNA forensics in reopening unsolved crimes and in overturning wrongful convictions (Mentorn also produced a documentary on the death of Iraq Weapons expert Dr David Kelly). The work of the FSS again came under scrutiny when Low Copy Number DNA testing - already controversial - became the focus of both the McCann investigation and of a review by the Criminal Justice System of the case against convicted Omagh Bomber, Sean Hoey (in which the testing procedure was being challenged).
  
  

  
  
  Tony Blair at the Forensic Science Services, October 2006

  Because Low Copy Number DNA became the central allegation in the McCann case, the McCanns were reported to have hired the Omagh Bomber's Solicitors, Peter Corrigan and Kevin Winters to advise them. The sensitivity of the McCann case placed the UK Government in a difficult position: if they were to concede the effectivessness of Low Copy Number DNA testing, it would jeopardise any attempts to clear the McCanns of any suspicion. In December 2007, after Sean Hoey was cleared, Police were forced to suspend the use of a controversial DNA technique following the Omagh bomb verdict. Omagh suspect was cleared of a total of 58 charges, including 29 murders. The McCann investigation - which had thus far promised to galvanise support for the FSS - now threatened to undermine them. The only upshot of all this, was that the FSS and their techology was still making headlines around the world (the whole issue was also framed within the Sally Anne Bowman and Ipswich Murder cases in press attempts in February 2008 - just as the FSS were preparing to lobby US Senators on its effectiveness).
  
  
• Senator Richard Shelby: Democrat turned Republican. One of Several Defense figures Gerry McCann met in Washington during his visit in June and July 2007. Served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1995 to 2003 under Clinton and Bush respectively. Leaked classified (but dubious) information to Fox News that intimated that the Services had prior warning of the 9/11 attack. Congress and senate campaigns supported by donations from Patton Boggs and Van Scoyoc.
  
  
• Alberto Gonzalez: Another of the Senior Defense figures Gerry McCann met in Washington DC during his 'fact finding mission'. At this time Gonzalez was Attorney General of the United States under George W Bush Government (it's not been satisfactorily explained why Gerry sought advice from Defense and Intelligence Figures when it was the Ministry of Justice and Transportation handling Amber Alert System (and all issues and systems relating to missing children). Familiar with Colonel Garrett - Halligen's best-man.
  
  
• Centralized EU DNA/Fingerprint Database. Between 2005 and 2008 there was a good deal of press speculation about the introduction of a pan-European DNA database, which had taken shape under the Hague Programme of 2005 and plans to extend the Prum Treaty (Schelgen Agreement) to all 27 member states (June 2007). The plans gave rise to a spate of alarmist headlines: DNA data deal 'will create Big Brother Europe' (Daily Telegraph) Central fingerprint database plan draws fire from all over EU (The Times) DNA database Big Brother Warning (BBC) EU police will access our DNA database. Early supporters in the British Political Ranks included David Blunkett MP and Tony Blair - who supported the extension of a number of other biometric criminal systems.
  
  Whilst plans to centralise a fingerprint and DNA database appear to have stalled, work is already underway on developing a Central Visa Information System and a EC Biometric Matching System contract has already been awarded to the Bridge Consortium led by the Swiss-owned Accenture (HQ in Ireland) and France's Sagem Defense Securities.
  
  Another upshot of the talks was the E-Borders project for the British Home Office - which would utilise the latest electronic technology to provide a way of collecting and analysing information on everyone who travels to or from the United Kingdom. Trusted Borders, a consortium of companies led by Raytheon Systems Limited won the 10 year £650m contract in November 2007. Other members of the consortium included: Detica. Serco, Accenture, Qinetiq, Capgemini and Steria. Steria - already a major European IT services provider - was also responsible for the development of the European border management Schengen Information System (SISII) and Visa Information System (VIS). Raytheon's biggest investors are JP Morgan Chase - the US Investment Bankers who now employ ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
  
  
  
• Europol - All biometric systems like those described above systems would ultimately be used to increase the effectiveness of European Law Enforcement Organisations like Europol, boosting its reach and ability to fight organised crime and terrorism. In a proposal dated December 2006, plans were unvelied to convert the 12-year-old multilateral organization into a bona fide EU Federal agency (rather like the FBI). The European Commission proposed to strengthen Europol in three main ways: 1) Extending its present mandate beyond investigation of organized crime to include other forms of so-called serious crime such as sex trafficking and child pornography, gun-running, terrorist activities and money-laundering 2) Enabling it to receive information and intelligence from private bodies 3) authorizing Europol to participate in investigations with individual national authorities or in joint investigative teams. The proposals - received very poorly by the press - received a timely boost by the disappearence of Madeleine McCann, when Gerry and kate started canvassing on all manner of EU-Wide (and Europol friendly) initiatives.
  
  In December 2009 - Europol stepped up its support of the private Madeleine McCann Investigation and I have every reason to suspect it will play a more direct role in any future developments.
  
  Europol collaborates with Eurojust, the judicial go-between, who were at the centre of attempts to stall the processing of the famous Rogatory Letters, containing the questions that were to be asked to the McCanns, to England. Eurojust's head at that time was the Portuguese Prosecutor, José Luís Lopes da Mota. da Mota was forced to resign as Head of Eurojust in December 2009 after growing accusations concerning his involvement in the controversial 'Freeport' case in Portugal (prior to his appointment he had been the Public Prosecutor and Deputy minister of Justice in Portugal).
  
  In March 2009, Portuguese public prosecutors claimed to have been pressured by Lopes de Mota to kill off the Freeport case and archive it (sounds familiar).
  
  
  
• Justice and Home Affairs Summit - Dresden January 2007 - At a meeting with EU Justice Ministers organised by the Barroso Commission in Dresden in January 2007, Franco Frattini and Wolfgang Schäuble pressed ahead with plans to incorporate the Prüm Treaty into the EU legal framework, as part of a revised Constitution (the Reform Treaty/Lisbon Treaty). The focus of the consultations was on strengthening cross-border police cooperation, as well as cross-border use of IT and biometric systems in the justice sector (including centralising DNA/Fingerprinting). Additional topics included the envisaged common European strategy to combat illegal migration by strengthening cooperation among border police, and a discussion on the future design of European internal policy beginning in 2010.
  
  A follow-up meeting in Munich in May 2007 Schauble and Frattini were joined by Alberto Gonzales - Minister of Justice and US Attorney General.
  
  Gerry McCann had private meetings with both Wolfgang Schuable (June 6th Berlin) and Alberto Gonzales (July, Washington DC).
  
  Franco Frattini - the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security at this time was also resposible for coordinating the annual EU Missing Children's Day event on May 25th 2007 - an event that coincided with the disappearence of Madeleine McCann. Said the Charity's director, Paul Tuohy (ex-colleague of Esther McVey):
  
  "We are re-launching at a peculiarly ironic time - when the level of interest in missing people has perhaps never been higher, when 'missing' as a social issue is on the lips of politicians, radio and TV presenters, newspaper editors, and men, women and young people the length and breadth of the country."