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A controversial article by Katie Hopkins
in which she criticises the parents of
Madeleine McCann has sparked a frenzied
reaction online.
The outspoken columnist said it was
“time to speak out” after Kate and Gerry
McCann fronted a campaign to raise
awareness of the Child Rescue Alerts
scheme, which sends out text messages
and emails if a child goes missing.
Ms Hopkins, a mother of three, wrote in
her Daily
Mail column that the couple were
“too self-assured to hire a babysitter
and too self-centred to care” before the
three-year-old disappeared in Portugal
in 2007.
She also said Kate and Gerry McCann
"didn't deserve £11million of our cash
to look for Maddie."
“If you really must blame someone, then
Kate and Gerry are right there in front
of you,” she wrote.
“Show me a family from a council estate
who left their child alone to go out
eating and drinking who have been lauded
with such support and the protection of
the state.”
She added: “The McCanns put their own
children in harm’s way. Those kids were
in danger. Because of their parents ...
"Now the faces I associate with neglect
are being used to promote the Child
Rescue Alert campaign ...
"Maddie wasn’t lost because someone took
her. She was lost because she was left
to be found."
The article has provoked a massive
reaction online and sharply divided
opinion among readers. Many backed Ms
Hopkins on social media while others
criticised her for “victim blaming” the
McCanns and “rubbing salt” into their
wounds.
One Twitter user said: "Agree with
absolutely everything @KTHopkins has
said about Maddie's disappearance, she's
only saying what the rest of you think
anyway."
Anna (@HalfBloodAnna) tweeted: “Katie
Hopkins victim blaming the McCanns
suggests people have no self control,
the blame lies with whoever wrongly took
what wasn't theirs.”
Another user said: “There’s lots about
this story that many people have felt
uncomfortable with – but no one has
dared say it before, well done.”
“Yes they made a terrible mistake,”
wrote another commenter.
“Thousands do the same thing every day
and get away with it. Cruel for Hopkins
to rub salt in it surely. How did she
become our moral guide?”
MissBee (@MissBee73 ) tweeted: “Someone posted an article by Katie Hopkins about
the McCanns which led me to an internet
frenzy on stuff about them. I feel
disturbed now." |
