"Under the plan, Yard detectives will seek the assistance of the Portuguese to carry out some inquiries on their behalf. British police do not have jurisdiction in Portugal but they have the right to investigate and prosecute any British suspects who might be linked to Madeleine’s disappearance."

 As Goncalo Amaral has  said repeatedly, the original investigation was "incomplete" and the Attorney-General's department in the archiving summary detailed the exact ways in which it was incomplete - the common factor was that British persons of interest  were beyond reach. If the review, which we remind readers is a joint review, had led to the re-opening of the case in  Portugal then the authorities there would be faced with exactly the same problem that they had then: no way of forcing those people back, insufficient evidence to seek European arrest warrants and another crisis in Anglo-Portuguese relations as the paid shysters stall, wriggle and spin on behalf of their British clients. That cannot happen now that the Yard are taking over the inquiry. The only British "persons of interest" to the investigation are the holiday group: the others are now dead.

Forget the forthcoming rumours  that the Portuguese will be upset by the decision – that is a Scotland Yard steer and untrue. The fact is that the two countries have finally found a way to cut the Gordian knot. Everyone who wants the truth to come out, such as the parents of the child and their supporters, will naturally welcome the news. Hooray!