A Government spin doctor has quit his job to help the McCanns, reports gibby zobel |
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Former Foreign Office man Clarence Mitchell has become the McCanns' new PR man as the parents of missing Madeleine try to clear their name.
"I have resigned from government as from this morning and will be taking up the post of official spokesman as from tomorrow morning in Rothley," Mitchell told The First Post today.
He stressed that, unlike his predecessor, Justine McGuinness, he would be paid not from the Find Madeleine Fund but from "private financial backers" to the McCanns. It is not known if those backers include Virgin boss Richard Branson, who announced on Saturday that he had given £100,000 towards the McCanns'
legal campaign.
McGuinness left her post as the McCanns' PR last Friday after 89 torrid days in which Kate and Gerry became official suspects.
Mitchell spent a month in Praia da Luz in the early days of the campaign to find Madeleine
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| Clarence Mitchell (above, with Kate McCann) organised the family’s meeting with the Pope and tour of Europe |
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after her disappearance on May 3. He was sent out by the Government on 'consular assistance grounds' and was the architect of the McCanns' visit to meet the Pope and a tour which took in Spain, Germany and Morocco.
Until today he headed the Government's Media Monitoring Unit at the Central Office of Information: he was seconded to the Foreign Office when the McCann story broke due to his extensive broadcasting contacts as a former BBC correspondent.
Meanwhile, according to Portuguese press today, the McCanns have reneged on their promise to return to Portugal if requested by refusing to go back voluntarily to the Algarve for further questioning. They now say they will only go back if forced to legally.
This has led to Portuguese police requesting that they be reinterviewed by British police, having sent a list of questions through Europol. However, the timing of the interview is said to be down to British police, and will probably only take place after forensic test results have been returned from labs. 
FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
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UK police to quiz Kate McCann
