Madeleine / Brits abroad should have all their expenses paid by the Foreign Office

[Oblomov]

Been on holiday abroad for few days, so sorry if this has been covered / if I have got this wrong. The family made a statement, earlier in the week, saying they would stay in Portugal, until she was found.
It sounded as though , that was, finances allowing.
Shouldn't the British Foreign Office, support their every need, organise hotels, nannies for their other children, and everything they need, so that money was the last of their problems , in this traumatic situation.
Or am I missing somethiing major here ?

but they are not asking you if you want to put your hand in your pocket, MW are paying for it so it doesnt have to concern you, its an answer to a question that hasnt 'really' been asked!, at least not by anyone wanting a definate answer!

dear lord, people just argue for the sake of it!.the mccanns have NOT asked anyone to pay for them to stay in portugal!
so theres no ned to list an order in which we 'should' pay our taxes!

From the OP:

Shouldn't the British Foreign Office, support their every need, organise hotels, nannies for their other children, and everything they need, so that money was the last of their problems , in this traumatic situation.
Or am I missing somethiing major here ?

That sounded like someone asking for opinions. So we gave them.

Oh sorry, were we only supposed to post if we agreed that the FO should fund the family?

With reference to my OP, sorry to use Madeleine, as an example, its just the principal of the thing, that was being discussed - we should fund all their needs, in an extreme, traumatic situation.

its a question being asked by the OP

no, im saying the FAMILY are not asking you to pay for them, so why is everyone sitting there saying well no, i wont i think there a re far more deserving causes......please sit back and think, you are all aguing over something that hasnt happend!

saint george, so many people have said the same thing as you, say what you want, im just bemused by a group of grown women arguing over somehting that hasnt Actually hapend!

Sorry, I get you now.

It is wrong of us to discuss a hypothetical situation that involves money and politics.

We can however post as many times as we like, on as many threads as we like, about a horrific situation facing a family abroad and speculate endlessly about what might (or might not) be happening and who might (or might not) be involved.

How bloody stupid of me.

oh i give up, carry on

Tricky one - how much help did the family get, where two children were accidently gassed in their holiday accomodation last year? I forget what country it was, sorry. Their father and his gf had to come home with two coffins instead of children . Did they get unlimited resources?

At the moment MW are footing the bill for accomodation etc as to do otherwise would simply be too cruel but even they will need to take a look at the situation if Madeline doesn't turn up. They can't keep the parents there indefinitely and I suspect MW make a decision on that depending on the Portugese police's success or otherwise, in recovering Madeline. They won't keep the investigation operational forever - sooner or later it'll be scaled down, rightly or wrongly.

Having said all that, the UK gov doesn't have a good track record in assisting it's citizens abroad when they run into difficulties through no fault of their own (ie evacuating people after the 2004 Tsunami), sadly a missing child investigation seems to fall within the same careless remit.

but thast just the point PC, no one has said that there are more deserving cases.
we were asked if the FO should help support the family (or otehr familiesd in teh same situation) and we have given our answer.

it is nothing specific to this case but you do seem to be taking it very personally. no one has slated the Mccanns, no one has been insensetive to their plight.

i really think you are getting angry where there is no need

Pinkchick - the OP is still looking for an answer.

I think that it does depend on the nature of the expense. British Embassies will assist in certain limited circumstances, but in general they would be advising travellers to have adequate travel insurance. Certainly the current situation has demonstrated how valuable it can be to use a tour operator. The family may have been in a far more difficult circumstances if they had booked directly.

I guess it may be helpful to consider what help you would expect a family in the UK to get. If the child had gone missing in Cornwall, would it still be reasonable to fund a nanny for the other chldren - and if so for how long.

Certainly it isn't an issue in the current situation, and tbh I'm not sure that it would be in the family's best interest for them to be funded to be in Portugal indefinitely - however difficult that would be for them to contemplate now.

I think every case should be considered individually and there should be a way of allocating money if necessary. Although, thankfully there aren't too many cases exactly like the McCann's one, there are other cases like Lucie Blackman and the poor girl Lindsay Hawker in Japan and other equally deserving situations where Britains abroad need help.

the embassy didn't pay for either sets of parents in those cases to fly over and help with the case

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the fund that has been set up to help the parents with their costs.

It's of course not just for that, it will be used for further resources to find Madeleine and also anything left over will be used to find other missing children.

Details can be found at www.findmadeleine.com Its called the leaving no stone unturned fund.

I personally will be sending what I can afford tommorow morning.

C x

i mentioned it earlier though didnt have the details

Although I suppose that if you can afford it, you don't stop to think and ask for help. You're probably so desperate to get on a plane and there would no doubt be a level of bureacracy to deal with.

I know there is a fund scottishmum. I just think that there shouldn't NEED to be one. I mean, it is lovely that people want to support and donate. And we should be proud. And it is good that celebrities have donated to a award for finding her.
But I feel that these should be run ALONGSIDE, the Government = Foreign Office, supporting them and providing for the parents needs.
And I know that MW are helping.
And I know this is speculative, because they haven't asked for anything.
And I am not suggesting that the Foreign Office does it for ... months and years.
I am just saying that I think it should be the Foreign Office, who initially supports/ pays for etc etc its Foreign Nationals.And this idea, is not relkated to Madeleine directly, although her case initiated the discussion I was having with some friends, it is in realtion to any National, in extreme circumstances, who I feel, should be supported by the Foreign Office.

And debate is fine. I don't mind that everyone doesn't agree.It is just what I think should happen.