Shannon Matthews Mother arrested !!!!!

[kay1981]

They have arrested her on perverting the course of justice - which i think means lying to the police under oath doesnt it?

Is it at all possible that they knew where she was all the time?

Perhaps cahnnel 4 should now re-show the documentary on shannons family and see how it is received knowing what we know.

How does that make the McCann case relevant. The fact that this family asked them for money just means that this family tried to involve the McCanns, nt that the case is linked or similar in anyway.

SS surely has no choice but to intervene. They would not being their job had they not, given the information present to them.

Oh well that's a logical argument scottish, isn't it?

Before anyone knew about Mrs Matthews' knowledge or involvement the coverage of her was really vitriolic and horrible. And really the only reason for that is class.

Where's the "comparison of merit" - well it's more of a compare and a contrast

(i) two girls disappeared.
(ii) treatment in the media of the disappearances poles apart - one was front page news on every paper with a massive outpouring of public sympathy and money. The other wasn't
(iii) treatment in the media of the mothers

You honestly can't tell me that that had nothing to do with class.

I thought I'd seen an analysis on here of the media coverage - the conclusion of which was that Shannon's case got a lot of coverage - as you would expect - but the Mcann case got an exceptional amount of coverage. That was partly because of what were perceived as the exceptional circumstances - being on holiday etc, the fact that the child was younger than many who are snatched and , yes, the fact that the Mcanns pushed the story and used the coverage as best they could.

Also just read Quattro's post...

Quattro - do you think you should consider the fact that Karen Matthews mother spoke out and said that she thought Craig Meehan was abusing the kids. Thats nothing to do with what KM looks like, or how often she does or doesn't wash or her 'class'. But probably alot to do with why SS have been heavily involved!!

Being clean/dirty and working class/middle class doesn't make you bad anymore than it makes you good.

Quattro you are making spurious unrelated statements.this is not about class (except in your head)

the McCanns have lost a daughter, the twins have not seen their sister in nearly one year

your incisive comments are that Mrs McCann is "scrubbed and svelte and oh-so-middle class"

i am sure that comforts her and Gerry as they cry at night for their daughter

can you not empathise?Missing child family ripped apart

is it so hard?

why does Mrs McCann's self care perturb you so much

Several £million of taxpayers money were spent on finding Shannon - she was not treated any worse than anyother missing child from what I can see.

The McCanns got worldwide attention because of how unusual and shocking for a child to be abducted from a locked room with parents dining nearby; this was no 'standard' snatching child off the streets. The child was also heartbreakingly young and the fact that she was photogenic also factored.

With the Matthews case, she had 10 days of solid coverage. More than teenage Romanian girl feared abducted in Scotland who just made the local news.

The vitriolic press coverage now is because the mother has done something unimaginably awful sold her child for profit. My dh laughed with disbelief when he saw the 10 o'clock news, not something I remember him doing with the Madeleine McCann case.

Well you would be surprised at the amount of casual and callous class snobbery I encounter. I don't mean against me personally, I mean generally.

People condemning chavs and pikeys and women who have seven children by five different men. Is it not all just the worst form of class snobbery? And didn't the meedja just crucify Mrs Matthews?

I think Romanian immigrants possibly come even lower down the snobbery scale than "poor white trash" ... don't they? Clearly.

Heated - 'the mother has done something unimaginably awful and sold her child for profit' - is this an established fact?

No Policywonk, it isn't of course. In a previous post I added that I should have put in an "allegedly" somewhere.

But isn't it this aspect that makes the story so shocking really and what we're all discussing though?

Anyway my post was responding to linking this story to the McCanns, mainly Quatro's vp on the press coverage. I was accounting for what is likely to be the nature of the press coverage - vitriolic now - which the public will go along with, as they hate to feel "suckered".

Quattro, having 7 kids by 5 different men and living off taxpayers to do it, is going to be judged on its own merit. Class has nothing to do with it. Except the Matthews use it as a 'oh feel sorry for me I'm being picked on cos of my class'.

Er no you're being judged for your CHOSEN lifestyle.

..and the effect it has on your kids, hence SS involvement.Thankfully.

I see your point heated. I was just pointing out that it's all allegation at the moment.

and indeed itremains an allegation until a court finds her guilty, and
I don't mean MN Crown Court...

and the benefits thing is still unclear.

I wonder if the fostering of witless sentimentality by both the tabloids and the Blair Government hasn't contributed a bit to this (if the Matthews family were complicit in the child's abduction). There is definite encouragement for people not to simply think 'oh dear, that's a shame' when something bad happens to a child, but to take part in absolutely pointless ritualistic activities like tying teddy bears to lamp-posts - and to send money in the general direction of whoever's got the news coverage.

Also, why is it not being pointed out at all that being thick, lazy and greedy is not exclusively poor people's behaviour (think of all those ghastly city bankers) and horrible abuse happens in wealthy families too.

Message withdrawn

agree with quattro, if people think class doesn't influence all aspects of the media they are kidding themselves on

care to elaborate?

Message withdrawn

why?

class and morals two separate issues, my post didn't mention morals, thats a whole different story..........