Katie Hopkins sparks Twitter frenzy with attack on Madeleine McCann's parents

Controversial: Katie Hopkins said it was 'time to speak out'
Rex
Tom Marshall22 February 2016

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."

Vanished: Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007

“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 ...

Kate and Gerry McCann

"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."

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