Times Blogs McCanns' ex-spokeswoman addresses conferenceTimes Blogs
Posted by Sam Coates on September 18, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Justine McGuinness, who spent 89 days as the spokesman for the McCann family in Portugal, is fast becoming one of the key attractions in Brighton. Unsurprisingly, she has been besieged by activists and journalists wanting to know more about here time working for the McCanns.
So the public affairs guru must have known that when she stood up in the conference hall during the immigration debate to call for tougher border controls "to prevent children being moved out of Europe", people would inevitably draw a link with her former role. "Do it for our children", she cried, to a bemused audience.
Officially she tells those who enquire that she is not talking about the case. But in the bars, late and night, a few details have emerged. She has dropped several hints that she did not enjoy the closest relations with Gerry McCann, and also also that she was never intended to have an onscreen role as spokeswoman.
Ms McGuinness, who is looking for a safe Lib Dem seat, says she was brought to Portugal to try and change the privacy law which the McCanns believed was hampering the search for their daughter. She says she tried to handle the media "like a general election campaign" with open regular media briefings, but this upset some media outlets that wanted to get a scoop on their rivals.
