Nigel Farage backs police slashing number of officers looking for Maddie McCann
UKIP leader Nigel Farage yesterday backed the move to drastically scale back the hunt for Madeleine McCann.
Farage said 29 was a huge number of officers
Mr Farage was speaking the day after Scotland Yard announced the police squad is being slashed from 29 officers to four.
Speaking on LBC Radio's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast show he said: "29 is a huge number. The fact it has been reduced is possibly a good thing."
He added: "The police have a job to do. I hope it is allowed to be resolved."
The McCanns say they will never give up hope
The UKIP leader has met with Madeleine's parents previously
The number off officers investigating the 2007 disappearance has been as high as 37
Mr Farage, who has met Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, went on: "I feel desperately sorry for them, not just for the loss of their child, but some attacks on them have been pretty nasty."
The police have a job to do. I hope it is allowed to be resolved
The Home Office-funded Operation Grange has cost more than £10 million since it was launched in May 2011.
Once 37 strong, the squad have sifted through a mass of material relating to the three-year-old's disappearance in Portugal's Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Former GP Mrs McCann and heart specialist Mr McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, support the police move and have paid tribute to the work of Operation Grange.
They have vowed never to give up hope that their daughter will be found alive.