Keir Starmer expresses "sympathies" with Hartlepool veteran over missing Katrice Lee during latest PMQs
The Prime Minister has expressed his “thoughts and sympathies” with a Hartlepool veteran fighting for answers over the disappearance of his daughter.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke in parliament of the “deeply distressing case” of Katrice Lee who vanished from a NAAFI shop near the British Armed Forces base in Paderborn, Germany, where her father Richard Lee, from Hartlepool, was stationed in November 1981.
It was her second birthday.
Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash raised the case during the latest Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.
He said Richard Lee has waited over 43 years for answers about the disappearance.
Mr Brash said: “The Royal Military Police, the Ministry of Defence and successive Governments have failed to get the answers that he deserves, throwing up barrier after barrier to justice.” He asked if the Prime Minster would agree to a meeting with himself and Richard to take the case forward.
Keir Starmer did not commit to a meeting himself, but said he ensure a meeting with a government minister.
In response to Mr Brash’s question, he said: “I thank him for raising this deeply distressing case and our thoughts and sympathies are obviously with Richard Lee and his family.
"The Defence Serious Crime Unit continue to appeal for evidence in this case and I will make sure he has a meeting with the appropriate minister to discuss progress.”
Richard and his family have never stopped searching for answers of what happened to Katrice.
The case is the subject of the Royal Military Police’s Operation BUTE, but in 2020 its status was downgraded to a “reactive” state, meaning it would only respond to fresh evidence.
Mr Brash said Richard and the family have been left wondering when they will hear news of movement.
He said: “For decades, they have faced barrier after barrier in their fight for justice, with so many questions left unanswered.
“The Prime Minister’s agreement for a Government Minister to meet with Richard and I to discuss the next steps is a positive move forward.
"We must ensure that the Lee family receives the support they need and the answers they have been seeking for far too long.”
Richard, 75, said: “l feel it's a step in the right direction. And my daughter's case is now in the forefront of people's minds.”