I have a piece in today's Times on the coverage of the Madeleine McCann case. Here's an extract:

Yesterday’s papers were full of more supposed information about Madeleine’s disappearance. That her friends had nothing to do with it. That her friends had something to do with it. That she was murdered. That she was abducted. That Robert Murat is involved. That he isn’t. That she had an accident.

And it is all - every last dot and comma of it - pure guesswork. All anyone knows (except, if there was a crime, her assailant) is that Madeleine is missing. Anything else, whether it’s labelled reporting, theory or speculation, and whether the source is the police, friends, acquaintances or reporters, is simply - how can I put this politely? - made up.

Not that the Madeleine story is unique in this respect. Not having a portal into Gordon Brown’s mind won’t stop people telling you when he’s going to call the next election. But they don’t know. All they know is what they’re guessing he might be thinking.

Do you want me to tell you who’ll be the next US President? I’m afraid I can’t. No one can tell you, as more than an educated guess, whether Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, let alone who will be the Republican nominee.