London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2026

Katrice Lee's dad angry over Boris Johnson Hartlepool meeting

Katrice Lee's dad angry over Boris Johnson Hartlepool meeting

The father of a girl who went missing in Germany 40 years ago says he feels "bitterly let down" after a meeting with Boris Johnson was sprung on him.

Richard Lee said he had hoped to meet the prime minister in Downing Street but was "devastated" after a surprise meeting on Monday.

He said he was told about the meeting minutes before and was not prepared.

Katrice Lee vanished on her second birthday in 1981, near a British military base in Germany.

Mr Lee believes his daughter was abducted and the case has been raised again in recent months in the House of Commons.

In November Mr Johnson said he would meet Mr Lee "father to father" and it was hoped the meeting would take place in Downing Street.

However, a previous date for a meeting at Downing Street in March was cancelled due to the situation in Ukraine.

A planned meeting between Mr Lee and Margaret Thatcher in 1982 was also cancelled because of the Falklands War.

Mr Lee said he received a phone call "out of the blue" last week asking him to take his file on Katrice's disappearance on Monday afternoon to the Hartlepool office of local Conservative MP Jill Mortimer to discuss "a few points on the case".


'Angry and upset'


Mr Lee said: "When I arrived I was taken to a conference room where I put my file on the table, ready to clarify a few points and it was then I was told I was meeting the PM in a few minutes.

"To say I was angry and upset is an understatement, I've been fighting for a meeting with a British prime minister for 40 years and I was infuriated it was happening with no notice.

"I had a presentation ready, but it was at home on the kitchen table - luckily I had a copy on my phone."

Probes by Royal Military Police have been unable to determine what happened to Katrice Lee


Katrice had been with her mother Sharon, from Gosport, at a Naafi supermarket in Paderborn in November 1981 when she disappeared.

The Royal Military Police has previously apologised for failings in its investigations, which included delays in interviewing key witnesses and not releasing a photofit of a suspect for 36 years.

Mr Lee said he discussed the case with Mr Johnson for about 15 to 20 minutes and asked for an independent inquiry into how his daughter's disappearance was handled.

He also called for the case to be handed to civilian police and for the government to pledge £1m to the charity Missing People, which helps families trace loved ones who disappear overseas.

Mr Lee said: "I walked out of the office after the PM had looked across at Jill Mortimer and said he could probably help with one of the points, but I can't remember which one as I was so angry.

"I'm annoyed we live in a country where we have freedom of speech and freedom of choice, but both of those things were taken away from me on Monday."

Mr Lee added he was waiting for the prime minister to get back in touch following the meeting.

Both Mr Johnson's and Ms Mortimer's offices have been approached for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
×