Kenny MacAskill should explain to the families of the 270 Lockerbie victims why he did not make the existence of Megrahi’s £1.8 million public a lot sooner.
Entries Tagged as ‘Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi’
October 12, 2009
MacAskill’s comment awaited
There was a rash of statements to the House this afternoon, including one by the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on the al-Megrahi affair, which still leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth and has done immense damage to Britain’s international standing.
William Hague, speaking for the opposition, made a hugely pertinent comment on the actions of [...]
September 5, 2009
Straw’s clarification raises further questions
The al-Megrahi affair gains further, gradual illumination via an interview with Jack Straw in this morning’s Telegraph. Unsurprisingly, however, this clarification raises still further questions.
The interview reveals that:
Mr Straw travelled to Scotland in July, 2007, in order to discuss the prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) with Kenny MacAskill and Alex Salmond;
Mr Straw did discuss, “at some stage”, [...]
September 2, 2009
MacAskill’s misdirected compassion
Whether or not the SNP lose a confidence vote, it is to be hoped that Kenny MacAskill will do the decent thing and resign.
September 1, 2009
Brown will have to break his silence
The disclosed correspondence between Whitehall and the Scottish Executive, as anticipated, fails to clarify the stance adopted by the British Government in its negotiations with the Libyan authorities.
The Scottish documents relate that the Libyan minister for Europe, Abdulati Alobidi, said that he had been informed by the Foreign Office minister, Bill Rammell, that neither Gordon [...]
September 1, 2009
They’re the wrong letters, Gordon
Downing Street has announced that it is to publish “all relevant” correspondence between the Government and the Scottish Executive in the hope that it will “quell allegations” that Whitehall put pressure on the Scots to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
The announcement appears disingenuous, given that:
(a) the most damaging correspondence has probably already been leaked; and
(b) the principal [...]
August 31, 2009
Megrahi story won’t go away
Gordon Brown is really going to have to make a statement about the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, because, despite his best efforts to ignore it, the story is not going to go away.
This morning’s Times leads with a report quoting “a source close to Jack Straw” (wonder who that might be?) who says that the [...]
August 30, 2009
Jack Straw tells the truth
Jack Straw has just appeared on The World this Weekend emphatically denying that the decision include Abdelbaset al-Megrahi within the terms of the Libyan prisoner transfer agreement was made for trade considerations.
He says that it was made in order to improve British-Libyan relations generally.
I’m sure that was the case; and an easier trading relationship would, of [...]
August 28, 2009
How ill is al-Megrahi?
The question of just how ill Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is was raised with Alex Salmond by the BBC’s Eddie Mair on this afternoon’s PM programme. The issue is of considerable importance, since Scottish Prison Service guidelines provide that prisoners should be released on compassionate grounds only if they are likely to have less than three months [...]
August 27, 2009
Prescott clears it up
Amid all the fog and confusion surrounding the release of al-Megrahi, it’s refreshing to see the former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, giving his own cool assessment of the affair:
“It’s clear that there are other issues … which the PM has been asked about, and he answered yesterday that governments always have difficult decisions to [...]
August 24, 2009
PMS headache
The more one examines it, the more ridiculous Brown’s position appears. Everyone else can see that; why can’t he?
August 24, 2009
Redwood is right: recall Parliament
John Redwood has written to the Prime Minister urging that Parliament be recalled this week to debate, among other things, the al-Megrahi affair.
John is entirely right; it is simply unacceptable that the Prime Minister should continue to evade making any statement on a hugely important issue that threatens to cause potentially irreparable damage to our [...]
August 23, 2009
Lewis letter doesn’t stack up
Gordon Brown should make a statement on the al-Megrahi affair as soon as possible; his continued silence will result in only greater damage to the national interest.
