Tom Peterkin: on Megrahi
Gordon Brown has finally said something on the Lockerbie situation. The PM said he was repulsed by the reception given to Megrahi when he came back to Libya last week.
Brown is hardly alone in expressing that opinion. His view on whether or not the decision to free Megrahi was correct remains a mystery.
The sight of Scottish saltires welcoming a man convicted of murdering 270 innocent victims was obviously deeply unsatisfactory. So was there an alternative?
One SNP minister told me that he was "very proud" of the way Kenny MacAskill dealt with what most people recognise was an exceptionally difficult dilemma.
The Justice Secretary was in a truly unenviable position. But his sanctimonious comment suggesting that Megrahi had been dealt with by a "higher power" sounded as if it should have come from the mouth of a Kirk minister rather than a Justice minister.
And his suggestion that Scots are somehow more humane than other people, smacked of self-satisfied parochialism.
MacAskill released Megrahi on compassionate grounds, because he is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
A number of MSPs - notably the Tories - are saying that plenty of compassion could have been shown to Megrahi had he stayed in Scotland for what remains of his life. That would have avoided the triumphant homecoming of Megrahi that was so sickening for so many of the victims' families.
MacAskill said that he ruled out a Scottish solution because of the "severe" security implications. But many at Holyrood are wondering if MacAskill fully explored that option. Pursuit of that course would have upset Libyans, but look out for more questions in the parliament on that topic.
Brown is hardly alone in expressing that opinion. His view on whether or not the decision to free Megrahi was correct remains a mystery.
The sight of Scottish saltires welcoming a man convicted of murdering 270 innocent victims was obviously deeply unsatisfactory. So was there an alternative?
One SNP minister told me that he was "very proud" of the way Kenny MacAskill dealt with what most people recognise was an exceptionally difficult dilemma.
The Justice Secretary was in a truly unenviable position. But his sanctimonious comment suggesting that Megrahi had been dealt with by a "higher power" sounded as if it should have come from the mouth of a Kirk minister rather than a Justice minister.
And his suggestion that Scots are somehow more humane than other people, smacked of self-satisfied parochialism.
MacAskill released Megrahi on compassionate grounds, because he is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
A number of MSPs - notably the Tories - are saying that plenty of compassion could have been shown to Megrahi had he stayed in Scotland for what remains of his life. That would have avoided the triumphant homecoming of Megrahi that was so sickening for so many of the victims' families.
MacAskill said that he ruled out a Scottish solution because of the "severe" security implications. But many at Holyrood are wondering if MacAskill fully explored that option. Pursuit of that course would have upset Libyans, but look out for more questions in the parliament on that topic.
Labels: Kenny MacAskill, Lockerbie, Megrahi, Tom Peterkin
posted by Administrator at
14:57
1 Comments:
I actually thought MacAskill stood his ground pretty well, but it has to be said (a) the questioners only got one shot, (b) the questioners were not a terribly insightful bunch, apart from Margo MacDonald; indeed I thought the only real moment of tension came when Margo spoke, and that perhaps had to do with other issues.
The old adage says 'Be lucky in your enemies' and the SNP have been very lucky in that regard, but even so, given a second question, one suspects that Annabel Goldie would have given a good response to KM's hospice answer. KM is going to have a tougher time next week, for sure.
I was also dismayed by the 'higher power' invocation, and agree with the Guardian leader writer who said (of KM's earlier statement) that the repeated invocation of specifically Scottish qualities was 'unfitting'.
And I do wonder if our church leaders will be so forthcoming about Scottish compassion when Peter Tobin takes ill, as he very likely will.
I looked up George Galloway's Record column today (often worth reading when he's not spiting blood and feathers) and he refers to MacAskill as the 'Manchurian Candidate'. We all suspect - well, we all know - there is much more going on than is apparent, but I do struggle a bit with the notion of a brainwashed KM robotically reading out a prepared script - oh hang on. . .
Finally, does anyone know how the Megrahi family came to leave Scotland? I read somewhere they had settled in well at first, but had then been hounded out by locals.
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