David Maddox: The lonely world of Malcolm Chisholm

As I wandered into the canteen earlier I noticed a table full of Labour MSPs with a couple of free seats. On the next table sat all alone was Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm.
Could it be that the former UK and Scottish minister (the first to resign from the Blair government in Westminster and also resigned from McConnell's executive) wanted a quiet moment to himself?
Or was it that he is now persona non grata after stating he will support the SNP Scottish Government in the Lockerbie bomber vote tonight and condemning his own party colleagues for politicising a quasi judicial ministerial decision?
Mr Chisholm is listed as the Labour for Edinburgh North and Leith or should that read Coventry?

David Maddox: Alex Salmond's international portfolio

1. Scottish Saltires fly in Tripoli as Al-Megrahi, a convicted mass murderer held responsible for the lives of 270 innocents killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, is welcomed back to Libya as a hero after Mr Salmond's justice secretary releases him.
2. A Nato soldier finds the remain of victims of the Serbs attempts to ethnically cleanse Kosovo. Nato's intervention to stop the murder and forced removal of Kosovans was infamously described as "an unpardonable folly" by Mr Salmond.

3. Robert Mugabe, an international pariah and responsible for the brutal repression of Zimbabweans and the destruction of the country's economy. Mr Salmond was accused of giving Mugabe international credibility by writing to him asking for support on nuclear disarmament.


4. The high point of his attempts to woo America - an audience and photocall with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The politician his minister has just publicly ignored and slighted over the fate of the Lockerbie bomber and the US administration that has been insulted by the hero's reception for Megrahi in Libya.

The question is: If Scotland does become independent do Scots want Alex Salmond and the SNP to be responsible for its foreign policy? Feel free to discuss in the comments section.

David Maddox: Has Alex Salmond undermined the Lockerbie bomber decision?

The First Minister faced questions today on whether al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bomb atrocity, should be returned to Libya after that country signed a prisoner transfer agreement with Britain.

He was at pains to say that he could not prejudge the decision which will be made, he said, by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill now that an application has been made.

However, he was reminded by Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott that in a statement to MSPs in 2007 when he fumed about the UK government discussing setting up a prisoner transfer agreement, he said that al-Megrahi should serve all of his sentence in Scotland.

Then SNP bacbencher Christine Grahame alleged that there was a conspiracy by the UK government to stop an appeal going ahead so that further light will not be shed on the murky issue of the Lockerbie bomb.

And Mr seemed to agree with her that it would prefer due process (ie the appeal) to continue.

Former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell made a point of order asking the Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson to look at this, which he is going to do.

The issue will be raised by hacks in the post FMQs briefing shortly. Read the conclusion of this intrigue in tomorrow's Scotsman.