Having been on holiday on Scotland and understanding the need to distinguish between a government and the people it represents, I have avoided the Al-Megrahi episode until now. There was no surprise that Gordon Brown avoided answering questions on his view of this issue, calculating that silence would deflect attention to other Ministers or the Scottish government. That tactic has not worked:
Mr Alolidi recalled a visit to Tripoli the previous month by Bill Rammell, who was then a senior Foreign Office minister, during which they discussed a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) between the UK and Libya.
"Mr Abolidi confirmed that he had reiterated to Mr Rammell that the death of Mr Megrahi in a Scottish prison would have catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK," the meeting's minutes state.
"Mr Alobidi went on to say that Mr Rammell had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of Scottish ministers." .
The existence of a commercial trading interest and a government that was minded to advocate the release of Al-Megrahi could be interpreted as the devaluation of justice for blood money. Brown could not deny this interpretation as the papers released would have undermined that narrative. Instead, he has chosen to ride out the storm.The Scottish government is culpable of an error of judgement, the government of sullying the memory of Lockerbie's victims and besmirching our country's reputation.