Dear All
It seems that the Tories are acting in a rather crass way on the subject of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to try and score cheap political points.
Paul McBride, a Scottish QC who advises the Tory party on law and order wants Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill to recall Parliament to discuss the matter.
Why, this is a Justice matter out with the remit of Parliament.
In true Tory style McBride has described the manner in which his possible release was being discussed as "beyond shameful".
As far as I am aware the Justice Minister has responded to questions put to him but at present no decision has been made officially.
McBride’s complaint is that he believes that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is being given extraordinary, special treatment with decisions about his fate being made in secrecy.
As a lawyer, Mr. McBride will know that under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Government is legally obliged to keep its mouth shut on details.
McBride says he is angry that Mr MacAskill visited Megrahi in jail and said other prisoners do not get that right.
That ‘right’ that McBride is trying to make out exists, in fact doesn’t, Megrahi doesn’t have that right in law, it was a decision taken by the Justice Minister.
In order to try and show how incompetent Scotland is he said the country has been made to "look stupid and a worldwide laughing stock", and called for Westminster to become involved in the discussions.
This is a bizarre statement; this is a devolved matter with the sole jurisdiction resting with the Scottish Government.
So, why does McBride want Westminister involved when they cannot do anything?
To join in the bandwagon of criticism of the Justice Minister and SNP Government as a whole Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown MSP also criticised the minister's handling of the issue.
He said;
"I took considerable objection to him visiting Megrahi in Greenock Prison."
This shows how shallow the Lib Dems have become and why they fail to win support in Scotland in any meaningful way.
He added;
"I fail to see what kind of information he might've been able to get from such a meeting; he's not a doctor, he can't opine on the medical position”.
It is true that Kenny MacAskill is not a doctor but he is allowed to gather evidence in order to make his own mind up whether a prisoner should be released on compassionate grounds, presumably Robert Brown is aware of that.
If not; he isn’t a very good spokesman on justice issues!
This intervention by Paul McBride for the Tories is nothing more than cheap political point scoring. Politics has no place in the individual cases of people held in custody in Scotland.
This isn’t a party political matter, it’s a justice issue.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
It seems that the Tories are acting in a rather crass way on the subject of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to try and score cheap political points.
Paul McBride, a Scottish QC who advises the Tory party on law and order wants Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill to recall Parliament to discuss the matter.
Why, this is a Justice matter out with the remit of Parliament.
In true Tory style McBride has described the manner in which his possible release was being discussed as "beyond shameful".
As far as I am aware the Justice Minister has responded to questions put to him but at present no decision has been made officially.
McBride’s complaint is that he believes that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is being given extraordinary, special treatment with decisions about his fate being made in secrecy.
As a lawyer, Mr. McBride will know that under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Government is legally obliged to keep its mouth shut on details.
McBride says he is angry that Mr MacAskill visited Megrahi in jail and said other prisoners do not get that right.
That ‘right’ that McBride is trying to make out exists, in fact doesn’t, Megrahi doesn’t have that right in law, it was a decision taken by the Justice Minister.
In order to try and show how incompetent Scotland is he said the country has been made to "look stupid and a worldwide laughing stock", and called for Westminster to become involved in the discussions.
This is a bizarre statement; this is a devolved matter with the sole jurisdiction resting with the Scottish Government.
So, why does McBride want Westminister involved when they cannot do anything?
To join in the bandwagon of criticism of the Justice Minister and SNP Government as a whole Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown MSP also criticised the minister's handling of the issue.
He said;
"I took considerable objection to him visiting Megrahi in Greenock Prison."
This shows how shallow the Lib Dems have become and why they fail to win support in Scotland in any meaningful way.
He added;
"I fail to see what kind of information he might've been able to get from such a meeting; he's not a doctor, he can't opine on the medical position”.
It is true that Kenny MacAskill is not a doctor but he is allowed to gather evidence in order to make his own mind up whether a prisoner should be released on compassionate grounds, presumably Robert Brown is aware of that.
If not; he isn’t a very good spokesman on justice issues!
This intervention by Paul McBride for the Tories is nothing more than cheap political point scoring. Politics has no place in the individual cases of people held in custody in Scotland.
This isn’t a party political matter, it’s a justice issue.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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