Gordon Brown Too Quiet
Playing the “stay quiet” game regarding the Lockerbie bombing affair is gradually building up steam like a steam train about to blow its whistle. Gordon brown was in a no win situation when the Scottish Government decided to let the convicted bomber go on compassionate grounds. To criticise the move would strain relations with a huge deal with Libya, but to endorse the decision would create huge issues with the UK’s biggest friend the USA. The decision was to stay quiet and hope other issues and news took over and state is was a Scottish decision not a UK one.
But as the steam gathers pressure there needs to be a release soon, as today it emerged that Jack Straw sent a letter to Scotland stating that it would be in the UK’s interest for the bomber not to be excluded from the prisoner transfer agreement. This did not endorse a release but did endorse that the bomber could be included in the prisoner transfer agreement and therefore being moved home. Jack Straw has commented that because the exchange was refused the letter then the letter was irrelevant and that any deal with Libya was “just not true”.
This will of course add fuel to the whole concern, especially as there had been a promise to the USA that the bomber would serve his who sentence on Scottish soil. The Brown government is unpopular at home with current polls suggesting a conservative win, but now this is likely to expand worldwide, with trust being lost from the USA, Scotland and the East. Gordon brown can’t win on this one, so it is probably time to decide which side he is on and cut his losses, at least some credibility may be saved not just for the Prime minister but for the UK too.