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Article: Leader: PM must speak on Megrahi - we have a right to know his opinion
- Article from:
- The Scotsman
- Article date:
- August 26, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Scotsman. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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GORDON Brown's insistence yesterday that the British government
had "no role" in the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-
Megrahi on compassionate grounds was strictly true in terms of the
new UK constitutional settlement.
Under the devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament, the
criminal law of Scotland is the responsibility of Holyrood.
Ministers elected from the parliament exercise those powers.
Under the arrangement brought in by Mr Brown's Labour government,
dealing with the plea for release by Megrahi fell to Kenny
MacAskill, the justice secretary.
So far, so constitutionally proper, though it must be pointed out
that the Prime Minister and his Labour colleagues have ...