Events have moved on. Not only has Obama spoken out, but the Head of the FBI and Chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Americans are now threatening to boycott Scottish goods. Letters sighting Brown’s involvement in the release of Megrahi are being circulated. Mandelson has met Saif Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, twice in the past four months.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision by Scottish Justice Secretary, the Scottish Executive is not responsible for UK diplomacy and foreign policy. These matters rest with the UK government. This is not the time for crude politics that leave the SNP holding the ball, as short-term tactical Gordon Brown would wish.
Liam Fox, the shadow Defence Secretary, sums up the situation perfectly:
Most people will think it is nonsensical and would expect Gordon Brown as Prime Minister of the UK to say something about it. But as ever, when the going gets tough, Gordon Brown goes to ground. He makes all sorts of statements about celebrity, about sporting events, but when we face a major issue about the United Kingdom's prestige about how we are perceived overseas about a major question of justice, Gordon Brown is silent.
This is not an occasion for Mandy to try and manipulate the media and use words like “offensive”, as he did over the weekend. It should not fall to ‘holiday time stand-ins’ to take the flak.
There is no question about the matter. It is time for Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to speak and reveal his role in the affair of Megrahi.
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