I have just discovered an article in The Scotsman on 11 February 2009 by Ross Lydall regarding Scottish Questions in the House of Commons. The issue that he raises is whether, given there is now a devolved Scottish Government and Parliament, there is any point in having a UK Parliament session of questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland when he no longer has ministerial responsibility for anything other than such few topics as remain undevolved. In the course of this article, the following sentence appears:
"Similarly, the highly-sensitive negotiations involving the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, and those who stood trial in London in connection with the Glasgow Airport attack, would have involved oversight by Scotland Office officials."
I do not know what "highly-sensitive negotiations" Mr Lydall is referring to. If he is alluding to the contacts that have taken place regarding a possible transfer of Abdelbaset Megrahi to Libya to serve the remainder of his sentence, I know that on the British side those involved have been the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (responsible for the undevolved topic of foreign relations) and the Scottish Government Justice Department (responsible for the devolved topic of prisoner transfer in respect of persons in Scottish prisons). It would surprise me greatly if the Scotland Office, which has absolutely no relevant ministerial responsibility, had been involved in those contacts.
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