But Britain's reputation is not just about might. It's about doing what is right. When this country has got it wrong, we'll admit it, as I did when I apologised for Bloody Sunday.
When there's a cloud hanging over our reputation, we'll address it, as we have done by setting up an inquiry into whether this country was complicit in the mistreatment of detainees.
We will always pursue British interests, but there are some red lines we must never cross.
Like the sight of the man responsible for the Lockerbie bombing, the biggest mass murderer in British history, set free to get a hero's welcome in Tripoli. No. It was wrong, it undermined our standing in the world, and nothing like that must ever happen again.
[The foregoing is an excerpt from the Prime Minister's keynote speech today to the Conservative Party conference at Birmingham.
It would be interesting to discover just how, under the system of devolution that operates in the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister envisages the UK Government being able lawfully to prevent something like the compassionate release of Abdelbaset Megrahi -- a prisoner convicted by a Scottish court, serving his sentence in a Scottish prison -- ever happening again.
The following is an excerpt from The Herald's report of this section of the Cameron speech:]
Tory HQ officials made clear last night that the PM was simply expressing an opinion about Mr MacAskill’s decision and not suggesting an attempt to change the devolution settlement so judicial powers should be transferred back to London.
However, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “David Cameron appears not to understand the reality of Scottish self-government, which shows more Tory disrespect for Scotland.
“Regardless of people’s opinion, the decision was Scotland’s to take on the basis of the due process of Scots law, which was done to the letter.”
[Newsnet Scotland's coverage of this aspect of the speech contains a long comment from Justice for Megrahi's Robert Forrester.]
Prevent it?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the UK government gave it the tacit green light by granting compassionate release to Ronnie Biggs at just the psychological moment. And Biggs hasn't had the decency to die yet either.
And the hell with oil deals, but has Cameron so little idea of how to conduct international relations that he's prepared to sour Britain's relations with Libya and indeed much of the middle east just out of spite? Megrahi was never any sort of crazed islamist jihadist, even according to the original charges. He was supposed to have been a Libyan agent doing his job on the orders of his superiors, going right up to Gadaffi.
So now, Gadaffi is everybody's best friend, shaking hands and smiling, and we're trying to move on. If we can release a bunch of IRA murderers in the interests of a better future, what the hell is in it for anyone keeping Megrahi in jail when he's terminally ill, while fawning over the person who is assumed to have given him the orders in the first place?
Brainless Cameron, anything for a soundbite and the hell with diplomacy, foreign relations or even common sense (not to mention compassion).
I'm tellin' ya, as an American janitor that knows little of UK politics, Whitehall's got it in for Scottish independence. They intend to use Megrahi for that purpose. Even after their own green light and their own capitalizing on the business opportunities the Scots gave them.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's an Anglo-American endeavor, I'm pretty sure.
MISSION LOCKERBIE:
ReplyDeleteWhat now after David Cameron's speech about the wrong release of innocent convicted Abdelbaset Al Megrahi ? Believe it Prime Minister Cameron the questions in the Lockerbie-Affair are done with your clever of words:
"It was wrong, it undermined our standing in the world nothing like that must ever happen again...?
No, MEBO will not keep quiet until it is legally accepted that:
1.) The MST-13 Timerfragment (PT/35) was a manipulation.
2.) The Transfer of the so called “Bomb Bag“ from Air Malta KM 180 on PanAM-103/B in Frankfort did not take place at all. It is documented with clear evidence.
3.) The alleged clothes bought in the store of Toni Gauci could only have taken place on the 23rd November 1988 and not as stated on the 7th December. There are clear facts and figures to confirm this.
4.) That the visit of Mr. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, alias "Ahmed Khalifa Abdusamad" between 20 and 21st December 1988 in Malta had nothing to do with the Pan Am 103 bombing.
5.) That the PanAm 103 tragedy as „Mission Amsterdam“was used as a conspiracy against the Libyan Leader Gaddafi.
6.) That through my „Mission Lockerbie“it will be confirmed that Libya and Mr. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi had nothing to do with the Lockerbie tragedy.
Don’t forget:
In the Lockerbie case, MEBO has provided - verifiably - the most important exonerating evidence for Libya and Mr. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi!
If I – Edwin Bollier – would have accepted the offer of up to
US $ 4 Mio, by FBI Task Force Chief Richard Marquise in 1991 in Washington – I would definitely be living ever since then in a very comfortable situation in the US, armed with a new identity. If I have stopped all my intensive investigations, at the time, a lot of new criminal facts would not have been discovered and most probably the re-appeal for Mr. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi would not have taken place.
by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland URL: http://www.lockerbie.ch
Cameron's acting like a classic, blustering demagogue. Hopefully his disconcerting resemblance to Poppin' Fresh will mean that no one takes him seriously...
ReplyDeleteThis is shocking even for a Tory.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think I would compare Mr Megrahi with the murderous terrorists - both IRA and Loyalist - released during the peace process in Northern Ireland. Megrahi for a start was innocent.
ReplyDeleteSurely the really shocking thing about Cameron's statement is that he has completely stonewalled the evidence that says there are at least six grounds to believe the verdict was unsafe.
I will say it again: if Salmond really wants to he could start the ball rolling for justice over Lockerbie and at the same time bury Cameron and his Labour counterparts who are so hell-bent on making sure the truth never comes out.
Oh yes Adam, it was an Anglo-American game right from the moment it happened.
ReplyDeleteWhitehall's got it in for Scottish independence. They intend to use Megrahi for that purpose. Even after their own green light and their own capitalizing on the business opportunities the Scots gave them.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's an Anglo-American endeavor, I'm pretty sure.
Statement of the bleedin' obvious.
Cameron has developed a habit of giving his physical in-the-room audience the rhetoric he thinks they want, and forgetting that his actual audience is anyone watching TV or reading a newspaper or indeed a blog. It's bitten him on the backside before, and it'll do it again.
This is horrible. The Sun uncritically describes Megrahi as "the Lockerbie bomber" and goes to note that Dr Swire has been "campaign[ing]" for his release. Never, though, do they admit that he and others think Megrahi is or could be innocent. It comes across as if Swire just wants him out for - I don't know - the hell of it.
ReplyDelete