Salmond thinks again

[The most recent statement from First Minister Alex Salmond reads as follows:]

"I welcome the publication in full of this report, which is something that the Scottish government has been doing everything in our powers to facilitate.

"I especially welcome the fact that it offers a full account of the SCCRC's deliberations rather than the partial accounts which have appeared in the media in recent weeks."

He added: "This report provides valuable information, from an independent body acting without fear or favour, and while we can not expect it to resolve all the issues in the Lockerbie case, it does however lay the basis for narrowing the areas of dispute and in many ways is far more comprehensive than any inquiry could ever hope to be.

"The Lockerbie case of course remains an open criminal investigation, and while the only place to determine guilt or innocence is in a court of law, the SCCRC is a valuable body which is itself part of the Scottish criminal justice system."

[Contrast this with his earlier statement:]

I welcome the publication in full of this report, which is something that the Scottish Government has been doing everything in our powers to facilitate.

While the report shows that there were six grounds on which it believed a miscarriage of justice may have occurred, it also rejected 45 of the 48 grounds submitted by Megrahi, and in particular it upheld the forensic basis of the case leading to Malta and to Libyan involvement.

[One of the few recorded instances of the First Minister thinking better about something he said? Or is it just that BBC News saw the way the wind was blowing and decided eventually to provide a more even-handed quote?]