Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray hits out at the SNP

Mar 17 2010 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

THE REVELATION that the Lockerbie bomber could have another five years to live has prompted renewed criticism over his release.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said it proved the medical evidence which Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi’s release was based on was flawed.

The party’s chief at Holyrood was speaking during a visit to Dumfries on Monday when he also hit out at plans to stop the requirement for public notices to be advertised in local newspapers – a move that could cost jobs and prevent millions from accessing important information.

The attack over both issues was aimed at the Scottish Government whose Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill approved the release of al-Megrahi in August last year.

Then, Mr McAskill said the killer had only had three months to live.

But at the weekend it was reported that the bomber, now at home in Libya, is taking a cancer-fighting drug which may prolong his life by five years.

Mr Gray told the Standard: “We have asked some pretty serious questions about the medical evidence and it does now look as if the basis of the medical evidence wasn’t particularly sound.

“I felt the decision to release him was wrong for a whole number of reasons but largely because Kenny MacAskill was required by the Scottish justice system, in considering the application for release, yes to take account of how long al-Megrahi was considered to have to live but he was also required to take account of the severity of the crime and the sentence which had been passed.

“It was the worst crime that anybody had ever been convicted of in Scotland and Al Megrahi had served less than a third of a 27-year sentence.

“So to my mind, guessing how long someone has to live is never going to be an exact science but in my view whether he got that right or as it turns out he got it wrong, nonetheless, those two other factors meant the decision should have been not to release al-Megrahi.”

In another vote in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP administration received a low level of support for a proposal to put adverts for public notices such as planning applications and road closures onto the internet instead of in local newspapers as they are at present.

The Government reckon it would save council’s thousands of pounds– but opponents fear the affect on access to information and the income to local newspapers such the those in Dumfries and Galloway.

The SNP plans, which were backed by local members Mike Russell and Alasdair Morgan, could still come forward as proposed legislation.

But Mr Gray said: “We’ve been absolutely consistent in our opposition to this, partly because it is important that we have a thriving local newspaper industry but our primary reason was about access to information.

“It is our belief that advertising in a local newspaper is actually the way that give most people the access to the information that they need. If you stick it on the web, a lot of people are just never going to see it.

“We still have 40 per cent of Scots who don’t have access to the web and a lot of them will be older people who really shouldn’t be cut off from this kind of information.”