A Dirty Business
Politics is a dirty business - war without guns, as they say.
And never more so than over the early release of the Libyan bomber - al Megrahi - who is now dying (albeit slowly) in the care of his family - rather than alone in a Scottish prison cell.
But the report of the cabinet secretary - Gus O'Donnell - lays bare what a sordid business this whole affair has been.
Because we now know that the last Labour government was doing all in its power to secure Megrahi's' early release - as Gus ODonnell's report makes clear.
Yet while this secret diplomacy was underway - the UK government was giving completely the opposite impression - to victims' families - on both sides of the Atlantic - and to the people of Scotland.
Now politicians are guilty sometimes of saying one thing - then doing another - although on this occasion the duplicity was taking place at different ends of the Labour party.
And never more so than over the early release of the Libyan bomber - al Megrahi - who is now dying (albeit slowly) in the care of his family - rather than alone in a Scottish prison cell.
But the report of the cabinet secretary - Gus O'Donnell - lays bare what a sordid business this whole affair has been.
Because we now know that the last Labour government was doing all in its power to secure Megrahi's' early release - as Gus ODonnell's report makes clear.
Yet while this secret diplomacy was underway - the UK government was giving completely the opposite impression - to victims' families - on both sides of the Atlantic - and to the people of Scotland.
Now politicians are guilty sometimes of saying one thing - then doing another - although on this occasion the duplicity was taking place at different ends of the Labour party.
While Gordon Brown and David Miliband (foreign secretary at the time) were privately working for and supporting Megrahi's early release - the Labour leader in Scotland was attacking the decision for all his worth.
If that sounds like playing politics with people's lives - then that's exactly what it is.
Whether you support the decision to release Megrahi or not - it's this kind of self-serving, double-dealing - that gives politics and politicians a bad name.
