Can It Look Any Better?

Well, frankly, it cannot look any worse. Or maybe it can?

I am talking of the clamour by Scottish Ministers to try to justify the decision to release the Lockerbie Bomber. It doesn't matter how you read the statements or how they try to make the USA's position weaker by saying they were offered a choice and indicated compassionate release was preferable which does not seem to fit in with the Director of the FBI's recollection.

Then again, everybody is distancing themselves from the Scottish decision. Col Gadaffi praised his 'good friend, Gordon Brown' while Peter Mandelson dismissed suggestions of a deal, 'offensive'. He should know.

You see Gadaffi's son is now recanting, via spokespeople, that he actually said that the Bomber's release was on the negotiating table when it came to trade. It is very interesting as Gadaffi's son and Mandelson met while in Corfu recently as Mandy took the sun on David Geffen's yacht.

William Hague has called on the Government to clarify its role in the release of the Bomber, since Gordon Brown is now known to have written to Col Gadaffi beforehand to plead for restraint on the welcoming committee that the Bomber would receive on his release. This is a very clear sign that the Government was fully aware of the release and knew what the Libyans would do. It was almost as if Brown was reminding Libya of the terms of the deal and it really indicates that Brown knew much more about it than he would like us to think.

They say there is no smoke without fire. Follow the trail. Mandelson has a history of intervening on behalf of rich friends he meets in exotic locations, particularly on swanky yachts. If nothing more should come of this, someone ought take Mandelson aside and remind him that the Blair era of freebie holidays with dodgy characters like Silvio Berlusconi or Gadaffi's son are over.

It has been the Hallmark of a Government that is increasingly looking corrupt and bankrupt of decent values.