Straw on Cameron

Sir, David Cameron (Opinion, Sept 1) charges that “even to hint that a convicted terrorist [al-Megrahi] could be used as makeweight for trade is a betrayal of everything that Britain stands for”. This charge has no substance, as I believe Mr Cameron himself knew when he wrote those words for, in his very next sentence, he tries to absolve himself from responsibility for this unseemly slur by saying “it could be that this reading of events is unfair and that the British Government played no substantive role in al-Megrahi’s release”. It did play no such role, as the Scottish executive has confirmed.

That the Scottish executive always had a veto over any application from al-Megrahi under the prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) is underlined by the facts of this case. The Scottish Executive was able, first, to block any PTA transfer by its cross-appeal and then (as its Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed) formally to reject it. Before Mr Cameron lectures others about the qualities required for leadership, he might remind himself of the need better to make judgments on facts, not on unwarranted assertions from which he seeks to distance himself even as he makes them.