Kenny MacAskill, the mistakes and the recall

I wasn't going to blog about this today given I did not watch or hear the debate, however I have sat and read many reports from people there and just want to comment on a few things.

I stick to my original view that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi should not have been released, although I do understand all of the arguments on the compassionate grounds, I do think we have to assess each individual case on it's merits and details.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is terminally ill with cancer, I fully appreciate that is hard to properly assess and that is what has to be thought of when a case is being assessed on compassionate grounds. However, should he have been released to go home to Libya or should he have gone into a hospice here in Scotland? I don't have the facts and figures that Kenny MacAskill does.

Kenny MacAskill went wrong on a few matters, the first was visiting the prison surely as it was a quasi-judicial decision he had to make, he should not have gone to Greenock prison?

I cannot believe though that Kenny MacAskill really believed, and still believes that al-Megrahi was not going to get a heroes welcome when he arrived in Libya, for crying out loud, I think I could have gone down the bookies and put a bet on that being a dead cert. That was naivety.

Kenny MacAskill did not show good judgement through this event and whether you think he did or didn't do the right thing, I do hope he will realise what mistakes he made and that he never makes them again!

My final point is, should the Scottish Parliament have been recalled? Just one week before it was due to return from the summer recess was anything really achieved that couldn't have waited another week? Given there is to be a full debate next week, no, not really.