TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown’s Government faces widespread public suspicion that the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, had more to do with oil than his terminal cancer.
A special Populus poll for The Times, conducted on Wednesday, reveals widespread public criticism of the release and scepticism about the reasons, with much of the blame falling on the Prime Minister.
The poll followed the public defence of the release by Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, on Monday and Mr Brown’s comments the following day.
Questions were solely about this issue and did not include voting intentions.
Three fifths of those questioned (61 per cent) disagreed with the decision to return al-Megrahi to Libya on the ground of compassion, with 27 per cent agreeing.
The continuing controversy over the background to the decision, with reports of meetings between British ministers and members of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s family and the Libyan Government, have made people suspicious. Nearly half (45 per cent) thought it had more to do with oil than al-Megrahi’s terminal illness — 24 per cent disagreed.
Mr Brown’s attempt to distance himself from the move, saying that it was a decision for the Scottish government, has not gone down well, with 56 per cent saying that has handled the matter badly, and 23 per cent thinking that he had done well.
In the ranking of disapproval, Mr Brown was second only to Colonel Gaddafi. Some 63 per cent thought that the Libyans had handled the affair badly, while 15 per cent approved of their actions. >>> Peter Riddell | Friday, August 28, 2009
