Skip to main content

BLAIR, LIBYA AND LABOUR

The Daily Mirror has just published a story which alleges that Tony Blair did a deal with Libya that allowed for the return of the Lockerbie bomber in exchange for trade and oil.

It would seem that despite attempts by the UK Government to say little on the affair, this is whole issue is going to run and run and that it may be the final straw that breaks this Government.

As a Times article indicates, there remain a number of unanswered questions including:
  • What were the precise terms of the agreement that Britain reached with the US and Libya in 1999 that those convicted of the Lockerbie bombing would serve out their sentences in Scotland?

  • Just what did Tony Blair say to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi when they met in 2004 and again, in the Libyan leader’s tent, in 2007?

  • Exactly what was going on inside the heads of British and Scottish government ministers during the fraught negotiations in recent months over the fate of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi?

To those I would add the following:

  • Did Gordon Brown know the details of any deals brokered by Tony Blair with Libya?

  • Has Peter Mandelson had any recent discussions with UK oil companies over Libyan investment ?

  • Did the Prime Minister inform either the US Ambassador or the US President that the decision to free Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi was imminent?

This whole affair is becoming murkier by the minute and the fact that Libya's Sovereign Fund has decided to open offices in London in a deal allegdly brokered by Lord Mandelson raises even more questions about the UK Government's role and their willingness to jeopardise our diplomatic relationship with one of our staunchest allies for a couple of oil contracts.

Comments

Lisa said…
I just pray he doesn't harm any more people.
jreed724 said…
Well, what do they want from us...sympathy? He caused so many people to die...well, we'll give him our "sorries" but not for what he did.

Popular posts from this blog

THE CRACHACH

Unlike me, do you consider yourself part of 'the establishment' here in Wales?  As thousands gather for the Eisteddfod in Mold this morning, they will, according to some social commentators, not be participating in the greatest cultural festivals of Europe. Instead, they will merely be bit-part players in one of the annual gatherings of the great and good of Wales.  Unkindly, this set of the movers and shakers in Welsh society is known as 'the crachach' , and constitute a social class all of their own, dominating the educational, cultural and media sectors of Wales and allegedly looking down upon any outsider with new ideas, reinforcing mediocrity and failing to see beyond the limits of their own narrow experience.  They are said to live in a comfort zone that awaits the expected invitation to the next glass of chilled chardonnay and canapés, forgetting that due to their lack of leadership and drive, Wales remains firmly rooted to the bottom of the UK prosperity league ...

THE FUTURE FOR SILICON VALLEY

During the last twenty years, there have been many academics, politicians and policymakers (including yours truly) who have looked over to the innovation developed in Silicon Valley, California and wondered if we could ever emulate that success here in Wales. Whilst the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan proposed only last week that South Wales could become the “UK’s answer to Silicon Valley”, he is not alone in the world with such a suggestion for his local area. With imitation often being the sincerest form of flattery, many others regions across the globe have tried to emulate the ‘secret sauce’ that has led to this small valley to the South East of San Francisco becoming the seedbed for world-leading companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Google. But after fifty years of success, can it maintain its position as the premier location for innovation in the World? This is a question that its own business community has recently been asking itself. This has culminated in a...

MYOPIA AND ENTROPY

Over the next month, this blog will look very carefully at some of the new policies developed as part of the Economic Renewal Programme (ERP) launched by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) last week. Hopefully, it will help to start a debate on whether this is the right approach to turn around the Welsh economy and to drag us from the bottom of the UK’s prosperity league table. I will start by examining the decision to abolish International Business Wales (IBW), the Assembly’s overseas investment arm that was responsible for attracting business into Wales as well as promoting Welsh business abroad. Some will say that this decision to close down the last remnant of the old Welsh Development Agency was justified by the outcomes of last October’s review of IBW by Glenn Massey, the former inward investment specialist. However, if you bother reading the Massey report in detail, it actually has little evidence to suggest that the division was doing badly. If we examine IBW’s record on new j...