SNP candidate accused of Megrahi 'flip-flop'

THE SNP candidate in the forthcoming Glasgow North-East by-election was accused of a "flip-flop" last night after he declared that the release of the Lockerbie bomber was correct, only days after saying he disagreed with the move.

Former BBC journalist David Kerr told a local newspaper last week he disagreed with the decision of SNP colleague Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, arguing Abdelbast Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi should have stayed in Scotland.

However, after his comments were published, Kerr had a change of heart and now says he backs MacAskill.

His Labour opponent last night claimed he was a "yes man" who had changed his mind under pressure from his party chiefs, who are defending MacAskill's stance against huge pressure.

In his interview with the Glasgow Local News, Kerr said he believed that while MacAskill was a politician "of courage and principle and an honest and good man", the decision he made was wrong.

He said: "I don't believe that Megrahi should have been released. He was convicted of murdering 270 people so I believe justice would have been best served if he had remained in the care of the Scottish Prison Service.

"I do believe that compassion should be shown to him in his dying months."

Last week, however, he released a second statement. "When I first heard of Kenny MacAskill's decision last week, I confess I was sceptical, and my initial thought was that he could perhaps be released into the care of a hospice in Scotland.

"In light of all the information and arguments that have come forward, it is now quite clear to me, and I believe a growing number of people in Scotland – of all parties and none – that the Justice Secretary took the right decision, and above all he took it for the right reasons."

Willie Bain, the Labour candidate in the forthcoming by-election, expected to be held in November, said: "It's clear the SNP candidate is just a yes man. Now we see he is just here to do their bidding."