British PM didn't want Lockerbie bomber to die in prison

"Mr Rammell [a Foreign Office Minister] had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison"

Britain would rather see terrorists set free than die in prison while it bans people, such as Michael Savage and Geert Wilders, from entering the country because of political speech. Times Online

Abdulati Alobidi, the Libyan Minister for Europe, told how he had warned Bill Rammell, a Foreign Office Minister visiting Tripoli, that Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi should not be allowed to die in a Scottish prison.

"Mr Alobidi confirmed that he had reiterated to Mr Rammell that the death of Mr Megrahi in a Scottish prison would have catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK," the note released by the Scottish government said.

"Mr Alobidi went on to say that Mr Rammell had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of the Scottish ministers." [...]

Ten letters released by the UK Ministry of Justice and Foreign and Commonwealth Office appeared to back Downing Street in its insistence that no explicit pressure had been applied on the Scottish government to release or transfer al-Megrahi.

But there was plenty of evidence to suggest that the UK tacitly supported such a decision, including what appears to be a U-turn by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, who went back on a previous pledge to have al-Megrahi specifically excluded from a prisoner transfer agreement being negotiated with the Libyans.

Also released today were two letters from the Foreign Office, including one from Ivan Lewis, Mr Rammell's successor at the Foreign Office. Mr Lewis also insisted that the final decision would be up to the Scottish government, but encouraged Mr MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, to consider the Libyan demand for al-Megrahi's release.