Kenny MacAskill

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Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (2007–2011)

On 19 August 2009, MacAskill rejected an application by Libya to transfer to their custody Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted of the Pan Am Flight 103 bomb that killed 270 people, acknowledging that "the American families and Government had an expectation or were led to believe that there would be no prisoner transfer." [8] The following day, on 20 August, MacAskill authorised al-Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds. Megrahi had served 8½ years of a life sentence, but had developed terminal prostate cancer. [9] [10] The Justice Secretary has discretionary authority to order such a release, and MacAskill took sole responsibility for the decision. [11] [12] Megrahi died on 20 May 2012.

In the United States, where 180 of the 270 victims came from, the decision met with broad hostility. Political figures including President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out against it, [13] [14] and families of the victims expressed indignation over the decision. [15] [16] [17] [18] FBI director Robert Mueller, who had been a lead investigator in the 1988 bombing, wrote a highly critical open letter to MacAskill. [19] Former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish was critical of Mueller's attack on the decision. [20]

In Britain, reaction was divided. Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, former First Minister Jack McConnell, and former Scottish Office minister Brian Wilson criticised the decision, [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] while Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, former Labour MP Tam Dalyell and former British ambassador to Libya Richard Dalton publicly supported it. [26] [27] Ian Galloway and Mario Conti, representatives of the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church respectively, also spoke in favour of the release. [28]

John Mosey, a priest who lost a daughter on Pan Am Flight 103, expressed his disappointment that halting Megrahi's appeal before it went to court meant that the public would never hear "this important evidence — the six separate grounds for appeal that the SCCRC felt were important enough to put forward, that could show that there's been a miscarriage of justice." [29] Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reiterated his belief in Megrahi's innocence commenting that the Justice Secretary had "made the right decision" and that history would prove this to be the case. [30] A letter in support of MacAskill's decision was sent to the Scottish Government on behalf of former South African President Nelson Mandela. [31]

The Scottish Parliament was recalled from its summer break, for the third time since its creation, to receive a statement from and question MacAskill. [32] The opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament passed amendments criticising the decision and the way it was made, but no motions of confidence in MacAskill or the Scottish Government were tabled. [33]

After MacAskill won re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, an SNP supporter said that the decision had been mentioned by very few voters during the election campaign. [34]

Member of Parliament (2019–2024)

MacAskill was chosen as the SNP candidate for East Lothian at the 2019 UK general election. [35] He was subsequently elected, overturning a 3,083 majority and defeating Labour's Martin Whitfield. [36]

In April 2020, MacAskill called for the office of Lord Advocate to be split – similarly to the English and Welsh system of Attorney General for England and Wales and Director of Public Prosecutions – in a response to the trial of former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, to avoid potential conflicts of interest. [37]

In February 2020, MacAskill authored Radical Scotland – Uncovering Scotland's radical history – from the French Revolutionary era to the 1820 Rising, published by Biteback.

Following the launch of the Alba Party in March 2021, in advance of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, MacAskill announced that he was leaving the SNP to join Alba, making him their first sitting representative. He was reported as planning to stand for election to Holyrood in a regional list seat. [1] The SNP called on him to resign and trigger a by-election, describing his defection as "somewhat of a relief". [38] In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, he stood on Alba's Lothian regional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining any seats. [39] Later that year, at the party's inaugural conference, he was elected as depute leader. [40]

On 13 July 2022, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle ejected MacAskill and his Alba colleague Neale Hanvey (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) from the House of Commons for disrupting the start of Prime Minister's Questions. The two had been protesting about the refusal to grant consent for a second referendum on Scottish independence. [41] As both Members were named by the Speaker, by convention MacAskill and Hanvey were handed five-day suspensions from the House of Commons.

At the 2024 general election, MacAskill switched constituencies to instead stand for the new Alloa and Grangemouth seat, which was won by Brian Leishman of the Labour Party, amidst a large swing towards Labour across Scotland. MacAskill received 638 votes, 1.5% of the votes cast. [42]

Post-parliamentary career (2024–)

Following Alex Salmond's death on 12 October 2024, MacAskill became acting leader of the Alba Party. [43] [44] Under the provisions of the party constitution, the depute leader of the party becomes its acting leader whenever the leadership becomes vacant. [45] He has since announced his candidacy for the 2025 Alba Party leadership election. [46]

Personal life

MacAskill lives in Moray, where he has a house, and he also maintains a flat in East Lothian. [47] He has two sons. [2]

See also

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 "MP Kenny MacAskill quits SNP to join Alex Salmond's Alba Party". The National. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
    2. 1 2 "Macaskill, Kenneth Wright, (born 28 April 1958), solicitor; MP (SNP) East Lothian, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u25288. ISBN   978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 1 May 2021.
    3. ↑ "Arrest incident 'closed', insists SNP". BBC News . BBC. 25 November 1999.
    4. ↑ Stewart, Lewis (9 June 2007). "Murrayfield toasts lifting of drinks ban". The Times .
    5. ↑ "Terrorists not 'home-grown'". BBC News . BBC. 1 July 2007.
    6. 1 2 "Scottish election: SNP changes Edinburgh political map". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
    7. ↑ Dinwoodie, Robbie (30 March 2011). "Key Holyrood election battles". The Herald . Retrieved 7 May 2011.
    8. ↑ UK Cabinet Office, Cabinet Secretary's Review of Papers Relating to the Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi 11 ¶ 31 (7 February 2011) available at www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/20110207-megrahi-review-report.pdf
    9. ↑ [ dead link ]
    10. ↑ "Cancer expert says Megrahi is not responding to treatment". The Herald. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009.
    11. ↑ "Transcript: Scotland official talks of Lockerbie release". Cable News Network. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
    12. ↑ "Lockerbie bomber debate – as it happened". Scotsman. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
    13. ↑ Adam, Karla (21 August 2009). "Man Convicted in Lockerbie Bombing Is Released From Scottish Prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
    14. ↑ Carrell, Severin (21 August 2009). "Barack Obama attacks decision to free Lockerbie bomber". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
    15. ↑ "Terminally ill Lockerbie bomber lands in Libya - CNN.com". www.cnn.com.
    16. ↑ Nasaw, Daniel (20 August 2009). "White House condemns decision to release Lockerbie bomber". The Guardian.
    17. ↑ "Lockerbie bomber: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi leaves Scotland bound for Libya". 20 August 2009.
    18. ↑ Carrell, Severin; correspondent, Scotland (20 August 2009). "Barack Obama attacks decision to free Lockerbie bomber". The Guardian.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
    19. ↑ "The full letter from the FBI Director on the Lockerbie bomber release". The Daily Telegraph. London. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
    20. ↑ "FBI chief's attack 'out of order'". BBC News. 24 August 2009.
    21. ↑ "The Lockerbie decision 'was wrong'". Public Servant Scotland. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
    22. ↑ Swaine, Jon; Cramb, Auslan (23 August 2009). "Kenny MacAskill to face furious MSPs over Lockerbie bomber release".
    23. ↑ Hinsliff, Gaby (22 August 2009). "Gordon Brown in new storm over freed Lockerbie bomber". The Observer– via The Guardian.
    24. ↑ Wilson, Brian (21 August 2009). "Lockerbie bomber: The SNP's Libya stunt has shamed my nation". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
    25. ↑ Carrell, Severin; correspondent, Scotland (28 August 2009). "Efforts to release Lockerbie bomber linked with trade, says Gaddafi's son". The Guardian.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
    26. ↑ "Alex Salmond defends release of Lockerbie bomber". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
    27. ↑ "Reaction: Lockerbie bomber set free". BBC News.
    28. ↑ FBI chief's attack 'out of order' – Conti, BBC News, 24 August 2009.
    29. ↑ Mackey, Robert (21 August 2009). "Lockerbie, the Unanswered Questions". New York Times. News Blog.
    30. ↑ Carrell, Severin (28 August 2009). "Efforts to release Lockerbie bomber linked with trade, says Gaddafi's son". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
    31. ↑ "Mandela backs Lockerbie decision". BBC. 30 August 2009.
    32. ↑ "Holyrood recall over freed bomber". BBC News. 20 August 2009.
    33. ↑ SNP defeated over bomber release, BBC News, 2 September 2009.
    34. ↑ Hannan, Martin (6 May 2011). "Martin Hannan: The battle for independence starts now". Edinburgh Evening News . Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
    35. ↑ Ian, Swanson (16 October 2019). "Kenny MacAskill chosen as SNP candidate for East Lothian at general election". Edinburgh Evening News . Retrieved 22 November 2019.
    36. ↑ "East Lothian: Scottish National Party gain". BBC News . 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
    37. ↑ "Kenny MacAskill calls for office of Lord Advocate to be divided". Scottish Legal News. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
    38. ↑ Busby, Mattha (27 March 2021). "Kenny MacAskill quits SNP to join Alex Salmond's Alba party". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 March 2021.
    39. ↑ "Lothian". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
    40. ↑ Webster, Laura (11 September 2021). "Alba conference: Kenny MacAskill elected Alba party's depute leader". The National.
    41. ↑ "Alba MPs thrown out of PMQs over indyref2 protest". BBC News. 13 July 2022.
    42. ↑ "Alloa and Grangemouth – General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
    43. ↑ "Alba Party will continue Alex Salmond's legacy, says acting leader". PA News Agency. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024– via The Herald.
    44. ↑ Grant, Alistair (14 October 2024). "Kenny MacAskill: I hope Alex Salmond's legal battle with Scottish Government will continue". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
    45. ↑ "Alba Party Constitution". Alba Party. 2021. p. 50.
    46. ↑ "Why Kenny MacAskill has entered the race to succeed Alex Salmond as Alba leader". The Scotsman. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
    47. ↑ Marlborough, Conor (27 January 2021). "Kenny MacAskill: SNP MP defends 200-mile trips between constituency and second home". The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
    Kenny MacAskill
    Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2).jpg
    Official portrait, 2011
    Acting Leader of the Alba Party
    Incumbent
    Assumed office
    12 October 2024
    In office
    3 May 2007 –24 March 2016
    Parliament of the United Kingdom
    Preceded by Member of Parliament for East Lothian
    2019–2024     		Succeeded by
    Scottish Parliament
    New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern
    2011–2016     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
    2007–2011     		Constituency abolished
    Political offices
    Preceded by Cabinet Secretary for Justice
    2007–2014    		Succeeded by
    Party political offices
    Preceded by Scottish National Party Vice Chairman (Local Government)
    1985–1989?    		Succeeded by
    Preceded by Treasurer of the Scottish National Party
    1994–1999?    		Succeeded by
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