Policy Research Media Morhamburn

On July 25, dodging past more tartan and bagpiping paraphernalia than can ever possibly be stocked on Edinburgh’s High Street, I found myself clambering up the slopes of Arthur’s Seat after my all too energetic son.

Rather than join the crowds heading for the tented compound erected on Holyrood Park, my eight-year-old had been attracted by the possibilities offered by this wild highland aspect of Edinburgh’s genteel cityscape. And after spotting the files of people, locals and tourists alike, snaking their way up to the ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel several hundred feet above he was not about to be dissuaded. Exuberance was unbound.

This, the weekend of The Gathering the main highlight of this year of the Homecoming, offered my Malaysian-born son the opportunity to witness history in the making – the largest gathering of the clans in over 200 years – as well as take a little pride in some paternal heritage. The events taking place in the park before us, as well as at the Parliament, united Scots and affinity Scots from all four corners of the globe in the pursuit and pride in all things Caledonian.

Walking back towards the High Street, past the masses streaming towards the turnstiles and into the park speaking in accents from Edinburgh, Edmonton and España, it seemed as if fortune and good weather smiled down on the occasion. It was a fitting culmination of months if not years of planning. Scots were doing what they do best – throwing a party and letting the world join in. That Saturday, regardless of colour or creed, all were Jock Tamson’s bairns. Goodwill would be felt for years to come. Brilliant marketing, pats on the back all round…

Now we’re heading into autumn, it would appear that the goodwill generated by The Gathering is in danger of being filed away under ‘excellent idea, unable to follow-up’. There would be no basking in any extended afterglow. Scotland, the SNP Government to be more precise, is now in the eye of a gathering diplomatic and media storm following last month’s release of former Libyan secret agent Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, the only person ever convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, from Greenock Prison.

Those North American Scots and affinity Scots who a few short months ago were taking great pride in their Scottish connections now voice their embarrassment and shame in the Scottish Government’s decision. All the tartan tat picked up over summer has perhaps ended up in heaps of disgust in skips from Vegas to Vermont. A few short years ago, French fries became ‘freedom’ fries when our Gallic cousins refused to participate in Bush’s ‘war on terror’. This time round there’s a very real possibility Scottish products, whisky et al, will take a hit if the backlash from across ‘the Pond’ gathers pace.

The anger and confusion in the US surrounding the Scottish Government’s decision is understandable. After all, almost 190 of the passenger on that Pan Am flight back in 1988 were from the US. What is not so readily comprehensible are some of the headlines and spin generated since Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision was broadcast on August 20 from the bowels of St Andrew’s House here in Edinburgh.

In the intervening weeks, it has been rather interesting to note the way that whole Lockerbie story has been treated by the UK media – and conversely by Middle Eastern outlets that I’m also familiar with: Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and by commentators such as Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of Al Quds Al Arabi. Taken together, all have helped to offer a better 360-degree ‘bigger picture’ of events and offered a prescient reminder of recent Middle Eastern history and viewpoints. After all, Lockerbie really did not occur in isolation.

Here in Scotland we have seen the pictures and read the headlines which have screamed outrage at the release and reception of Al-Megrahi back in the Libyan capital. We have also seen the ‘shameful’ images of saltires being waved on the tarmac – taken together they have almost helped drain our nascent self-confidence.

It’s true the Al-Afriqiya jet set to fetch Al-Megrahi from Scotland could have perhaps taxied to a quiet corner of the airport and allowed the convicted bomber to disembark and slip quietly through the Tripoli streets back to his family, including his aged mother.

The adjective ‘jubilant’ has also been widely used to describe Al Megrahi’s reception in Tripoli too. However, if Muammar Gadaffi and his son Saif had really wanted, a huge reception could have been whipped up in hours to welcome Al-Megrahi home. As it is, little was mentioned on Libyan TV, horns did not blare out and the masses did not line the streets five deep cheering a hero home. In terms of Middle Eastern homecomings, Al-Megrahi’s was really rather low key.

In the eyes of the wider Arab and Muslim world, Al-Megrahi’s release in the days immediately prior to the beginning of Ramadan does not appear to have been treated far and wide as a great victory. Rather, it has been viewed, as it was apparently intended by the Scottish Government, as an act of compassion for a man dying of terminal cancer. For decades the Muslim world has felt victimised, isolated, Al-Megrahi’s release will now hopefully begin a long overdue process of healing. Any saltire-waving was, perhaps, more a gesture of appreciation. While we are entitled to feel rather embarrassed by it, we should at the same time now attempt to understand the gesture in its fuller context.

Motives aside, the release of Al-Megrahi was probably the hardest decision that any of our Scottish politicians have ever had to make in this, the first decade of devolution.

We have heard the opinions of most of our lawmakers – on apparent leaks, Mr MacAskill’s decision itself, Al-Megrahi’s reception, the saltire waving and the dent to Scotland’s reputation that “will take years to recover from”. Yet none of these lawmakers has been in our Justice Secretary’s shoes. None has had to weigh up the full tenets of Scottish law versus the very real pain, horror and anguish that must surely still felt by the victims’ families. A decision had to be made – and rightly or wrongly Al-Megrahi is now back in Tripoli.

Devolution is but a decade old and is still little understood beyond our borders – a cause really of much of the recent controversy. Scotland’s Government and Parliament have occupied the lead spot in the news agenda for the past few weeks. It might not always have been welcome, but in the harshness of the media spotlight, our lawmakers still stood up to scrutiny.

This is perhaps the first time that the Scottish Government has made a decision with consequences that will resonate beyond these shores, and I hazard a guess that with the maturation of devolution it will not be the last. Holyrood was forced to put its head above the parapet without the shield of Westminster. It cannot have been easy, but Scotland’s Government, Parliament and indeed legal system would appear to have survived the slings and arrows of indignation, mockery and outrage.  They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and Holyrood is now obviously here to stay. As for our American cousins… they will be back.