Thank you, convener; you have correctly laid out the position on the petition. I have been on the Justice Committee since 2011 and I think that I am the only member who has been on the committee throughout the time that the petition has been referred to the committee. We would all agree that the petitions system is one of the strengths of our Parliament, but this is an example of where there might be a measure of frustration in some quarters, and that frustration might be for different reasons. I know that a lot of people simply want the issue to go away.
We have to be clear as a committee on what we are being asked. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to do something. The Scottish Parliament has determined that that falls to the Justice Committee. We know that the petitioners would urge the Scottish Government to hold an independent inquiry and we know that it would be competent for the Scottish ministers to hold such an inquiry, but we also know that that could not happen at this time.
In their submission, the petitioners say that the petition has been kept open by the committee to allow various developments in relation to the Lockerbie case to be monitored, and that is entirely the case. I have spoken in similar terms on each of the occasions on which the committee has discussed the petition but, for a number of reasons, it is for others to articulate whether they want the issue disposed of.
We need to be clear about what message we would be sending—that is something that I will repeat on other committees. As we come to the end of the session, there should be an analysis of the position. We have not discharged what is being asked of us as a committee—that is not a criticism; it is a fact—because we are not in a position to do so and we have not been in a position to do so until now, because of a number of factors in relation to the legal process.
The convener alludes to press reports of an appeal to the UK Supreme Court. I am not party to whether that is the case, but I guess that it is likely. That is only one factor that we need to consider, because there are a number of other live matters. There are live criminal inquiries by the Scottish, UK and US authorities. There is the issue of the disclosure of information by the UK Government.
I get that, in administrative terms, it would be nice to tidy things up by closing the petition but, for all the reasons that I have said, it is a live matter, and we have not been in a position to do what the petition calls for. If we were to close the petition, what would happen? Would the interest of all those distinguished petitioners go away? No, it would not—it remains a live issue. Are we saying that, for the sake of our processes, we will tidy it away and that it would be for the petitioners to come back in future? That does not seem respectful of the petitions process.
For all those reasons and many more—I acknowledge that it is time for me to be quiet now—I urge members to reflect on the fact that this is unfinished business. It does not matter what people’s views are on the innocence or otherwise of Mr al-Megrahi. I happen to think that the man was innocent, but that is immaterial in relation to on-going matters, of which, as I have highlighted, there are several. For all those reasons, I plead with colleagues to keep the petition open.