Tories renew attack on PM for ‘secret Libya deal’

The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of a "lack of leadership" and demanded full disclosure of Britain's contacts with Tripoli.

It came as Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi claimed that oil and gas deals for British firms were intimately linked to talks about prisoner transfers. Mr Gaddafi said that although Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was not named during Tony Blair's "deal in the desert" two years ago, it was "obvious we were targeting Mr Megrahi".

In the end, the prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libya was not used to release the bomber. The Scottish government freed him on compassionate grounds as he was expected to die soon from cancer.

Mr Cameron seized on the claims to renew his attack on Mr Brown. On Tuesday, Mr Brown said he had been "angry" and "repulsed" by the jubilant scenes in Tripoli but refused to say whether he supported the release.

Mr Cameron pointed out that "everyone" was appalled by the hero's welcome, but the bigger issue was the actual decision itself.

In a letter to Conservative supporters, he also said Tory MPs had been putting down parliamentary questions to find out what "dealings" ministers had had with Libya on Megrahi's release.

Mr Cameron said that the public still had a right to know Mr Brown's opinion: "I have made my view clear. I think it was wrong. I see no justice in affording mercy to someone who showed no mercy to his victims.

"But what does the Prime Minister think? It's not good enough hiding behind the cloak of constitutional convention and saying this is a devolved matter."

Further pressure on the Government came from the SNP. The party's Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: "The UK Government's negotiation of a prisoner transfer agreement... remains shrouded in secrecy. It is time for the UK to open up on Blair and Brown's dealings with Colonel Gaddafi."

He said the Scottish government had pledged to release "all possible information" on Megrahi's release, and Westminster should follow suit.

Shadow Scotland Office minister Ben Wallace said: "If the Westminster government had no involvement in the decision to release Megrahi then Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson should have no objection to releasing details of their dealings with Libya."