Prescott supports release of bomber

Mr Prescott said he had no "objections" to the decision by Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

His comments were immediately seized on by the SNP, who contrasted them with the stance of Labour in Scotland, and by Tories who said Gordon Brown should state his views on the release.

Mr Prescott's comments came in a Sky News interview in which he defended Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has been heavily criticised for his silence on whether he agrees with Mr MacAskill's decision.

Asked by Sky's Eamon Holmes if he had any objection to the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, Mr Prescott said: "No I don't have any objection.

"If the man is dying, if compassion is passed as it is in the Scottish administration, and the medical authorities then gave proof to that effect as they did, then it's a decision for their legal authority. You know Scotland has always had a great deal more independence in its legal authority going back many years so we have to respect that decision and I do."

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said Mr Prescott's "very welcome" comments underline the "shameless opportunism" of Labour in Scotland in opposing compassionate release for Megrahi.

And Tory shadow foreign secretary William Hague said there was now no reason for the Prime Minister not to give his views.

Mr Hague said: "Since so many people in the United States in particular cannot understand why the convicted Lockerbie bomber can be released it could still limit the damage to Britain's international relations if Gordon Brown was to make clear his own opinion."

As the row over Megrahi's release raged on, Justice Minister Jack Straw said he had never visited a prisoner in jail who was seeking compassionate release.