While I disagree with the Lockerbie decision don’t forget that the UK had to put up with years of US Irish Republican sympathisers fundraising for IRA terrorists and murderers and senior politicans of both Republican and Democratic parties greeting then terrorists like Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness before the Peace Process. Yet, the UK still stood by the USA post 9/11 and that should not be forgotten even if this stupid decision by the Scottish Nationalist government may make it difficult to do so!
I think that needed to be said. I think the scumbag should have been executed, but in the absence of the death penalty in Britain, he should have at least been given life without parole. However, what some Americans did (Including some influential politicians) with their support for the IRA was far, far worse - they facilitated a continuing campaign of murder.
As for this case, I think there is very little the British government could have done, assuming it wanted to. Scotland is run by an SNP minority government. The SNP’s raison d’etre is a hatred of anything to do with Britain or England. If the government requested something of the SNP, that party would probably go an do the opposite out of spite.
I also urge Americans not to let this give them a negative perception of either Scotland or the UK. After all, it would be unfair of us to get a bad impression of Americans from the actions of Obama, so the same applies here. The SNP only forms a minority government and most (At least from what I’ve heard) people here in Britain are just as against it as all of you.