The Scottish Government had their reasons for doing it (there may be others behind the scenes), the British Government is keeping silent on it (despite being headed by Scots – though it seems to be letting MPs rip at the SNP) but from a PR point of view what’s the damage done to Scotland and Scottish industries now that the Lockerbie bomber has been freed?

And now that Libya is on the ‘approved to work with’ list, would PR companies in Scotland take their business? Or is this a crisis PR moment for the politicians, the country and its products/services?

Avoiding – because this isn’t the place for it – the decision made by Kenny Macaskill over the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the question is more on how it affects Scotland. For example:

• Will tourists stop coming? If so, will people stop coming completely or just while the SNP is in power?
• Will Scottish businesses now seek to benefit from the opening up of the country? There’s lots of prospective work there in oil, medical tourism, gas, technology and other fields.
• Will Scottish PR companies work with the Scottish companies to promote being in Libya? Or will they advise ‘don’t tell, just take the money and we’ll set up a crisis PR plan just in case it gets out’?
• Will Scottish PR companies take work from Libyan companies keen to promote either their wares or country? If they do, will their other clients leave?

It’s a minefield of an area because al Megrahi’s freedom divides so many people – some think he was involved, some think he was  a patsy, some think he should have rotted in jail, others wonder why he wasn’t given a death sentence – but against that we’re in the middle of a recession where for many companies, pennies are precious and – let’s be honest – if one oil company steps aside, another will walk in and reap the profits.

Closer to home, how do we convince Americans and others not to boycott the country and its products? Run a slogan campaign saying “STILL COME HERE, I NEVER VOTED FOR HIM”? Or something else? Do companies point out the American companies that are going to benefit from renewed trade/oil/gas exports?

To keep favour in America do companies need to come out and slam the SNP administration? That would be an interesting chat behind the scenes “Listen, Alex, nothing personal, you know we still like you, but publicly we’re going to come out and put the boot in because Kenny’s decision is costing us millions.”

A lot of questions and sadly, far too early for any answers.