At 2.30pm today, the Scottish Parliament will listen to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill as he defends his desicions to release the Lockerbie bomber. Then merry hell will break loose as a debate follows in the chamber. Will Gordon Brown have broken his silence by then? There has not a word on this even though pressure is mounting - there are no shortage of Americans of standing bitterly criticising the release and suggesting under-the-table trade deals may hold the answer.

The PM now faces a real problem. He's already kept quiet on England's Ashes triumph because he can't congratulate sporting success while ingoring the biggest political story of the past week which could have long-lasting diplomatic consequences. But what does he say? He condemns the release of Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and openly stands in opposition to the Scottish administration? But letters from Libya thanked Britain as well as Scotland. Does he fudge it and says, while not agreeing with it, it was a judicial decision for Scotland, and Scotland alone - basically a continuation of what Jim Knight and the Foreign Office have been saying?

Devolution was a messy business with Scotland's power to look after its own judiciary now appearing to directly controvene and affect British foreign policy - an area of course still controlled by the British government. If Gordon Brown is serious about devolution as a good development he has to feel able to criticise decisions made in Edinburgh by the ruling SNP. Unless, of course, there was in fact a trade deal which could be affected by the decision - which, considering this story has plenty of legs left in it, must come to light soon.