The positive effects on society of minimum pricing for alcohol will “swamp” any negative impact on the industry or on tax revenues, a report commissioned by the Government has found.

BRITAIN’S previous government did “all it could” to help Libya win the release of the only man convicted of the Pan Am bombing in Scotland in 1988, though it insisted the decision was made entirely by Scottish officials, Britain’s senior civil servant said yesterday.

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi must serve at least 27 years in jail, three judges ruled today.

A Libyan businessman who helped arrange a £1.8bn (€2.8bn) compensation deal with the families of Pan Am 103 victims said today he was acting on behalf of the Libyan business sector that wants to see UN sanctions lifted.