Mrs James (Prestwich and Whitefield Guide, Radcliffe Times and Bury Times September 3) repeats a lie when she states “We have an MP Ivan Lewis advising the Scottish Government that it is right to release a murderer to Libya”.

As I made it clear at the time this false accusation was made in a misleading, inaccurate and untruthful headline in a national newspaper.

Since then the letter I actually sent in response to the Scottish Justice Ministers request for the Foreign offices understanding of relevant legal issues has been published.

It proves that in no way did I urge the Scottish Executive to free Al Megrahi.

I can understand Mrs James’s comments in view of what she was led to believe by sections of the press.

However, an experienced politician like Vic D’Albert has no excuse for rushing out an ill informed press release full of insinuations in a desperate attempt to score cheap political points.

You can expect a lot more of this shameless opportunism from the Lab Dems as we approach next year’s elections.

Ivan Lewis MP Bury South