NOT for the first time, staff at the Jobcentre have been thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Readers may recall that at the end of April a letter published in the paper claimed that Jobcentre employees displayed an “uncaring attitude” when dealing with out-of-work Teries, and “spoke to them as if it was their own fault” they had lost their jobs.

However, I received no more letters on the subject (and, somewhat worryingly I thought, no denial from the Jobcentre), and came to the conclusion that it was an isolated incident. That was, until this week, when two strongly-worded missives landed on my desk, both of which were unequivocal in their criticism of the Jobcentre’s “bad mannered” staff. Then the phone rang. Another hacked off job seeker, another complaint about the “less than helpful“ staff at the Jobcentre.

It’s not good enough. The Jobcentre must get its house in order. And the staff at the centre of these complaints should be hauled over the coals. Remember, these are the very people job hunters are pinning their hopes on to find them work. Hardly fills you with confidence, does it?

ONE can't help but share in the outrage expressed by Hawick woman Sandra Johnston in today's paper. She's venting her anger at Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, whose somewhat puzzling intervention in the case of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's bid for freedom looks likely to see the mass murderer released as early as Tuesday on compassionate grounds.

Compassionate? Megrahi? He has the blood of 270 victims on his hands, including the auntie and uncle of Mrs Johnston, and as such he should see out his days in prison. More than 20 years on, memories of the worst terrorist attrocity in British history are still raw, and for Mr MacAskill to even consider releasing Megrahi is an affront to justice and a real kick in the teeth for the relatives of those murdered.

"Why should he be freed when he killed so many people?" asks Mrs Johnston. Why indeed. Had Megrahi been incarcerated for 30 years and shown remorse for his terrible crime, then yes, as a dying man, there would be nothing to be gained from keeping him behind bars.

But Megrahi was only convicted in 2001 and has never expressed a smidgeon of remorse.

So we join today with Susan Johnston in asking Mr MacAskill: "Why the hell did you have to stick your nose in?"