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Cabinet minister Ed Balls has claimed that the British government did not want a convicted Libyan terrorist released from a Scottish jail.
Last month the Scottish Government freed Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, on compassionate grounds.
The prime minister has declined to criticise the release, saying: "I respect the right of the Scottish ministers to make the decision, and the decision."
But the latest comments from the schools secretary suggest that senior ministers were opposed to the release, despite documents suggesting the government cleared the way for the Scottish decision.
"I have to say that none of us wanted to see the release of al-Megrahi," Balls told the Today programme.
"But that wasn't a judgement made by the British government it was a decision made by the Scottish executive."
Libyan officials promised that any transfer would be "done quietly and peacefully and away from the glare of the media".
Instead al-Megrahi returned to a hero's welcome, while the British government faced criticism from US president Barack Obama and FBI chief Robert Mueller.
Letters released in the wake of the row showed justice secretary Jack Straw dropping his opposition to Libyan demanded that al-Megrahi be included in prison transfer deal with the UK.
And the Foreign Office confirmed to Scottish ministers that there was no international agreement that would prevent a decision to release the bomber.
Conservative leader David Cameron said that despite a desire for good relations with Libya, "when it comes to someone who has been convicted of mass murder, there is simply not room for movement over that".
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd