MacAskill, in a statement to the Scottish Parliament defending his decision, refrained from quoting from the best-known speech on mercy in the English language – that of Portia in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice – but Portia’s words would have fitted the core of his statement. Portia acknowledges that Shylock is under no obligation to show mercy to Antonio, who is in breach of his agreement to him.
麦克阿斯基尔在一份呈交苏格兰议会，为他的决定辩护的声明中，没有引用英语世界中关于仁慈的最有名的名言——出自莎士比亚名剧《威尼斯商人》中的女主人公波蒂亚——但波蒂亚的话显然最符合麦氏声明的核心内容。在剧中，波蒂亚承认犹太商人夏洛克根本没义务去饶恕安东尼奥，因为后者违反了和夏洛克订下了协议。