Highlands and Islands MSP and Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Islands, Jamie Halcro Johnston, has repeated calls for a public inquiry into the Scottish Government’s role in the ferries procurement scandal.
Speaking on Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland show, the Scottish Conservative MSP said, with 6 Transport Ministers in the 8 years, the SNP/Green coalition has had “plenty of Baldricks but not enough cunning plans”,
Mr Halcro Johnston said: "The Scottish Government have had years to get this right. And they have failed again and again and again.
“We've had I think, six transport ministers; that’s plenty of Baldrick's but not enough cunning plans from the Scottish Government so far."
Speaking later, Mr Halcro Johnston added:
"These vital ferries are six years late and three times over budget. And yet no one in the government in Edinburgh responsible for this scandal has lost their job.
“We now have Scottish ministers admitting that it is actually cheaper to scrap one of the vessels - Hull 802 - and start again entirely, but they have chosen to push ahead with the build of a ferry their own advisers say isn’t value for money.
“The Economy Secretary, Neil Gray, claimed that not finishing Hull 802 would mean no new vessel entering service until May 2027 at the earliest. But we still don’t know the basis for that claim or what conversations Scottish ministers have had with shipbuilders over the procurement of a new vessel and any potential delivery dates for that.
“What we do know is that millions of pounds of public money has been lost already, island communities have been left without the vessels they so desperately need as our ferries network lurches from one crisis to another, and the whole scandal gets worse almost by the day.
“The Scottish Government's track record is one of repeated failures and, given their reluctance to allow full scrutiny and accountability of the role their ministers have played, a public inquiry is the only way to uncover the truth behind this scandal”.
