£400 million monuments to SNP incompetence are a huge problem for Swinney and co

As ministers announced plans to give up to £14 million to the decidedly troubled Ferguson Marine shipyard, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey revealed that trust in the Scottish Government has fallen to an all-time low.

As fiascos go, the state-owned yard’s ongoing attempts to build two ferries, the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, takes some beating, given they are now more than six years late and four times over budget with the final bill currently estimated to be about £400m. So it’s highly likely the affair has been a factor in the public’s changing perceptions.

Results from the 2023 survey, conducted in September and October last year, found 47 per cent of respondents trusted the Scottish Government “just about always” or “most of the time”, down from 61 per cent in 2019. This is clearly a significant decline, although the SNP’s numbers benefit from comparison with the former UK Government’s standing. Despite a moderate rise, from 15 to 21 per cent, it was still far behind.

The £14m is designed to be a two-year investment in order to “improve productivity and build a sustainable future”, although the yard’s plans will first need to pass “detailed legal analysis and independent financial and commercial assessments”, which sounds a bit daunting.

Holyrood election looms

In two years’ time, of course, the SNP will hope that the ferries have been sailing for some time and that memories of the problems have faded because they will then be facing a much stiffer test of their popularity than a survey in the shape of the 2026 Holyrood election.

However, the absence of the chaos of the Liz Truss and Boris Johnson administrations – particularly if things go well for Keir Starmer, whose early days have been encouraging – could see Holyrood’s blunders suffer from comparison with Westminster.

The survey shows just how much work John Swinney and Kate Forbes have to do if they are to turn around the legacy of Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, as epitomised by Sannox and Rosa, twin monuments to SNP incompetence. And if either vessel still hasn’t sailed by election day, they won’t need to bother waiting up for the results.