Nicola Sturgeon 'absolutely, flatly' denies ferries deal rushed for political gain

Nicola Sturgeon has denied her government rushed a deal with Ferguson Marine to build two ferries in order to make the announcement at an SNP party conference.

Jim McColl, the former boss of the Ferguson Marine shipyard awarded the ferry contract, told the Sunday Times the decision was made for “for political purposes” and “everything was about the optics and timing the announcements for political gain”.

Mr McColl, a former adviser to the Scottish Government and fervent supporter of Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum, said the decision to overrule concerns from the Government-owned ferry procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) was made by former finance secretary Derek Mackay and the First Minister.

Nicola Sturgeon has denied accusations the government rushed a ferry deal for political gain.

An Audit Scotland report published last week said the contracts were given the go-ahead despite not having full refund guarantees and criticised the lack of documentary evidence as to why this decision was taken.

Ms Sturgeon, speaking to Bauer Radio, said it was “absolutely, flatly not the case” the ferries deal was rushed.

She said: “The procurement of the ferries … was done in line with normal procurement processes with proper due diligence.

“Of course Jim McColl signed that contract and it was his company that then became responsible for constructing the vessels.

“Clearly, the situation with the delays to the ferries and the overrun in terms of the cost of the ferries is highly unsatisfactory and I would certainly not suggest otherwise.

“There's a lot of lessons being learned and, of course, there is a focus now that the yard is in public ownership on getting those ferries completed as quickly as possible.”

The SNP leader said she had “never shied away” from answering questions in Holyrood and that it was a matter for Holyrood committees to invite her to attend to give evidence on the ferries deal.

She said she had “no hesitation” answering questions on the ferries fiasco.

Ms Sturgeon added: “The Government has taken decisions that at all times were about protecting jobs in shipbuilding and protecting the future of commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.

“The issues around construction of the ferries and, of course, until the end of 2019 the yard was in private ownership, the construction of the ferries has not been satisfactory and I don't shy away from saying that.”

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