The Steamie: Ferguson Marine ferries and Nicola Sturgeon's defence

Nicola Sturgeon has “absolutely, flatly” denied the Ferguson Marine ferries deal was rushed through for political gain.

But how much more is there to the story – and is the First Minister and the Scottish Government not being as transparent on the deal as they could be?

Those are the questions debated by The Scotsman’s politics team on the latest episode of podcast The Steamie.

The team, led by political editor Alistair Grant and complemented by deputy political editor Conor Matchett, Westminster correspondent Alexander Brown and politics correspondent Hannah Brown, analyse all the question marks around the ferry contracts.

The fourth episode of The Steamie for 2022 is now live. Picture: JPI Media/Shutterstock

Ms Sturgeon’s defence comes after Jim McColl, the former boss of the Ferguson Marine shipyard awarded the ferry contract, said the decision was made for “for political purposes”.

An Audit Scotland report published last week also 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.

The long-delayed two new CalMac ferries will now take a further eight months to be completed by Ferguson Marine.

You can check out the latest episode of The Steamie wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Episodes of The Steamie go live every Tuesday morning.