Nicola Sturgeon has come under direct pressure to explain her role in awarding the botched contract for two CalMac ferries that are £150m over budget and still incomplete.
The First Minister has been drawn further into the ferries fiasco after Jim McColl, the former Ferguson yard owner, claimed ministers rushed through the order in 2015 without proper safeguards to maximise publicity ahead of Sturgeon’s first party conference as leader.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, McColl suggested Sturgeon had misled the Scottish Parliament last week when she claimed the contracts were signed off by former Finance Secretary Derek Mackay.
McColl said he was sure the decision “to overrule CMAL’s advice was made by the First Minister along with Derek Mackay”.
The former economic adviser to the SNP government said that ministers acted in haste and against the advice of ferry company Caledonian Marine Assets Limited (CMAL), so the contract could be announced at the autumn conference in 2015.
He said the contracts were given “for political purposes” and “everything was about the optics and timing the announcements for political gain”.
A report by Audit Scotland concluded last week that the vessels being built at Ferguson Marine will now cost £250m - more than double their original price.
The document stated that it could not establish why ministers dropped a requirement for full repayment guarantees if McColl’s Ferguson Marine yard failed to build the ships on time or went bust.
At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross asked Sturgeon which of her ministers had given the green light for the ferry contracts against the advice of civil servants.
The First Minister replied: “It is a matter of public record - that was Derek Mackay.”
She added: “But of course this is a government that operates by collective responsibility - ultimately, as with any decision, whether I am personally involved with them or not, responsibility stops with me.”
The Tories have now demanded the First Minister appear before the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday to answer the fresh accusations from Jim McColl.
Douglas Ross said: “From what Mr McColl has said, there are serious questions for the First Minister to answer.
“On Thursday, she tried to say this scandal was all Derek Mackay’s fault but there is more and more evidence that she may have misled Parliament by making that claim.
“It’s becoming clear why Audit Scotland couldn’t find any evidence to support the government’s decision to agree this contract against expert advice,” he continued, adding: “The decision looks to have been made for political gain, not for the benefit of taxpayers or the island communities who desperately need these ferries.”
Responding to the claims on Sunday, Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “This government takes collective responsibility and nobody wants to see ferries overrun both in terms of timescale and cost - do not forget if the government did not take the action we took then hundreds of jobs would have been lost.”
He added: “We take collective decisions and nobody shying away from that, this is not about blaming one individual who’s no longer in government, the government stands up to its responsibility and, of course, we’re here to answer those questions as we have done in the past.”
The first of the two long-awaited ferries for the ageing CalMac fleet is now expected to enter service in 2023 - five years late and massively over budget.
Also late last week, Scottish Labour's transport spokesperson Neil Bibby called for Sturgeon and Mackay to be brought before the Public Audit Committee, insisting “the public deserve answers”.
Convener of that committee, Richard Leonard MSP, said: “The committee will take evidence from the Auditor General on his report at its meeting on 21 April after the Easter recess.
“Following this session, we will consider the next steps in our scrutiny of the report.”
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