Greene: SNP keeping islanders and Ferguson in the dark about £35m Glen Rosa funding

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy and transport spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP, who is also standing in the Ferguson Marine home of Inverclyde in next year’s Holyrood election, has today accused the SNP government of keeping islanders and workers at the ship yard in the dark, as they refused to guarantee the necessary additional funding for the much-delayed Glen Rosa ferry.

The Glen Rosa ferry is already eight years behind schedule, and its costs are set to increase by a further £35 million, taking the total estimated cost of the vessel to £185 million.

In a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the Scottish Government cannot guarantee they will provide the additional £35 million to complete the ferry.

The Deputy First Minister also said that Ferguson Marine, which is building the Glen Rosa, may not choose to make their revised business plan public. This is despite the yard being publicly owned and funded, and despite the success of its last business plan depending on a small vessel contract that it did not win. This contract was awarded to a yard in Poland instead.

Jamie Greene MSP said:

“The SNP are keeping islanders and yard workers in the dark about funding for the Glen Rosa.

“Everyone knows ministers will have to provide the funding eventually, and this charade of withholding the funds is nothing more than a pretence that ministers care about the public purse.

“The priority should be on getting the Glen Rosa delivered after years of delays but the SNP would rather tell islanders, ‘maybe yes, maybe no’. It is hugely unfair and shows just how out of touch they are with the communities affected by their blunders.

“Similarly, it makes no sense whatsoever for Ferguson’s business plan to be kept a secret, especially when their last plan contained holes and false assumptions, including the reliance on a contract that the yard did not win. The SNP snubbed Ferguson Marine repeatedly in favour of overseas yards, and it still refuses to finish the job of the Glen Rosa.

“The SNP have proved incapable of delivering for islanders and Scottish shipbuilding. Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have a realistic plan to fix this fiasco, which is why we have set out plans for a new Ferries Bill that puts island and coastal communities at its heart.

“They deserve a new strategy that guarantees vessels are replaced on time and a real say on how their ferries are run, on top of proper compensation for the disruption they’ve suffered.”