Scottish Government flounders over ferries again

At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today urged John Swinney to finally extend ferries compensation to coastal towns, and challenged him on why Stephen Flynn, as Transport Secretary, didn’t know anything about a significant incident involving a CalMac vessel.

During the exchange, the First Minister did not acknowledge that his own government had this week voted for a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment calling for the Islands Resilience Fund “to offer more funding, and sooner, to both island businesses and the coastal communities that have been consistently excluded from the scheme.”

Scottish Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for the fund to cover coastal communities like Dunoon, Ardrossan and Mallaig, but the Scottish Government have so far refused to extend it.  

Separately, during a meeting of the Transport Committee this week, it became clear that Stephen Flynn was completely unaware of an uncontrolled release of highly flammable methane gas on the Glen Sannox ferry, which occurred in June last year.

Speaking in parliament, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“I’ve badgered the First Minister about businesses who have suffered endless ferry disruption.

“The SNP Government repeatedly refused to compensate coastal communities. 

“But this week, Parliament voted for a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment that would see compensation heading to the very port towns that have suffered the most. 

“The likes of Ardrossan, Dunoon, Mallaig, Oban and Ullapool.

“So, in the spirit of respecting the will of this Parliament, will the First Minister tell businesses in towns like these exactly:

• Which of them will qualify?
• How much they will get?
• And when that money might actually reach them?”

He went on to say:

“It’s clear this government is simply all at sea when it comes to compensation, and ferries more generally.

“Yesterday in parliament, the Transport Minister and his Director of Ferries, were completely oblivious to a major BBC news story. 700kg of highly flammable gas was released into the Glen Sannox with 82 passengers onboard. 

“A critical safety failure, hidden for a year, only exposed by journalists for all to see.

“Presiding Officer, this is the latest in a long line of ferry failures: 

The Glen Rosa, now eight years overdue.

£20 million for a shipyard in Turkey, while our own yard in Port Glasgow is shedding a quarter of the workforce.

An election promise for four new vessels, but still no contract.

And now, a Transport Minister, at a Transport committee, clueless about a transport safety failure.

“We’ve all heard the rumours that the First Minister gave Mr Flynn this job to set him up to fail. Did he really expect it to happen so soon?”

Speaking after the session of FMQs, Alex Cole-Hamilton said: 

"John Swinney seemed utterly clueless about the scheme he went to the Western Isles to launch. 

"He also seemed to know nothing about the amendment that his own party voted for this week.

"The Scottish Government need to respect the will of parliament and extend this compensation to coastal towns."