‘Totally incorrect’ to claim government wasted £25m over forced Ferguson Marine nationalisation says Kate Forbes
A claim the Scottish Government “wasted” £25 million in forcing the nationalisation of the Ferguson Marine shipyard has been called “totally incorrect” by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes.
It follows an allegation in a Scottish Sunday newspaper by former yard owner Jim Mccoll, who said ministers had cost taxpayers that sum by taking over the business after it went into administration in 2019.
The yard has been at the centre of controversy over its late running and vastly overbudget contract with Scottish Government-owned vessels owner Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) to build two ferries for Calmac.
It has led to the vessels going up to £100m over their £97m budget. They are expected to be more than three years late.
Labour public finance spokesman Paul Sweeney claimed to MSPS that when Fergusons went into administration, ministers had “a contractual right to claim a £25m cash refund guarantee in the form of an insurance bond
from specialist marine insurers HCC International, which would have seen the insurance company take control of the shipyard”. He said: “Instead,
Scottish ministers chose to forfeit that £25m and buy the shipyard outright at a further cost of £7.5m.
“If this £32m forced acquisition was not an alleged misuse of public funds, an attempt to cover up for the failures of Cmal and ministers that caused the collapse of the shipyard as asserted by the previous management of Ferguson Marine, will the government agreetoreleaseallcorrespondence between the government, HCCI and Cmal?”
But Ms Forbes accused Mr Sweeney of “effectively rewriting history” in his claims.
She said: “It is totally incorrect to assert, as was in some media reporting, that £25m has been lost to the public purse. As is widely known, agreement was reached with HCCI to release from a performance bond that they had provided for Fergusons.”
Ms Forbes said ministers had “pro-actively published extensive information” for a Holyrood committee inquiry into the ferries contract.
She said: “Our intention is to ensure the vessels are completed, the workforce is saved and the yard has a viable future.”
An army veteran has told of the horrors of a traumatic sight loss condition in a bid to encourage others to seek help.
John Baptie, 73, from Inverness, began suffering from Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) in 2013.
Unaware of the condition at the time, he said the first years were “hell” as he thought he was “losing his mind”.
Mr Baptie was later able to talk about his experiences as part of ‘Esme’s friends’ – a CBS support group set up in partnership by Sight Scotland Veterans and Esme’s Umbrella.
The charities say they had noticed veterans reporting increased or changing CBS experiences during the pandemic, and are now offering telephone support groups as a result.
CBS is a common condition, which can affect people of any age with sight loss. It causes hallucinations which can vary from person to person.
Some veterans who have tak
en part in the Esme’s Friends calls had kept silent for years about their experiences, unaware of CBS and fearing the hallucinations were signs of mental illness, dementia or even paranormal hauntings.
Mr Baptie said he found the support group and talking to people with similar experiences a “great help”.
He said: “Nobody had ever mentioned Charles Bonnet Syndrome to me before, not even at eye clinic. It really came to light with Sight Scotland Veterans’ support. I realise now these things I’m seeing aren’t real. As soon as I realised, I felt alright.”
Mr Baptie had previously lost the sight in his left eye, but only experienced CBS symptoms when he also began to lose the sight in his right eye.
"When it started happening, I did not understand what it was,” he said.
"I thought I was haunted. I went through hell thinking that I had dementia and that things were going to get worse. I even paid for my funeral because I thought that was it.
“I would be sat down and see ginormous spiders coming towards me. I’d see spiders floating through the air coming towards me.
"I would see people dressed in black and when I approached them, I couldn’t see their faces. That made me think I was being haunted. When I was looking at something I’d swear it was moving, even though I knew it wasn’t.”