Ferries just ‘a little late’ says MP

AN SNP MP was ridiculed yesterday after denying taxpayers’ money has been wasted on the ferries fiasco.

Stewart Hosie claimed in a television interview that the CalMac ferries being built at the Ferguson shipyard are only ‘a little late’ and money was ‘not wasted’.

Critics accused him of ‘living on a different planet’ as ministers refuse to take responsibility for the shambles.

The cost of the two ferries has soared from the original £97million contract value to an estimated £240million. The first is due between March and May next year – five years behind schedule – with the other expected in late 2023.

Asked on BBC Two’s Politics Live yesterday about Labour claims that the money has been ‘wasted’, Mr Hosie, the SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesman, said: ‘This is the same Labour Party who were demanding we save the Ferguson shipyard. It is immensely disappointing that, for a variety of reasons, these ferries are behind time and over budget but they are being built, and right now all the islands are being serviced by ferries. These ferries will see service – albeit a little late.’

The MP for Dundee East, added: ‘The money is not wasted, the ferries will see the light of day, they will go into service.’

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘Stewart Hosie must be living on a different planet. Islanders who have been left abandoned waiting on these ferries will be outraged and stunned at his dismissive comments.’

In a Holyrood debate today, he will urge the SNP to ‘come clean’ and explain the reasons for awarding the contract.