THE ‘BANANA SKIN’ FERRY DEAL FARCE

As SNP finally turns up lost document, emails reveal Deputy First Minister WAS consulted over disastrous ships contract

NICOLA Sturgeon’s deputy was yesterday dragged into the ferries fiasco after bombshell documents revealed he was consulted over potential ‘banana skins’ in the contract.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney held last-ditch discussions with officials to ensure there were no financial or procurement issues before the deal to build two CalMac vessels was awarded to the Ferguson shipyard on the Clyde.

It came after the SNP Government said a ‘missing’ document confirming thentransport minister Derek Mackay approved the contract had been found.

The paperwork was produced in parliament yesterday – despite ministers previously telling Audit Scotland there was no written record of the decision.

But the spending watchdog last night said there is still ‘insufficient documentary evidence’ to explain why the decision was made to proceed despite disquiet over the deal.

Ferries quango Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) had raised concerns about the risk of not having a full

refund guarantee in place. Work on the ferries is five years behind schedule and costs have soared from £97million to an estimated £240million.

Scottish Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘If the SNP hope the documents they have suddenly found somehow pin all the blame for approving the contract on Derek Mackay, they are sadly mistaken.

‘They clearly point to John Swinney being involved in the signing-off process, which as the then-finance secretary would be entirely appropriate.

‘So Mr Swinney must make a statement to parliament outlining his role approving this catastrophic decision – as well as answering the key, unanswered question: why?’

Audit Scotland said in a recent report there was ‘insufficient documentary evidence to explain why Scottish ministers accepted the risks and were content to approve the contract award in October 2015’.

During a Holyrood debate on the ferries fiasco yesterday, Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth announced ‘the missing document has been found’.

She said the email from the office of Mr Mackay ‘makes clear who approved the decision to award the contract’.

Miss Gilruth quoted from the email, sent by Mr Mackay’s private secretary at 2.32pm on October 9, 2015, which said: ‘The minister is content with the proposals and would like them to be moved on as quickly as possible.’

The minister said the document had been found because someone in the finance department retained a copy,

‘Quagmire of spin and cover-up’

and claimed it ‘destroys the opposition’s ridiculous conspiracy theories that another minister made this decision and destroys their unfounded speculation that there was a ministerial direction given’.

But documents published by the Government show director of financial management Gordon Wales replied eight minutes later, asking officials to wait until director of procurement Ainslie McLaughlin had spoken to Mr Swinney ‘to ensure there are no financial/procurement issues that he might want further reassurance on’.

In a message to Mr McLaughlin, Mr Wales said: ‘Would you drop a note in the system to confirm the absence of banana skins after your call with DFM [Deputy First Minister] please (worth letting him know the intention is to tell CMAL immediately)?’

At 5.15pm, Mr McLaughlin replied: ‘Just finished my call with DFM. He now understands the background and that Mr McKay [sic] has cleared the proposal. So the way is clear to award.’

Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby said the SNP was in ‘a quagmire of spin and cover-up’, adding: ‘There are serious questions for the Deputy First Minister.’

Last night, an Audit Scotland spokesman said: ‘The email confirms that ministers approved the award of the FMEL [Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd] contract. But there remains insufficient documentary evidence to explain why the decision was made to proceed with the contract, given the significant risks and concerns raised by CMAL.’

Former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars, who has lodged a complaint with police about the missing documents, said: ‘There has been so much obfuscation and denial... how come a document has suddenly turned up?’

A Government spokesman said: ‘The emails released show that then-finance secretary John Swinney was briefed by officials after the decision was taken and that he understood the background to the matter. The emails make explicitly clear Mr Mackay had already cleared the proposal.’ n THE MV Lord of the Isles ferry, which sails between Mallaig and South Uist, will be out of service from May 17 until May 25 ‘at the earliest’.

CalMac said repairs on the 33-year-old vessel ‘are necessary to allow it to remain in service throughout summer’.

IT is fortuitous that the missing document at the heart of the ferries scandal has turned up at last.

But isn’t it more than a little alarming that it was lost for so long, leaving a giant black hole in the evidence trail?

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth gleefully revealed the discovery, which appears to confirm that disgraced ex-finance secretary Derek Mackay signed off the contract.

even more surprising is the role played by Deputy First Minister John Swinney. He held last-ditch talks with officials to check for ‘banana skins’ before the ferry-building deal was awarded to the Ferguson yard.

We now know that this was something of a forlorn hope – and taxpayers have been left with a banana skin on the Clyde that might well cost them up to £400million.

With each new revelation, the ferries farrago becomes murkier and murkier. Depressingly, the inquiry has become an all too familiar feature of Scottish public life.

Few major public infrastructure projects come to fruition without an investigation of some kind into gross incompetence.

The frenzied buck-passing and blameshifting, coupled with endless spin and obfuscation, mean the ferries row deserves to be the subject of a forensic inquest.

True, such a post mortem would doubtless add to the overall bill – but a public inquiry is now surely unavoidable. Frankly, it’s our only hope of ever getting to the bottom of this ocean-going shambles.