Ministers at fault

IT is beyond disgraceful that Kate Forbes is unable – or unwilling – to guarantee that the CalMac ferries contract will end next year. The Finance Secretary was highly evasive yesterday – claiming that ‘solutions [to technical problems] are expected progressively’.

It is baffling language – but the real meaning is clear: there is no sign of the finished ferries, and in the meantime passengers are saddled with a second-rate service.

Indeed, there are deeply ominous reports that the two ferries may never set sail because more than 200 faults still need to be addressed.

This is a scandal that has been characterised at every turn by cover-up and obfuscation.

But taxpayers deserve better than the blame-shifting (and self-serving waffle) of government ministers who are woefully out of their depth.