No issue is more important

Sir,

I applaud how the Arran Ferry Action Group continues to highlight the abysmal state of the ferry and harbour procurement system.

We are still waiting for an inappropriate, oversized ferry, due to be delivered five years late, to a harbour it won’t fit into and that won’t be ready for another two years after that, all costing more than double the original price – if that’s not a ‘catastrophic’ procurement failure then what is?

However, when I ask North Ayrshire’s councillors to hold our inept SNP-run Scottish Government to account for this failure, as I did at last week’s North Ayrshire Council meeting, I get no support from Arran’s other councillor representatives.

I am the only North Ayrshire councillor to have brought the ferry shambles to the attention of the council over the past four years, and on each occasion I get no support from SNP or Labour councillors.

I was elected to represent the interests of the people of Arran and Ardrossan and no issue is more important for the people of Arran than the ferry.

Responsibility for the ferry rests wholly with the SNP Scottish Government and it must be held accountable for the damage that our inadequate ferry service continues to cause to our communities and economy.

How anybody on Arran can continue to remain uncritical of how such a fundamental Arran issue is being handled escapes me.

For whatever reason, the SNP Government is unable or unwilling to make change. The minister denies that there is a problem and refuses to accept the criticism and recommendations made by the cross-party parliamentary enquiry into ferry procurement.

It is clear that we will only get a better ferry service with a change of Scottish Government. Yours,

Timothy Billings,

Conservative councillor for Ardrossan and Arran.