Sturgeon labelled a liar after defending £250m ferry deal

NICOLA STURGEON has been branded a liar by one of Scotland’s wealthiest men after she claimed a scandal-hit ferries contract had saved his former shipyard, as well as hundreds of jobs.

Jim Mccoll, who previously owned the Ferguson Marine yard, said the First Minister’s claim that the deal for two ferries had prevented the firm going under was a “lie”.

He also accused Ms Sturgeon of fabricating her claim that 400 jobs had been protected by the deal, stating that only 150 people had worked at the yard when it was signed.

He added that the shipyard was in “no danger” of going bust at the time thanks to other work it had.

His intervention undermined Ms Sturgeon’s main defence for the ferries contract, the cost of which has spiralled from £97 million to £250 million.

They are not expected to be finished until next year, five years late.

A damning recent Audit Scotland report disclosed how the shipyard told ferry firm Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) that it was unable to offer the normal 100 per cent refund guarantee to the taxpayer.

CMAL then pleaded with Transport Scotland not to award the contract to the company, arguing it was too risky, but this was rejected by ministers. They nationalised the yard in 2019 after it went into administration.

But Scotland’s auditor general has expressed frustration at the lack of any official record of their discussions about why they pressed ahead, saying it was “so unusual in the scale of this contract”.

Mr Mccoll has previously alleged the deal was rushed through for political reasons to give Ms Sturgeon a boost at the 2015 SNP conference and the following year’s Holyrood election.

A spokesman for the First Minister said: “Not for the first time, Mr Mccoll’s comments on a BBC interview are at odds with the facts.

“The reality – as a simple reading of the First Minister’s interview shows – is that she was clearly referring to the 400 people ‘currently’ employed at the yard.

“And those 400 jobs would not currently exist if the Scottish Government had not taken the action we did to save the yard – that is a fact.”