Scots Gov feels the heat over ferry contracts
This week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was forced to deny her Government rushed through a controversial £97 million contract for two CalMac ferries for ‘political gain’
Monday, March 28 Pressure on FM for answers on ferries contract
NICOLA STURGEON is facing concerns a fiasco ferry contract was unlawful, after shipyard tycoon Jim McColl claimed the deal was rushed through by the SNP, without the normal checks, for political gain.
The First Minister is coming under mounting pressure and being urged to answer questions at Holyrood after Mr McColl alleged the award to his Ferguson Marine yard was made swiftly because the SNP wanted to announce it at the party’s autumn conference in October 2015.
Public spending auditors said ministers approved the calamitous contract, which is now years overdue, despite being warned it carried “significant risks” for taxpayers.
Mr McColl also said he believed the decision to overrule advice from experts and sign off the contract was made by the First Minister, along with then-transport minister Derek Mackay.
Scottish Conservatives have demanded the First Minister appear before the Scottish Parliament tomorrow to answer the “extraordinary claims”.
There are now concerns Mr McColl’s assertions could lead to legal challenges over the procurement process, as it is claimed it appeared set up to favour Port Glasgow-based Ferguson Marine.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf denied the contract was awarded for “political purposes”, saying: “The reason we were keen to secure the yard was to secure hundreds of jobs – hundreds of jobs and livelihoods that would be lost.”
Backlash sees Sunak plan new council tax rebate
THE Chancellor is considering proposals for a new council tax rebate after a growing backlash for not doing more to help struggling households as the UK heads for its biggest drop in living standards since the 1950s.
Rishi Sunak is reported to be weighing up another multi-billionpound package ahead of a further surge in fuel bills this autumn.
The energy price cap will jump from about £1,300 to nearly £2,000 on Friday – and could rise again to £3,000 in October. Reports that more measures may be unveiled later this year come days after Mr Sunak announced some tax and duty cuts that were widely dismissed as too limited and underestimated the scale of the cost-of-living crisis.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank warned last week’s Spring
Statement by Mr Sunak will drive 1.3 million more people – including 500,000 children – below the poverty line this year.
Mr Sunak’s measures set out last Wednesday included a 5p cut per litre to fuel duty and a rise in the threshold for paying National Insurance to £12,570 from July.
Tuesday, March 29 First Minister drawn deeper into row over ferry fiasco
NICOLA Sturgeon has been forced to deny her Government rushed through a £97 million contract for two CalMac ferries for “political gain”.
The First Minister insisted it was “flatly not the case” that the deal was struck in haste so it could be announced at an SNP conference.
Ms Sturgeon’s denial followed one of her former economic advisers, the engineering tycoon Jim McColl, alleging the decision was made “for political purposes”.
He told The Sunday Times that “everything was about the optics and timing the announcements for political gain”. Mr McColl’s
Ferguson Marine shipyard on the Clyde won the contract to build the two dual-fuel vessels for the stateowned ferry owner Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in 2015.
It proved a disaster, with delays, design changes and cost overruns leading to Ferguson’s being nationalised in 2019. The ferries are five years late and around £140m over budget.
An excoriating Audit Scotland report last week revealed Ferguson’s was unable to offer standard refund guarantees in case something went wrong, but ministers pressed ahead regardless.
Wildfire at former Scots MoD bio-weapon site
A WILDFIRE at a former bio-weapon experiment site on a Scottish island could spread “any remnant contamination” of toxic chemicals over several kilometres, an expert has warned.
Pictures shared on Saturday evening show the huge blaze on Gruinard Island, otherwise known as “Anthrax Island”, located off the northwest coast of the country.
The area was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during the Second World War with the MOD declarING the area safe more than 30 years ago. Government scientists conducted experimental biological weapons tests on sheep using anthrax cluster bombs in 1942.
For years, the deadly bacteria contaminated the soil until it was classified as anthrax-free in 1990 after a campaign by a group known as the Dark Harvest commandos, who highlighted the contamination of the soil during the 1980s.
Wednesday, March 30 A&E delays harmed or killed 30 patients in past week
EMERGENCY department delays will have harmed or killed more than 30 patients in the past week alone, clinicians have warned.
For the first time on record, more than 1,000 patients spent over 12 hours in A&E departments last week and one in 10 were delayed by eight hours or more. Previous research has shown that lengthy waits in A&E for patients requiring admission into hospital substantially increase the risk of poorer outcomes or death within 30 days.
Dr John Thomson, the vicepresident of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) in Scotland, said the situation is the “biggest patient safety crisis in emergency care for a generation”.
Pressure on beds is being driven by soaring rates of Covid which is resulting in high numbers of Covidpositive patients being admitted to hospital who must be isolated, along with staff shortages due to the infection, and outbreaks in cares homes exacerbating delayed discharge.
‘Forbes slur over ferries contract is defamation’: McColl
TYCOON Jim McColl has accused the Finance Secretary of defamation after she said he had a “clear interest in shifting the blame” over the disastrous ferry building contract.
The former Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) chief said Kate Forbes’ comments in the Scottish Parliament would have resulted in a potential claim for defamation if said outside the confines of Holyrood.
Under the Scotland Act, MSPs are protected from being sued for defamation over anything they say during proceedings of the Scottish Parliament.
The publication of any statement under the authority of the Parliament is also absolutely privileged.
Past examples of controversies include Donald Trump’s son Eric accusing Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie of making “libellous statements” in Holyrood.
The Ferguson Marine row blew up after Mr McColl spoke out over the ferry fiasco when he said the calamitous contract was agreed for political gain.
Ms Forbes sidestepped questions about which minister signed off on the £97 million deal to build two CalMac ferries, but insisted that it did not breach procurement rules.
CONTROVERSIAL plans to open up an oil field in the North Sea have been boosted after fossil fuels regulators extended an initial licence for the scheme one day before it was due to expire.
Backers of the Cambo oil field, located near Shetland, still hope to obtain a full licence for exploration from regulators and UK ministers, despite a new climate compatibility checkpoint being rolled out.
Under the draft climate plans by UK ministers, pre-existing applications including Cambo, would not need to meet environmental tests – despite opposition from Nicola Sturgeon and statutory advisers, the Climate Change Committee.
It is the latest boost for the North Sea as production is ramped up in the wake of the Ukraine invasion as countries move away from an increasing reliance on Russian oil and gas.
The mark of confidence for Cambo comes as the Scottish Government announced yesterday that its updated energy strategy promised to be made public by spring will now not be published until autumn due to the “fastmoving energy landscape”.
The original licence for the Cambo project, spearheaded by Siccar Point Energy, was due to expire today.
Shell had pulled out of the project, but indicated its intention to rethink the project earlier this month due to the global energy crisis and surging price of oil.
The Cambo oil field has still not received permission to produce fossil fuels with a full licence still to be determined by the North Sea Transition Authority, formerly the Oil and Gas Authority, and the UK Government.
Sturgeon fails to rule out millions more in ferry farce
NICOLA Sturgeon has refused to rule out Scotland’s ferries fiasco potentially going £300 million over budget, as she endured a mauling over the scandal at Holyrood.
The First Minister also defended hiring a troubleshooter at a cost of £2,850 a day, in a deal that ended up costing taxpayers £2m, saying it had been the “market rate”.
In a heated session of FMQs, Ms Sturgeon repeatedly defended her Government’s decision to award a deal for two CalMac ferries to Ferguson Marine in 2015, saying it saved the shipyard and jobs. However she also expressed her “deep regret” that the contract had gone disastrously wrong, with the vessels currently five years late and double the original budget.
Saturday, April 2 No Referendum Bill before May’s council elections
NICOLA STURGEON will not introduce a new Referendum Bill before next month’s council elections, The Herald can reveal.
The First Minister plans to hold Indyref2 next year but with Prime Minister Boris Johnson refusing to agree to a transfer of powers to the Scottish Parliament, she intends to use devolved legislation to enable the vote to take place.
However, the UK Government is likely to launch a challenge in the Supreme Court over the Holyrood Bill, raising the prospect of a protracted legal battle.
The First Minister said in January that a timetable for a second independence vote would be set out in the “coming weeks”, with a plan for the vote to be held before the end of 2023 on the condition the Covid pandemic had passed.
Her comments led some SNP members to believe the legislation would be tabled in Holyrood before the local government elections in a move that would boost activists’ enthusiasm for the council campaign.
Earlier this month, Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ co-leader, said the Bill would be introduced “before too long”. He would not say whether it would be before or after the two-week Easter recess, which began yesterday. But The Herald has now heard the legislation will not be formally tabled in Holyrood before the May 5 elections, though the ballot was not given as the reason for the legislation not being brought in until later.
A ‘holiday’ and £35k in return for £105m deal
MINISTERS have come under fire after it emerged the community benefits from a £ 105 million ferry contract with a Turkish shipbuilder are £ 35,000 and a week- long “holiday” for apprentices.
Turkish shipyard firm Cemre Marin Endustri finally officially signed up for the contract earlier this week after a 10- day standstill period with statecontrolled ferry owner and procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited ( CMAL).
Now CMAL has confirmed that the community benefits to Scotland are to give three Scottish apprentices one week’s work experience at the Cemre shipyard every year over the course of the three- year build and a total of £ 35,000 to its fund to support projects across Scotland. There were no benefits through sub- contracting, partnership arrangements or the provision of parts and equipment.
Chris McEleny, an Inverclyde councillor and general secretary of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, said the community benefits were “laughable”, adding: “This is a sad day for Scottish shipbuilding and the Scottish Government should be ashamed that they have allowed this to happen.”
The first vessel is expected to be delivered by October 2024 and will enter service following sea trials and crew familiarisation before serving Islay.