‘Scapegoat’ Mackay to lift lid on SNP ferries f iasco
DEREK Mackay, the disgraced former transport minister blamed by Nicola Sturgeon for the CalMac ferries fiasco, says he is prepared to appear before the Scottish parliament to set the record straight.
Speaking publicly for the first time since resigning his Cabinet role in 2020, Mr Mackay said he intends to cooperate fully with any parliamentary inquiry, drawing on key government documents.
It’s expected Holyrood’s public audit committee will order a probe into the affair later this month.
The dramatic intervention comes in the wake of a damning report by Audit Scotland into the construction at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, of two ferries running more than £150 million over budget and five years late. SNP ministers awarded the contract against the advice of their procurement agency, CMAL, which considered it too risky.
Friends of Mr Mackay, who quit politics after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages to a boy aged 16, said he was surprised to be placed centre stage in the row. Although Ms Sturgeon blamed him for the fiasco, documents show Keith Brown – his boss as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure – was asked to sign off on Ferguson as preferred bidder in August 2015 while Mr Mackay was on leave.
Days later, Ms Sturgeon visited the yard, and tycoon Jim McColl, who owned Ferguson at the time, insists she and Mr Mackay pushed for his firm to get the contract.
A friend of Mr Mackay, who is trying to rebuild his career as a consultant, said: ‘Derek believes he’s been victimised and is happy to appear at the committee where he will set the record straight. He was fourth in the pecking order around these ferry orders, the most junior Minister dealing with them.
‘He was behind the main players: Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Keith Brown.
‘Something of this size could never have happened without prior approval at the highest levels.’
In a statement, Mr Mackay told the Sunday Times: ‘I am willing to cooperate with a committee and answer any questions. To do so as comprehensively as possible I will seek access to the papers I am entitled to as a former Minister.’