Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “What an utter, abject humiliation for the cabinet secretary to have to admit to parliament and the nation that – years down the line – it would be cheaper to start from scratch, than complete vessel 802.
“Of course, that can’t and won’t happen – because our island communities have already been kept waiting years too long, and any further delays to the delivery of the jinxed Ferguson Marine vessels would heap betrayal upon betrayal.
“But it’s a shameful, scarcely-believable indictment of SNP mismanagement that completing 802 at Ferguson does not represent value for money.
“The building of ferries 801 and 802 is a national scandal that continues to snowball before our eyes.
“The very least islanders – and Scottish taxpayers – deserve is an admission from the cabinet secretary of what the final bill for 801 will be, and, for 802, how much cheaper it would be to buy a new ferry elsewhere compared to finishing the one languishing in Port Glasgow.
“Not only did he fail to answer these questions, he had the audacity to take umbrage at the SNP being taken to task for their appalling incompetence and failure.”
