Warnings of food shortages and even rations rarely come these days without implicit or explicit reference to Brexit. Our new trade relationship with continental Europe is blamed for many of the poor economic indicators that appear almost daily.
But if you’re a resident of the islands off the northwest coast of Scotland, there’s only one culprit responsible for the unprecedented deprivation communities there are now being subjected to: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
It was reported this week that shops in the Western Isles had been forced to give away essential food items such as milk and bread after a ferry operated by state-owned company CalMac was suspended for the third time in as many weeks.
And it’s not just food supplies that are affected by the growing unreliability of the aging ferry fleet. At the height of the tourist season, last week’s outage has had a catastrophic impact on the local economy.
When the 33-year-old ship Lord of the Isles was taken out of service for a week recently, the economy of Uist in the Outer Hebrides was estimated to have lost £650,000.
CalMac’s managing director, Robbie Drummond, pointed out that in 2006 the average age of the company’s fleet was 12 years, compared to between 25 and 30 years today – with inevitable consequences.
That’s the problem that was supposed to be at least partially solved by the Scottish Government’s plans to buy two new ferries from Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow, but the boats, which were due to be delivered in 2018 at a cost to the public purse of £97m , remain unfinished. Meanwhile, costs have spiraled, with the latest estimates settling at around £250m.
An inquiry into the ferry deal by a Scottish Parliament committee revealed some disturbing details, including that Jim McCall, the then owner of Ferguson’s, claimed that the controversial contract was signed without binding guarantees to reimburse the builder so that the SNP may announce it at its party conference in October 2015 – just months before the key Scottish Parliament election.
The announcement went ahead despite CMAL – the Scottish Government quango responsible for securing the new vessels – wanting to withdraw from the contract just weeks after Ferguson Marine was named as the preferred bidder in August 2015.
CMAL also strongly opposed a plan by the First Minister’s office to hold an official photo ‘launch’ opportunity for one of the ships at the yard in November 2017.
The ship itself had already been red-flagged as unseaworthy by the time the photocall took place, and to present a more positive image to the Scottish media, the ship’s windows had been painted to give the impression that it was almost ready for service.
Two weeks before the launch photo opportunity, Ferguson’s wrote to then Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, who accompanied Sturgeon to the event, confirming that delivery of the MV Glen Sannox would be delayed until winter 2018-19. This did not deter Yousaf or Sturgeon from their enthusiasm on the day, and neither revealed that they had been informed of a significant delay in the delivery of the ships.
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