A FERRY BAD IDEA

Committee report questions part First Minister played in scandal over delays

- CHRIS MCCALL

NICOLA Sturgeon has come under fire over her part in the Ferguson Marine ferry scandal in a damning report from MSPs.

The First Minister was criticised for her decision in 2015 to prematurely announce the shipyard in Port Glasgow was the preferred bidder for two new CalMac car ferries.

And Sturgeon's attendance at a launch event for one of the unfinished ships in November 2017 was also questioned by a cross-party group of MSPs.

The Scottish Parliament's Public Audit Committee concluded that Scots especially those living in island communities - had been "badly let down" by the project.

Neither ferry has been completed, with total costs tripling to £300million with the final price tag still unknown.

Committee convener Richard Leonard said: "The people of Scotland have been badly let down by this project. There have been collective failures at Government and agency level from the start.

"It has been dogged by a lack of transparency; by ineffective governance arrangements; by poor record keeping within the Government; and by baffling communication failures.

"It is vital lessons are learned.