Scotland's ferry fiasco approaching cost of one of most expensive ocean liners ever built
Two ferries built at the Ferguson Marine shipyard for CalMac could end up costing £460 million
The SNP has always been a bit coy about the rising cost to the taxpayer of the apparently simple task of building two ferries. Expected to set us back some £97 million, the price and the nationalists’ bashfulness have risen dramatically over the decade since the vessels were commissioned.
In the Scottish Parliament, Conservative leader Russell Findlay quizzed John Swinney about whether reports that the final bill would reach £460m were true. “I can’t be definitive...” the First Minister replied, blaming a “risk contingency” that “depends on the sequence of events”.
This answer, Findlay rightly suggested, was “deeply concerning”. Given the Scottish Government owns the shipyard, the organisation that owns the ferries and the ferry company, CalMac, one might think they’d have a better idea.
But perhaps it is physically hard to say the words “£460 million”. After all, this was the cost of one of the most expensive ocean liners ever made, the Queen Mary 2. Admittedly, it was built 20 years ago and we are getting two ferries, but still... it is a sum to take anyone’s breath away.
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