There are many places in which the gap between the promise of Nicola Sturgeon’s ministry and the reality of its performance may easily be determined but few in which it yawns quite so widely as in the way in which the Scottish government has let down the country’s island communities so often and for so long.
In November 2017 the first minister “launched” the Glen Sannox, a new ferry built at Ferguson’s shipyard on the Clyde that would henceforth notionally serve the Isle of Arran. Notionally because, of course, all these years later there is no such ferry in service. The launch of the Glen Sannox was a Potemkin affair; its windows were painted on and its distinctive scarlet CalMac funnels were for decoration not operation.
Nevertheless, it was a gala day. “Ship launches are always emotional,” Sturgeon chirped, “but this one is particularly so because for more than a century this yard has been so much part of the local community.” And the Glen Sannox was in any case more than just a ship for it was something much bigger than that: it was a symbol of what once was and might one day be again. Or, as the first minister put it: “This launch is also important for the engineering, shipbuilding and manufacturing reputation of the country as a whole, and that makes it a very special part of the Scottish economy overall.”
A launched ship is not the same as a finished ship but, nearly four and a half years later, neither Glen Sannox nor her sister ship have been completed. So where stands the reputation of Scottish engineering, shipbuilding and manufacturing now? If this is a “very special” element of the Scottish economy then god help us all. For this has become a fiasco of genuinely epic proportions. There is, indeed, so much blame to be apportioned that every party to this shambles will be sustained by a diet of crow for years yet. Two boats were ordered from Ferguson’s at a cost of £100 million. It now seems wholly possible the final bill be at least £250 million and possibly as much as £300 million. If, indeed, the ferries are ever finished. To date, no one has been held accountable for this scandal.
Politicians are always at risk of being contradicted by events but even granite-hearted citizens might spare a thought for the first minister who confidently declared that “Ferguson’s is pioneering and innovating with Glen Sannox and her sister ship, and that is something to be really proud of. I know that the management and workers of this yard are determined to compete and win orders well into the future”.
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Oops. The Scottish government’s state-owned shipyard is not considered capable of building state-owned ships for the state-owned ferry service. Last week it was confirmed that two new vessels for the Islay route will instead be manufactured in Turkey. This must be considered good news since it must also dramatically increase the likelihood the ferries will actually be built.
Very few people who rely upon CalMac care where the boats are made; it is only Scottish politicians who make a shibboleth of favouring Scottish yards that prove incapable of fulfilling their side of the bargain. The symbolic importance of shipbuilding on the Clyde is to be considered more important than actually delivering vessels to the communities which need them. As a demonstration of Scottish political priorities this is close to unbeatable.
In the 14 years since the SNP came into power just six new boats have been launched (another vessel, the newly-named Loch Frisa, has been purchased from a Norwegian operator). There are more boats in the CalMac fleet which entered service when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister than have been launched since the SNP assumed responsibility for Scotland’s ferries. Come to think of it, more started their working life when John Major was prime minister too.
Based on a typical lifespan of 25 to 30 years, much of the present fleet should have retired years ago. The Hebridean Isles entered service in 1985 yet its replacement on the Islay route will not enter service until at least 2025. Ancient ferries are more likely to fail than newer vessels and a CalMac fleet without spare capacity is one guaranteed to fail the communities that depend upon it. Yesterday on a largely calm day, just 13 of CalMac’s 29 routes were operating at their usual capacity and to the normal timetable.
Some ships are unavailable because they are receiving their annual service but replacement provision remains woeful. Important routes to major islands such as Mull and Islay must endure a miserably inadequate service.
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None of this is a surprise. Yet when opposition MSPs raise these failures, SNP representatives accuse them of talking down island life. According to Jennie Minto, the SNP MSP for Argyll & Bute, asking questions about these matters risks casting “life on the islands in a negative light” and this is “both entirely partisan and extremely unhelpful in the image that it portrays”. With leadership and representation like that, it is no wonder failure is all but guaranteed. Promises are cheap but they float no boats.
Alex Massie also appears in The Sunday Times
