CalMac ferry Glen Rosa flooded in new Ferguson Marine setback
The latter did enter service between Troon and Arran in January this year, with Glen Rosa due to be delivered "no earlier" than April 2026.
The ship was launched last year but The Times reports it has suffered a new setback.
Read More:
According to the newspaper, Glen Rosa's funnels were fitted purely for aesthetic purposes for the launch and the vents later had to be removed to fit components including engine parts.
The gap was not sealed after the removal of the funnel and the ship was flooded by heavy rain on the Clyde two weeks ago.
The total cost of the two ferries is now around £400million, well in excess of the £97m specified in the contract.
Claire Baker, the Scottish Labour transport spokeswoman, told The Times: 'This is yet another embarrassing mishap in the SNP's seemingly endless ferry fiasco. The workers at this yard have been let down time and time again by the chaos created by those at the top, including the SNP government.'
Sue Webber, the Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for transport, said: 'There seems to be no end to the mishaps afflicting the Glen Rosa. This latest fiasco with its funnels should have been easily avoided.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
SNP warned not to ‘squander' £9.1bn boost after Chancellor Rachel Reeves unleashed £300bn UK-wide splurge
LABOUR challenged the SNP not to 'squander' a £9.1billion boost to Holyrood's coffers after the Chancellor turned on the taps at her spending review. Rachel Reeves unveiled a £300billion UK-wide splurge in a bid to appease voters after her party's rocky first year in power. 2 Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar labelled the extra money as 'game-changing' 2 Finance Secretary Shona Robison claimed that if Ms Reeves was being fair, she'd have sent an extra £1bn a year to Holyrood Announcing her long-term spending plans for the years from 2026, she confirmed major investment in defence and nuclear power plus a three per cent above-inflation increase to NHS spending down south. Ms Reeves admitted 'too many people in too many parts of our country' were yet to feel the benefits of the 'change' they voted for when Labour swept back into power last July. The knock-on effect of the Chancellor's funding pledges means a massive cash boost for the Scottish Government to spend as it sees fit. Nats ministers will get an average annual boost of £2.4billion on day-to-day spending and £400million for major projects in the years to 2029. That's on top of the £4billion-plus yearly bonus delivered last October from the first Budget of Sir Keir Starmer's government. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar labelled the extra money as 'game-changing'. He said: 'These plans will bring billions of pounds of investment to Scotland — on top of the record Budget settlement. 'But the massive increase in funds must not be squandered by the SNP government, which has a track record of waste and failure.' Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said voters would face a clear choice at next May's Holyrood election. He said: 'It's either a third decade of the SNP, who've squandered their opportunity over the last 18 years and squandered the £4.9billion extra the UK Government gave earlier. Top 5 takeaways from Spending review 'Or a government that's committed to investing in public services and infrastructure, renewing Scotland and working with a UK Labour government to deliver jobs right across the country.' But experts warned the extra cash could be swallowed by Scottish Government pledges such as pay hikes for public sector workers and higher devolved benefits. FUEL AID HOPE NATS' Finance Secretary indicated the SNP might dish out more cash to pensioners after Labour's winter fuel payment U-turn. But Shona Robison refused to commit to passing on all of an estimated extra £120million from Westminster to struggling Scots OAPs. Labour has now said older people down south with an income below £35,000 will receive the handouts, following an outcry when they were axed. Experts reckon the extra funds now due to Holyrood will be enough to cover £100 payments Nats have already pledged to pensioners. Asked if the payments could be increased, Ms Robison said: 'There's other things we need to fund as well which is why we're looking at the options. We'll deliver the best deal for pensioners.' Nats ministers are already set to spend £2billion more on welfare by the end of the decade than they receive from Westminster. But SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison claimed that if Ms Reeves was being fair, she'd have sent an extra £1billion a year to Holyrood. She said: 'This review is business as usual from the UK Government, which is yet again treating Scotland as an afterthought and failing to provide the funding we need. 'Had our resource funding for day-to-day priorities grown in line with the UK Government's overall spending, we'd have £1.1billion more to spend on our priorities over the next three years. In effect, Scotland has been short-changed by more than a billion pounds.' But despite the extra cash, an expert warned SNP policy decisions mean tax rises or spending cuts may be needed to balance Scotland's books by 2027/28. David Phillips, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the winner of next year's election 'will face tough choices' due to increased NHS, benefits, and public sector pay costs. Earlier, Ms Reeves told the Commons her plans were the start of Labour's project to 'renew Britain'. She vowed to back the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. But official documents raised questions about how the scheme, to store gas emissions under the North Sea, would be funded. NUCLEAR SWIPE AT FM & CO RACHEL Reeves slammed the SNP's opposition to arms factories and nuclear power as she confirmed defence spending hikes. The Chancellor announced an £11billion boost for the armed forces plus a £600million increase for security and intelligence agencies. She also confirmed a £250million redevelopment of the Faslane base on the Clyde, where new nuclear submarines will be stationed. It means defence spending will be upped to 2.6 per cent of GDP by April 2027. Ms Reeves blasted Nats' opposition to nuclear weapons and munitions. She said: 'Investment in Scotland, jobs in Scotland, defence for the United Kingdom, opposed by the Scottish National Party, delivered by this Labour Government.' Sir Keir Starmer previously set out the UK Government's Strategic Defence Review in a speech in Glasgow last week. Nats and Labour clashed as the No10 chief claimed Nats' goal of scrapping Trident nuclear missiles would make Scotland less safe. Sir Keir said: 'Imagine the effect that would have on the safety and security of the UK and of Scotland.' They concluded: 'A final investment decision will be taken later.' Scottish Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy warned UK taxes will probably have to rise at the Budget this autumn. He said: 'This spend-now-tax-later statement will offer no comfort to those betrayed by the first year of a disastrous Labour Government. 'Taxes remain sky-high and the Chancellor will almost certainly have to hike them further to pay for her spending plans, breaking yet another of her promises.' Mr Hoy added: 'Scots are saddled with two failing, high-tax, left-wing governments — one at Westminster and the other at Holyrood.'
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
SNP will waste spending review billions, Scottish Secretary warns
The SNP will 'squander' the record funding it has been handed by the Chancellor's spending review unless it is ousted from power, the Scottish Secretary has warned. Rachel Reeves announced that Scotland's block grant from Westminster would rise by an average of £2.9 billion per year to the 'largest settlement in real terms since devolution was introduced'. SNP ministers will have an average of £50.9 billion of spending money per year between 2026-27 and 2028-29, with each year rising by more than inflation. Among the Chancellor's other announcements were £750 million to bring the most powerful supercomputer in the UK to Edinburgh University and development funding to advance the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. But Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, warned that extra money would be wasted if the SNP remained in power after next May's Holyrood election. He said the Nationalists had already 'squandered' an extra £4.9 billion they had been given by Ms Reeves in last year's Budget, with ordinary Scots feeling little benefit. Within days of the Budget being unveiled last October, John Swinney, the First Minister, said the entire windfall allocated for 2024/25 had already been spent on public sector pay rises. Scotland has a larger public sector relative to the rest of the UK and the average state employee earns £2,400 more per year north of the border.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
John Swinney needs to rethink his strategy over Scottish independence
There are rumblings of discontent within the SNP following the party's defeat in the recent Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election. It is reported that a group of 25 senior figures within the party held a private meeting on Monday to discuss John Swinney's leadership and the lack of a strategy on independence. Those in attendance have said that they have warned the First Minister that he has two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence or he faces a "bloodbath" at the SNP conference due in the autumn. There is deep disquiet both within the SNP and in the wider independence movement about Swinney's lack of emphasis on independence. The First Minister has previously spoken about the need to boost support for independence among the wider Scottish public in order to break through the current political logjam on the constitutional issue. While it is certainly true that the British political parties can continue to ignore the independence question as long as they can point to a Scottish public, which is more or less evenly divided on the issue, turning support for independence into the settled will of an unarguable majority of the people of Scotland won't happen by magic or by passively sitting back and allowing the British political system to implode and fall prey to far right Anglo-British nationalism in the shape of Nigel Farage and his minions. Yet it appears to many that this latter tactic is the one being pursued by the current SNP leadership. John Swinney seems to be hoping that public anger with a dishonest and duplicitous Labour party and fear of Farage waiting in the wings will turn voters to independence as the sole alternative to a failed Westminster system. READ MORE: Scottish bus firm announces plan to move all manufacturing to England This won't work unless there is also a vigorous and energetic push for independence running at the same time. The reality is that without the SNP actively making the case for independence at every turn, all that happens is that the pro-independence vote falls into apathy and despair, and simply doesn't bother to turn out to vote. The truth is that people need things spelled out for them; they need a leading political party to join up the dots and to make a compelling argument that the only real solution to the failure of the Westminster system is independence. The Scottish media certainly isn't going to do that, and the grassroots independence campaign can all too easily be marginalised and ignored by that same overwhelmingly anti-independence Scottish media. That only leaves the SNP. If the party of independence won't push for independence loudly and forcibly, many will be left wondering what the point of the party is. You can't break through to an apathetic and disillusioned electorate with quiet managerialism, no matter how competent. Breaking through requires enthusiasm, assertiveness, and a sense of urgency about independence. The First Minister has made some minimal changes to his cabinet, Mairi McAllan, who has returned from maternity leave, has been given a new role, Cabinet Secretary for Housing. The new Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy is Maree Todd, who takes over the post previously held by Christina McKelvie, who died in March due to cancer. Housing minister Paul McLennan has left government as his ministerial role is being developed into the cabinet role given to Mairi McAllan, and Alasdair Allan will leave his post at the end of this week after assuming the temporary role of climate action. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled her spending review plans. For Scotland, she has announced £750 million in funding for a supercomputer in Edinburgh, as well as money to redevelop the Faslane nuclear submarine base, although that particular piece of spending is not for Scotland's benefit; it's for the benefit of the UK's unconvincing pretensions to great power status. After numerous Westminster U-turns and betrayals, funding has finally been announced for the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire. However, the Chancellor has yet to confirm the exact amount of money that will be provided to the project. Acorn is based in St Fergus near Peterhead and works with industrial, power, hydrogen, bioenergy, and waste-to-energy businesses who wish to capture CO2 emissions and send them into permanent geological storage under the North Sea. (Image: NQ) However, the technology is controversial, with many criticising it as unworkable and serving only to extend the life of the fossil fuel extraction industry and arguing that should instead be investing the money spent on carbon capture projects to transitioning away from fossil fuels and developing clean renewable energies. Nevertheless, today's announcement is welcome news for the Acorn project and for jobs in the north east, although we wait to see just how much money is being committed and the timescale for its delivery. As always with Westminster, and particularly with this Labour government, what finally ends up being delivered all too often falls far short of the headline promises, so we can take today's announcements with a bucket of salt. The SNP's Westminster economy spokesman, Dave Doogan, welcomed the capital investment in key projects like the Acorn carbon capture scheme and the reversal of cuts to Edinburgh University's supercomputer plans, but said these long-term investments were overshadowed by immediate cuts that would hurt millions. He said: 'Every time this Chancellor has made a major financial statement, the pattern has been the same – growth has been downgraded, the markets have wobbled, and unemployment has risen. I fear today's trajectory will be no different.' (Image: 2) He added: "The Chancellor can't hide from her own numbers and can't mask her party's priorities – Labour is slashing support for disabled people, doubling down on a jobs tax that is already increasing unemployment, and imposing massive real terms cuts to departmental spending that have already suffered austerity." He warned that Reeves' commitment to her fiscal rules could mean further cuts were waiting down the line, saying: "The other inconvenient truth of this Spending Review is that it might not be worth the paper it is written on by the time we get to the next UK budget."
