£750 million spent on the ferries fiasco? Yes, and the rest...

The Herald Scotland

21-05-2025

Jim McColl bought the buildings and land at Ferguson's for £1.625m and put them into a separate company such that on the triumphant announcement of the nationalisation of the shipyard by the hapless Derek Mackay it did not own the land and buildings; all he had nationalised was a heap of scrap steel. The Scottish Government then had to set up a company to obfuscate the purchase of those assets and the cost is also hidden. I somehow think it was cost-plus, shall we guess £10m?
Then there is the cost of acquiring Ardrossan harbour for which CalMac continues to pay rent from Peel Ports, a company not known for its philanthropy. Ardrossan will then need to be upgraded. Total cost? I don't think £150m will be too far from realistic.
Then we add the additional rental and use of Troon Harbour owned by Associated British Ports, which spent £6m upgrading fendering and parking facilities. This charge will continue until Ardrossan Harbour is completed in, optimistically, five years. £5m per annum? Let's add £25m.
And of course the ubiquitous Alfred, the catamaran that performs economically and reliably and which the customers love despite CMAL's absolute denial of suitability as a form of marine transport. £1m per month, three years' rental awaiting the completion of the Glen Rosa, £36m, which is incidentally two and a half times her construction cost.
Then we can add the extra cost of fuel and wear and tear due to the increased route length of using Troon instead of Ardrossan and the reduced income due to the decreased number of passenger and vehicle journeys available over five years, shall we say £20m?
So add to the £750m, £31+10+150+36+20m and we have a real cost of £997m, not quite a billion but I am sure they will get there. Where did all this money go? No Scottish Government member seems interested.
But at least we are saved, as "the Scottish Government is currently doing due diligence over the further request for taxpayer backing". Well, that's OK then.
Peter Wright, West Kilbride.
Read more letters
Little sympathy for fishing sector
I used to have sympathy with Scottish fishermen who risked their lives to put food on our tables. However that has progressively diminished over the years. Revelations about quotas being deliberately ignored and black fish landed in order to maximise income together with rising instances of drug abuse amongst fishermen due to the money being made changed my view.
Now they are calling the deal with the EU which keeps quotas as they are for the next 12 years "a capitulation" ("Starmer hails new EU deal that 'turns page' on Brexit", The Herald, May 20). They demand annual negotiations instead. There appears to be an assumption that EU quotas will continue to be reduced annually and that this will eventually give them control of fishing in the UK waters. But a reduced EU quota simply means the rest of us have to suffer higher costs elsewhere as a consequence of their intransigence.
What really antagonises me however is to learn that nearly 20% of the catch from UK waters is not even landed in Scotland. Our fishermen can get better prices in Denmark and Norway so they go there. That means that we pay more for what fish is landed here whilst Scottish fish processing workers' jobs are put at risk as a direct consequence.
Whilst Scottish fishermen strongly supported Brexit they were the first to complain about being excluded from Norwegian waters as a consequence. That's because the EU had negotiated access for its member states in exchange for reducing tariffs on Norwegian exports. In other words they voted to make themselves worse off. So why are these same fishermen now getting £360 million of support from the taxpayer to help keep them in a job?
Last week the same fishermen's organisations were complaining that new visa restrictions just announced would further jeopardise their industry because they employ cheap foreign labour (31% of the fleet) who in many cases do not speak good English. In an industry as dangerous as fishing I would have thought that the ability to understand instructions was a prerequisite. But as always it appears money is the overriding criterion.
Last year a BBC documentary revealed that many of these foreign workers were being paid below the minimum wage and were working in dangerous and unsafe conditions. Yet no boat owner has ever been prosecuted.
To this can be added their opposition to marine protected areas whilst some indulge in illegal scallop dredging in those areas that are protected. Then there is the French discovery last week of steroid contamination in Scottish farmed salmon where pens are already damaging the environment and putting wild salmon stocks at risk. Perhaps you can therefore understand why my support for the fishing industry has almost completely evaporated.
Robert Menzies, Falkirk.
Submissive Starmer
Various words have been used to describe the supposed 'deal' that Sir Keir Starmer has negotiated with the EU such as 'humiliation' and 'capitulation". However one might add 'submissiveness' to that list.
Is it not somewhat ironic that in this 80th anniversary year of VE Day, he concedes to Europe (and in particular to France) on almost every aspect of the deal and in particular, the betrayal of our fishing industry? The Prime Minister lauds his 'deal' and yet cannot detail what the UK will pay to access the EU Defence Fund nor the costs nor the detail around how we align to the food standards system.
This country will fall under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in addition to the European Court of Human Rights. The UK will have absolutely no input into the laws and structures of such courts. Can one imagine the likes of the USA or Canada or Australia or Japan becoming subservient to foreign courts?
Whether one agreed with Brexit or not, there is little doubt that this deal undermines our sovereignty and our ability to control our own destiny. The likes of President Macron, Chancellor Merz and Ursula von der Leyen will have huge smiles, if not smirks, on their faces following this 'deal'.
Richard Allison, Edinburgh.
Keir Starmer with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (Image: PA)
Now show some backbone
Keir Starmer's reset with the EU has been characterised by the usual suspects as a betrayal of Brexit.
If events were looked at dispassionately, it would be seen clearly that Brexit was the betrayal.
Boris Johnson's battle bus had emblazoned on its sides one of the major fibs about the fresh funding for the NHS awaiting it once we left the EU. That campaign with its clarion call to restore sovereignty and control to the UK Parliament turned the heads of a disaffected electorate.
That disaffection had been fuelled by the growth in inequality and the decline in smart regulation which left the general public clinging on to a raft of failing public services. It was no wonder they jumped to join the bandwagon only to find out too late, once our departure from the EU was done and dusted, that they were riding on tumbrels heading towards the economic guillotine.
Now the plain unvarnished truth is there for all to see and the Government is trying to find some way to bring us back down to earth to face the reality of what has transpired since 2016. Sadly it is making slow progress out of fear of an adverse political reaction which could seriously jeopardise its re-election prospects.
It is time the Government showed its backbone and declared that our future rests entirely on rejoining the EU where we will have strength in numbers and a strong voice in the decisions and development of the EU.
That is the vision the country needs – to see a government ready to face down its critics whose agenda is to achieve a small state with low taxation and services barely at the safety net level.
Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.