Here’s the truth of the matter which cannot be concealed by the frenzy of ferry reporting we’ve suffered this last two years and more:
From the Scotsman, of all places, on the 29th March 2022:
Answering questions from MSPs in Holyrood, the finance secretary emphatically rejected accusations from the tycoon the deal for hulls 801 and 802 were rushed for political purposes.
Mr McColl told the BBC on Tuesday morning that there had been a “fabulous propaganda exercise” by the SNP to shift blame on to Ferguson’s for the five year delay to the vessels which were supposed to go into service in 2018.
He claimed then-infrastructures minister, Keith Brown, signed the contract, though the Scottish Government have said it was signed by the chief executive of CMAL and Mr McColl himself.
Kate Forbes accused Jim McColl of “shifting the blame” on the ferries fiasco
Ms Forbes said it was “entirely wrong” the contract award was “rushed”, stating that the timetable did not “support that notion” and that all procurement processes were followed.
Attacking Mr McColl, she added: “Contrary to what Jim McColl said this morning on the BBC, it was the chief executive of CMAL and Jim McColl himself who signed the contract.
“This is a man with a clear interest in shifting the blame on others when the route cause ultimately to the delays of these important vessels was the construction under FMEL (Ferguson Marine).”https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/ferries-fiasco-kate-forbes-attacks-jim-mccoll-and-accuses-him-of-shifting-the-blame-on-ferries-scandal-3631756
Even earlier, when the media atmosphere was less cluttered:
‘Bosses at Ferguson shipyard were to blame for the delay and spiralling cost of two new CalMac ferries’, according to the chief executive of the government agency which placed the orders. Kevin Hobbs, of CMAL, also rejected calls for the unfinished ferries to be scrapped and the work started again.’
Reporting Scotland 6:30pm, January 14, 2020.
Talking-up Scotland 
Get them finished. They will save £Billions on fuel. Any prototype takes longer and costs more. The funds went into the local Scottish economy.
HS2 and Hinkley Point etc a total waste of public money. A total waste with no value. Wasting £Billions. Scotland is pay for it. Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy and nearer the sources pays more. No parity. Westminster total mismanagement of fuel and energy policies. Fracked US gas is imported into Grangemouth.
Starmer is trying to going to stop Oil & Gas production but supports nuclear. Nuclear most expensive and dangerous. Nuclear waste is being flown around the world. There is already a change over to renewables.
Nuclear dumped in Scotland. Westminster wasting £Billions on Trident and redundant weaponry. Illegally selling weapons to Saudi Arabia since the 1960s. Harold Wilson. Kept secret under the Official Secrets Act. Westminster corruption.
Independence supporters need to go out and vote every election. Use it or lose it. March to the polling station. Take another as well.
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My God – They’re back peddling this nonsense again, presumably the Herald got a call that the BBC’s ferry propaganda campaign was running out of steam and London was worried. https://archive.ph/WzHVa
– CMAL and FMEL were the Client and Contractor in the Contract, there was no 3rd party – Only parties to the Contract could cause a delay or give rise to additional costs.
– Claims mechanisms for unforeseen costs are part of every Contract, and such claims are assessed by an independent consultant to the Contract, with reversion to arbitration should either party disagree with the conclusion.
– Martin Williams quite deliberately distorts this latter aspect of the Contract to imply SG acted unilaterally despite NOT being a party to the Contract – Whether it was the consultant or consultant+arbiter who refused the Claim is unknown, but this would have informed SG’s later ‘conclusion’.
Yet the most preposterous of all is McColl’s suggestion lack of publication of certain details to the Contract reveals a conspiracy – It is standard practice to exclude market sensitive information from publication and he fully knows it – Just as he knew Keith Brown did not and could not sign the contract, as he was not a party to the Contract.
To paraphrase part of Martin’s article, “The taxpayer has ended up paying the price for ” James McColl’s “ferry fiasco”.
Unlike the BBC’s ‘incontinent pigeons’, we never quite seem able to shut him up.
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”The tycoon doth protest too much ! ” …said Shakespeare about Mr McColl .
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Hell hath no ferry like a billionaire scorned?
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