NICOLA Sturgeon has been urged to give MSPs answers after a shipyard tycoon said that the she rushed the controversial ferries fiasco contract through without normal checks because the SNP wanted to announce it at a party conference.

Jim McColl says ministers acted swiftly so the contract for two new CalMac vessels with his Ferguson Marine shipyard firm so it could be announced at their autumn conference in October 2015.

Public spending auditors said ministers approved the calamitous ferries contract despite being warned that it carried “significant risks” for taxpayers.

And he said that he believed the decision to to overrule advice from experts and sign off the contract was made by the First Minister along with then transport minister Derek Mackay.

Scottish Conservatives have demanded the First Minister appear before the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday to answer what they called the  "extraordinary claims" of Mr McColl.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), the state-controlled firm that owns and procures CalMac’s ferries wanted to pull out of the contract weeks after the Ferguson Marine was named as the preferred bidder.

The contract for Glen Sannox and an unnamed vessel known as Hull 802 - was awarded in 2015, a year after businessman Jim McColl stepped in to rescue Ferguson, the last commercial shipyard on the River Clyde.

The first ship was meant to enter service on the Arran route in the summer of 2018 but is not expected to be ready until next year at the earliest. Hull 802, destined for an Outer Hebrides route, has gone the same way. The latest estimated cost for both ships is around a quarter of a billion pounds, off a fixed contract price of £97m.

Mr McColl has previously accused the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of announcing the contract publicly before a price had been agreed and told the Herald that the SNP wanted to make political capital out of it. He has also said that he believed he was a "pawn" in the Scottish Government's attempts to save the yard and while denying cronyism, that he got the contract due to his connections with previous SNP leader Alex Salmond and that the SNP government favoured the yard, and not him personally.

READ MORE: Jim McColl: 'I was Scottish Government pawn in Ferguson Marine ferry fiasco'

SNP ministers have come under consistent criticism over the awarding of the ships contract after it emerged Ferguson Marine submitted the most expensive bid for the work out of six competing yards, but won through with the highest specification and quality.

Mr McColl has doubled down on his criticism of ministers saying the acted in haste over the awarding of the ferries contract so it could be announced at their autumn conference in October 2015.

He said: “The audit report has revealed we were given the contract for political purposes. Everything was about the optics and timing the announcements for political gain."

The Scottish Conservatives say that Jim McColl's latest comments infer the First Minister misled the Scottish Parliament by indicating that Mr Mackay was the responsible transport minister.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: "Jim McColl has made extraordinary comments that the First Minister herself must answer immediately.

The Herald:

"It's the least the Scottish public deserve when there are credible claims that £250 million of taxpayers' money has been wasted for political purposes.

"It's becoming clear why Audit Scotland couldn't find any evidence to support the government’s decision to agree this contract against expert advice. The decision looks to have been made for political gain, not for the benefit of taxpayers or the island communities who desperately need these ferries.

"From what Mr McColl has said, there are serious questions for the First Minister to answer. On Thursday, she tried to say this scandal was all Derek Mackay's fault but there is more and more evidence that she may have misled Parliament by making that claim.

"We're giving Nicola Sturgeon every chance to answer these shocking charges. There is no excuse for dodging responsibility and hiding from scrutiny. She must appear before the Scottish Parliament when we next sit on Tuesday to tell the public how and why their money was lost."

During First Minister's Questions on Thursday,  Ms Sturgeon said she did "not volunteer the information" about who the individual minister was that gave the green light for the contract.

But she added: "It is a matter of public record who the transport minister was at the time of the decision; it is a matter of public record that it was Derek Mackay."

And she went on to say: "This Government operates by collective responsibility and I am ultimately responsible for all decisions that the Government takes. The buck stops with me."

When tackled about 'throwing Mr Mackay under the bus' she added: " I did not intend to come here and do anything but accept full responsibility."

Giving evidence to MSPs at Holyrood over two year ago, Mr McColl said he was “stuck with” a cut-price contract for two ferries after it was announced prematurely by Nicola Sturgeon.

The tycoon behind Ferguson Marine said the First Minister publicly put a price of £97m on the pair of passenger ships while his firm were asking for £105m.

Mr McColl then alleged his firm was told by CMAL, the buyer of the two vessels - there was no more room for negotiation because the contract had been announced.

He added that after she made the announcement in August 2015 he was told “you’ll just have to accept it” and was left with no option but to agree to deliver the vessels at the lower price.

In announcing that Mr McColl's Ferguson Marine got the contract, the First Minister said: "This is an excellent result for Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and I am delighted to name them as preferred tenderer for the contract to build two new ferries, the largest commercial vessels to be built on the Clyde since 2001.

The Herald:

"This contract will see the 150-strong workforce retained and more staff taken on at the shipyard, underlining our commitment to creating the vital jobs needed to boost local economies and help stimulate growth across Scotland.

"The Scottish government is committed to supporting ferry users around Scotland by providing safe and reliable services, and this is the latest step to ensuring we have a fleet that continues to deliver for the communities that depend on it."

But Mr McColl says he was “shafted” by the Government and called for a public inquiry into the ferry fiasco scandal, with witnesses placed “under oath”.

Ministers carried out a takeover after Jim McColl-led Ferguson Marine went into administration in August, 2019 following a dispute with CMAL over sprialling costs and "unforeseen complexities" over the ferries project.

Ministers believe they were acting in the public interest in taking control of Ferguson Marine, as it saved the yard from closure, rescued more than 300 jobs and ensured that the two vessels under construction will be completed.

READ MORE: Ministers sink £45m of taxpayers’ cash into Ferguson Marine despite ‘lack of due diligence’

During the weekend it emerged then Mr Mackay who would go on to oversee the nationalisation plan for the yard, was on holiday when the ferries contract was given the green light and it was Keith Brown, who is both deputy leader of the SNP and justice secretary in Ms Sturgeon’s cabinet, was asked to approve it in August 2015. At that time he was cabinet secretary for infrastructure, investment and cities.

The news of the contract win was given to SNP conference delegates on October 16, two months after the Ferguson Marine was declared the preferred bidder by the First Minister.

Audit Scotland said last week that ministers awarded the CalMac ferries contract to Ferguson Marine despite "severe misgivings" of their ship owners and initial concerns about the yard's inability to provide financial guarantees.

The Herald:

The auditors probe revealed that the Scottish Government was unable to provide any documentary evidence explaining why the decision was made.

It said that ministers sanctioned giving the contract to Ferguson Marine in 2015 despite the yard being unable to provide “mandatory refund guarantees” for the financial risk to CMAL.

It criticised a “multitude of failings” in the delivery Glen Sannox and Hull 802 which are now over five years late.

Mr McColl said he had made it clear to government and CMAL that he could not provide the mandatory refund guarantee for the contract.

He told the Sunday Times: “There’s no question in my mind that the decision to ignore that, and to overrule CMAL’s advice, was made by the first minister along with Derek Mackay.

“The audit report makes clear that changes are still being made to the design, and hostility has continued between CMAL and the new management, so the cost will continue to increase.

“I believe ferry 801 should be finished, but it will now cost more to finish 802 than replace it with a new ferry so there’s a strong argument for not continuing with it in its current form. I would make it watertight, launch it, and sell the hull.”

Humza Yousaf, a former minister for transport and the islands, has said that the government took the decision to secure the yard to save hundreds of jobs.

Asked whether Ms Sturgeon would address the issue at Holyrood, he said: "I have never once seen the first minister shy away from parliament.

"She of course took a significant number of questions on Thursday [at First Minister's Questions], so what the parliament chooses to do and who it chooses to call is a matter for parliament."

A spokesman for the Scottish government said it “operates under collective responsibility and remains focused on delivery of the ferries by Ferguson Marine”.

He said its actions had helped to secure jobs at the last remaining commercial shipbuilder on the Clyde.