Derek Mackay returns to Holyrood to answer ferry questions

The 44-year-old disappeared from public life on the eve of the Scottish budget in 2020 after it emerged he had contacted a boy teenage over social media - without knowing his age - then bombarded him with over 270 messages. 

He called him “cute”, invited him to dinner, and asked for their conversations to stay secret.

Opposition parties called it “predatory” and a textbook example of “grooming”.

Mr Mackay apologised “unreservedly” to the boy, He was suspended by the SNP and a party investigation launched into his behaviour.

He did not return to work at Holyrood after the scandal but continued to draw a full salary of £64,700 while sitting as an independent MSP for over a year.

He was also paid an automatic grant of £11,945 for “loss of ministerial office”, and a further £53,725 “resettlement grant” when he left parliament for good at last year’s elections.

Mr Mackay played a prominent role in the awarding of the contract to build the Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed hull 802 to Ferguson Marine.

Both vessels were originally due to be completed in 2018, but have since been delayed until at least 2023. Costs have soared, rising from a predicted £97m to around £240m.

At the heart of the scandal is that the Scottish Government signed off on the deal despite the lack of a full Builder’s Refund Guarantee, which would have meant the cash being returned if the ships were late, failed to meet specifications or if the shipbuilder went bust.

Mr Mackay held the transport brief at the time the contract was approved, and an email trail uncovered by the Scottish Government earlier this year suggested he made the final decision in 2015.

However, in an exchange with the Public Audit Committee ahead of the summer, the shamed minister said it was government agency Transport Scotland who told him "to proceed to contract award".

He said he had confidence in the recommendation and that risks had been identified and understood to be “resolved”.

The letter left MSPs with more questions. Mr Mackay has now agreed to appear before the committee this Thursday.

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Willie Rennie said he hoped the former finance minister would "she some light" on what happened.:

“Every SNP minister, past and present, has been avoiding the question of why warnings about the ferry deal were ignored.

"To date these errors have has cost islanders and taxpayers 5 years and £250m.

“I hope that Derek Mackay will use his return to parliament to shed some light on who is to blame for the time and money that has been lost. 

"Maybe then ministers will finally do the honourable thing and promise to quit if there are more cost and time overruns."

Scottish Tory shadow transport minister, Graham Simpson welcomed Mr Mackay's appearance.

He said: “The Ferguson Marine fiasco has already cost the public purse a quarter of a billion pounds with no ferries yet to show for it – and frustrated taxpayers and island residents are sick to death of the SNP passing the buck.

“Throughout this entire scandal, the SNP’s favourite strategy has been to try and pin all the blame on former-MSP, Derek Mackay, despite emails from their own civil servants telling a different story.

“So it’s welcome that the former Transport Minister will now face parliamentary scrutiny, to hopefully shed some more light on this murky saga.

“However, this appalling scandal goes far beyond just one individual. Ministers at every level of this SNP Government are embroiled in this and only a full public inquiry will get to the heart of what actually happened.”

The problems with the two new vessels started in 2014, one week ahead of the independence referendum, when the then first minister, Alex Salmond personally intervened to persuade Yes-supporting billionaire businessman Jim McColl to take over the under-threat Ferguson’s shipyard in Port Glasgow.

A year later, at the opening of the SNP’s conference in Aberdeen, Mr Mackay told party members that this new company Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) was the winner of a £97 million contract to build two new ships for the state-owned ferry network operated by CalMac.

Ferguson’s bid was the most expensive of the six yards that tendered, but outscored them on “quality”.

However, the new firm didn’t have the finance to put in the normal safeguards or guarantees for a public project of this scale.

Despite CMAL – which owns the vessels and network – wanting to walk away as “there were too many risks involved to award the contract” and making its objections clear to Transport Scotland at the time, it was overruled.

Thursday’s session will also hear from David Middleton, former Chief Executive for Transport Scotland, and later from Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland.