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Scottish Government ministers 'squandered' £200m on nationalising shipyard

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Scottish Government ministers have "squandered" £200 million of taxpayers' money on nationalising a shipyard firm at the centre of the current ferry fiasco, its former owner has claimed.Jim McColl has written to the Holyrood committee probing the Glen Sannox and the as-yet unnamed hull 802 following Nicola Sturgeon's evidence earlier this month.The two ferries are late in being completed and the potential cost could exceed £300m - three times the initial £97m contract.

Audit Scotland has warned of a “multitude of failings” in the delivery of the two boats, which are still under construction at the publicly-owned Port Glasgow shipyard.The First Minister expressed "deep regret" about the impact on island communities, however she also faced questions about the contract between Ferguson Marine and CMAL.McColl claims the government rejected a call from Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) and Transport Scotland for an Independent Expert Determination to help with the costs.

He says it could have saved £200m.Writing to the committee, he said: "The Scottish Government's decision to reject Transport Scotland's proposal in early April 2018, and repeated requests from FMEL, for an Expert Determination process, unthinkingly defending CMAL, has resulted in public money being squandered on a reckless and foolish scale. "It also forced FMEL into administration, a business that was well invested, with a healthy pipeline of work diversifying the business away from a dependence on Scottish Government ferry work."FMEL managers accused the government after it fell into administration that it had no intention of leaving it in private ownership while warning nationalisation would subject them to EU state aid laws.

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