DISGRACED former Finance Secretary Derek Mackay is being urged to give his side of the story around the "major mismanagement" of a ferry contract.
The Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have all called on him and Nicola Sturgeon to come to the Scottish Parliament and give evidence over his decision to award the contract for two lifeline CalMac ferries to the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow.
During First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Sturgeon blamed Mackay - who used to be transport minister - for handing the contract to the Clyde yard in 2015 despite concerns being raised.
However, she also insisted the "buck stops with me" insisting her government took "collective responsibility" for the scandal.
Mackay resigned from the government in 2020 after it emerged he sent hundreds of inappropriate messages to a schoolboy, but he remained an MSP until last year's election.
The vessels - Glen Sannox and Hull 802 - were due to be ready in 2018 but will now not enter service until 2023 at the earliest and at a cost of £240 million.
An Audit Scotland report set out “a multitude of failings” in their delivery which Sturgeon described as "entirely fair and justified".
Neil Bibby, Labour transport spokesman, has written to Public Audit Committee convener Richard Leonard demanding Sturgeon and Mackay give evidence.
In the letter, he said: “I believe it is imperative now that Nicola Sturgeon and Derek Mackay are called to give evidence at the Public Audit Committee and be held to account for the decisions the Government made and their major mismanagement of public funds.”
Mackay has not been seen in Holyrood since he resigned from his ministerial post but Bibby's calls for him to return have been echoed by the Tories and Lib Dems.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: “It’s high time Derek Mackay came to Parliament and explained his key role in the ferry fiasco after more than two years of silence.”
Lib Dem economy spokesman Willie Rennie, meanwhile, added: “If we are to take the First Minister at her word, it was Derek Mackay and Derek Mackay alone who signed off on deals which are set to cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions more than originally scheduled.
“It is awfully convenient for Nicola Sturgeon the latest scandal threatening to beset her government can be neatly blamed on someone who has since departed politics.
“Derek Mackay should appear before Parliament to give his side of the story."
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