THE latest revelations of the Ferguson Ferries fiasco make for very sad reading. The term Clyde Built used to be a by-word for quality shipbuilding. A nightmare scenario, it seems, is still possible with the two ferries possibly being scrapped with costs approaching £400 million.

Kate Forbes assured the Scottish Parliament that they will be completed but left an open goal for opposition parties to score numerous political points. In defence of the project she stated that around 300 jobs have been saved – but at what cost? Even the lower estimate of £300m divided by 300 comes to £1m a job, or around £50 a head for every person living in Scotland.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon rejects 'secret Scotland' claims over 'regrettable' ferries delay

The Audit Scotland report is 72 pages long and available on their website. A stiff drink should be poured before starting to read it. It is a massive financial and managerial horror story, as yet unfinished, but with the possible ending involving a scrap yard.

2023 seems to be the latest best guess for possible completion or scrapping of the ships – unfortunately just in time for a referendum. No doubt this fiasco will be used by both the red and blue Unionists, reunited in the guise of Better Together Mark 2, to imply that Scotland lacks the basic ability to govern itself.

No mention will be made of the many thousands of successful large, medium-sized and small businesses which flourish in every corner of the land despite the lack of real assistance from successive Westminster governments.

The Scottish Government needs to make getting these ferries completed and serving our island communities a very real priority. If not they will feature on every leaflet and every TV broadcast by the Unionist parties and their media allies every day of 2023.

John Baird
Largs

THE SNP-Green coalition in Holyrood do precious little to support jobs in Scotland or the economy. Recent episodes make this painfully clear.

Sadly, as many islanders know, their approach to ferry transport has been offhand at best and shockingly incompetent at worst. To compound that, new ferries are belatedly not being built on the Clyde but in Turkey. The First Minister has also discouraged further oil and gas production in Scotland despite its ability to create high-paying jobs in Scotland, improve the UK’s energy self-sufficiency in a cost-effective way and help offset the crippling rises in energy prices which will fall heavily on some of our society’s most vulnerable members.

What is wrong with making efforts to create well-paying jobs in the private sector in Scotland?

Christopher Ruane
Lanark

SO UK Government officials knew about P&O cuts one day before the staff lost their jobs but didn’t tell the Prime Minister or do anything about it although our under-pressure supply lines were very likely to be disrupted.

P&O’s ferries are registered in Nassau and leave UK territory on every trip so presumably the crew is not subject to UK conditions of employment.

READ MORE: P&O chief branded 'shameless criminal' as he says he'd axe 800 jobs again

This is the government that has left the EU to take back full control over its borders yet claims that it cannot take action against a company that is using foreign-registered vessels to avoid meeting UK conditions or standards when it serves UK ports.

Surely as a minimum they could play the company at its own game and carry out full customs and border control checks on arrival and seaworthiness and safety inspections before they are allowed to leave every time one of these foreign P&O ferries docks in a UK port?

John Jamieson
South Queensferry

I NOTICED the the port of registration on the stern of the ferries was Bermuda. It’s about time that governments here should take a leaf from the USA’s “American Bottoms” Act. Why should foreign-flagged vessels be permitted on what are essentially British seas? The same goes for foreign crews on ships engaged on basically UK traffic. OK, the finance wizards in the City may not like it, but we should look after our own first.

Drew Reid
Falkirk

I REFER to your article “Tackling Scotland’s derelict land problem: Minister to launch guidance on vacant site” (Mar 18).

From the pre-launch publicity it appears the fact that more than 60% of vacant and derelict land in urban Scotland is owned by the public sector has been conveniently overlooked.

Until the public sector faces up to its obligations to stop its decades-old blighting of our communities, all of us will suffer from lack of housing and decent environments.

How can we trust councils to be the gamekeeper of our built environment when they have poached the well-being of a good environment out of communities?

Until all owners have an obligation to pay Annual Ground Rent on the space they own, there is no incentive to do anything positive quickly.

Furthermore the transfer of dilapidated and vacant space to community groups is to be welcomed, but it beggars belief that as most Scottish political parties are committed to some form of land taxation, the guidance heretofore has made no consideration of how different models of land taxation on the transferred space will impact on the long-term viability of such ventures.

I do hope the guidance will address this, but I have my doubts.

Graeme McCormick
Arden

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I ALWAYS think Boris Johnson cannot sink any lower, but he never fails to find a new low. Pictures of him pulling faces and chuckling across to the Labour benches while Rishi Sunak is describing the people of Ukraine sheltering in bunkers takes him to a new low. I keep having to tell myself, this man is the PM of the UK, because most of the time I cannot believe it is possible. What have we become?

Winifred McCartney
Paisley