Meeting of the Parliament 25 November 2015
I will begin on a point of consensus. Whatever my disagreement with David Stewart on the legal opinion or on matters of interpretation, and whatever disagreements we, as a Government, may have had with the trade unions—although we had a very positive and constructive summer—we agree with defending their right to take whatever action they believe is necessary to represent their members’ interests. On that we certainly agree, unlike the Conservatives, who want to remove the trade unions’ rights to represent the interests of their members.
The Scottish Government recognises that Scotland’s ferry services provide a lifeline service for our island communities, and we are fully committed to the continued delivery of safe, reliable, publicly owned ferry services. We have invested a record £1 billion in vessels, ports and ferry services since 2007, and we have restored commercial shipbuilding to the Clyde with the construction by Ferguson’s shipyard of world-leading hybrid ferries. The third vessel, MV Catriona, will be launched in Port Glasgow on 11 December, and we have awarded contracts worth £97 million to Ferguson’s for two new major ferries for the CalMac fleet. We have also delivered the new MV Loch Seaforth and have invested around £30 million in harbour works for the Stornoway to Ullapool route, and we are currently investing £18 million in the major redevelopment of Brodick harbour in Arran.