Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 06 November 2019
06 Nov 2019 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Ferries
Okay.
—“the SNP government who have recklessly mismanaged this contract, wasted hundreds of millions of pounds”,
blah, blah, blah.
On 2 October, Mr Greene said:
“They are responsible for the mess the yard is in and they should have let it flourish in the private sector.”
When Mr Greene speaks later in the debate, will he tell the Parliament how, given those two key points—
“recklessly mismanaged this contract”
and
“should have let it flourish in the private sector
—the Government could have mismanaged the contract if the yard was in the private sector? [Interruption.]
Hold on. Secondly, if the yard was flourishing in the private sector, how was the contract mismanaged? I will be keen to hear Mr Greene’s comments—[Interruption.]
No—I have only four minutes.
Members: Oh!
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-19715, in the name of Jamie Greene, on the resilience of Scotland’s ferry network. 14:41
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
The reality is that Scotland’s ferry service is under tremendous pressure: there is no doubt about that. That pressure disproportionately affects our island ...
The Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jamie Greene
Con
If it is brief, as the minister will have an opportunity to speak after me.
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Thank you. Presiding Officer, I look forward to you giving me the opportunity to speak later. Jamie Greene mentioned the statistics for the past year. Does ...
Jamie Greene
Con
The minister has chosen to mention a very small number of cancellations that were due to mechanical breakdown. I will come on to his amendment in a moment, b...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jamie Greene
Con
I need to make progress through my points. By looking at a period of only nine months, the minister is painting a very small picture—I am looking at the pas...
The Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
The Scottish Government understands the importance of safe and reliable ferry services to meet the needs of our remote and island communities. Those lifeline...
Colin Smyth (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
We cannot overstate the importance of Scotland’s ferry network to our island communities. Last year, the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee carried out...
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
Presiding Officer, “It is the role of the Government to provide the long term strategy for continuing to meet the needs of the communities that rely on ferr...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Can I interrupt you, please, Mr Finnie? This is not a private conversation between two people. Please speak through the chair.
John Finnie
Green
I will address all my remarks exclusively to you, Presiding Officer.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you.
John Finnie
Green
The question is why this suddenly became an issue from 2007. I wonder why that year has been picked, because it is very peculiar, to my mind. In the REC Comm...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I am sure that you two can carry on that conversation over coffee later. 15:01
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I thank Jamie Greene for the debate. He is right that somebody needs to bang on about ferries, and I take considerable pride in having been that someone. I c...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Will the member give way?
Liam McArthur
LD
No—the minister will have time to respond later. The internal ferry services in Orkney are already well below the minimum standard that was set out in the Go...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We come to the open debate, with speeches of four minutes, although there is time for interventions. 15:05
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I am disappointed by the Scottish National Party’s failure to acknowledge that there are is...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
Even Liam Kerr was smiling as he made that final comment. Nine days ago, I met CalMac’s managing director, Robbie Drummond, and director of community and st...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
And there you must conclude.
Kenneth Gibson
SNP
It is clear that our ferries are safe only in the hands of the SNP Government. 15:14
Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
In the northern isles, we are dependent on our ferry links. I have used them since I was a child. We have seen different operators come and go; there have be...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jamie Halcro Johnston
Con
The cabinet secretary will have a chance to respond later. The delay was blamed on issues around compliance with EU state aid rules. That case would have be...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
I remind members that my wife works part time for CalMac. I will touch on the Scottish Government amendment, part of the Labour amendment and the Conservati...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
No—I cannot hear the quote, and neither can the official reporters. Please continue.
Stuart McMillan
SNP
Okay. —“the SNP government who have recklessly mismanaged this contract, wasted hundreds of millions of pounds”, blah, blah, blah. On 2 October, Mr Greene...