Scottish Labour government will build buses and ferries in Scotland, Sarwar vows

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said a government he leads will ensure buses and ferries are built in Scotland.

The Glasgow MSP said the Government must come up with a “coherent” industrial strategy that will allow Scottish manufacturing firms to thrive, in the wake of issues at bus firm Alexander Dennis and publicly-owned shipyard Ferguson Marine.

The Government this week announced a £4 million furlough scheme for the bus company in the hopes of keeping operations open in Scotland, while unions, local politicians and civic leaders have urged ministers to directly award a key ferry contract to the Port Glasgow shipyard.

The GMB union has co-ordinated an open letter urging the First Minister to hand the deal to Ferguson – which was rescued from administration in 2019 and has since been mired in controversy relating to the late and over-budget delivery of two ferries for the Isle of Arran route.

Mr Sarwar is the latest to call for the contract to be handed to Ferguson, urging Mr Swinney to pledge to do so during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.

But he also went further, saying Labour would ensure vital transport infrastructure is built north of the border.

“Under the SNP, we’ve had buses for Scotland built in China while Scotland’s bus companies struggle, and ferries built in Turkey and Poland while Scotland’s shipyards go without,” he said.

“I am clear that a Scottish Labour government I lead will build Scotland’s buses, ferries and crucial infrastructure in Scotland.

“Will John Swinney make that same commitment – stop sending public contracts to Poland, China and Turkey and give those jobs to Scotland?”

The First Minister highlighted that the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat administration in Holyrood also sent ferry contracts to Poland, as well as other public deals to European countries.

Mr Swinney added: “If people want to know what a Labour government might be like, they only have to look at the shambles that was in here before us and the shambles that is in place in the United Kingdom at the present moment.

“I am all for buses being built in Scotland, I am all for ferries being built in Scotland, I’m all for making sure we can develop the skills to make sure we do that, I’m all for making sure we make the investments to make that happen.”

The First Minister also reiterated that his Government is assessing the legality of a direct award to Ferguson, with concerns having been raised previously about state aid rules.

He said: “We need to consider all of those elements, but I give him the fundamental assurance that the Government is actively considering such a proposition, along with other propositions.”