Seòmar agus comataidhean

I assure Mr Gibson that I will address the issues that he raised in his speech—and I thank him for his speech. There has already been a lot to agree on in what has been said, and I am sure that there will be more of that to come.

I will be honest—I am not going to mince my words today, because people are angry. That palpable sense of anger has been building up over the years. It is not just me who is angry; it is our constituents on the entire west coast of Scotland, who have been let down. They are Katy Clark’s constituents, my constituents and Kenneth Gibson’s constituents. It is our islanders who are most angry. They are angry because we are still debating the delivery of ferries and the quality of our local ports.

I am angry that we always have to use Opposition time to bring up these issues in the absence of any Government debates. I hope that the Government will reflect on that. I am also angry that, seven months after the closure of the Irish berth at Ardrossan, an impasse leaves us no closer to any resolution on that part of the port.

When I brought the issue up last week in the chamber—I was probably standing just about where I am now—the Cabinet Secretary for Transport wanted to stress her sense of “deep frustration”. What an understatement. I can assure members and people in the gallery that no one in the SNP Government is anywhere near as frustrated as the islanders and ferry users themselves. They deserve much more than apologies; they deserve to be treated as every other Scot would be in such a circumstance.

I cannot believe that it has been seven years since the Scottish Government said that it would retain Ardrossan as the main Arran port. The original campaign—the keep it A to B campaign to save Ardrossan harbour—was a genuine cross-party effort by the trade union movement, all the political parties, local businesses and local campaigners and activists, all fighting against the move of the service to Troon, which was a very real threat. Eight years on, it is still not just a real threat but a real possibility.

The campaign made complete sense, because, in Ardrossan, people can step off the Arran ferry and straight on to a ScotRail train to go up to Glasgow, or they can be on the motorway to the central belt in just minutes.

I apologise to the organisers of last night’s meeting that I was not able to make it due to attending two cross-party group meetings. However, there should have been no need for such a meeting. I remember attending the original 2016 meeting; it was held in the same building, which was packed out to the rafters with people with the same concerns that I am sure were elicited last night.

Back in 2017, I asked the then Minister for Transport and the Islands, Humza Yousaf, who went on to greater and bigger things, what would happen in relation to the Glen Sannox and its ability to berth at Ardrossan port. We were reassured that every stakeholder was pulling out all the stops to get that right.

On 11 April 2018, Mr Yousaf said the following:

“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Arran ferry service is fit for the future. These plans will help bring greater resilience and reliability to the link.”

Today, that assurance about “resilience and reliability” is risible, given the vessel breakdowns and repairs, the closure of the Irish berth, the annual overhauls and the late delivery of the Glen Sannox, which, I have just heard, has now been further delayed due to problems with the sea trials. I am sure that members will have more to say about that in the future. We are now relying on a vessel that is approaching the end of its life and another one that has been leased at eye-watering costs, to the extent that a new ferry could probably have been bought for the same price.

There is a comparison that I make when I talk to people about the issue. If a town with a similar population in the centre of Scotland—a town such as Cumbernauld, say—had suddenly had its road or rail access disconnected due to infrastructure failings, those problems would have been remedied in months or weeks, if not days. However, eight years on, Arran, because it is an island, is being forced simply to put up and shut up.

We know the cost of that to Arran’s economy. It is estimated that up to £13,000 is lost to the local economy every time a ferry is cancelled. We need to multiply that by thousands, given the number of cancellations. Members can do the math on that.

I do not want to get into the blame game of whether the current situation is the fault of CalMac, Peel Ports or North Ayrshire Council. All the stakeholders involved have not sat around the table. In addition, of course, the Government cannot simply remove itself from responsibility because it made the promise in the first place. That promise made is a promise broken.

I close with a warning. There is a genuine concern that the current move to Troon, albeit temporary, might become a permanent feature of the Arran route and the ferry will be lost from Ardrossan for ever, which will have a devastating impact on the economy of North Ayrshire. If that happens, the people of North Ayrshire will never forgive this Government.

I agree that we should have a full and proper debate with more time to look at port infrastructure in Scotland, and there is probably quite a lot to agree on in some of Mr Sweeney’s other points. However, my concern is that even if all our ports were nationally owned and operated and none was held in private ownership, the current state of the public finances would still mean that lack of funds to invest in port infrastructure would leave us exactly where we are at the moment, if not in a worse place. Therefore, I do not see that as the magic solution to the problem.

It was not me—I am up next.

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the first statutory national islands plan, published in 2019, has been a success. (S6O-03788)

The answer to the question is no. It has not been a success. The minister has given a litany of excuses as to why the plan has not provided better outcomes for islands. We all know the reality that life in island communities is difficult, but it has simply got worse with regard to the availability and affordability of housing; access to health, social care and education; the growth of businesses; and depopulation, and that is not to mention the F-word—the continuous chaos on our ferry network. What hope can we give islanders from this, their national Parliament, that the next national islands plan will be worth more than the paper it is written on?

It has been seven months since I first raised the issue of the Irish berth at Ardrossan harbour going offline for safety reasons. That is the principal reason why the MV Alfred is now operating out of Troon and not out of Ardrossan, as it should be. It has been seven years since the Scottish National Party Government promised action on the port infrastructure at Ardrossan—seven whole years, and a decision has yet to be made. My question is simple: when will a decision be made on the vital upgrade to Ardrossan harbour? By when, I mean by which date.

To ask the Scottish Government what improvements it has considered making to governance arrangements at Ferguson Marine, in light of recent reported concerns around quality control at the yard. (S6O-03752)

I cast the Deputy First Minister’s memory back to the end of June and the glorious summer day when I stood at the front of this chamber and asked her whether she was expecting any delays to the delivery of Glen Sannox. Would it be delivered by the end of July, as was promised, I asked. In response, I was reassured twice, if not three times, that there were no delays.

Two days later—funnily enough, once we had all exited the building for the summer recess—and guess what? Delays were announced and—I give a spoiler alert to colleagues—the ship is still to be handed over to CalMac, and it is nearly October. Given that that is supposedly a strategic national asset for the country, what faith can we have that the Scottish Government—which sits as a director of the company—has any oversight of or responsibility in decisions, including in relation to any delays, which we usually discover in the media, instead of in this chamber?

I really feel sorry for CalMac in all this, because it is constantly engaged in one big juggling act with vessels that are old and are breaking down. It is pulling vessels from other routes, and other islands are suffering. The whole thing is just one endless movement of vessels from one route to another—routes that those vessels should not be on in the first place.

Of course, it is not just the vessels that are breaking down; the whole port infrastructure is crumbling. Even when the Glen Sannox enters service on the Arran route—which I hope will be soon—it will operate out of Troon instead of Ardrossan. For how long that will be the case is anyone’s guess. Is it for weeks, months or years, or is it for ever? That is the problem—the people of Ardrossan simply do not know the answer to that question, because the Government decided to build a ferry that is not fit for purpose for the port from which it is intended to operate. That is unbelievable.

I want to raise the effect that the situation is having on Ardrossan’s economy, which we do not talk enough about. Tens of thousands of passengers are now trafficking through Troon and not Ardrossan, which is having a substantial effect on local businesses and the local economy. What does the cabinet secretary have to say to local businesses across North Ayrshire, which are in a situation that is the by-product of such catastrophic handling by the Government?

The cabinet secretary must be getting a real sense of déjà vu. I have lost count of how many times I have stood at the front bench and heard words such as “regret”, “sorry”, “frustration”, “concern” and “apologies” over endless breakdowns and cancellations on the route.

We are talking about a 1,000-passenger, three-decades-old vessel—it is no wonder that it is breaking down. It is utterly unbelievable that it has been out of action since February this year. It was due back in service to take over from its replacement, the MV Isle of Arran, which is now off for its annual service. That means that, today, there are no vessels—no services—running out of Ardrossan to the Isle of Arran. People cannot book on the MV Alfred tomorrow; we tried to do so just five minutes ago. That service is now full—understandably, because of its reduced capacity. The limited capacity is really affecting our island economies. None of that is good enough.

The cabinet secretary mentioned the Government’s frustration. What about the islanders’ frustration in all this? The problem has been in the making for nearly a decade. How on earth is CalMac going to magic a new vessel out of thin air to cover the Ardrossan to Arran route, and which other island will have to suffer as a consequence of that decision?