SCOTTISH Labour has said that the “buck stops with the SNP government” for the botched handling of a ferry contract that resulted in costs doubling to a staggering £196.8 million. 

An extensive inquiry published today by the rural economy and connectivity committee at Holyrood has said that the procurement of two ferries from Ferguson Marine was “a catastrophic failure.”

The government’s handling of the contract also led to the delivery of two new vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides delayed until 2023, with MSPs told last year by the then finance secretary Derek Mackay that “mismanagement” by the Port Glasgow shipyard resulted in delays and overspends.