IT is the role of every Government to pass laws and legislate and is pretty much the only thing that we, the electorate, expect from the politicians that we vote in.
Much of the legislation will be utterly worthless, some downright inflammatory, while most will just annoy folk for a while before something else comes along to make them even angrier.
Regardless of where we stand politically, or our views on politicians, one of the things that everyone will agree on is that the least we expect the Government to do is actually remember the bills that they pass.
But it appears that may not be the case, and it involves, surprise surprise, the ongoing farce that is the ferry fiasco and Ferguson Marine’s failure to build them.
In a move that takes the chaos to a whole new level, ministers have been warned they have acted unlawfully by failing to shortlist Ferguson’s for a £100 million contract to build two new Islay ferries.
CMAL, which owns the nation’s ageing ferry fleet, invited four overseas companies to bid for the contract to build the two vessels – but excluded the Inverclyde shipbuilder.
Now the Finance Secretary has had a meeting with two Inverclyde councillors who believe the tender process is unlawful under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 – which was brought in by the SNP Government.
Under the Act, contracts should no longer be awarded only on the basis of the lowest price and instead should be towards those which offer the best long-term outcomes for Scotland.
Thus, contracts valued at £4m or more have a requirement in relation to community benefits in the authority area where the contract is issued.
On the face of it, the exclusion of Ferguson’s quite clearly breaches the Act.
But given the shipyard’s appalling track record with the previous two ferries, then it could be argued that it does indeed comply, as the best long-term outcome will be two new ferries that weren’t built there.
What it does show, though, is another example of how politicians in his country have no real clue how to run a transport system properly.
Transport is clearly not seen as a vote-winner, which is baffling given it is the one thing that every single taxpayer relies on, whether it is our roads, trains, buses or ferries.
As billions are poured into the NHS for very little return, budgets get squeezed elsewhere and it is transport which very often bears the brunt.
Ministers in their chauffeur-driven limousines have no concept of how much islanders need ferries, urban commuters need a reliable public transport system or that motorists need good roads.
We only pay for them, after all.
If we had had paid a private company for the shocking service we receive then we would demand our money back.
And maybe it’s time that we should.
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