Islanders left wondering what is going on behind the scenes at CMAL

For readers who share my interests in (a) ferries, (b) Scotland’s rotten quango system and (c) a good laugh, I recommend a visit to the website of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, aka CMAL, the Scottish Government’s procurement quango. But hurry, hurry before the censors get there first.

Go to the “Winter Newsletter 2025” and you will find a profile of a non-executive board member, Murdo Maclennan, who was, until very recently, a prize exhibit for CMAL – an actual Gaelic-speaking islander! The one who had slipped through the net had then proved very useful.

“Murdo provides a first-hand perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing island communities – an invaluable contribution to Board discussions and decisions”, the profile enthuses. “Murdo regularly attends local authority transportation group meetings, gathering insights from islanders … These perspectives help shape CMAL’s decision-making, ensuring projects align with the needs of those who rely on them most”.

Read more

• CalMac ferry ‘should not have been accepted’ as global fix sought
• CalMac charters MV Arrow to ease pressure on network
• Islands' coalition protest over 'unlawful' ScotGov ferry fiasco fund

There was categorically no other CMAL director in the quango’s history to whom these attributes could have been applied. Some of them have never been near an island port. The last ones appointed, despite applications from well-qualified islanders, were a railway manager from Yorkshire along with (not insignificantly) a career servant of Associated British Ports, owners of Troon harbour.

Alas, the glowing portrait of Murdo Maclennan must have been written before the last day in September at which point he abruptly ceased to be a member of the CMAL board; ejected by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop, at the behest of the board’s chair, Edinburgh lawyer, Morag McNeill, (definitely not ‘of Barra’) who has been around throughout CMAL’s many travails.

Mrs McNeill had previously recommended Mr Maclennan’s reappointment for a normal second three-year term but reversed that advice for reasons which have been variously described in the islands as “petty”, “appalling” and “like an episode of Yes, Minister”. Mr Maclennan had committed the cardinal offence of standing up for islanders on an issue of principle.

The cause célebre was the prospective launching of two CalMac ferries in Turkey to serve the Harris and North Uist routes. Mr Maclennan thought it would be good PR, as well as a gesture of respect, to give Gaelic-speaking islanders that honour. He believed this had been agreed to but then found it had been over-ruled. Two senior civil servants were to do the battle-smashing instead.

Murdo’s protestations won the battle but lost his personal war. The idea of islanders performing the ceremonies was reinstated, Mrs McNeil reversed her previous recommendation to reappoint him and Ms Hyslop signed on the dotted line. Normality was restored with no resident of any island dependent on CMAL or CalMac on the board of either organisation. It is an episode which underlines the point that nothing less than fundamental reform of ferry governance and accountability will make any difference.

At Holyrood on Tuesday, Ms Hyslop was questioned about the affair at the Transport Committee by Douglas Lumsden MSP. She haughtily dismissed it as “rumour and gossip” and had the brass neck to state: “It is really important that we have islanders on the boards of our organisations” which does rather fly in face of the fact that Mr Maclennan, now dispensed with, was the solitary exception in well over a decade.

The committee’s chair, Edward Mountain MSP, also subjected Ms Hyslop to some searching questions about Ardrossan, which she was ill-prepared to answer. Mr Mountain now believed his previous understanding, that Peel Ports had frustrated investment in Ardrossan harbour, “frankly, wasn’t true”. He cited evidence supplied by the company which appeared to show they had twice offered investment at Ardrossan which had been turned down by the Scottish Government.

Read more

• In era of Sandie Peggie, I met a brave woman who raised early alarm over gender 'war'
• I fell back in love with Scottish town that's become a spectacular autumn destination
• Was that really Simple Minds’ best album, Jim? I don't think so

The long term game, he suggested, had been to move the mainland port for Arran to Troon. Ms Hyslop replied that this had not been the case during her two years in the job but added, crucially: “I don’t know what has happened previously”. Well, equally frankly, that is not good enough. It is entirely because of “what has happened previously’ the situation that exists today.

In short, the Glen Sannox was ordered in 2015 with a view to it being operational between Ardrossan and Brodick three years later. The fact the ferry was not seaworthy until 2024 simply means that there were nine years instead of three to ensure that Ardrossan was capable of accommodating her. Was there ever any such intention? Instead, matters are no further forward and the purchase of Ardrossan harbour, if it happens, is not going to change that for years to come, if ever. The doubt shed by Mr Mountain on the account given by successive Scottish Government ministers makes it all the more necessary for an independent inquiry into the whole affair. It is the least that Ardrossan deserves – the truth.

What happened in the past is not Ms Hyslop’s fault but she is part of the same government. It not unreasonable to expect her to know the history before appearing before a Holyrood committee. Neither is it unreasonable to expect even vague knowledge of what it will cost if Ardrossan is ever going to accommodate the Glen Sannox or how it will be funded. Ms Hyslop denied all such knowledge and will be gone next May anyway.

There is some temporary relief for Ardrossan with the return of the Caledonian Isles which is already 32 years old and has suffered multiple maritime ailments. Meanwhile the Glen Sannox continues to operate out of Troon (though currently out of action due to an ‘ongoing technical issue’ ) and the real question is whether that will ever change – or has the fait accompli, in reality, been achieve? Beware short term “good news” to get them through an election.

I have saved a little space to express regret about the death knell sounded for the Ardrossan-Campbeltown route, which I have a long history of advocating, preferably with a revival of the extension to Ballycastle. True, it is not a “lifeline service”, unless you’re stuck on the Rest and Be Thankful, but it had potential for two towns which both deserve an economic boost. Alas, in the third decade of the 21st century, such creativity is too much to hope for because there aren’t enough ferries. That too merits its place in a very lengthy indictment.

Brian Wilson is a former Labour Party politician who lives on Lewis. He was MP for Cunninghame North from 1987 until 2005 and served as a Minister of State from 1997 to 2003