The flaw in the SNP’s plan to strengthen Scottish shipbuilding

The Scottish government under John Swinney and his deputy Kate Forbes could be on the verge of missing an opportunity to strengthen UK/Scottish shipbuilding while possibly failing islanders and the working communities of Glasgow’s Clyde area. This is according to the former head of Scotland’s nationalised shipyard, David Tydeman, who has decided to speak out.

Tydeman was unceremoniously sacked from his job as chief executive of Ferguson Marine in March. As covered here earlier this week, Tydeman had finally managed to overcome the production and design issues that had held up the two highly controversial ferries the yard has spent years and hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money trying to build. He had also put together a credible business plan to make the yard commercial, which hinged on a balance between securing regular sub-contract work from defence manufacturers building new Royal Navy ships as well as the construction of several small ferries for CMAL, the state-owned ferry procurement body. 

Scotland’s nationalist administration rejected the plan, and Tydeman, who had also been outspoken about past mistakes and the costs needed to correct them, was sacked a few months later.