Jim McColl has written to the Holyrood committee probing the Glen Sannox and the as-yet unnamed hull 802 following Nicola Sturgeon's evidence earlier this month.
Scottish Government ministers have "squandered" £200 million of taxpayers' money on nationalising a shipyard firm at the centre of the current ferry fiasco, its former owner has claimed.
McColl claims the government rejected a call from Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and Transport Scotland for an Independent Expert Determination to help with the costs. He says it could have saved £200m. FMEL managers accused the government after it fell into administration that it had no intention of leaving it in private ownership while warning nationalisation would subject them to EU state aid laws. Ferguson Marine was nationalised in 2019.
"If the Government had received an independent opinion confirming it was legal, and accepted the proposal it would have saved at least £200 million of taxpayers money.Scottish Conservative Shadow Transport Minister Graham Simpson said Jim McColl's letter to the committee is a "damning indictment" of the government's handling of the situation.
"Mr McColl says that the First Minister can have been in no doubt about the urgency of the situation when he approached her. We should immediately see the minutes of that meeting, to clear up this murky business.
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