SNP accused of having ‘destroyed’ jobs after it’s revealed Ferguson shipyard to axe quarter of its staff
Ferguson Marine, the state-owned shipyard on the Clyde, is to cut around a quarter of its workforce, prompting accusations that the SNP government has mismanaged the business and undermined the jobs it nationalised the company to protect. Critics argue the redundancies are a direct consequence of the ferry-building fiasco at the yard, which has been plagued by lengthy delays, spiralling costs and years of political controversy since ministers took it into public ownership.
The cuts are expected to affect a substantial portion of the yard's staff, reviving criticism of the SNP's handling of the Ferguson Marine project and the wider CalMac ferry contracts, which have run years behind schedule and massively over budget. Opposition politicians say the job losses undercut the government's original justification for nationalisation, which was to safeguard shipbuilding employment on the Clyde, and are demanding answers over the future viability of the yard.
- Ferguson shipyard to cut roughly a quarter of its workforce.
- SNP accused of "destroying" jobs it nationalised the yard to save.
- Cuts renew criticism of the troubled ferry-building programme.
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Ferguson Marine is a shipyard on the River Clyde in Scotland that builds and repairs vessels. The Scottish Government took it into public ownership in 2019 after the company ran into financial trouble, saying this would help protect shipbuilding jobs.
The yard has been building two ferries for CalMac, the publicly owned operator that serves Scotland’s islands. Their construction has taken much longer and cost far more than planned, bringing scrutiny of the yard and the government’s role in overseeing the contracts.
The dispute matters because shipbuilding is an important source of skilled work on the Clyde, and the yard is one of the few remaining commercial shipbuilders on the river. It also raises questions about the cost and delivery of public ferry projects and the future of the business.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The SNP could argue that nationalising Ferguson Marine was essential to preserve Scotland's shipbuilding capability and prevent the total collapse that market forces would have brought. Ferry construction presented unprecedented technical challenges, and while delays and costs have been substantial, they reflect industry-wide complexities in building specialised vessels. By maintaining the yard through these difficulties, the government has preserved far more jobs than private sector withdrawal would have allowed, and restructuring—though regrettable—represents necessary and responsible management of an exceptionally difficult inherited situation.
The case against
Critics contend that the government's explicit commitment in nationalising Ferguson Marine was to protect and sustain Clyde shipbuilding jobs, making substantial redundancies a clear failure of its core mission. Years of spiralling costs, chronic delays, and poor project oversight suggest the government has mismanaged a company it directly controls and has funded extensively from public funds. Rather than building a viable, efficient business, the state ownership has produced an operation marked by significant cost overruns and persistent underperformance, indicating the intervention has ultimately disadvantaged rather than benefited workers and taxpayers.