Scotland is a country renowned worldwide for its reputation for shipbuilding. For generations, we have been a leader in engineering, manufacturing and craftsmanship. Why, therefore, does John Swinney think that Scotland is not capable of building its own ferries?

I think that Scotland is able to take forward its shipbuilding activities, and we have many examples of that being the case. The Government has intervened using our economic development powers and interventions to support that over a number of years. If it had not been for the actions of this Government and the actions that I took as a minister in the past, there would be no constancy of work at Ferguson Marine, and I make no apology for putting it in that direction.

With the Scottish National Party, it is contracts going abroad. This week, it is jobs for Poland; four years ago, it was jobs for Turkey. So much for “Stronger for Scotland”; instead, it is “The SNP—Stronger for Poland” and “The SNP—Stronger for Turkey”.

I want the ferries to be built here in Scotland.—[ Interruption .]

Let us hear Mr Sarwar.

I want the investment and the jobs to be here in Scotland. We have world-leading shipbuilders at Port Glasgow, Govan and Rosyth. We have a publicly owned shipbuilding company, Ferguson’s, and we have BAE Systems and Babcock. I want Scotland’s shipbuilders to be able to bid on and win the contracts, but John Swinney believes that none of them are good enough to build Scotland’s ferries.

What is it about the way that the SNP runs Ferguson’s and the way that the SNP does procurement that means that Scotland’s ferries cannot be built in Scotland?

I do not believe that any of the guff that Mr Sarwar has suggested is my view. Absolutely not—

First Minister, let us ensure that our language is courteous and respectful.

Let me rephrase my point. I do not believe any of the nonsense that was purported by Mr Sarwar to be my view.

We have gone through a competitive tendering process, and Ferguson Marine was part of that competitive tendering process. It follows that I believe that that yard is perfectly able to build the ships, because it was part of the tendering process. It got through that tendering process and put in a bid that was credible and could be considered. Ministers cannot operate outside the law.

That was a separate process!

Mr Marra.

We have got to follow the procurement law that is in place. We have got to follow the United Kingdom Subsidy Control Act 2022, which puts an obligation on all of us to make sure that ferry tenders are determined on the basis of an open procurement process.

I would love for the vessels to be built at Ferguson Marine—of course I would love that to be the case. That is why we are putting in £14.2 million over two years to support Ferguson Marine to develop its capability. I want that to be the case, but I have to make sure that we procure our ferry vessels in accordance with the legislation that is in place in the United Kingdom.

John Swinney sends investment and jobs to Turkey and to Poland. People in Scotland will think that it is nonsense that he is not building ferries here in Scotland.

The consequence of SNP incompetence is stark. It is not just investment and jobs that are going abroad. At the heart of the matter are island communities that have been failed. Islanders are missing out on hospital appointments. They have missed weddings and loved ones’ funerals, and their livelihoods are being destroyed. The Fraser of Allander Institute estimates that disrupted ferry services cost the Isle of Arran alone up to £170,000 a day in lost revenue, which is devastating for an island.

In Uist, Stephen Peteranna, who is the managing director of a hotel group that employs 70 people on the island, said that his team has spent more than four decades building a sustainable business, only to watch CalMac and the Scottish Government shrink it over the past five years. What does John Swinney say to Stephen, his family and his staff, whose livelihoods are being put at risk by the SNP Government?

What I would say to Mr Peteranna—whom I have met on many occasions and for whom I have great respect—is that the Scottish Government is investing in the ferry network. We have commissioned the Glen Sannox and the Glen Rosa from Ferguson’s. We have four large vessels coming from the Cemre yard in Turkey and seven small vessels have been procured by the Government.

When the Government came in to office in 2007, the 2006-07 expenditure on ferries in Scotland was £90 million. In the forthcoming budget, which Mr Sarwar did not support, the expenditure will be £530 million—a 23 per cent increase in funding levels on last year. [ Interruption .]

Let us hear one another.

What I would say is that the Government is investing in the ferry network. We have procured six large vessels to join the network. We have got seven smaller vessels that will be joining the network over time. The Government is putting up the money to support that.

Mr Sarwar has talked about the Ferguson’s yard. I remind him of what the GMB said when it wrote to him in 2022. Mr Sarwar was told by the GMB that the Labour Party’s approach to the situation at Ferguson’s is so “disappointing”. That is what the GMB told Mr Sarwar. Why? It did so because Mr Sarwar and his colleagues, who are repeatedly shouting at me today, have done what the Tories have done for years—they have run down Ferguson’s while this Government has supported Ferguson’s, for which I make no apology today.