As the sole islander on the board of Scotland's CMAL is ousted, Brian Wilson asks what is going on with the ferries agency

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”.

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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........

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