The Scottish Government has recently launched two new consultation papers as part of its Islands Connectivity Plan. These are called Strategic Approach and Vessels and Ports Plan. More on these later.

This consultation exercise has been rather overshadowed by events on the ground at the Ferguson Yard in Port Glasgow. David Tydeman, the chief executive, was chucked over the side by his board. He has been followed this week by Robbie Drummond, the chief executive of CalMac, the ferry operator.

The departure of Mr Tydeman is rather a shame because he was by all accounts an effective manager. Not only that but he spoke the truth and spoke it plainly. He had, however, one big fault: he wasn’t lucky.

He had been trying to fix inherited problems which were not of his making and ran out of road, reporting one too many delays back to his masters in Holyrood.

The Scottish Minister in charge of the yard, the lacklustre SNP high-flyer Mairi McAllan, would have us believe she had nothing to do with the sacking, that it was all the Ferguson board’s doing.

Robbie Drummond, the chief executive of CalMac, was sacked this week (Image: free)

Anybody who knows the relationship between a company which has run out of money such as Ferguson and its paymaster, in this case the Scottish Government, knows the chief executive only gets removed when the........

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