When I interviewed Kate Forbes last month, she highlighted her view that Prestwick Airport’s work in building new alliances and relationships means the opportunities for the area around it are “quite remarkable”.

It was heartening to hear this vote of confidence from the Deputy First Minister about Prestwick Airport, which has been in Scottish Government ownership since 2013 when it was bought from Infratil of New Zealand for £1 in a deal which prevented the airport’s closure.

Ms Forbes has of course demonstrated herself to be someone who will not paint a picture that everything in the garden is rosy just because something is owned by the Scottish Government.

In the same interview, when asked if she had been unhappy with recent progress at Ferguson Marine shipyard at Port Glasgow, in terms of the latest delay in delivery of the Glen Rosa ferry being built for Caledonian MacBrayne, Ms Forbes replied: “I, of course, was really disappointed with the delay to the Glen Rosa and the budget implications of that delay. And I was very clear in public at the time that I thought it was unacceptable.

“I felt that we need to deliver these vessels for the sake of the islanders, yes, but also because we need to restore confidence in the yard and those delays don't help with the public narrative about the yard, and it's hard enough for the yard to secure work with all of the political noise that goes on about Ferguson Marine.”

Ms Forbes did also declare she had “full confidence in the ability of the yard to submit quality tenders” for future work as she highlighted the importance of restoring confidence in Ferguson Marine for it to “succeed and survive”. This was of course good to hear given the importance of retaining the shipbuilding capacity of the yard, and the employment provided by it.

However, her comment about being “really disappointed” showed a frankness you do not always get from politicians.

Prestwick Airport, in........

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