WORKERS “do not need more meetings, but a decision,” the GMB union has warned, as First Minister John Swinney reveals the Scottish government is “actively considering” the direct award of a ferry contract to Ferguson Marine.

Mr Swinney made the remarks in response to a letter from the union, backed by Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe, SNP MSP Stuart McMillan and Labour MSPs Neil Bibby and Katy Clark, to demand the yard be thrown the lifeline of building the replacement vessel for CalMac’s ageing Lord of the Isles.

Ferguson Marine found itself mired in controversy in recent years after a contract to deliver two new ferries for CalMac ran over seven years late, with costs ballooning from its initial £97 million estimate to almost £470m and counting.

While recriminations continue over the fiasco, which led to the nationalisation of the yard by the Scottish government, workers at the site have been caught in the crossfire, with no major contracts in sight after the second of the two ferries, the Glen Rosa, is complete.

Calling for a direct award to allow the yard to “rebuild after a bruising decade,“ the letter read:

“Responsibility for the delayed delivery of the two ships most recently built there can be debated but the skilled and committed workforce is entirely blameless.

“Those workers only want to restore their yard’s former reputation for excellence and deserve that opportunity.“

Offering hope yesterday, Mr Swinney said that “the government is actively considering" a direct award, but said: “I would ask those who are calling for the government to take this step is to give us a bit of time and space to go through all of those complexities.“

GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour hit back: “The First Minister asks for more time because of the complexities of making a direct award, but it does not seem so complex for other governments in other countries.

“We have a publicly owned shipyard that has a long history of successfully building small ferries and a publicly owned ferry company and island communities that could not need them more.

“This has been discussed for long enough. We do not need more meetings, we need a decision.

“There is no more time to waste because Ferguson is losing badly needed skills and experience with every month that passes.“