First Minister Humza Yousaf has said the £1,200 spent by minister Lorna Slater on a private boat to get to the Isle of Rum was a good use of public money.
The minister caused consternation among the opposition earlier this month after it emerged she chartered a private catamaran. A return ticket on a ferry operated Government-owned CalMac would have cost £9.40, or 127 times less.
Ms Slater visited the island, off the north-west coast of Scotland, last month to discuss the future of Kinloch Castle. It came after City financier and former Tory donor Jeremy Hosking withdrew a bid for the Edwardian property, blaming an intervention from Ms Slater.
