An SNP minister refused to answer questions on his role in the Cal Mac ferry fiasco following claims he was responsible for signing off on the disastrous deal.
Justice secretary Keith Brown dodged inquiries from reporters on the matter at Holyrood today by swiftly entering the parliament canteen.
The Scottish Government is under pressure over the decision to award a contract for two new ferries to the Ferguson shipyard in 2015.
Neither vessel has been completed almost seven years later and the business was nationalised in 2019 after the Port Glasgow business struggled with cost overruns and design changes.
A report published last month by Audit Scotland found SNP ministers pressed ahead with the decision to award the contract to Ferguson Marine despite warnings from civil servants over its suitability.
Brown served as infrastructure secretary in August 2015 and government documents suggest he ultimately signed off on the deal as then transport secretary Derek Mackay was on holiday.
He told reporters today he had nothing to add to comments from the First Minister before swiftly heading for lunch.
Auditor general Stephen Boyle last week he was not able to speak to anyone connected with the yard because of a non-disclosure agreement.
The Scottish Government’s ferry procurement body - Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (Cmal) - raised concerns that a full builder’s guarantee was not part of the agreement but the decision was taken to award the deal to Ferguson regardless.
The Audit Scotland report found there was insufficient "documentary evidence" to show why the decision was taken forward without the guarantee.
Questioned today by Tory leader Douglas Ross, the First Minister said: "There is one piece of documentation that is not there, which is the formal record of the decision to proceed with the final contract award."
The First Minister went on to reference the auditor general - who said it was his belief that a record of why the contract went ahead was not forthcoming was because it did not exist - rather than it had been withheld.
She added that the note would confirm that ministers were content to take on the risk of the contract moving forward without the guarantee, but that decision could be inferred from other documents already in the public domain.
But the reasons why ministers were content with the contract being finalised has still not been made public.
Ross said: "Now we’re expected to believe there is not a shred of evidence about the final crucial decision.
"They were so proud of it, they didn’t want anyone to know about it. First Minister, given your pride, that should have been hanging on your wall."
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