A former SNP Finance Secretary blamed by Nicola Sturgeon for the ferries fiasco is to give evidence to a Holyrood inquiry on the scandal.
Derek Mackay, who quit in disgrace over messages to a 16 year old boy, will put his side of the story if called.
A damning Audit Scotland report recently laid bare the problems with the construction of two CalMac ferries at the Ferguson shipyard.
The Scottish Government helped the yard find a new buyer in 2014 and then announced Ferguson as the preferred bidder for the two vessels.
Cost overruns led to the yard being taken into public ownership and construction of the ferries is running five years late and around £150m over budget.
The First Minister was accused of throwing Mackay under the bus when she said he was Transport Minister at the time of the contract being signed.
Now Mackay, who had not been seen at Holyrood since quitting on the day he was due to present his Budget in 2020, is set for a mini political comeback.
Holyrood’s public audit committee is expected to back an inquiry and Mackay said in a statement to the Sunday Times: “I am willing to co-operate with a parliamentary committee and do my best to answer any questions they may have.
"To do so as comprehensively as possible I will seek access to the necessary papers and information that I am entitled to as a former government minister.”
A friend of the fallen former Finance Secretary, once tipped as a potential First Minister, was quoted saying:
“Derek believes he has been victimised in this whole affair and he is happy to appear at the committee where he will set the record straight and deal with the facts.
“He says in fact he was fourth in the pecking order around these ferry orders, as junior transport minister — the most junior of those dealing with them. He was behind the main players: Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Keith Brown.
“Anyone who knows anything about the way these processes work knows something of this size could never have happened without prior approval at the highest levels.”
Sturgeon has previously conceded the “fulfilment of the contract went "badly wrong”.
Labour MSP Neil Bibby welcomed Mackay’s willingness to give evidence: “We welcome Derek Mackay offering to give evidence. Nicola Sturgeon and (Finance Secretary) Kate Forbes have completely failed to explain why the taxpayer has been ripped off, islanders have been let down and the workforce have had their futures threatened.
“A committee inquiry is a chance for Derek Mackay to set the record straight at last, and shed some desperately needed light on this murky scandal.”
He added: “After weeks of spin, secrecy and non-answers from a string of ministers, we have to hope Mackay will come clean where his former colleagues have failed.
“Five years on and £150 million later, clear answers about who made these decisions and why are the least the public deserve.”
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