INVERCLYDE'S billionaire businessmen brothers have accused the Scottish Government of being 'blind' to commercial and business realities - and declared that the country faces financial meltdown in the very near future.

The remarks of Sandy and James Easdale came shortly after it was revealed that nationalised Port Glasgow shipyard Ferguson Marine has ousted programme director Andy Crossan who had been seconded from Scottish Government ferry procurement quango, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL).

Mr Crossan was heavily involved in the major problems over the inclusion of LNG (liquified natural gas.) 

The Easdales say that this 'so-called green fuel' was 'foisted' on the project to fulfil the SNP’s ambitious rush to net zero targets.

This also followed revelations that John Petticrew, the yard's new CEO who took over from the sacked David Tydeman, is being paid to travel from his home in Canada to Port Glasgow.

Sandy Easdale said: “We’re currently at war with Strathclyde Passenger Transport and the Scottish Government over their plans to nationalise our bus company, McGill’s.

"James and I have put the last two decades of our lives into building a Scottish business that is now hundreds of millions, created hundreds of jobs and paid huge taxes - and we are supposed to give it away to a government that, through Ferguson’s, has demonstrated a staggering ineptitude.

“There are stunning parallels between the interference and management of Ferguson's and what the plans are for our company.

"It goes without saying that Ferguson has turned into a black hole that the government keeps chucking taxpayers’ money into without any semblance of oversight.

“Regarding our own case, the government, SPT and Transport Scotland are so financially illiterate that whilst they claimed it would cost about £15m a year to introduce franchising to buses, the real figures are a staggering £400m a year.”

Turning his attention to SPT chief executive Valerie Davidson, Mr Easdale said: “It appears Ms Davidson’s deluded self-belief and ego is pushing this project through at any cost to the public.

"Maybe she’s trying to carve out her place in history. She may very well do that - but for all the wrong reasons - and remember every mistake this person makes is at taxpayers' expense.

“Recent media revelations come as no surprise to us that the SNP government is splurging £1million a week of taxpayers’ cash on a cycling charity, Sustrans,  who not only want to run motorists off the road but are the architects of this mad plan to nationalise our buses.

“If Sustrans' brief is to shut down our cities and bankrupt the country with their mad green schemes then they are doing a great job.

“For this reason, we have retained the services of the best legal team in the country to fight our case to the bitter end.”

James Easdale added: “It is interesting that when our financial experts produced the £400m figure, it has never been challenged by either SPT, the government or Transport Scotland.

“One would have thought that the then government and council’s role in Edinburgh’s tram line project, which saw costs double to well over £1billion, might have taught officials a lesson.”

(Lord Hardie, who chaired the inquiry concluded that Tie, the company originally set up to deliver the line, but also Edinburgh council and Scottish ministers shared the blame for its huge cost overruns, delays and the resulting damage to the city’s economy.)

James continued: “The ferry scandal, the Edinburgh trams and now the planned franchise of bus companies by SPT and its 12 member councils suggests that there is a total lack of business acumen at MSP and civil servant levels in Scotland and a profound lack of understanding as to the financing of business, how to grow them and how to sustain high levels of employment.”

Sandy Easdale concluded: “We drive past Fergusons every day and then pick up the papers to read the latest revelations. This is insult to the memory of the men who built Clyde’s reputation over many decades as a world-class builder of ships.

“We might not be able to help Fergusons but we can help highlight what is going wrong and we certainly won’t allow this government’s ineptitude to confiscate our own company. “