SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar believes there is a ‘huge opportunity’ to bring jobs in the renewables sector into Inverclyde - and says he would like to see the troubled Ferguson Marine yard win more work.

The MSP made the remarks as he returned to the campaign trail in Gourock for the Scottish Labour leader’s second visit to the area since the start of October.

He was joined by Ian Hellyer, who is Labour’s candidate for this week’s Gourock by-election.

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The by-election follows the resignation of Scottish Labour councillor Martin McCluskey, who was elected as Inverclyde’s MP earlier this year.

During his visit, Mr Sarwar spoke about the potential for significant green investment in the area, which he says could help create new jobs.

He said: “I think all the fundamentals are here.

Anas Sarwar and Ian Hellyer on the campaign trail in Gourock. (Image: George Munro)

“We’ve got a fantastic coastline, we’ve got a proud history of shipbuilding, we’ve got a proud manufacturing history, we’ve got great skills locally and we’ve got a community that’s desperate for new investment. Too many businesses have moved on.

“We need a new generation of jobs here in Inverclyde, and we have a huge opportunity around renewables - partly with the port infrastructure, but also in terms of the space we have here to build those supply chains.

“Let’s make those business cases, and let’s develop those jobs of the future here in the west of Scotland and much wider afield.”

Mr Sarwar told the Tele that he believed Labour’s new state-owned company, GB Energy, could help drive growth locally.

He added: “One of the things we’re looking at with GB Energy is that it’s a state-owned company but how do you give local communities a shareholding and an input into it so that those communities that are helping drive towards net zero and the jobs of the future can get something back?

“I don’t just mean something back around their energy tariffs, I’m talking about something back around local investment in their own local services.

“To give a practical example of that, when I was in the Western Isles I visited a community wind farm project where they’re using the profits to fund social care packages on that part of the island.

“When we have such overstretched local budgets, we need to look at creative ways of ensuring there’s other income generation that’s coming into local communities.

“That’s part of the exploration around the role that GB Energy can play to give stakes to local communities.”

Mr Sarwar also gave his take on the recent news that local shipyard Ferguson Marine had made it through to a shortlist of bidders to build seven small ferries for CalMac.

The yard is currently building two overdue and over-budget ferries for CalMac, with the handover of one of the vessels imminent.

But concerns have previously been raised about how much work the yard will be able to attract after it completes the two delayed ferries.

Mr Sarwar said: “For all the criticisms of the SNP Government and their handling of the ferries debacle, one thing that has never been in doubt is that we have a quality workforce here.

“We have a proud history of shipbuilding here in the west of Scotland and on the Clyde, and that is something we have to celebrate and we have to promote.

"But it needs to not be undermined by government incompetence.

“That’s the crucial point here. I think there is a lot of work to be done around how we get adequate government intervention, how we get proper planning from government, how we reform the way we procure as well as the way we deliver ferries as well as the service that we deliver.

“All of that is being looked at as we develop our plan moving towards 2026, but do I want to see more work coming into Fergusons? Absolutely.

"Do I want to see that workforce be supported and expand? Absolutely. Do I want to see greater investment in shipbuilding, something we have an historic legacy in? Absolutely.”