7TH November 2011
At worst it has been disappointing at best it has been inconsistent.
I warned at the outset of this financial crisis that communities like Inverclyde would be impacted harder than anywhere else.
It meant we had to be afforded greater protection from the Scottish Government and would have to push to the front of the queue when jobs plans were being put together.
So I was delighted that Fergusons will once again be in the shipbuilding business, fighting off six other shipyards from across the globe to win an important contract making hybrid ferry vessels.
It will allow them to retain the skilled workforce that has kept the yard going over the last few lean years and allow them to bring in apprentices for future contracts.
On the back of Waterloo Road announcement last week, it was a welcome and much-needed jobs boost.
But as ever with this government, with the sweet comes the sour.
Our long-term ambitions to regenerate our community by building new homes and attracting jobs and business to the area have been taken forward by the Riverside Inverclyde project.
We quickly learned that the Scottish Government didn’t share those ambitions when they brutally cut our regeneration budget by 70 per cent last year.
And if it was any doubt, they admitted this week they are pulling the plug on the successful initiative altogether, leaving an uncertain future for the regeneration Inverclyde.
I feared the worst when I saw enterprise money being directed to Dundee and Nigg recently, and confirming Inverclyde is not a priority.
With this government, they give with one hand, take with the other.