Ferguson's shipyard bid for the Scottish Executive contract

Scotland Office minister David Cairns said Ferguson's yard in Inverclyde should build the three vessels.

Mr Cairns said the Department of Trade and Industry was backing Ferguson's complaints against the Gdansk yard.

But Scottish Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie said he had no grounds on which to exclude the Polish yard.

He said that the situation surrounding an EU investigation into the competition claims was far from clear.

EU investigation

The European competition commissioner Neelie Kroes is already looking into claims that Polish yards have been given unfair subsidies.

On Wednesday, Mr Cairns said he had received a letter from Trade Minister Alun Michael saying that the government shared his concerns about a bid from the Polish shipyard Rementova to build two fisheries protection vessels for the executive and a CalMac vessel.

The UK's permanent representative in Brussels has been instructed to convey the government's concerns to the European Commission, which has already promised to hold an inquiry into the subsidy allegations.

Mr Cairns, the Labour MP for Inverclyde, said that EU competition rules clearly stated that there could be no improper subsidies.

The problem is that we cannot really wait two years for an investigation to be carried out David Cairns Scotland Office minister

He said: "The problem is that we cannot really wait two years for an investigation to be carried out.

"There are now too many questions about the Polish yard and this order needs to be placed in the next few months.

"Therefore it should be placed with the only other bidder for the order, which is Ferguson's shipyard."

Mr Finnie said: "We have been awarding contracts to Ferguson's in the time that I have been fisheries minister.

"We have awarded two contracts to Ferguson's and I have been very pleased indeed and I hope there will be more contracts to Ferguson's.

"But if we are in a contract process there are steps that have to be gone through.

'Material consideration'

"This letter from the DTI is a material consideration which I am going to take very seriously as I have taken all of the allegations that have been made to me, both by Ferguson's management and by Ferguson's shop stewards."

The SNP has claimed the contract could have been awarded directly to Ferguson because EU competition rules on tendering did not apply to contracts for vessels used in the defence of national interests, including fisheries protection boats.

But the Scottish Executive said it was "nonsense" to suggest that ministers could classify fisheries protection vessels as military ships.

SNP Euro MP Alyn Smith said Environment Minister Ross Finnie now had "no reason" not to award the fishery protection vessel contract to Ferguson.

He said: "So far there has been absolutely no assistance or action from the executive to support the yard."