'Were you signing Lionel Messi?' Nicola Sturgeon blasted for paying shipyard boss £3k a day

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nicola Sturgeon has been blasted after it was revealed her government paid the former boss of a scandal-hit shipyard £3,000 per day.

Tim Hair was hired as a "turnaround director" at Ferguson Marine after the business was nationalised by SNP ministers in 2019.

The maritime expert was paid a daily rate of £3,000 plus expenses, according to documents obtained by Scottish Labour. The yard entered administration before Hair's appointment after it was plagued by delays and cost overruns associated with the construction of two new CalMac ferries - both of which are still to be finished.

It was announced last week that both vessels won't enter service until the end of 2023 at the earliest.Labour leader Anas Sarwar today pressed the First Minister on the money paid to Hair - who has since left the business - and asked her if she thought she was "signing Lionel Mess?".He said: "The waste of public money - a quarter of a billion pounds so far - by the government at Fergusons does not end with the award of the ferry contract."In August 2019, Tim Hair was appointed as turnaround director at the yard."Emails obtained through Freedom of Information show the appointment was rushed through without the usual competition in just a few days."Mr Hair was selected from a shortlist of just three people.