Swinney backs Flynn in ferry gas leak row and says 'Nobody's perfect'

First Minister John Swinney has expressed his support for Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn amid controversy regarding whether Flynn had been informed about a dangerous gas leak on a CalMac ferry prior to a parliamentary committee meeting. During an interview for the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg programme, broadcast on Sunday, Swinney stated that emails indicated Flynn had not received a briefing before the Holyrood transport committee session held last month. Swinney conveyed confidence in Flynn, remarking that the transport secretary acknowledged the importance of being fully informed and promptly addressed the issue once it was recognized. “Nobody’s perfect, nobody’s infallible,” Swinney added.

The situation unfolded on 9 September when Flynn appeared before the transport committee and claimed he was unaware of a BBC Scotland News report released over nine hours earlier. The report revealed that a faulty valve on the ferry MV Glen Sannox caused 700kg of flammable methane gas to vent from the vessel during a passenger crossing from Arran to Troon in June 2025. At the time of questioning, Flynn explained that he had missed the report because he had been facetiming his children shortly before the meeting commenced. However, documents published by The Scottish Sun and The Times raised questions about Flynn’s awareness, showing that his office had been contacted twice in the half-hour before the committee session began.

Despite the emergence of these documents, Flynn maintained on X (formerly Twitter) that the reports claiming he had been briefed prior to the meeting were inaccurate. He wrote, “This is not true. I should’ve seen the BBC news that morning – but the FOI confirms I was not briefed.” He admitted that his initial response during the committee was inadequate and expressed his frustration over the situation, saying, “If I’d known, I’d have given a damn

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