Public rage against Ferrier is revealed

Anger towards shamed Hamiltonwest MP Margaret Ferrier is evident after correspondence received by the Scottish Government about her actions was revealed.

In September, Ferrier travelled from London to Scotland despite having Covid-19 and documents released through Freedom of Information laws last week showed that a string of furious messages were submitted about her behaviour.

Among the letters and emails received over the matter is one from the parents of a doctor.

They wrote:“our son works in the

NHS and he and his colleagues are working flat out to help save lives and you go against all Government [both Westminster and Holyrood] guidelines.

“What is it with you politicians that you think you are above everyone else and simply ignore guidelines which the rest of the country are being asked repeatedly to follow.”

Another complainant, who stated they had suffered the virus themselves, wrote:“to see what Margaret Ferrier has done has genuinely made me feel quite sick.”

Several of the letters refer to Ms Ferrier as an MSP, while others claim to be from England.

The documents also show train firm Avantiwest Coast contacted the Scottish Government to ask Holyrood which agency passengers with infection worries should turn.

An Avanti employee wrote:“ms Ferrier’s occupation is of no interest or relevance to us.

“The reason we are approaching yourselves is because we have been informed by the Speaker’s Office that NHS Scotland is dealing directly with this so we want to ensure we give out the appropriate information to staff members or members of the public who are concerned about whether they have come into contact with Ms Ferrier.”

National clinical director Jason Leitch stated Scotland’stest and Protect and England’stest andtrace would contact the operator.

Despite a sustained barrage of calls to resign, including from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ferrier remains the MP for Rutherglen and Hamiltonwest.