Covid rule breach MP ‘indefensible’
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said MP Margaret Ferrier’s behaviour was “completely indefensible” after breaking coronavirus rules by travelling between Glasgow and Westminster having tested positive for Covid-19.
The Scottish First Minister said she has spoken to the MP, who had the SNP whip withdrawn after the incident emerged, but she was unable to get a “cogent explanation” for her actions.
Ms Ferrier was tested for coronavirus on Saturday after developing symptoms but took a train to Parliament on Monday when she should have been self-isolating.
She gave a four-minute speech in the House of Commons at 7.15pm on Monday during a debate on coronavirus.
The same evening, Ms Ferrier said she received her positive test result – although it is not known if this was before or after speaking in Parliament. She then took the train back to Glasgow.
Ms Sturgeon condemned Ms Ferrier’s “reckless, dangerous and completely indefensible” actions.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Ms Ferrier’s SNP whip was withdrawn
on Thursday morning when the party learned of her breaches of the rules.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland: “I’m pretty angry at what has happened, it is not acceptable. It’s important that it is beyond reproach that everybody, absolutely everybody, must obey the rules and we have to think about the signal that gives the public and the sacrifices that people are having to make.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle described her actions as “completely reckless behaviour”, and said he found out while in the Speaker’s Chair at around 4pm on Wednesday. He told Sky News the reaction was immediate and “within 20 minutes we were in full swing on what we needed to do to ensure the safety and security of staff and members”.
Ms Ferrier, the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP, said she took a test on Saturday after experiencing “mild symptoms”, meaning she should have self-isolated.
In a statement, she said she travelled home to Glasgow on Tuesday, where she has been self-isolating ever since.
She apologised for her actions and said there was “no excuse”.
Police Scotland said the MP informed them of her behaviour on Thursday and officers are “looking into the circumstances” along with the Metropolitan Police. She could face a £4,000 fine for a first-time offence of coming into contact with others when she should have been self-isolating, under a law that came into force on the day of her positive test.
UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Margaret Ferrier has accepted that she has broken the law.
“That’s now a matter for the police, the authorities who are investigating the matter, and it is really for her to consider what her political future is, and for her party.”