Lifeline for Boris?

As Tories on Partygate inquiry try to help Covid breach MP avoid by-election, does it signal a...

COVID rule-breaker MP Margaret Ferrier faces a 30-day suspension from Parliament for attending the Commons while she had the virus.

But in a surprise move, Tory MPs on the standards committee that recommended her suspension called for her punishment to be softened.

Such attitudes could prove to be a lifeline for Boris Johnson, who is facing a controversial inquiry into claims that he lied to MPs about lockdown parties in No 10.

Mrs Ferrier, a former SNP MP, was found to have damaged the reputation of the Commons and put people at risk after taking part in a debate and travelling by train with Covid. Commons rules mean MPs suspended for ten days or more are automatically eligible for a recall petition, triggering a by-election if 10 per cent of constituents support the idea.

But the standards committee has called for these rules to be reviewed.

Three of the four Tories on the committee voted for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP to be suspended for nine days, with pay docked for a further 21.

The Tories were outvoted with the help of lay members of the standards committee. The privileges committee hearing Mr Johnson’s case has the same MP members but no lay members.

This raises the prospect that Tories could seek to limit his punishment to avoid a byelection even if he is found guilty.

Tory committee member Sir Charles Walker declined to comment on Mr Johnson’s case. But he said it was time to examine if recall rules were ‘still fit for purpose’.

He said: ‘ There are concerns about the way the Recall Act works. There is an issue about the automatic nature of things – it doesn’t matter if someone is suspended for ten days or 10,000, the consequences are the same. The House may think it would be helpful for the standards committee to have a broader range of sanctions at its disposal.’

Mrs Ferrier has had to complete 270 hours of community payback after admitting cul

‘Broader range of sanctions’

pably and recklessly exposing the public ‘to the risk of infection, illness and death’.

Mrs Ferrier developed symptoms on Saturday, September 26, 2020 and took a test but went to church the next day. On Monday, she travelled to London and to Parliament.

That evening she got a text saying her test was positive. She took a train back to Scotland the next day.

Since the allegations emerged in 2020, Mrs Ferrier has sat as an independent MP.