Ferrier set to appeal Commons suspension
Margaret Ferrier is appealing against her recommended 30day suspension from the House of Commons which could result in a by-election and the loss of her Rutherglen & Hamilton West seat.
She is contesting last month’s decision by Westminster’s standards committee, who proposed the lengthy ban from the chamber after concluding that her actions in travelling to and from London while awaiting Covid results and after testing positive during the height of the pandemic breached the members’ code of conduct.
The MP’S appeal will be considered by an independent expert panel, whose chair Sir Stephen Irwin officially noted its receipt in a letter to the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, stating: “I can confirm that Margaret Ferrier has submitted an appeal.” Ms Ferrier’s case will now go before a three-person board, which can either uphold the original decision, ask the standards committee to revisit the case or substitute its own decision on what sanction to impose, and with guidance for applicants stating that their decision will be “final and cannot be appealed further”.
The appeal process pushes back the potential prospect of a by-election in her constituency, which could be called if MPS vote to implement a suspension of more than 10 days, in turn allowing constituents to open a recall petition which would need the support of 10 per cent of the seat’s 81,000 electors.
Ms Ferrier has sat as an independent since losing the SNP whip following the Covid breach in September 2020, for which she pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct for breaking Covid travel rules and was last year sentenced to 270 hours of community service. Both the SNP and Labour have begun campaigning in the swing seat, with visits from First Minister Humza Yousaf, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, deputy Angela Rayner and Scottish party leader Anas Sarwar to a constituency which has changed hands at each of the past three elections.
Responding to news of the appeal, Central Scotland MSP Monica Lennon tweeted: “If Margaret Ferrier had any respect for the people of Rutherglen & Hamilton West, she would be resigning rather than prolonging this saga.
“A recall petition is a vital step towards our communities choosing their new MP – further delays are unfair on residents.”
Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey last month said she would “join in signing the recall petition should Margaret continue to cling to her job” and called on her “to stand down now and save a protracted recall petition process”.
She said: “I am deeply disappointed, and indeed angry, that it has come to this.
“As I stated at the time, Margaret should have resigned the second she flouted public health rules.”
Ms Ferrier told the standards commissioner in a written statement that after receiving the positive Covid test result in London: “My decision to make the journey home was made whilst in a state of shock and anxiety.
“I did not at any time believe I was acting in my own self-interest but believed I was taking the safest step in the unfortunate set of circumstances that I had myself created when I [travelled] to London, a poor decision which I now bitterly regret.”
Deciding on the 30-day sanction, the committee concluded she had “knowingly exposed others to risk” through “not a single misjudgment, but a series of deliberate actions over several days”.