Ferrier could be sacked by constituents, Blackford says
MARGARET FERRIER faces being kicked out of her seat by her constituents, the SNP’S Westminster leader warned her yesterday, as she continued to ignore Nicola Sturgeon’s personal appeal to quit.
Ian Blackford said the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP, who travelled from Scotland to the Commons and back by train while suffering from coronavirus, should “do the honourable thing” and resign her seat.
In a direct warning to Ms Ferrier, he said failing to resign “on her own terms” would mean she risked “having her fate taken out of her hands”.
SNP chiefs are understood to believe that she will be suspended from Parliament for at least 10 sitting days, or 14 consecutive days. A by-election would be forced if 10 per cent of her 81,000 constituents signed a recall petition.
But they are extremely worried that the longer Ms Ferrier clings on, the more damage will be inflicted on Ms Sturgeon’s public health message.
The First Minister spoke on Friday morning to the MP, whom she described as a friend, urging her to resign, but the 60-year-old did not quit even when the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation. Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, yesterday stepped up pressure on Ms Sturgeon to expel the MP from the SNP. Ms Ferrier has so far only been suspended.
The SNP faced further questions over when the party found out about Ms Ferrier having Covid, after it emerged she asked for a proxy vote last Monday “for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic”. Ms Sturgeon and Mr Blackford have insisted the party found out on Wednesday, and only discovered on Thursday morning that she had been tested before and not after her 800-mile round trip to the Commons.
Mr Blackford insisted Ms Ferrier’s proxy vote reason was a catch-all form of wording suggested by the Speaker.
He added: “A failure to resign on her own terms means she will face a parliamentary standards inquiry … she runs the risk of having her fate being taken out of her hands.”