Sturgeon lets slip ‘ Margaret Covid’ name again

FIRST MINISTER

SCOTLAND’S FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called a beleaguered SNP MP “Margaret Covid” for the second time.

RutherglenandHamiltonWest MP Margaret Ferrier admitted on Thursday she had travelled to London while awaiting results for a Covid- 19 test, and back to Glasgow after the screening showed she was positive, both by train.

Ms Sturgeon, inset, and other senior SNP figures have called for her to go, but the MP remained silent over the weekend about her future.

The First Minister announced on Twitter she had told Ms Ferrier, who she described as a friend, she should step down.

Asked at the daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh about when the SNP knew the circumstances of Ms Ferrier’s trip, the First Minister

said: “Patrick Grady ( SNP chief whip) didn’t know last Monday or Tuesday that Margaret Covid has suspected or confirmed Covid.” Ms Sturgeon made the same slip of the tongue at the briefing on Friday, when she denounced Ms Ferrier’s conduct and said she believed she should step down as an MP.

The First Minister repeated her appeal to the MP yesterday while defending her party’s handling of the case, saying it had “acted to the maximum of what we can do”.

Ms Ferrier had the whip removed when her trips became public.

Earlier, the leader of the SNP at Westminster called on Ms Ferrier “to do the honourable thing” and resign. Ian Blackford told

Ms Ferrier should resign to save her “self- respect and dignity”.