I HAD hoped to explain the Internal Market Bill in greater detail in this column, however I feel it necessary to address the actions of my colleague Margaret Ferrier MP.
The kind editors at The National will only accept a certain amount of words from me, so I’ll ask you to head to my Twitter or Facebook and watch the video of the speech I gave on the bill this week in Parliament. It’s extremely important that this attack on our Parliament is not forgotten.
The truth is that, as I write this, I feel very uncomfortable for many reasons. The primary one is that I don’t like talking about people – I talk about policy. But I don’t think it is possible to make a public statement right now and not talk about what transpired this week.
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Since I started working from home, I have managed to communicate directly with constituents and help them quicker than I ever have before thanks, to the virtual Parliament that had been in place. However, the Tories have made it so that if you wish to participate in a debate, you must attend Westminster physically. They ended the option of contributing to debates virtually.
As I wished to speak on the appalling Internal Market Bill, it meant it was time to return to Westminster. I have not felt safe travelling there since the Covid pandemic started. I’ve not felt safe going anywhere, to be perfectly honest.
Occasionally, I’ve gone to the local pub or a restaurant but even then, I’m anxious and usually stay within walking distance. The very fact we are being asked to travel 400 miles during a global pandemic is ridiculous enough, given that there was a fully functioning hybrid system that the Government chose to pull the plug on.
The procedures to keep the staff and MPs safe from Covid in Westminster have been in place for months now with no outbreaks, however, so the place must be safe to a credible extent. But it turns out, due to the acts of one person, it wasn’t safe at all. When the news broke about Margaret yesterday, I was utterly livid.
It was good to see the Parliament staff again after so many months. They are hardworking and kind people. To then learn that an MP, and an MP in my own party, had so recklessly put those staff at risk, as well as everyone else who has to be at Westminster right now, made me absolutely furious.
Then there’s everyone who shared the train with her, and any other transport she used. It’s unfathomable. Then I think of the work all the House staff have put in to secure the place, and about the extra work that has now been piled on to their plates through no fault of their own.
Then I considered the greater picture, people across the country unable to see their family, being asked to restrict their lifestyles again as cases rise, and the message it sends to everyone who is wavering about whether breaking the rules once or twice really matters.
So many people will think, as they did when Dominic Cummings tossed the rules aside: “It’s one rule for them and another for us, why bother?”
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As we enter winter and the high flu season, with greater pressures on our economy and services, the last thing we need is to have those in positions of authority flouting the rules. It is the exact opposite of the example we want to set.
But I am human. I have known Margaret as nothing other than a hardworking and deeply dedicated campaigner. She has been a committed MP in the years I have worked with her. As a friend, I instinctively want to see if she is OK. Being at the centre of a media storm while recovering from this virus will be taking a hefty toll on her and I wish her nothing but a speedy and full recovery.
However, this is a situation created by only one person, and nothing in the public domain justifies or explains her dangerous actions. There is no possible explanation that could. The seriousness of her actions cannot be understated and, as a public representative with the responsibilities it brings, I hope she is seriously considering her position. I believe she must resign.
No matter who we know, how we feel, or what we want to do, we as a society cannot afford to break the rules. They exist for a reason.
One person’s bad actions do not justify another’s, so please remember FACTS and stick with the rules.
It is the only way for us to get through this.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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