MARGARET Ferrier was last night resisting a barrage of demands to resign as an MP after she provoked public anger by making two four hour train journeys after experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West had not responded to the calls for her to stand down as The National went to press last night.
Police Scotland, the Metropolitan Police Service and the British Transport Police have all confirmed they are investigating her Glasgow to London return train journeys.
Ferrier admitted travelling to London after experiencing Covid symptoms, and then making the return journey home after testing positive for the virus.
Both are breaches of the rules to contain the spread of the virus, which state people with symptoms or a positive test should isolate at home.
READ MORE: This is the 'proof' a Tory MP claims shows Margaret Ferrier won't resign
Senior Tory Greg Hands yesterday suggested he had proof she had “no intention” of exiting Parliament. The Tory trade minister tweeted the Commons order paper for next Thursday which listed Ferrier as down for an oral question.
Writing on Twitter, Hands said: “Looks like Margaret Ferrier has no intention of standing down. She has applied for – and been drawn for – a Trade Oral Question next Thursday.”
Last night Commons insiders said as Ferrier was currently self-isolating and is eligible for remote participation.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing yesterday the First Minister made clear her anger with the MP, who has had the SNP whip removed and currently sits as an independent MP. She called on Ferrier to quit as an MP after saying she had made a “monumental” error of judgment.
The First Minister said she had spoken to Ferrier and made it “crystal clear” she should resign her seat, though she said the MP did not reveal what she intends to do.
“This was a monumental, actually almost incomprehensible, error of judgment on Margaret’s part, and I can’t make my feelings on that any clearer than I am doing,” she said.
“There surely can be nobody in this country who doesn’t know that if you have a positive test for Covid you should isolate yourself, and you certainly shouldn’t sit on a train for six hours taking a 450-mile journey.”
Ferrier issued an apology on Thursday evening as she revealed she was tested for coronavirus on Saturday after developing symptoms, but then took a train to Parliament on Monday when she should have been self-isolating.
She spoke in a Commons debate on coronavirus on Monday, and was told at some point that evening she had tested positive.
Instead of self-isolating, she took a train back to Scotland on Tuesday.
DUP MP Jim Shannon, who was seated at the same Commons dining table as her on Monday evening, with social distancing in place, is now self-isolating.
His party’s statement said the Speaker’s Office told him on Wednesday he was a close contact of a positive case and he immediately self isolated.
SNP staff at Westminster say they were told on Wednesday Ferrier had coronavirus, and initially thought she had taken the test after returning to Scotland – only learning about her breaches of self-isolation rules on Thursday.
The First Minister said yesterday Ferrier had been unable to give a “cogent explanation” for her actions. She explained she has no power to force her to go.
The First Minister added: “I don’t have the power to force an MP to stand down, no party leader has that power. But I can make my views known and – difficult though it is – I have done so, and I hope she will come to the right decision.”
READ MORE: SNP MP suspended after travelling from London to Scotland while Covid-positive
Sturgeon said while coronavirus rules have changed during the course of the pandemic, “the one rule that has been clear and unchanging really throughout, this is the need to self isolate when you have symptoms and get tested, and if you test positive to absolutely make sure you complete that self-isolation”.
She added: “This is not a minor breach of the rules, it is not an inadvertent breach of the rules, it is a really flagrant and dangerous breach of the rules.”
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford insisted Ferrier’s position as an MP has been made untenable.
Ferrier could face a £4,000 fine for a first-time offence of coming into contact with others when she should have been self-isolating.
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