LONDON: Covid rule breaker Margaret Ferrier could face a by-election as a Commons standards watchdog recommended she should be suspended from Parliament for 30 days.
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP was found to have damaged the reputation of the Commons and put people at risk after taking part in a debate and travelling by train while suffering from Covid-19.
She has already been ordered to complete a 270-hour community payback order by a court after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public “to the risk of infection, illness and death” as a result of her behaviour.
Ms Ferrier now faces losing her seat in a by-election if the proposed suspension is backed by MPs, as anything longer than a 10-sitting day punishment can trigger a recall petition. If 10 per cent of her constituents back it, a by-election will be called.
Ms Ferrier, then an SNP MP, developed Covid symptoms on September 26, 2020 – a Saturday – and took a test, but still went to church and had lunch with a family member the following day.
On the Monday, while awaiting the result of the test, she travelled by train to London, took part in a Commons debate and ate in the Members’ Tearoom in Parliament. That evening she received a text telling her the test was positive. But instead of isolating, she travelled back to Scotland by train the following morning.
In September last year, Ms Ferrier was sentenced in court to 270 hours of community service for the Covid rules breach, and was told that was a direct alternative to custody and that she must complete the unpaid work within nine months. She won the constituency for the SNP in 2019, taking the seat from Labour. She had the party whip removed in 2020 after the allegations against her emerged and has since sat in the Commons as an independent.
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