Margaret Ferrier: MP facing Commons suspension for Covid train trip

MP Margaret Ferrier should be suspended from the Commons for 30 days for breaching Covid rules, the standards committee has recommended.

The suspension would likely lead to a by-election in her Rutherglen constituency if it was imposed.

Ms Ferrier spoke in parliament in September 2020 while awaiting the results of a Covid test.

She then took the train home to Glasgow after being told she had tested positive.

She lost the SNP whip and has since pleaded guilty to breaching Covid rules. She was sentenced to carry out 270 hours of community service.

The charge stated that she had failed to self isolate and had "exposed people to risk of infection, illness and death".

Any MP suspended from the Commons for at least 10 days can be recalled and a by-election held if at least 10% of the registered voters in their constituency sign a petition calling for it to happen.

Labour would have high hopes of winning any by-election in Rutherglen. Ms Ferrier had a majority of 5,230 at the last general election when she won it for the SNP, with Labour finishing second.

She has been sitting in the Commons as an independent MP since losing the SNP whip.

The parliamentary commissioner for standards began an investigation into her conduct on 12 October following Ms Ferrier's self referral.

He concluded that she had put her own personal interest ahead of the public interest by not immediately self-isolating in London, and had therefore caused "possible risk of harm to health and life for people she came into contact with".

The commissioner also her actions had "caused significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, and of its members generally" and noted that people in many other walks of life would have been sacked for a similar breach of the lockdown rules.

Ms Ferrier told the commissioner her self-referral was "an open acceptance" of that she had broken the rules as well as an indication of remorse".

Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: "Margaret Ferrier's reckless actions put people at risk and rode roughshod over the rules everyone else followed.

"It is right that parliament has thrown the book at her for this unacceptable behaviour. There are still serious questions for the SNP to answer on what they knew and what they did at the time.

"Ferrier should do the right thing and stand down as an MP. Her constituents deserve better and that means a by-election."

The rules of the House of Commons mean that if an MP is suspended for 10 sitting days, a recall petition can be opened in their constituency.

The petition is open for six weeks, and if 10% of voters in the area sign it then it will trigger a by-election.

So there are a few hoops to jump through - the suspension is still to be approved by MPs, and given the ongoing parliamentary proceedings against Boris Johnson there is fierce debate about what sanctions should be applied for Covid rule breaches.

Ms Ferrier also has the right to appeal the committee's decision.

But it still seems likely there will be a by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West - a seat which has changed hands at the last three general elections.

Ms Ferrier won it for the SNP with a majority of 9.7% in 2019, but it was already a key target for Labour.

An early contest would be an immediate test for the SNP leader Humza Yousaf - and also for Labour counterparts Sir Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar, in their quest to spark a revival in former Scottish heartlands.