Disgraced MP who flouted Covid rules 'shows brass neck' with Commons return

A disgraced MP who broke Covid-19 rules by making a return trip from Glasgow to London with the virus has made her first appearance in the Commons since testing positive.

Margaret Ferrier, who has continued to defy calls to stand down from her £82,000-per-year job and is sitting as an independent after being stripped of the SNP whip, asked a question by video link about Hong Kong.

Opposition parties said the 60-year-old’s appearance was a “gross insult to her constituents” and accused her of “brazenly trying to retain her Westminster privileges at the taxpayers’ expense”.

When she initially refused demands to stand down, including from within the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon suggested the delay may have been due to Ms Ferrier being ill with coronavirus.

However, she later gave a newspaper interview in which she made clear she had no intention of quitting her seat, and claimed she had been treated unfairly.

Ms Ferrier travelled from her home in Cambuslang to London by train, after she had taken a Covid test. According to the rules, she should have self-isolated and awaited the result.

She gave a speech in the Commons on September 28, and received a positive result from her test that evening. Again, rather than self-isolating in London, she made the 400-mile return trip to Scotland, placing fellow passengers and staff at risk.

In the Commons on Thursday, she asked about a health surcharge for British overseas nationals in Hong Kong, who want to relocate to the UK.

Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, said: "Margaret Ferrier's turning up like this at the Commons, as if nothing had happened, is a gross insult to her constituents.

"After so shamelessly flouting the Covid rules that everyone else has lived by during eight hugely difficult months, it's breath-taking that Margaret Ferrier is so brazenly trying to retain her Westminster privileges at the taxpayers' expense.

"Her constituents have been left voiceless by this lame duck MP, whose only motivation appears to be retaining her membership of the Westminster club. She should do the decent thing and resign now.”

Ms Ferrier could yet lose her seat if she is suspended from the Commons for 10 sitting days for the breach, and 10 per cent of constituents then sign a petition to trigger a by-election.

Graham Simpson, the Tory MSP, said: “Margaret Ferrier’s constituents will be astonished by her brass neck in returning to Parliament.

“Everyone in her constituency and across the country making sacrifices will be amazed to see she is still in an elected position.

“That confirms that she values her salary more than doing the right thing. It's time the Commons stepped in and took action against Margaret Ferrier so that her constituents can get the opportunity to elect someone else."

Ms Ferrier was approached for comment.