LONDON - A Scottish lawmaker faces a 30-day suspension from Britain’s Parliament after its standards committee said she had broken the rules when she made a long train journey while she had Covid-19, in a move that could end up triggering a by-election.
Ms Margaret Ferrier tested positive in September 2020 after speaking in Britain’s House of Commons. Instead of isolating, as was mandatory at the time for anyone with a positive test, she took a train, travelling more than 600km back to Scotland.
She has apologised for what she has called “an error in judgment”, but has resisted calls to resign.
The Committee on Standards said on Thursday that she had committed “significant breaches” of five principles of the code of conduct for Members of Parliament, including selflessness, accountability and honesty.
Ms Ferrier, who was at the time a Member of Parliament for the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), was suspended from her party and now sits as an independent.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg said Ms Ferrier had placed “her own personal interest of not wishing to self-isolate immediately or in London over the public interest of avoiding possible risk of harm to health and life”.
Members of Parliament will be asked to vote on the recommended 30-day suspension, which, if backed by MPs, would trigger a recall petition.
If the petition is signed by 10 per cent of voters in Ms Ferrier’s parliamentary constituency, this would mean she has to put herself forward for re-election.
Any by-election would be a test of the opposition Labour Party’s ability to win back seats from the SNP in Scotland, where it used to be dominant.
Four MPs of the ruling Conservative Party who were involved in investigating Ms Ferrier’s actions wanted a suspension of nine days, which is below the threshold that could potentially trigger a by-election, but were defeated.
The Conservatives are a majority on a separate parliamentary inquiry looking at whether former prime minister Boris Johnson intentionally misled lawmakers about illegal parties held at his Downing Street office during Covid-19 lockdowns. REUTERS
