SHAMED MP Margaret Ferrier misled her party and parliamentary authorities "numerous times" in the days before her movements were uncovered.
A senior SNP source told The Herald the MP had “misled the party on numerous occasions” about when she had taken a test. It is understood she said on Wednesday she had taken a test when she was back in Scotland because her daughter had also got one, but her daughter’s result was negative, and hers was positive.
The full picture only emerged when parliamentary authorities, NHS Test and Trace and NHS Scotland's Test and Protect teams discovered Ms Ferrier was actually tested on Saturday.
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West representative is still clinging on to her post despite First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urging her to resign.
A former commercial sales manager, Ms Ferrier was elected as an SNP MP in 2015, lost it in 2017 before taking the seat back again in 2019 from Labour’s Ged Killen.
Since the 60-year-old disclosed she had travelled more than 400 miles on a train to Glasgow while knowingly carrying coronavirus, she has faced cross-party outrage and condemnation. from the public for her actions.
A source said: “Part of the reason why members of the party are so angry is that she misled them numerous times. They are so shocked by this, as she is a genuinely nice woman and a very dedicated MP. They just can’t get their heads around the fact she misled them willingly.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was questioned yesterday over the former SNP MP’s behaviour, and said that while Ms Ferrier was a friend and colleague, she could not stand and defend her.
House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was also enraged yesterday during numerous interviews about the MP's conduct.
He said he was "very very angry" not just about what she had done, but about the fact he only learned of her positive test on Wednesday.
He said: “What I can never allow for is somebody who’s going to break the rules, who should never have done that. “People make mistakes. But there is something completely different where they act in a reckless manner that puts people at risk, the public on public transport, or even in Parliament. I have a deep concern for the members, but also for the staff I’ve got to look after.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon calls the actions of Margaret Ferrier 'utterly indefensible'
“This should never have happened, it’s not acceptable and I certainly don’t want a repeat of this in the future.” Sir Lindsay said the rules around MPs self-certifying for proxy voting, as Ms Ferrier did, may be reviewed following her conduct.
He added: "Of course like everything, after this serious breach, we will always review and check where we go in the future. But we know we have the best procedures in place, we know that we were Covid-secure in that sense.
“We will always be looking to upgrade when we need to. If we need to change things, of course. But what I will say is we have very good staff who work very hard, who have not stopped working through the night on this. They shouldn’t have been put in this position either."
DUP MP for Strangford Jim Shannon was told to self-isolate after being identified as being in the proximity of the MP.
He was seated at the same dining table as her on Monday evening.
A statement from the MP read: “Upon receiving this news Mr Shannon immediately self-isolated and on Thursday afternoon he received a negative Covid-19 test result.”
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