MARGARET Ferrier backed out of appearing in front of MPs today, a week after she admitted breaking coronavirus rules.
The shamed MP, who was suspended from the SNP exactly a week ago for travelling more than 400 miles while knowingly infected with coronavirus, had planned to ask Liz Truss a question this morning.
The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West was picked last week to ask the International Trade secretary about her progress on a US trade deal.
However Ms Ferrier notified the Speaker's Office that she was withdrawing the question ahead of her scheduled appearance this morning, the Herald can confirm.
Similar questions were asked on the status of US deals and tariffs on scotch whisky by other MPs, including Neale Hanvey of the SNP and Conservative MP Craig Tracey.
It comes after MPs from all sides of the House condemned her actions last week, saying she had behaved recklessly and dangerously.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, as well as many of her own former party colleagues have urged her to step down.
Since posting a statement about her actions on social media last Thursday, the MP has remained silent about what she plans to do.
She has reported herself to the Parliamentary standards commissioner, and British Transport police have confirmed the investigation into the MPs conduct is continuing in conjunction with the Metropolitan police.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard launched a petition calling for her resignation yesterday, while sir Keir Starmer, UK Labour leader, held a virtual chat session with her constituents last night.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel