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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (right) with Margaret Ferrier Jane Barlow/PA Images

Scottish MP who made train journeys with Covid-19 symptoms defiant as Sturgeon says she must resign

Margaret Ferrier has said she’ll keep fighting for her constituents despite the controversy.

NICOLA STURGEON HAS repeated her call for disgraced MP Margaret Ferrier to quit for repeatedly breaching coronavirus rules by travelling after developing symptoms.

The former SNP MP has said she will not resign despite backlash over her journeys between Glasgow and Westminster with Covid-19 symptoms and then having tested positive for the virus.

Ferrier told the Scottish Sun that having the infection caused her to “act out of character” and she “panicked” before taking the 350-mile trip by train back to Scotland.

The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, who was suspended by the SNP and had the party whip withdrawn over the saga, said she had no intention of standing down.

She told the paper: “This has been an awful experience but I’ll keep fighting for my constituents because that’s who I am.”

But speaking on Sky News’ Sophie Ridge On Sunday show, Sturgeon said the breach was “unacceptable” and Ferrier should resign as an MP.

The Scottish First Minister said: “I couldn’t be clearer, she should step down from Parliament.

“The lapse of judgment in travelling hundreds of miles knowing she had tested positive for Covid-19 was so significant and so unacceptable that I don’t think there is any other acceptable course of action for her.

“I’ve read her comments in the media today but I still hope she will do the right thing.

“Every day, I have to stand and ask people across the country to do horrendously difficult things, to not visit their loved ones, and right now I’m asking people to understand why they can’t go to a pub or a restaurant.

“And it is unacceptable that somebody in her position flagrantly disregarded the rules like that and I cannot be clearer about that.

“It is not acceptable and she should resign.”

In her interview with the Scottish Sun, Ferrier, 60, said she has received support locally after the incident and has “owned up and apologised profusely”.

She also spoke out about the level of criticism she has received over the incident, adding: “You feel you are getting a lot of criticism from people you thought were your colleagues or friends who’d understand it was an error of judgment. I’m not denying that.

“People may be saying, ‘You should have known better, you’re a public figure’. But at the end of the day it still hurts.

“You then think about all that hard work and dedication – is that just wiped away?”

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    Mute alphasully
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    Oct 11th 2020, 2:42 PM

    She would be right at home in Irish politics

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    Mute Canyon
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:10 PM

    @alphasully: or supreme court

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:12 PM

    @alphasully: or make a good judge

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    Mute DK
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:14 PM

    @alphasully: You’ll get a lot of likes of course for your politician bashing comment as they always do but Dara Calleary resigned from his ministerial sit for a lot smaller offence than this. She travelled on public transport while waiting on her covid test result and then again after she got her positive result! And then to say the virus made her act out character as if it caused her to act delusional is an insult to people’s intelligence.

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    Mute alphasully
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    Oct 11th 2020, 6:20 PM

    @DK: he resigned his ministry, not his seat.

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    Mute Woman On the Up
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:04 PM

    My understanding is that Ferrier was symptomatic when in Scotland, got a test done, still went to London and when in London got the result that she was positive then got on a train back to London and had lots of visits to shops, cafes etc.. Total breach of the rules – disgraceful behaviour. Brazen cheek now in not resigning.

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:20 PM

    @Woman On the Up: What this woman did was the reckless and a potential threat to the lives of others, but in fairness to her I think your understanding of events is simply the gossip mongers version. She was tested in London for a start.

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    Mute Woman On the Up
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:28 PM

    @Tommy Roche: Ferrier had symptoms and took Covid test in Scotland https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-ferriers-covid-infected-journey-22780105

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:31 PM

    @Tommy Roche:

    Her social media posted her at numerous shops and a salon. By her own admission she was tested in Scotland, travelled to London, was informed she tested positive. In the House of Commons did her thing, then went back to Scotland via train then the next day she went to church and did a bible reading, but that’s ok because Covid makes you act out of character.

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    Mute Conor McNamara
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:30 PM

    Is she not resigning to fight for her constituents or to keep her 80k+ salary?

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    Mute james s
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:56 PM

    What kind of a leader would she be? After getting COVID-19 she panics and does the complete opposite of what you’re supposed to do.

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    Mute Brianán McBride
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    Oct 11th 2020, 4:40 PM

    If your boss is insisting you should resign then resign, much better than being sacked which is what Nicola Sturgeon will have have to do now. Margaret Ferrier was completely wrong to travel and she knew it at the time, bs claiming she panicked she wanted her few minutes of glory speaking in the Commons.

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    Mute D Mems
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    Oct 11th 2020, 5:27 PM

    @Brianán McBride: she can’t fire her, she was elected by her constituents so for Sturgeon to fire her would be undemocratic. What she can do is kick Ferrier out of the party, the police investigate Ferrier’s actions and her constituents impeach her from office

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    Mute Brianán McBride
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    Oct 11th 2020, 5:48 PM

    @D Mems: does that mean she doesn’t have a boss? Surely what she did can be classed as gross misconduct. You lead by example something she obviously did not do. I asked a paramedic is he allowed to sit in coffee shops as an emergency worker, he replied he didn’t know but he leads by example and sits in his emergency vehicle, the day before 3 guards insisted they were allowed to sit in our cordoned off seating area because they are emergency workers. Customers then wanted to sit seeing the guards sitting. Level 3 should be for everyone no matter your trade!

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    Mute Kerry Mink
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    Oct 11th 2020, 2:49 PM

    And she is different to Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer how?

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    Mute Sheila McNulty
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    Oct 11th 2020, 2:56 PM

    @Kerry Mink: He is the Chief Medical Officer

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    Mute Joe L
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:39 PM

    Is there no Liveline on Scottish Radio?

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    Mute SB
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:42 PM

    Sure they are all at it, whether that be in the UK or here, the elite will do as they wish and most likely get away with it too , but the general public must do as they are told or face the consequences , and they wonder why people don’t take them seriously.

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    Mute Paul Buckley
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    Oct 11th 2020, 2:56 PM

    To clarify what the article does not do is that Margaret Ferrier was in London when she was tested and notified of having Covid 19, she lives in Scotland… she made sure she was not in contact with anyone and wore her mask etc and was careful that she would not transfer the virus to anyone… I think anyone in that position would just want to get home. She gets my benefit of the doubt.

    I find it very annoying people looking for people to resign when so many people have this virus Asymptomatic and their spreading it everywhere and will only get tested and find out they have it when contacted by tracers that they were in contact with someone who has tested positive. When who knows they might have been the original source in that cluster.
    The virus is out of control now.

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    Mute Hugh Corcoran
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:02 PM

    @Paul Buckley: rent a car.

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:03 PM

    @Paul Buckley: But, she was waiting for the results of the Covid test when she travelled to London. She shouldn’t have travelled in the first place. She could have passed it to anyone including someone vulnerable.

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    Mute D Mems
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:03 PM

    @Paul Buckley: so what you’re saying she travelled from London to Scotland, and then back again knowing she was covid-19 positive? That’s not a defence, that’s further evidence of just how little regard she has for the general public, her constituents included.

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    Mute Pablo
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:18 PM

    @Paul Buckley: are you serious? She had a speech to give in the commons and wanted her time in the limelight, so she decided that was worth more than the health of passengers on the train. Sounds like the complete opposite of being careful not to spread it. You’re obviously a soft touch.

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    Mute David Kearney
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    Oct 12th 2020, 9:51 AM

    @Hugh Corcoran: or even rent a room in a hotel in London and stay put !! I’m sure she’d even expense it while she recovered .. and could even spin that .. if she is a leader and panicked over that .. not someone I’d like to follow ..

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    Mute Cookie
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    Oct 11th 2020, 5:48 PM

    She’s a (Seamus) Woulfe in Scottish clothing.

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    Mute Peter Murphy
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:27 PM

    Just get rid of her, Nicola

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    Mute Brian Murphy
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    Oct 11th 2020, 3:01 PM

    What i cant understand, is u get negative test results back here in 2 days, but positive results takes 5 days, utter madness.

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    Mute Nicole Leeson McCarthy
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    Oct 11th 2020, 4:44 PM

    @Brian Murphy: negative results are sent by automated text whereas you need to be called by a person if you are positive. So of course it takes longer

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    Mute Brian Murphy
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    Oct 11th 2020, 8:00 PM

    @Nicole Leeson McCarthy: surely the positive test could be automated n give people 3 days less to spread it, n phone them in due course..does not make any sence leaving em spread it for 3 extra days

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    Mute John Farrant
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    Oct 11th 2020, 4:14 PM

    Sturgeon should sack her.

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    Mute Cookie
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    Oct 11th 2020, 5:49 PM

    @John Farrant: She’s been expelled from the SNP. Sturgeon can’t sack her as MP.

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    Mute Andre le Flohic
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    Oct 11th 2020, 4:07 PM

    No! The positive are controlled twice to eliminate the risk of false positive

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 11th 2020, 8:26 PM

    @Andre le Flohic: asked nobody ever

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    Mute JP Pilibin
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    Oct 12th 2020, 1:56 AM

    She resides in Wolfland ~ That’s a fantasy island between Ireland and Scotland !

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    Mute Joan Grennan
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    Oct 12th 2020, 9:47 AM

    A kind of Red Riding hood for our Mr Woulfe . What a tale of our times .

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    Mute JP Pilibin
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    Oct 12th 2020, 1:55 AM

    She resides in Wolfland !

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Oct 11th 2020, 9:43 PM

    Next weeks headline .Use of Cucking stools returned to Scotland. Women burnt at the stake.

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