SNP’s Margaret Ferrier sparks coronavirus alert in Westminster after positive for Covid-19 

2.7k

View
comments

The SNP tonight suspended its MP Margaret Ferrier after she sparked a coronavirus alert at the heart of Westminster by travelling 400 miles to Parliament from her Scottish constituency while suffering with Covid-19.

Ms Ferrier took a train to London on Monday despite awaiting the results of a test she took on Saturday after coming down with mild symptoms.

That night she received confirmation she was infected – and rather than self-isolating made the astonishing decision to travel back to her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, south of Glasgow, the next morning.

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon branded Ms Ferrier’s actions ‘utterly indefensible’ and supported the swift decision to revoke the party whip. 

Ms Ferrier, who is also facing calls to resign her seat, appeared in the Commons chamber on Monday evening, delivering a four-minute speech to MPs during a general debate on the pandemic. 

A House of Commons spokesman said the 60-year-old only told the Speaker of her infection on Wednesday afternoon, almost two days after testing positive.  

Ms Ferrier, who won her seat back off Labour in December, also referred herself to the police and the parliamentary standards authorities.

Police Scotland tonight confirmed it was investigating and working with officers from Scotland Yard. 

Under laws that came into force on the day of her positive test, she could face a £1,000 fine for a first-time offence of breaching self-isolation rules.  

The MP’s behaviour is all the more startling because of her vehement criticism of No10 advisor Dominic Cummings when he was accused of breaching lockdown in May. 

In a statement tonight Ms Ferrier said: ‘I apologise unreservedly for breaching Covid-19 restrictions by travelling this week when I shouldn’t have. There is no excuse for my actions.

‘On Saturday afternoon, after experiencing mild symptoms, I requested a Covid-19 test which I took that day. Feeling much better, I then travelled to London by train on Monday to attend Parliament as planned. This was wrong, and I am very sorry for my mistake.  

‘On Monday evening I received a positive test result for Covid-19. I travelled home by train on Tuesday morning without seeking advice. This was also wrong and I am sorry. I have been self-isolating at home ever since.

‘I have used Test and Protect and I have notified the House of Commons authorities who have spoken with Public Health England. I have also notified the police of my actions.

‘Despite feeling well, I should have self-isolated while waiting for my test result, and I deeply regret my actions. I take full responsibility and I would urge everyone not to make the same mistakes that I have, and do all they can to help limit the spread of Covid-19.’ 

Police Scotland tweeted: ‘Margaret Ferrier MP contacted Police Scotland earlier today about travelling between London and Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus. 

‘We are looking into the circumstances and are liaising with our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Service.’

Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon scolded her colleague’s actions and said she could not express the anger she felt.

Unequivocally condemning Ms Ferrier, she tweeted: ‘This is utterly indefensible. It’s hard to express just how angry I feel on behalf of people across the country making hard sacrifices every day to help beat COVID. 

‘The rules apply to everyone and they’re in place to keep people safe. Ian Blackford is right to suspend the whip.’

SNP Westminster leader Mr Blackford tonight said: I have spoken with Margaret Ferrier this evening who fully accepts that what she did was wrong. 

‘Margaret will be referring herself to the parliamentary standards commissioner as well as the police. I am tonight suspending the whip from Margaret.’ 

The Glasgow-born politician’s profile page on the SNP website already appears to have been removed. 

Politicians of all stripes tonight lined up to scold Ms Ferrier, who was accused of hypocrisy after bearing down hard on Mr Cummings in May.

In June she told the Commons: ‘Public health experts have voiced concerns that Dominic Cummings did undermine public trust in lockdown rules, going against the principle of integrity that is in the code of conduct. 

‘Will the Cabinet Office conduct an investigation into potential breaches of the code of conduct by Mr Cummings, or have Ministers yet again decided that they have had enough of experts?’  

Labour shadow minister Wes Streeting said: ‘She was right about Dominic Cummings. Will she now hold herself to her own high standards or to his low standards? 

‘And which standards will Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP hold her to?’   

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘Margaret, all the issues surrounding transmission of £COVID19 how infectious it is, how much pain and suffering it has caused to so many.

‘You are an elected member of parliament making laws to protect citizens from Covid, it wasn’t one mistake but multiple ones. So disappointing.’ 

Tory MP Alicia Kearns said it was ‘unforgivable’ Ms Ferrier waited three days to tell MPs she had tested positive for the virus.

She tweeted: ‘The number of people who have been put at risk, MPs and staff in Parliament and their families, and all those on public transport, and those who everyone has since engaged with. It’s utterly shameful, and to wait three more days to tell anyone is unforgivable.’ 

A Commons spokesman said: ‘Margaret Ferrier informed the SNP whip that she was Covid-19 positive on Wednesday afternoon, the Speaker was informed and the House authorities immediately took all necessary steps in line with their legal obligations and PHE (Public Health England) guidance.

‘On the basis of the information supplied to the contact-tracing system, only one individual has been identified as a close contact in relation to this case and is now self-isolating.’ 

Jeremy Corbyn was at dinner with eight people to honour friend who founded Occupy Wall Street after he died four weeks ago – as ex-Labour leader refuses to reveal if he got £200 fine for Rule of Six breach

By Dan Sales for MailOnline 

Jeremy Corbyn broke the ‘Rule of Six’ at a dinner held to remember the late Occupy Wall Street organiser David Graeber.

The former Labour leader, 71 and his wife Laura Alvarez, 51, joined his widow, the artist Nika Dubrovsky, for the London meal.

Mr Graeber, 59, died suddenly early last month in Venice and had been widely credited with helping to organise Occupy and its ‘We are the 99%’ slogan.  

A picture that emerged of the gathering prompted Corbyn to apologise for breaking coronavirus restrictions on the number of people meeting in a household.

The former Labour leader had paid tribute to him in a special film last month and explained how he had become such good friends.

Corbyn said: ‘He was a very organised anarchist. What David saw was anarchism as empowerment of people.

‘David became a very trenchant defender and supporter of us and I will be forever grateful to him for that.

‘I was talking to Nika last night, his widow, and they were discussing performance as a lecturer. Apparently unprecedented numbers of students wanted to come to his lectures.’

Corbyn’s spokesman and the Labour Party have refused to answer whether Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan’s comments this morning that he had been fined were correct. 

It came after Boris Johnson’s father Stanley apologised after he was seen breaking rules on wearing masks in shops. 

Dr Allin-Khan said this morning: ‘Nobody is exempt and Jeremy Corbyn rightly apologised, it was wrong for him to be at a dinner party with that many people.

‘My understanding is that more and more people arrived and when it got over six he should have left.

‘He’s been fined, that’s the right course of action and he’s apologised and that’s really important.

‘Jeremy Corbyn was wrong , he’s apologised and that’s the right thing to do and he’s paying a fine.’

‘We’ve seen people like Dominic Cummings flout the rules and break the rules saying he was checking his eyesight,’ she told Good Morning Britain.

The Labour party and Corbyn’s spokesman have been contacted for comment by MailOnline. 

He and his guests face fines of £200 each, racking up to £1,800 in total, for breaching Covid-19 rules. 

The MP for Islington North last  night apologised for the incident, admitting it was a ‘mistake’. 

‘I recently had dinner at a friend’s house where the number of guests eventually exceeded five,’ he told The Sun. 

‘I understand that remaining at the dinner was a breach of the rule of six. I apologise for my mistake.’

Guests at the event reportedly included left-wing activists, filmmakers and artists.

One guest got up from the table to take a picture of the other eight, with an unsmiling Corbyn sitting two seats away from his wife.  

The ‘rule of six’ was brought in by the government on September 14 in an attempt to control the spread of a second wave of Covid-19. 

Those in violation of the rules face potential fines of £200 each for first-time offenders. 

It is understood the dinner party took place on the same day Corbyn’s older brother Piers led an anti-mask rally of thousands of people in Trafalgar Square. 

A source said: ‘It’s clear that Jeremy realised immediately the danger the photo had put him in.

‘His face says it all. He knew he shouldn’t have been present and he, of all people, should know the rules.’

David Morris, Tory MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, described the image as ‘disappointing’. 

‘Millions of Brits are quietly sticking to the rules to defeat this horrific virus while Jeremy Corbyn is swanning around at a posh ­dinner party,’ he said. 

The rule applies across England by law, meaning that gatherings must be limited.

There are also local lockdowns in place across much of England with some 16 million Britons living under such local restrictions. 

Britain today recorded 7,108 more coronavirus cases and another 71 deaths — including a three-month high of seven in Scotland. 

Daily infections are up 15 per cent on last Wednesday’s 6,178 and almost 80 per cent higher than on Wednesday two weeks ago. 

But Britain’s infections are a far-cry from what they were during the darkest days of the crisis in March and April, when at least 100,000 people were getting struck down every day. 

It comes as Boris Johnson’s rallying cry to the nation to keep fighting coronavirus was bolstered by new figures showing the infection rate started slowing after restrictions, including the rule of six, were tightened.

In the strongest evidence yet that local lockdowns are working, results from the largest Covid-19 study in England found the R-rate fell from 1.7 to around 1.1 this month, following the implementation of the new rules.

The director of the study by Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori said the interim findings from 80,000 participants ‘reinforced the need for protective measures’ to help extinguish the virus.

That restrictions are seemingly helping to stem the spread of Covid-19 will help the Prime Minister’s case for imposing curbs to flatten the second wave.

At a Downing Street press conference last night, Mr Johnson, flanked by Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, vowed not to ‘throw in the sponge’ and capitulate to demands to abandon his strategy.

Critics have argued that the recent suite of measures, including local lockdowns and national restrictions such as 10pm curfews on pubs, are ineffective but are laying waste to the economy and infringing civil liberties.

While the rate of infection appears to be falling, the study, commissioned by the Department for Health, found that of the volunteers tested between September 18-26, one in 200 people had coronavirus.

It also revealed the virus to be spreading more among young people, while simultaneously laying bare the North-South divide, pointing to the north west as the epicentre of the UK’s outbreak.

Professor Paul Elliott, director of the programme at Imperial from the School of Public Health, said: ‘While our latest findings show some early evidence that the growth of new cases may have slowed, suggesting efforts to control the infection are working, the prevalence of infection is the highest that we have recorded to date.

‘This reinforces the need for protective measures to limit the spread of the disease and the public’s adherence to these, which will be vital to minimise further significant illness and loss of life from Covid-19.’

Despite the green shoots of recovery, the government is still under pressure following the introduction of the rule of six and other lockdown measures.

Mr Johnson was lampooned on Tuesday night and urged to ‘get a grip’ after becoming muddled with the North East’s lockdown rules, forcing him to make a rare apology for ‘misspeaking’.

In a toe-curling episode that mirrored comedian Matt Lucas’s spoof of government bumbling, the PM floundered as he was grilled on how the restrictions work – suggesting that households could still mix in groups of six indoors. 

To cap his embarrassment, Mr Johnson then had to tweet to clear up the confusion, saying he had misspoken and households will not be allowed to mix indoors, regardless of numbers.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner claimed the PM did not understand the rules he is imposing on two million people.

She added: ‘For the Prime Minister to not understand his own rules is grossly incompetent. These new restrictions are due to come into force across huge parts of the country tonight. The Government needs to get a grip.’ 

Answering questions about the North East lockdown at Exeter College in Devon yesterday, Mr Johnson said: ‘On the rule of six, outside the areas such as the North East where extra measures have been brought in, it is six inside, six outside.

‘And in the North East and other areas where extra tight measures have been brought in you should follow the guidance of the local authorities.

‘But it’s six in a home or six in hospitality, but as I understand it not six outside. That is the situation there.’ 

Whitehall sources said No10 had been blindsided by Matt Hancock’s decision to press ahead with the new restrictions, which had not been expected until at least the end of this week. 

The PM’s blunder had uncomfortable echoes of the skit by Lucas, which was aired at the start of the Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 last week. 

It saw the comedian dressed up as Mr Johnson taking a faux press conference in Downing Street. Ridiculing the complicated rules, Lucas urged people to ‘bake in a tent’ if they must, before adding: ‘Don’t bake in a tent.’ 

Last night, the PM finally bowed to demand to give MPs a vote before any fresh lockdown restrictions – after furious Speaker Lindsay Hoyle blasted him for treating the Commons with ‘contempt’.

In the face of a huge backbench rebellion over the scope of new laws introduced by ministers without being seen by MPs, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the government would ‘consult Parliament’ on any England-wide or UK-wide restrictions, and a vote will be held in advance ‘wherever possible’.

It came ahead of a vote in the Commons on renewing emergency coronavirus powers, with around 100 MPs ready to force changes if the Government failed to give concessions.

Mr Hancock said: ‘Today I can confirm to the House that for significant national measures, with effect in the whole of England or UK-wide, we will consult Parliament – wherever possible we will hold votes before such regulations come into force,’ he said.

‘But of course responding to the virus means that the Government must act with speed when required and we cannot hold up urgent regulations which are needed to control the virus and save lives.’

Sir Graham Brady, who led the Tory revolt, welcomed the climbdown – which followed weeks of rising tensions with the backbenches. The motion was later passed by 330 votes to 24, majority 306.

Mr Johnson tonight begged Britons to stick with his coronavirus plan, warning that a ‘more costly’ second full lockdown will have to be imposed unless the public behaves better.

At a No10 press conference with Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, the PM said it was too early to judge whether the Rule of Six and 10pm pubs curfew introduced over the past fortnight were working.

And he said that letting the virus ‘take its course’ risked overwhelming the NHS and many more deaths.

But in a nod to rising anxiety about the consequences of restrictions, Mr Johnson said he intended to update the public more ‘regularly’ in the coming weeks.