MP Margaret Ferrier pleads guilty to exposing public to Covid

An MP has pled guilty to breaching Covid rules after travelling by train despite knowing she had the virus.

Margaret Ferrier spoke in parliament while awaiting the results of a Covid test.

She then took the train home to Glasgow after being told she had tested positive.

Ms Ferrier admitted that she had culpably and recklessly exposed the public to the virus ahead of a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

She was elected as an SNP MP but lost the whip and now sits as an independent.

The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West took a Covid test on Saturday 26 September because she had a "tickly throat".

While awaiting her results, she travelled to London by train on the Monday and spoke in the Commons later that day before finding out a short time later that she had tested positive for the virus.

Ms Ferrier then decided to get a train back to Glasgow the following day, fearing she would have to self-isolate in a London hotel room for two weeks.

The 61-year-old first became an MP in 2015 in the SNP landslide that saw the party take 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland.

In May 2020, Ms Ferrier was one of the MPs who called on the prime minister's adviser Dominic Cummings to resign in the wake of the controversy over his visit to the North East of England during lockdown.

At the time, she said his actions had "undermined the sacrifices that we have all been making in lockdown to protect each other from coronavirus" and described his position as "untenable".

After it emerged Ms Ferrier had travelled with Covid symptoms, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned her actions as "dangerous and indefensible".

The SNP leader later called "with a heavy heart" for her to resign as an MP.