Nicola Sturgeon has called on the House of Commons to take action against Margaret Ferrier, after the disgraced former SNP MP said she would not resign despite the backlash over her repeated breach of coronavirus rules.
Earlier this month, Ms Ferrier admitted to travelling from Glasgow to Westminster while awaiting a Covid-19 test result, and making the return trip when she knew she had the virus.
Ms Sturgeon and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford have been among those calling on Ms Ferrier to stand down over the incident, while Scottish Labour has launched an online petition calling for her to resign.
However in an interview with the Sun, the MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, who has had the SNP whip withdrawn over the saga, said she had no intention of standing down.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.”
She added that she has received support locally in the wake of 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 judgement. 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?”
Responding to the comments, Ms Sturgeon said she hoped the MP would still “do the right thing” and stand down.
She said: “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.”
.@NicolaSturgeon has been critical of Margaret Ferrier for travelling between London and Glasgow after testing positive for #COVID19.@SophyRidgeSky: 'If she's not fit to be an MP, why has she not been expelled from the SNP?'#Ridge: https://t.co/pCgCjM7pvx pic.twitter.com/H2GTz9S1fo
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) October 11, 2020
The first minister suggested if the MP continued to refuse to resign that the Commons should take action.
Under Commons rules, MPs can decide to suspend a fellow member for breaches of the code of conduct.
If an MP is suspended for 30 parliamentary sitting days, a byelection is trigged.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We suspended her from party membership, we now have a due process we’ve got to go through.
“I can’t unilaterally decide to expel somebody, we have a process and the SNP and that process will take its course, we’ve done everything in terms of SNP membership that we’re able to do at this stage, pending that due process.
“I don’t have the power, no party leader has the power to make an MP resign from parliament, but I couldn’t be clearer she should step down from Parliament.
“The lapse of judgement in travelling hundreds of miles knowing she had tested positive for Covid 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, but I still hope she will do the right thing.
“Obviously just as in the SNPs case there’s due process, there are House of Commons processes now that will be able to be deployed, I’m not in the House of Commons, but I know there are processes that the House of Commons are able to go through.”