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

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An SNP MP tonight sparked a major coronavirus alert in the heart of Westminster after admitting travelling more than 400 miles from her Scottish constituency to speak in Parliament while suffering from Covid-19.

Margaret Ferrier apologised for leaving her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency south of Glasgow to attend the Commons in London on Monday.

She knew she was experiencing symptoms of the virus and was awaiting the results of a weekend test at the time she made the journey by train.

The 60-year-old appeared in the Commons chamber on Monday evening, delivering a four-minute speech to MPs during a general debate on the pandemic.

And astonishingly, after getting a positive test result that night, the following morning she travelled 400 miles back to her Lanarkshire seat by train – without informing anyone of her condition – before self-isolating at home. 

She was suspended by the SNP tonight as MPs from across politics tonight condemned her behaviour as reckless and putting public health at risk. 

Her own leader, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, branded her MP’s actions ‘utterly indefensible’ and said it was hard to express ‘how angry’ she felt.  

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

The actions are all the more startling because she was earlier this year outspoken in criticising the Government for defending No10 advisor Dominic Cummings when he was accused of breaching lockdown.

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?’    

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.’

Labour’s Ian Murray said: ‘This is astonishing recklessness from an SNP MP, which has put people’s health at risk.

‘Through her irresponsible actions, she very possibly has passed on the virus to a vulnerable person, who may now have COVID-19 and be in danger. She has put passengers, rail staff, fellow MPs, Commons staff and many others at unacceptable risk.

‘To breach the rules twice is simply unforgivable, and has undermined all the sacrifices made by her constituents.

‘Nicola Sturgeon must come out and condemn her MP’s actions and tell the Scottish people what disciplinary action she will be taking. There cannot be one rule for Margaret Ferrier, another for everybody else.’

Just before 8pm, the Scottish First Minister broke her silence to unequivocally condemn Ms Ferrier’s actions.

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.’

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.’

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian 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.’

A House of Commons spokeswoman tonight said: ‘The House’s priority is to ensure that those on the estate are safe while business is facilitated. 

‘We have closely followed public health guidance on the action to take following a confirmed case of COVID on site. Parliament has a dedicated team to support the test and trace teams across the UK, acting as a central point of contact in the event of any suspected or confirmed cases, where an individual has been working on the Estate.

‘We are also implementing a number of cleaning measures to ensure those working on the Estate can maintain a clean and hygienic working environment and ensuring Parliament adheres to the Government’s ”Working safely during coronavirus” guidance. 

‘Our risk assessment outlines the measures we have already put in place to reduce the risk of transmission in Parliament. The Speakers and political leadership of both Houses are keeping the situation under constant review.’

Holidays to Italy and Greece are SAVED as Grant Shapps fails to add them to the Government’s travel quarantine ‘red list’ despite increase in cases – but travellers from Turkey and Poland must now self-isolate for 14-days

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today announced Turkey and Poland are being added to the Government’s travel quarantine ‘red list’ – but holidays to Greece and Italy are still allowed. 

As of 4am on Saturday anyone returning from Turkey or Poland, as well as the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, must quarantine for 14 days. 

There had been speculation that restrictions were going to be imposed on Italy and Greece after a spike in cases but the two nations were ultimately given a reprieve. 

Mr Shapps tweeted this evening: ‘TRAVEL CORRIDOR UPDATE: The latest data indicates we need to remove Turkey, Poland, and Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba from the #TravelCorridor list this week. 

‘This means if you arrive from these destinations from 4am Saturday 3 October, you will need to self-isolate.’

He added: ‘You MUST self-isolate if you enter the UK from a non-exempt country – from tomorrow, we’re increasing the penalties for people who refuse to do so to a maximum of £10,000 for repeat offenders.’ 

There were fears earlier today that Greece and Italy could be subject to quarantine rules after the former recorded 20.5 cases per 100,000 people in recent days while Italy was at slightly above 20 per 100,000. 

The Government currently uses a threshold of 20 cases per 100,000, along with a number of other criteria, when it makes decisions on whether to add or remove countries from its quarantine list.  

Today’s announcement by Mr Shapps means holidays are only currently possible without any restrictions at either end to Germany, Sweden, Italy, mainland Greece, Gibraltar, San Marino and Liechtenstein.   

The list of countries which UK travellers can visit without facing 14 days in self-isolation continues to dwindle. 

The list of places Britons can travel to and return from without quarantining or taking Covid tests was already reduced to just nine last week.

Denmark, Iceland, Slovakia and the Caribbean island of Curacao were all removed from the safe list last Thursday. 

There are still approximately 60 countries on the UK’s ‘green list’ where quarantine is not required on return, but many of the nations have their own restrictions on arrival or are closed to visitors completely.   

Mr Shapps said that Poland was added to the ‘red list’ after the rate of positive tests in the country nearly doubled from 3.9 per cent to 5.8 per cent alongside a ‘rapid increase in weekly cases’.  

The Transport Secretary said restrictions are being imposed on travel to Turkey because of the way the country is keeping track of Covid-19. 

He said: ‘We’re also removing TURKEY from the list – the Turkish Health Ministry has been defining the number of new COVID-19 cases in a different way to the definition used by international organisations such as WHO and ECDC, so we have updated our risk assessment for the country.’ 

Downing Street remains under intense pressure to change the UK’s travel quarantine rules amid growing fears for the future of the aviation and travel industries.

Ministers have faced calls for months to replace the current 14 day self-isolation restrictions for people returning to the UK from high risk countries with a more nuanced system of airport testing.

Advocates believe testing on arrival could open the door to significantly reducing the two week quarantine period to potentially less than seven days.

A double testing approach would see travellers tested on arrival and then told to self-isolate for something like five days when they would then be tested for a second time.

Two negative tests would be enough to allow people to end their period in quarantine and return to normal life.

However, ministers have been reluctant to approve airport testing because of concerns that the approach could fail to identify some people who have the virus.

This is because of the amount of time it can take for the virus to be detectable after the moment of infection.