Rogue nationalist MP Margaret Ferrier spared her own blushes by dialing in her first appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions since breaking covid travel rules.
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP, who is suspended from the SNP over her rule-breaking journey to London and back, used an audio only link to ask her Boris Johnson a constituency question.
Ferrier, who is carrying on as an independent MP, could be heard but not seen on the Commons video screens which showed a phone dial-in symbol while she spoke.
The Prime Minister, who was himself appearing by video link at Wednesday’s Commons session, quickly dealt with the question about support for a constituent.
Ferrier’s participation is another signal that she intends to carry on as MP for the area despite calls from opponents, and even her own party leader Nicola Sturgeon, to resign.
Ferrier has been under pressure to stand down after it emerged in September that she travelled to London to sit in the House of Commons and then returned to Scotland while infected with Covid-19, risking exposure to others.
The MP lost the SNP whip last month, with Nicola Sturgeon describing her behaviour “utterly indefensible”.
But Ferrier has defended herself and said she was “hung out to dry” by the party in the furore following the revelations.
She has since finished her period of self-isolation and voted by proxy in the Commons and last week asked a question by video link in a Cabinet Office session.
