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Pressure on former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier to resign is growing, as Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused Ian Blackford of “treating the public like fools”.
Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, told morning radio programmes that he had only found out the extent of Ferrier’s law-breaking on Thursday, although the party’s chief whip was told about her positive coronavirus test on Wednesday afternoon.
The SNP say they only found out about any wrongdoing on Thursday. That means we’re supposed to accept that the SNP found out Margaret Ferrier tested positive on Wednesday – and asked nothing.
The public is expected to believe SNP bosses didn’t think to ask a single question, not one, about when she tested positive, where she had been or who she had been around, despite her appearance in the Commons earlier that week. The SNP’s timeline is full of holes and any reasonable person can see that.
The first minister tweeted that she asked Margaret Ferrier to step down because her actions were “dangerous and indefensible”
I’ve spoken to Margaret Ferrier and made clear my view that she should step down as an MP. I did so with a heavy heart – she is a friend & colleague – but her actions were dangerous & indefensible. I have no power to force an MP to resign but I hope she will do the right thing.
