When Boris Johnson and his Downing Street crew repeatedly broke Covid lockdown rules, there was widespread condemnation. He should have been thrown out of office without delay, but had to be dragged out kicking and screaming only after his own party turned on him.
It is obvious that lawmakers cannot also be lawbreakers – and eventually the Conservative Party realised that. Equally, there can be no further excuse for Margaret Ferrier, the one-time SNP MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, to hang on as a Member of Parliament.
At the height of the Covid pandemic, Ferrier took it upon herself to visit venues in her constituency and travel to London and back to speak in the Commons while awaiting the result of a Covid test. Ferrier admitted her guilt in court this week and awaits sentence.
But her constituents and democracy are being done a disservice by her undignified insistence on carrying on as an MP. How are local voters supposed to trust her to deal with their problems when she has broken the law on coronavirus?
Many will have watched their own loved ones buried without a proper funeral, or elderly relatives isolated in carehomes with no family visits allowed. They stuck to the rules, while she flaunted them.
The SNP suspended Ferrier from the Commons whip, the party has no formal power to make her stand down but should use all their influence to make her do so.
Ferrier herself must look in the mirror and do the right thing, for herself and for the constituency. Public figures, if they fail the test of leadership in public life, must stand down.
Johnson sullied that principle but there is no need to trample it into the ground in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
No love Tory here
Tory leadership hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have rarely visited Scotland in their bid to be our next Prime Minister. But Scotland, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, seem to be on their minds.
Whether it’s vowing to put the Scottish Parliament under more “scrutiny” or slamming the devolved government in Edinburgh, its seems they never tire of spouting off on events up here. Of course, we all know why.
It’s got nothing to do with a sudden interest in all things Caledonian or preserving the Union or even appealing to Scottish voters. It’s all about pandering to the Little Englander mentality of the Tory Party membership south of the Border.
So it’s no surprise to find a poll showing six out of 10 Scots don’t like Liz OR Rishi. What we want to know is where did they find the four out of 10 Scots who DO like them?
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