AN SNP has called for Margaret Ferrier to stand down from the House of Commons and spark a by-election in her South Lanarkshire seat.
David Linden, Westminster Spokesman for Social Justice, said that a vote would be an “opportunity” to test new leader Humza Yousaf’s vision with the electorate.
Ms Ferrier is facing suspension from the House of Commons over breaching Covid regulations, and could be sacked from her seat if enough people in the constituency back her recall.
Mr Linden was asked on BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme if she should now step down.
READ MORE: Key by election looms after Margaret Ferrier MP loses appeal
He said: “I absolutely do – I think I was the first person on the airwaves the night the Margaret Ferrier story broke, and said then that I thought her position was untenable, and my position on that has not changed.
“Rightly, voters in Rutherglen and Hamilton West are annoyed they have got an MP who was supposed be voting on Covid legislation that she has found to have broken, and I know that people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West are focused on the Cost of Living crisis, on the NHS and the economy - and they will want a Member of Parliament who has credibility (and) who can stand up in the House of Commons.
“And that’s what they’ll get when from the SNP when the by-election takes place. We will go to the constituents of Rutherglen and Hamilton West and make the case for a strong SNP MP who will be laser-focused on the Cost of Living crisis and tackling the concerns of working people.”
Mr Linden said that the SNP were prepared to “fiercely” contest the seat, and welcomed the challenge from other parties.
He said: “The by-election hasn’t taken place yet. We will fight for absolutely every single vote. There’s no doubt than any electoral contest will be fiercely contested by all political parties, including the SNP.
READ MORE: Margaret Ferrier MP loses appeal against Commons suspension
“But it’s an opportunity for us – we've got a new leader in Humza Yousaf (and) we’ve got an opportunity to go out there and talk about his vision.
“The Scottish Government has its mission set in terms of equality and opportunity. These are the kind of messages we'll be taking to people on the doorstep.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel