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		</div><p>Margaret Ferrier has claimed she was “hung out to dry” by the SNP after posting a scripted statement in which she admitted breaching coronavirus rules, it has been reported.<br />
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP had the party whip withdrawn after travelling while awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test.</p>
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<p>In an interview with The Scottish Sun, published today, she said the whip was withdrawn around an hour after the statement was released – a decision she feels was based on the public outcry over her actions.<br />
The former SNP MP has previously said the infection caused her to act “out of character” and she “panicked” before taking the train trip back to Scotland.</p>
<p>She has said she has no intention of standing down as an MP.<br />
Ms Ferrier told the newspaper that party officials had prepared the admission statement for her and she initially did not understand their “urgency” during a virtual meeting to discuss the situation.</p>
<blockquote><p>You can imagine how sad and angry I was</p></blockquote>
<p>She said: “I just felt it was very pushy. You’ve just been told you have Covid. You’re stressed, with a lot of things going through your mind.</p>
<p>“You’re wanting somebody to help you. I said at that point: ‘Hang on a minute – as soon as this goes out am I going to be bombarded with abuse?’<br />
“They were not considering the fact that I had only been diagnosed with Covid and I don’t know how that’s going to affect my mental state.</p>
<p>“It just went crazy. I still haven’t looked at Twitter but I have heard about it.”<br />
The MP said another conference call took place at 6.52pm the same day, during which she was told the party whip was being suspended.</p>
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<p>Describing the call, she said: “They were sorry. They were going to have to take the whip off me but I would get back in because I was co-operating and had been honest.<br />
“Losing the whip was more of a slap in the face because of all the hard work that I have done for the party since I joined it.</p>
<p>“I could appreciate the party’s decision at the time. They told me they would be able to contain this situation.<br />
“Why suddenly have we got to the point where they have to take the whip from me?”<br />
She added: “It was because the statement went out and it escalated.</p>
<p>“They pushed me to make a self-referral to the standards commissioner straight away.<br />
“I was intending to refer myself anyway. You can imagine how sad and angry I was.<br />
“I felt I was being hung out to dry.”</p>
<figure id="attachment_163206" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-163206" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/9BD18800-2D33-40C8-A9A2-B5E95A9C235C.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="491" class="size-full wp-image-163206" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-163206" class="wp-caption-text">Ian Blackford encouraged Ms Ferrier to resign as an MP</figcaption></figure>
<p>The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford discussed Ms Ferrier on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme today.<br />
He said she had “breached the trust of her constituents” and removing the whip was the limit of what he could do.</p>
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<p>Mr Blackford encouraged her to resign as an MP and said the guidance for MPs around coronavirus is clear.<br />
He added: “The idea that Margaret as an elected politician didn’t know what the requirements are is a bit fanciful to say the least.”</p>
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