A BBC presenter has been called out for their “unbelievable” mistake after they referred to Margaret Ferrier as an SNP MP.
It comes after the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP lost an appeal to have her Commons suspension overturned.
Ferrier was indeed elected to the House of Commons in 2019 as an SNP MP, but now sits as an independent.
She was found to have damaged the reputation of the Commons and to have put people at risk after taking part in a debate and travelling by train while she had Covid in September 2020.
Good Morning Scotland presenter Lucy Whyte has told listeners that "SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30 day ban from the House of Commons". Margaret Ferrier hasn't been an SNP MP since 2020. How does Whyte not know this? #bbcgms pic.twitter.com/5FwtOa7bFg
— MSM Monitor (@msm_monitor) May 23, 2023
However, during Tuesday’s Good Morning Scotland programme, presenter Lucy Whyte said: “SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30-day ban from the House of Commons for breaching Covid rules.
“In terms of the SNP at Westminster, the Margaret Ferrier row rumbles on.”
Popular Twitter account MSM Monitor retweeted the clip with the caption: “For a presenter on the flagship morning news programme *not* to know that Margaret Ferrier is no longer an SNP MP is unbelievable.
“It’s as incredulous as not knowing Nicola Sturgeon is no longer the FM.”
Another Twitter user said they “clocked the mistake straight away”.
A by-election in Ferrier’s constituency is now looking increasingly likely after she failed to have her suspension overturned.
Should 10% of registered voters in Rutherglen and Hamilton West choose to sign a recall petition then a by-election is called.
Appearing on Good Morning Scotland, SNP MP David Linden said he was “confident” the party could win in the seat as he called on Ferrier to stand down.
“I think I was the first person on the airwaves the night the Margaret Ferrier story broke and I said then I thought her position was untenable and my position on that has not changed”, he said.
He added that voters were rightly “annoyed” that an MP meant to be voting on Covid guidelines had been found to have broken them.
Linden continued: The people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West should have an MP representing them so the SNP stands full square behind the local campaign there."
“We look forward to taking our message to people on the doorsteps that we are laser-focused on the cost of living crisis.”
