MSPs suspend and strip salary from former Health Secretary Michael Matheson over £11,000 iPad bill
ITV News Scotland Reporter Louise Scott has the latest after Scottish Health Secretary Michael Matheson was suspended over an £11,000 iPad roaming bill
MSPs have voted to suspend former Scottish Health Secretary Michael Matheson for 27 days and strip him of his salary for 54 days over an £11,000 iPad roaming bill.
Matheson has insisted he will remain an MSP, despite a vote of 64 to zero imposing tough sanctions on him.
The row was originally sparked when Mr Matheson admitted his teenage sons used his iPad as a hotspot so they could watch football while on a family holiday in Morocco.
The then-minister had initially insisted the device had only been used for work purposes and he attempted to get the public purse to pick up the costs.
He later confessed to his children’s involvement, and paid the money back to the Scottish Parliament.
While he later quit as health secretary, he remains the MSP for Falkirk West.
An SNP amendment highlighting the party’s concerns that the committee, which recommended the sanctions had been prejudiced, “thereby bringing the Parliament into disrepute”, was also passed.
The amended motion criticised Conservative MSP Annie Wells for her “public pronouncements” on Mr Matheson ahead of his actions being considered by Holyrood’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee – of which she is a member.
It went on to state this “runs the risk of the committee report being open to bias and prejudice and the complaint being prejudged”, as it said there should be an independent review of the Parliament’s complaints processes.
In scenes Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said were “bizarre in the extreme”, the SNP voted for the amendment, but then abstained when it came to voting on the amended motion.
Mr Ross said while Mr Matheson is now facing suspension and a loss of wages, “any other Scot would have been handed their P45 straight away”.
He said: “If someone is found to have falsely claimed £11,000 from their employer, in this case the taxpayer, then they lied about it as part of a cover-up, they would have been sacked.”
He insisted the former health secretary’s actions were not a “harmless mistake”, saying he had made a “deliberate and shameless attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of this Parliament and the public”.
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In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Matheson said: “I apologise and regret that this situation occurred. I acknowledge and accept the decision of Parliament.
“I also note that Parliament has called for the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body to carry out an independent review of the Parliament’s complaints process to restore integrity and confidence in the Parliament and its procedures, which I hope will be progressed.
“I look forward to continuing to represent the people of Falkirk West, as I have done for many years.”
Tory leader Mr Ross criticised Scottish First Minister John Swinney, saying he had to tried to “derail and undermine due process” with his criticism of Ms Wells’ behaviour.
Mr Ross insisted: “The actions of the First Minister towards my colleague Annie Wells would make Donald Trump blush.
“It is disgusting and disgraceful behaviour that demeans the office of First Minister, because he has targeted members of an independent committee in this Parliament and is attempting to undermine due process with his bully boy tactics.”
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