Scotland’s Health Secretary Michael Matheson has been criticised by the opposition after his adult sons used his parliamentary iPad to watch football while the family was on holiday in Morocco, resulting in an £11,000 data roaming bill, which the taxpayer was initially set to pay. Matheson faced calls to resign after initially claiming the device had been used for parliamentary business, however, he later admitted he knew about the bill and had paid it back. Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme, Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said he did not believe Matheson had misled him or Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over the matter. Yousaf also described Matheson as a “man of integrity”.
Scottish Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross accused Matheson of “hiding away” from parliamentary scrutiny, however, the health secretary denied this, stating he had already addressed the issue in a statement to the Scottish Parliament last week, in which he said he did not mention the football games in order to protect his children. Scottish Labour Party leader Anas Sarwar also repeated his call for Matheson’s resignation, stating that he had been dishonest with the public about the situation.
The bill was subsequently paid by Matheson, who has also referred himself for investigation.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More