Michael Matheson denies misleading press and Humza Yousaf about personal usage connected to £11,000 iPad bill

The health secretary is under pressure from the opposition around an £11,000 data roaming bill

Michael Matheson denied lying to the press about whether there was “personal use” of a parliamentary iPad that racked up an £11,000 data roaming bill while the MSP was on holiday.

The health secretary was forced to admit on Thursday last week that his children had used the data associated with the iPad to watch football while on holiday in Morocco. However, opponents accused him of lying to the press after he had previously told The Scotsman there was no personal use of the laptop.

The close ally of Humza Yousaf now faces a third week in which he battles to stay in post. The Tories have labelled Mr Matheson a “lame duck”, while Scottish Labour said he was undertaking a “desperate rear-guard action” to save his job.

Minister for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Michael Matheson arrives ahead of First Minster's Questions (FMQ's) at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.

Mr Matheson’s defence of his position comes as he was subject to a fresh attack in the wake of figures showing more than a third of patients in accident-and-emergency (A&E) had to wait longer than the four-hour target time.

The health secretary took questions from broadcast journalists in Holyrood on Tuesday, but refused to speak to print journalists, stating “don’t follow me around”.

Using attendance at the debate in Gaza as an excuse for not having time to stop, he left the chamber for a meeting, flanked by justice secretary Angela Constance, just 15 minutes later.

Asked by STV News whether he had misled anybody at any point around the scandal, Mr Matheson said: “No.”

He added: “I have sought to be very clear that my use of that parliamentary device was only for parliamentary purposes when I was using it. But I wasn't aware, obviously data was being used by other family members. As soon as I became aware of that, I took action in order to address that question.

"There are those who question why did I not disclose that information earlier last week, and the reason I didn't do that was because I was genuinely trying to protect my children from getting involved in something that had significant parliamentary, political, and media interest."

However, he previously equated personal use with use by his children in the same interview.

Mr Matheson said: “As I set out in my personal statement last week, had I been aware that there had been personal use of it by my children at the time, I'd have taken a different course of action.”

The health secretary previously said he had referred himself for further investigation to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, which met on Tuesday morning to discuss the matter. But a Scottish Parliament spokesperson has now said there is “no mechanism” for Mr Matheson to self-refer in this way.

“The issues involved encompass a number of SPCB policies, so it is important that the SPCB takes time to carefully consider these and agree the scope of any investigation it may decide to undertake, and the process to be followed, into this matter including the use of £11k of public money,” the spokesperson said.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross described claims Mr Matheson had not misled anyone as “another outrageous lie”.

“By the timeline he himself set out in his personal statement, it’s clear he lied last Monday,” Mr Ross said.

“He insisted in interviews then that there was no personal use of his iPad, despite his sons having admitted the previous Thursday that they watched football on it. The health secretary has attempted to cover up his actions at every stage of this scandal – the fibs are just becoming more absurd and obvious.

“Michael Matheson is utterly discredited and must be sacked now by Humza Yousaf, who is being made to look a fool for standing by his friend.”

Health spokesperson for Scottish Labour, Dame Jackie Baillie, said Mr Matheson was fighting a “desperate rear-guard action to protect his ministerial salary”.