Michael Matheson must be investigated by Holyrood’s standards committee, say Tories

Party leader Douglas Ross said the health secretary’s position is ‘untenable’

Michael Matheson must be investigated by Holyrood’s standards committee over his £11,000 iPad bill, the Scottish Conservatives have said.

Party leader Douglas Ross said the health secretary’s position is “untenable” and accused him of repeatedly lying and attempting to cover-up his actions. It comes after Mr Matheson revealed his teenage sons racked up the huge data roaming cost by watching football during a family holiday in Morocco.

He initially insisted the Bill had been incurred while carrying out parliamentary work on his Holyrood-issued iPad, but agreed to pay it back after discovering the truth.

Michael Matheson

However, Mr Matheson has been accused of lying to journalists in the days after finding out his children were involved. He said he wanted to protect his family, and has denied misleading anyone.

The health secretary previously said he would refer himself to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) for potential investigation. Holyrood bosses have since said there is no mechanism for Mr Matheson to do this, while leaving the prospect of a probe open.

Mr Ross, who is expected to table a motion of no confidence in the health secretary in the coming days, said it was “imperative” the matter is now investigated by the standards, procedures and public appointments committee.

He said: “I think it’s imperative that the standards committee investigate Michael Matheson’s actions for a possible breach of the MSP code of conduct.

“He was further humiliated yesterday when the Scottish Parliament’s Corporate Body ruled his self-referral to them was botched and bogus. That mechanism doesn’t exist – and it now looks like it was a ruse from the health secretary in his personal statement.

“Separately, the Scottish Conservatives will also be tabling a motion of no confidence in him. Michael Matheson’s position is untenable – he has repeatedly lied and attempted to cover-up throughout this affair.

“His absurd claim that he hasn’t misled the public is an insult to people’s intelligence, given – by the timeline he mapped out in his personal statement – he admitted doing just that.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Michael Matheson’s referral to the SPCB appears to have been gesture politics at its worst. This is simply a pathetic attempt by the SNP to shift the focus on to the parliament.

“The evidence of a cover-up by Michael Matheson is plain for all to see, but somehow he is still attempting to deny any wrongdoing when he has clearly lied to the public. We are far from the bottom of this sorry saga. We need a full probe from the standards committee or the standards commissioner, so that the public have the chance to get the answers they deserve.”

A spokesman for the SNP said: "Mr Matheson has been clear that he will co-operate fully with any investigation into this matter."

On Tuesday evening, a Scottish Parliament spokesman said: “The SPCB met this morning to discuss the correspondence from Mr Matheson and to consider the new information which came to light during his statement to Parliament last Thursday. There is no mechanism for the member 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 SPCB takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the integrity of Parliament’s operations and acknowledges Mr Matheson’s intention to co-operate fully with any investigation.”