Matheson vows to remain MSP as Holyrood backs suspension over iPad scandal

Michael Matheson insisted he would remain a Member of Parliament despite Holyrood voting to impose tough sanctions on him after he ran up a data roaming bill of almost £11,000 on his Parliament-issued iPad.

MPs voted 64 to 0 to impose the penalty, which will see Matheson suspended from Holyrood for 27 days and lose his MSP salary for twice that period. However, the SNP’s 63 MPs abstained.

An SNP amendment was also adopted, expressing the party’s concerns that the committee that recommended the sanctions had been biased and had “brought Parliament into disrepute”.

The amended motion criticised Conservative MP Annie Wells for her “public comments” about Mr Matheson before his actions were examined by the Catholic Church’s Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee at Holyrood – of which she is a member.

It went on to say that this posed a “risk of the committee’s report being subject to bias and prejudice and of the complaint being prejudged” as there should be an independent review of Parliament’s complaints procedures.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross described the scenes as “extremely bizarre” and the SNP voted for the change but then abstained from voting on the amended motion.

Mr Ross said that while Mr Matheson now faces suspension and loss of pay, “any other Scotsman would have gotten his 45 pesos straight away”.

He said: “If it was found that someone had falsely claimed £11,000 from their employer – in this case the taxpayer – and then lied about it as part of a cover-up, they would have been sacked.”

He stressed that the former health minister’s actions were not a “harmless mistake”. He had made a “conscious and shameless attempt to mislead Parliament and the public”.

The dispute originally began when Mr Matheson admitted that his teenage sons were using his iPad as a hotspot to watch football on a family holiday in Morocco.

The minister at the time had initially insisted that the device be used exclusively for official purposes and tried to have the costs borne by the public sector.

He later admitted his children’s involvement and paid the money back to the Scottish Parliament.

Although he later resigned as Health Minister, he remained MSP for Falkirk West.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Matheson said: “I apologise and regret that this situation has arisen. I recognise and accept Parliament’s decision.”

“I also note that Parliament has called on the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body to undertake an independent review of Parliament’s complaints process in order to restore integrity and confidence in Parliament and its processes. I hope that this step will go ahead.

“I look forward to continuing to represent the people of Falkirk West as I have done for many years.”

Tory leader Ross criticised Scottish First Minister John Swinney, saying he had sought to “derail and undermine due process” with his criticism of Ms Wells’ conduct.

Mr Ross insisted: “The First Minister’s behaviour towards my colleague Annie Wells would make Donald Trump blush.

“It is abhorrent and disgraceful conduct which disgraces the office of the First Minister as he has targeted members of an independent committee in this Parliament and used his bullying tactics to seek to undermine due process.”

Mr Swinney later told reporters that he did not believe Mr Matheson should resign as MSP.

He said: “He made a mistake and was punished by Parliament, which I accept without reservation.”

“Michael should accept this punishment and continue to serve the people who sent him here.

“Parliament has accepted this as appropriate and I accept Parliament’s statement.”

The First Minister also signalled support for a system that would give the public the opportunity to recall their MPs, adding: “I do not believe that the arrangements that have been put in place here are appropriate at this time.”