By Angus CochraneBBC Scotland News16 November 2023, 11:21 GMT
Updated 11 minutes ago
Image caption,
Mr Matheson is to pay the full £11,000 himself after initially being happy for the taxpayer to foot the cost
Health Secretary Michael Matheson has admitted his sons watching football on his parliamentary iPad was the cause of an £11,000 data roaming charge.
The bill was incurred during a trip to Morocco last Christmas.
The expense was initially picked up by the Scottish Parliament, which was told by Mr Matheson that the iPad was only used for work.
He has since paid the money back and said he had referred himself to the parliament for further investigation.
Mr Matheson – who was visibly emotional during a statement to parliament – told MSPs he was not aware that other family members had used the device until last Thursday, after the first media reports about the charges emerged.
The health secretary said he did not mention this on his statement on Friday, in which he announced he would pay the bill himself, because he wanted to protect his children.
He apologised unreservedly to the parliament and said the responsibility for the data usage and iPad was his.
“In my statement issued last Friday I made no reference to the use of data by my family,” Mr Matheson told MSPs.
“As a parent, I wanted to protect them from being part of the political and media scrutiny associated with this, something I believe any parent would want to do.
“I am a father first and foremost – that was a mistake and I am sorry.
“I can see now that it just isn’t possible to explain the data usage without explaining their role.
He added: “The simple truth is they watched football matches.”
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said questions remained unanswered and that parliament had been misled.
Scottish Labour deputy leader said parents of teenagers would understand the scenario, but said people would not understand an alleged “cover up” by the government.
She said Mr Matheson had been “wholly negligent” not to replace his device’s Sim card, and not to keep it secure from being used by others.
2023-11-16 15:36:00
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