Matheson says he will not resign as an MSP over iPad bill row

FORMER Scottish health secretary Michael Matheson has insisted he will not resign as an MSP amid ongoing backlash to a £11,000 iPad roaming bill.

The SNP MSP was questioned by journalists at Holyrood yesterday for the first time since the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) issued findings that he had breached parliamentary rules.

Asked if he would resign as an

MSP, Matheson said: “No. As you know, there is a standards process at the moment and I’m going to respect the confidentiality of that process and I look forward to the process being completed shortly.”

He did not respond to further questions from journalists.

Matheson (pictured) quit his Cabinet role in February following months of pressure over a five-figure data roaming bill racked up on his parliamentary iPad during a family holiday to Morocco. He had initially gotten the taxpayer to foot the bill, but later said he would pay it himself.

Earlier in March, the SPCB – the cross-party group of MSPs tasked with the running of Parliament – concluded Matheson had broken the code of conduct for members over his handling of the bill, and referred his case to Holyrood’s Standards,

Procedures and Public Appointments Committee to consider sanctions.

The Tories have urged Humza Yousaf to remove the whip from the Falkirk West MSP, but he has said the former minister is a “decent person that made a mistake”.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday Show earlier this month, Yousaf said: “There are MSPs that have made mistakes and they’ve had to face the consequences of those mistakes.”