Minister with £11,000 iPad bill told to 'come clean' if he was watching football
A minister who racked up a £11,000 roaming bill on his taxpayer-funded iPad while on holiday has been told to "come clean" over whether he was watching football.
SNP Health Secretary Michael Matheson has been criticised after the huge bill came to light following a family trip to Morocco. It has emerged that £8,600 of it was built up on a single day - when Celtic played Rangers back in Scotland.
Scottish Labour depute leader Jackie Baillie said: "This is a phenomenal own-goal from Michael Matheson. He must come clean over whether he or his family used his parliamentary devices to watch the football before his actions blow the full-time whistle on his ministerial career."
The senior Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) said an out-of-date sim card is to blame for the massive data roaming bill incurred over Christmas and New Year, the Daily Record reports.
He initially refused to pay back a penny from his own pocket, but then agreed to reimburse Holyrood in full. This was in spite of him insisting the device was only used for work.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Holyrood bosses yesterday published details which showed around 3.7GB of data - costing £8,665 - was clocked up on the January 2 public holiday. Another 1.2GB of data - £2,249 - was used on December 28.
January 2 saw a full fixture list in Scotland's top flight, with Rangers and Celtic drawing 2-2 at Ibrox. Six matches were also played on the earlier date, including Rangers versus Motherwell as well as Celtic going head-to-head with Hibs.
The Holyrood breakdown shows the amount of data used between December 28 and January 3, but does not say how it was incurred. The Record last week asked Matheson, a Partick Thistle fan, if the device had been used to stream any entertainment.
He replied: "Look, I've already made a statement, all right, ok?" First Minister Humza Yousaf is backing Mr Matheson and has denied he is distracted from his day job.
He said: “For me, the matter is now closed. He has agreed to pay back every single penny of that expense, even though the Parliament wasn’t asking him to do so.” Mr Yousaf said Mr Matheson had made an "honest mistake" in relation to the "updating of the SIM card".
The First Minister added: “To me, that is a line drawn under the matter.” The Scottish Parliament said last week a senior member of their IT team investigated the data charges in January.
The statement also said senior officials had accepted Mr Matheson’s “assurances” that all costs were for parliamentary purposes. Mr Matheson is also facing a no confidence vote by the Tories over his handling of the row.
The Scottish Conservatives, led by Douglas Ross, have called on Matheson to hand over his iPad for a full analysis. Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone announced an urgent review of mobile devices and data roaming charges.
She said: “Following a meeting of the SPCB on Tuesday afternoon, officials have been instructed to carry out an urgent review of the Parliament’s policies and procedures around mobile device use and data roaming charges, and how these are handled.
"This is an issue which I and the SPCB take very seriously. We must be in a position where we have reviewed and tightened all policies to ensure the present situation cannot happen again.
Richard 'shuts up' GMB guest who says Hancock 'deserved' being called 'd***head'
“The policy review will also set out the circumstances, and cost thresholds, for ‘out of the ordinary’ bills to be escalated to the SPCB for explicit sign off. This will ensure full transparency and full accountability. It is vital that we have every confidence in the expenses scheme and that its integrity is maintained.”
She said of Mr Matheson: “The Member himself has acknowledged he failed to update his sim card and incurred significant charges, which he has now agreed to meet in full. The review will give officials and the SPCB greater ability to intervene where Members have not followed guidance.
“The SPCB recognises that Members are the elected representatives of their constituents and privacy and confidentiality is fundamental to that relationship.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
