Michael Matheson should not resign as an MSP, Humza Yousaf says

Michael Matheson should not resign as an MSP after being found to have broken rules by claiming an £11,000 roaming charges bill from the taxpayer, Humza Yousaf has insisted.

Mr Yousaf said his former health secretary was a “decent person” who had made a “mistake” after running up the charges while on a family holiday in Morocco.

The First Minister argued that Mr Matheson had already been suitably punished by losing his Scottish Cabinet job and paying back the money to the public purse.

But the Tories said it was not enough for Mr Matheson to resign as a minister, “after months of cover-up and deceit”, and called for a bill that would allow his Falkirk West constituents to sack him.

Their demand came after it emerged last week that an investigation by the Scottish Parliament’s ruling corporate body (SPCB) found he had breached two sections of the MSP code of conduct.

Referral to standards committee

The matter has been referred to Holyrood’s standards committee, which will decide what sanction to apply. This could include Mr Matheson being suspended from parliament.

He racked up the £10,935.74 bill for his parliamentary iPad over Christmas 2022 during a family holiday in Morocco, then told Holyrood’s authorities the charges were all in respect of constituency work.

Holyrood allowed him to use his taxpayer-funded expenses to fund £3,000 of the bill and provided the £7,935.74 balance from its own budget.

Mr Matheson paid back the money from his own pocket on Nov 10 last year, two days after The Telegraph disclosed the bill. He told the media there had been no personal use of the device.

However, in a statement to MSPs, he admitted he had found out on Nov 9 that his sons had used the iPad at an internet hotspot to watch football matches.

‘Man of integrity’

It also emerged Mr Yousaf had publicly insisted the matter was “closed” the day after Mr Matheson told him there had been personal use of the iPad. The First Minister had described his close ally as a “man of integrity”.

Mr Matheson finally resigned last month after the SPCB completed its investigation. He had been informed he would shortly be handed a copy of the report.

It emerged last week that it concluded he had breached clauses of the MSP code of conduct stating members must “abide by the policies” of the parliament and that “no improper use should be made of any payment or allowance made to members for public purposes”.

The full investigation is to be published once the standards committee decides what sanction he should face.

Mr Yousaf told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show: “Michael made a mistake, there’s no ifs, buts or maybes about that - and decent people can make mistakes.

“He’s paid a price for that, literally, he’s paid back all of the money and he’ll obviously now be referred to the Parliament standards committee to make a judgment, and I won’t interfere in that process.”

Tories seek recall bill

Pressed if Mr Matheson should quit as an MSP, the First Minister said: “No, I don’t think that’s the case. He’s a decent person that made a mistake.”

He said Mr Matheson would accept the standards committee’s verdict and he did not sack the former health secretary because he “genuinely believes in due process”.

But the Tories urged him to back proposals that would allow voters to recall MSPs found guilty of misconduct. This process already exists at Westminster.

Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Tory deputy leader, said: “The Michael Matheson scandal has reinforced the need for a recall bill.

“Even today, Matheson’s great friend Humza Yousaf could only meekly defend him staying. As it stands, there is no way for voters to remove a disgraced or failing MSP from office between elections.”