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Michael Matheson has resigned as Scotland’s health secretary in a bid to close down a row over an £11,000 data roaming bill that his children helped run up on his work tablet device while on a family holiday.
Matheson, a member of the devolved Scottish National party administration since 2011, had been facing a parliamentary inquiry into the iPad roaming bill. It was initially charged to taxpayers.
At first Matheson denied the bill — which was run up during a week-long holiday to Morocco — had been the result of non-official business. But in November last year he admitted the charges had been caused in part by his children streaming football matches on the tablet.
In a letter to Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf on Thursday, Matheson said: “I have still not received the findings of the review, however, it is in the best interest of myself and the government for me to now step down to ensure this does not become a distraction.”
The MSP for Falkirk West added that he would support the government from the backbenches.
In response, Yousaf wrote that he accepted Matheson’s resignation with “sadness”, and that it was right for Matheson to engage fully with the probe by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body as it neared its end.
He praised Matheson’s record, including securing a “fair deal” for NHS junior doctors, which he said had prevented strike action in Scotland, unlike elsewhere in the UK.
The row has threatened to derail Yousaf’s attempt to reset the SNP government following the police investigation into the pro-independence grouping’s finances and the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as first minister.
Matheson, who was appointed health secretary after Yousaf won the SNP leadership last year, asked for an official review as he came under pressure to explain the £11,000 costs to the taxpayer.
He had initially agreed to pay £3,000 out of his expenses budget, with the Scottish parliament picking up the remainder on the understanding that the bill related to work.
Matheson repaid the entire bill himself after telling parliament that family members had used the iPad while on holiday. He apologised, saying he had kept his family out of his initial statement to protect them from political and media scrutiny.
The row has combined with revelations at the UK Covid-19 inquiry that officials regularly deleted WhatsApp messages during the pandemic, undermining public confidence in the SNP government.
At first minister’s questions at Holyrood on Thursday, Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, cited Matheson’s resignation as evidence of Yousaf’s poor leadership.
“Trust in this government is gone, the SNP’s credibility is gone, Michael Matheson is gone,” Ross said. “But Humza Yousaf, the human shield, is still here, defending him.”
