Michael Matheson quizzed by standards watchdogs as iPad scandal report due to be published

SHAMED former health secretary Michael Matheson has been quizzed by standards watchdogs over his notorious iPad scandal.

The SNP MSP, who quit his cabinet job after trying to claim an £11,000 mobile phone bill on the taxpayer, was interviewed by a group of MSPs last Thursday after he was found to have broken the code of conduct.

Holyrood’s Standards Committee met in private to consider the complaint from the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB). They will now decide on a sanction for Matheson and are set to release the full report into his conduct.

The Committee is made up of MSPs from all parties and can decide to suspend an MSP from parliament if the breach is serious enough.

A source told the Sunday Mail: “Michael Matheson has now been interviewed by the Standards Committee. They’ll be publishing the full report when they decide what his punishment is.”

Matheson quit as health secretary on February 8 – the day he was given the report into his conduct by the SPCB.

He had told parliamentary officials the bill was as a result of work he was doing while on holiday in Morocco with his family over Christmas 2022.

When reports emerged about the extortionate bill, he insisted it was a legitimate expense.

On November 9, he found out his children had been watching football during the holiday which is why the data bill was so high.

On November 13, he was asked directly by journalists if there had been any “personal use” of the device and if anyone else had used it but he replied “no”.

It was only in a statement to Holyrood on November 16 he admitted his children had used it.

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