The furore surrounding Michael Matheson’s near £11,000 iPad data roaming bill was “completely blown out of all proportion”, according to the shamed MSP.
The SNP politician stepped down as Scotland’s health secretary last year after questions were raised over the eye-watering invoice.
The Falkirk West MSP had initially billed taxpayers before U-turning, claiming the device had only been used for parliamentary work during a family holiday to Morocco.
It later emerged his teenage sons had been using the work iPad as a hotspot to stream football while on the trip.
Mr Matheson was later suspended from the Scottish parliament and docked wages for breaching the MSP code of conduct.
Mr Matheson, who was first elected as an MSP in 1999, was questioned about his ministerial career during an interview with the Institute for Government (IFG) think tank as part of its Ministers Reflect series.
During the talk, held in October last year but published on Friday, he said his opponents had sought to take “political advantage” of the situation.
Mr Matheson said: “I think the thing that you need to realise is that when you become a minister, if you do make a mistake, you can end up in the eye of a political storm.
“The thing that acted as a big catalyst for me was that, as soon as the general election was called, everything was put on steroids.
“It became a massive issue because folk saw a political advantage they could get from it. It just got completely blown out of all proportion, in my view.”
Mr Matheson was the net zero, energy and transport secretary in Nicola Sturgeon’s government at the time of the family holiday around Christmas in 2022.
Ahead of the trip he failed to replace an outdated SIM card, which led to increased data use costs.
Mr Matheson, who was later appointed health secretary in March 2023 under then first minister Humza Yousaf, told Holyrood he was unaware that his sons had used the iPad as a hotspot when he initially submitted the bill.
He claimed he was told the truth by his wife after the story sparked a public outcry.
Following his wife’s admission, Mr Matheson initially failed to publicly mention his sons’ involvement.
Instead, he continued to insist the iPad was only used for parliamentary work and blamed the outdated SIM card for the excessive bill.
When questioned by journalists days after he knew the truth, he continued to deny the iPad was used for personal use until he made a statement to Holyrood.
Mr Matheson quit as health secretary ahead of the conclusion of a probe by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), which ruled he had breached the MSP code of conduct.
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When asked if there were any lessons to be learned for other ministers, he told the IFG: “If I look back, the lesson I would say is recognising how unforgiving the political space is that you’re operating in.
“In the end, it was my desire to try and avoid the press knowing about what my son had done.
“It was completely unforgiving, despite the fact that when you offer it up, then they say you’re using it as a cover. Actually, no, I’m not, but I’m telling you that’s what’s happened.
“So, I think what I would say to ministers is that it is quite unforgiving at times when something like that happens, despite what your background is and how long you’ve been in government and how you’ve always tried to avoid getting the government into any difficult positions.”
He added: “When you’re a backbencher, if you do make an error, it’s not the same.
“But when you’re a minister and you’re a senior minister, you’re going to get chased down and you quite literally get chased down.”
Mr Matheson said a number of people reached out in support during the scandal.
He also said the scrutiny had a “significant impact” on his family, which included taking his teenage sons out of school and his wife becoming “unwell with stress”.
He added: “It’s in the public record that our house got broken into.”
When questioned about Mr Matheson’s latest comments, First Minister John Swinney said: “The parliament’s worked its way through all of these issues and it’s come to its conclusions and those conclusions stand.
“We just have to consider that as the conclusion that parliament has arrived at.”
The Scottish Conservatives criticised Mr Matheson’s remarks.
MSP Rachael Hamilton, the party’s deputy leader, said: “Taxpayers will be outraged that Michael Matheson is trying to downplay the scandal that ultimately forced him to resign in disgrace.
“The public were rightly furious that the then SNP health secretary thought it acceptable to ask them to foot the bill for his [iPad] expenses.
“He then repeatedly lied to them and parliament and refused to say sorry for what he had done.
“No wonder Scots are so disillusioned with senior SNP figures at Holyrood when they continue to hold voters in such contempt.”
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