Michael Matheson’s iPad scandal has tarnished the SNP

When the Scottish health secretary’s inevitable resignation came, there was no apology, no recognition that he had done anything wrong. Michael Matheson quit with all the arrogance we’ve come to expect from SNP politicians, jumping ship on Thursday morning before the findings of an investigation into his expenses claims were published.

After it emerged last November that Matheson had claimed around £11,000 for roaming data charges run up during a family holiday in Morocco, the MSP insisted his expenses were entirely legitimate and had come about while he carried out essential constituency work. When that line refused to shut down questions about how he could have incurred such massive costs, Matheson offered the excuse that he had been using an outdated SIM card in his parliament-provided iPad. Eventually, despite telling the press that the charges hadn’t come about from personal iPad use, he made a tearful statement to the Scottish parliament in November, admitting that his teenage sons were to blame.