£11,000 iPad roaming bill forces Scotland minister Michael Matheson to resign. Here's what happened

Scotland's Health Secretary Michael Matheson on Thursday (Feb 8th) quit in the wake of a scandal involving data roaming charges of around £11,000 ($13,855) on his official iPad. In his resignation, the Scottish National Party (SNP) minister said he was standing down to prevent the row from becoming a 'distraction'.

For weeks, Matheson has been pressured to resign while Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf was pressured to fire him.

Why does a roaming bill matter?

The roaming bill worth thousands of pounds was racked up on Matheson's official device — to be paid from taxpayer money.

The significant cost was incurred while the ex-minister was in Morocco on a Christmas break with his family. He tried to charge the roaming fees to taxpayers by claiming it through expenses.Matheson later said he would foot the bill himself.

After insisting that there had been no personal use of the iPad in November of last year, in an emotional statement to the Scottish Parliament, he admitted that his teenage sons had used the device to watch football.

Of the £11,000, around £7,000 worth of usage was clocked on January 2nd, 2023, the day of an Old Firm fixture between Celtic and Rangers.

Humza Yousaf faces criticism

When the news of Matheson's significant roaming bill broke, Yousaf had defended him, saying he was a "man of integrity".

Now, this is coming back to haunt him. As per the Daily Mail, Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross has demanded that "Humza Yousaf must explain why he defended him as a 'man of integrity and honesty' when he knew his former health secretary had lied."

Furthermore, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie remarked that Yousaf "has big questions to answer over his lack of judgment".

"While I welcome the news that Michael Matheson has finally gone, the fact is the First Minister has big questions to answer over his lack of judgment," saidBaillie.

"While our NHS is in crisis, Humza Yousaf has shown his weakness by putting the SNP before our NHS.Now more than ever, we need a health minister focused on the crisis at hand,"sheadded.

"It’s clear that the First Minister has no plan to save our NHS and that shuffling the SNP deckchairs will make no difference—it's time for change," Baillie further said

Parliamentary probe

As per the report, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is probing the data roaming charges. The body can refer Matheson to the Standards, Procedures, and Public Appointments Committee. If that happens, the ex-minster could lose access to 'all or part' of his parliamentary expenses.