THE closest thing my daughter has ever had to a rebellious phase was when she was a toddler. It was around this time that she embarked on a spate of low-level crimes.
She stole a fork from a Pizza Express. She tearfully confessed to moving my bookmark to another page because she was mad at me and wanted me to lose my place. She sank her little teeth into her favourite teacher at nursery, before making her a card covered in kisses and glitter by way of apology.
I’m sure Michael Matheson’s statement in Holyrood last week provoked many parents to reflect on the misdemeanours and confessions of their own children.
In his statement, he admitted that the £11k roaming charge racked up on his iPad had been caused by his teenage sons watching a football match while on a family holiday to Morocco.
Michael Matheson was emotional in the chamber as he laid out the timeline of events, saying he only found out that his sons had used his parliamentary device as an internet hotspot after the furore over the eyewatering charge had already hit the press.
It was an unfortunate series of events that led to the mammoth bill. Michael Matheson admitted his culpability in not updating the Sim card as advised by Holyrood techies, and not informing them that he was going on holiday so they could put in place a suitable data package.
His account of what happened was credible and it is easy to find sympathy for the preindictment he found himself in.
By the time he found out that his sons had ran up the charge, the story was already on the front page of every newspaper.
He said that he wanted to protect them from the harsh glare of the media spotlight.
That instinct is something that every parent will understand.
But unfortunately for Michael Matheson, it’s not enough to escape ongoing questions about the incident.
Before FMQs on Thursday, the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body announced an investigation over the £11k bill.
No surprise, then, that Douglas Ross decided to return to the issue again at FMQs this week.
He cast doubt on Michael Matheson’s explanation to the chamber last week, saying it didn’t explain why the health secretary tried to claim 11k for ‘’a bill he couldn’t account for.’’
The First Minister hit back, reminding Douglas Ross of the time the Scottish Tory leader apologised for failing to declare £28k of outside earnings.
Humza Yousaf accused Douglas Ross leader of ‘’hypocrisy’’ saying ‘’it’s fine for him to make an honest mistake, but not fine for Michael Matheson to make an honest mistake.’’
In an increasingly bad-tempered series of exchanges, Douglas Ross said that Michael Matheson tried to ‘’dupe the taxpayer’’ over the bill.
The First Minister then read out a list of engagements and activities that the Health Secretary had recently undertook, the inference being that old favourite political rebuttal: We’re getting on with the job while you carp from the side lines.
‘’Michael Matheson is taking the public for fools’’ said Douglas Ross, before going on to reference the interview that the health secretary gave after he found out about his sons’ iPad use, where he denied anybody else had accessed it.
A visibly angry Humza Yousaf practically leapt from his seat to respond.
‘’Isn’t it telling that Douglas Ross wants to talk about the Health Secretary’’ he said.
‘’What he DOESN’T want to talk about is the savage cuts the UK Government have unleashed on the health service through yesterday’s Autumn Statement.
‘’They want to try to distract, they want to try to deflect, they want to try to dodge away from the fact that their Autumn Statement has led to savage cuts to the health service – well we won’t let them forget Presiding Officer.’’
