Humza Yousaf denies Michael Matheson misled him over cause of £11,000 data roaming bill

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Humza Yousaf has insisted he was not misled by Michael Matheson over the cause of an £11,000 data roaming bill racked up on a parliament-issued iPad.But the First Minister today admitted his embattled Health Secretary "should have handled the situation better".And the SNP leader again defended Matheson as a "man of integrity" as a possible motion of no confidence in him looms at Holyrood.The Health Secretary admitted on Thursday that his teenage sons used data from his iPad to watch football matches while on holiday in Morocco - running up a roaming bill of almost £11,000 in the process.Matheson initially claimed the device was used for parliamentary work during the family trip in December and early January.But he later told MSPs he had recently discovered his family’s involvement but did not initially disclose the information to “protect” his children.Matheson claimed he informed the First Minister of the truth on Tuesday and the following day Yousaf said the matter was “now closed” despite the new information.Yousaf was today asked if his Health Secretary had misled him.

He said: "There’s a legitimate question that people have asked, and Michael addressed last week, around whether he at that point should have been upfront publicly around the fact that was the reason that he was choosing to repay the entire bill."He was trying to protect his children.”Yousaf added: "For me, Michael – who I’ve known for well over 15 years – is a man of integrity, honesty.

He should have handled the situation better, Michael knows that and he’s apologised for that.”He added: "No, I don’t believe Michael did (mislead me)”.Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Mr Matheson was “hiding away” from scrutiny.The Moray MP said only his