​Bogus expenses? Forget about it - John McLellan

​Here we are in week three of Michael Matheson’s bogus expenses saga, and still the health secretary and his human shield, First Minister Humza Yousaf, think we should all forget about it.

Minister for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Michael Matheson arrives ahead of First Minster's Questions (FMQ's) at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.

It was on November 8 that the Daily Telegraph first revealed Mr Matheson had tried to pass off nearly £11,000 of roaming charges during a family winter break in Morocco as a legitimate expense, apparently assuring the authorities “these costs were incurred in relation to parliamentary business and not for personal or government use”.

He has admitted failing to ensure his parliamentary iPad was working off the correct account and then that his sons used it to watch Celtic football matches, yet on Tuesday he was still insisting he had “always been very clear when I have been responding to questions on my use of the parliamentary iPad that I only used it for parliamentary purposes.”

He must think we all came up the Forth on a water biscuit if he thinks no-one can see the sophistry in this claim, as if he has absolutely no responsibility for the use of the device or the bills incurred.

Now the embarrassment has deepened with his declaration that he had referred himself to the Scottish Parliament’s Corporate Body exposed as hokum, because no such process exists.

Meanwhile, his ministry looks likely to renege on its promise to deliver a new eye infirmary for Edinburgh, and whatever excuses Mr Matheson can produce to explain that away can be taken with the same pinch of salt as his legitimate expenses.

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