Achi news desk-
John Swinney said he will not support a 27-day ban at Holyrood for Mr Matheson, who ran up a data roaming bill of almost £11,000 on his parliamentary iPad while on a family holiday to Morocco.
The SNP’s Mr Matheson initially said his device had only been used for parliamentary purposes, before later admitting his teenage sons had used it as a wi-fi hotspot to stream football .
READ MORE: Swinney defends decision to challenge Matheson probe sanction
While he has paid back the bill in full and apologised, Holyrood’s Standards Committee also recommended a 54-day pay suspension, with the Senate expected to vote on the sanctions.
In the next week the Conservatives will present a motion calling on Mr Matheson to resign, but this will not be legally binding.
A spokesman for the Scottish Greens said: “Michael Matheson made a mistake for which he has already been punished, but the view of the Green group of MSPs is that it is right that he receive further parliamentary sanction, and we will vote for action from’ such.
“However, we are united in our concern that the Standards Committee does not appear to have a consistent approach to the level of sanctions proposed, has allowed members to prejudge the case, and has also seen draft proposals released .
“It is clear that if confidence is to be maintained, the committee will need a more rigorous approach in the future.
“What we will not do is support the unscrupulous and vindictive calls for him to resign from the Tories who are not only shallow and callous, but abuse their positions as parliamentarians through partisan self-interest which is a characteristic obvious to Conservative politicians far and wide. the breadth of the country.
“Their actions bring shame on their benches and the public will see through their nasty opportunism. The Scottish Parliament and MSPs within it should adhere to the highest standards and lead by example. We hope that SNP and Tory members will now reflect on this bad episode.”
