Inverclyde MSP slammed for abstaining on Matheson vote

Mr Matheson was suspended for 27 days – a record ban - and docked 54 days wages after he racked up an £11,000 bill on his parliamentary iPad.

The decision to sanction the SNP MSP was taken after it was passed in the chamber by 64 votes, with all 63 of his party colleagues abstaining.

Paul O'Kane (Image: Newsquest)

West Scotland MSP Paul O’Kane said: “This whole fiasco started with Michael Matheson failing to do the right thing, now it will end with Stuart McMillan and his SNP colleagues failing to do the right thing.

“Michael Matheson misled parliament, misled the public, and misled his own party colleagues including Stuart.

“The clear and obvious way to rectify this whole fiasco was to sanction Matheson appropriately but sadly Stuart and his SNP colleagues have put their party before principles.”

“Michael Matheson has admitted that he made mistakes. He has been found to have broken parliamentary rules and has now been sanctioned.

Stuart McMillan responded: “Paul O’Kane MSP says that my party did not allow for justice to be done, when in reality the SNP rejected the calls for sanctions that go far beyond those recommended by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments (SPPA) Committee. Surely MSPs voting to inflict additional sanctions which are not recommended by the very committee that was set up to decide upon the most appropriate sanctions, is the very example of unjust treatment and sheer politicking?

“Politics can, at times, be vicious – and we all know that when we stand for election. However politicians are also human – and as a father myself, I can empathise with Michael’s desire to protect his family once he learned the truth of the iPad use.

“That doesn’t mean I agree with his actions, and I therefore respected and welcomed Michael’s decision to pay the bill in full.

“Sadly, Michael’s integrity isn’t the only thing that has been damaged by this situation. The SPPA Committee process was open to prejudice, bias and political motivation, when it should have been totally unbiased. Parliamentary committees also suffer from private documents and discussions being leaked, and this occurred during this very committee.

“For this reason, that’s why I supported the amendment last week because any complaints process must be beyond reproach and it’s imperative that integrity and confidence in parliamentary procedures must be restored.”