Labour councillors stuck to their guns to win a debate over whether Falkirk SNP MSP Michael Matheson should resign following controversy over an £11,000 iPad roaming charge.
Councillor Jack Redmond, who led the debate, said the SNP politician had lost the trust of the Falkirk people which, along with integrity, was vital in any public representative.
In the end, Labour's motion carried the day, winning a vote against a Conservative amendment calling on Mr Matheson, the current health minister, to consider his current position rather than Labour’s call for him to resign.
Councillor Redmond, who represents Bonnybridge and Larbert, said he had watched in frustration and disbelief as Michael Matheson’s expenses scandal unfolded.
“I was confused and taken aback by the constantly changing and conflicting accounts given by Mr Matheson,” he said.
He outlined the timetable of events after the controversy was revealed, months after the bill had been accumulated, partly because Mr Matheson had failed to update a sim on his iPad when the Scottish Government changed its data provider.
At this point the government said it would only pay £8,000 towards the bill, Mr Matheson agreeing to pay the remaining £3,000 from his office expenses.
He said:”At the time he was 100 percent certain he had accrued the bill through constituency work and it was only fair the taxpayer covered his £11,000 roaming bill for him.”
“Which was what he did until months later when on the 8th of November the Telegraph ran a story on his ridiculously high data roaming bill.”
Mr Matheson, backed by First Minister Humza Yousaf, stuck to this story. But two days later he announced he would pay the full amount, on the 13th again insisting no-one else had used his iPad.
On November 16th, with calls for a vote of confidence and for him to hand over his iPad growing, Mr Matheson, announced he had found out days earlier that his sons had accessed his iPad in order to watch football.
Councillor Redmond went on: “That is no way for any elected representative to deal with public funds. We owe it to our constituents to tell them the truth the first time not third or fourth time under media and parliamentary scrutiny. The truth is vitally important as a public representative.
“Do you know how you can tell if someone is telling you the truth; their story remains the same every time they tell it.”
Council leader Cecil Meiklejohn proposed the SNP’s amendment, a hagiographic response to a set of woes besetting a man of “honesty and integrity”. We were asked to show sympathy to a man who lied to protect his family… you know what kids are like.
Then there was the reminder of Labour’s own personnel problems, though she had clearly forgotten just how quickly these characters had been shown the door one way or another.
And of course there was the Labour just playing politics line… once again forgetting their own long history of hounding Labour Party officials out of office, most of them guilty of innocent mistakes and not involving public money.
The SNP group’s depute leader Councillor Paul Gardner was next in action, with a contribution described as ‘mud-slinging’ by ex-SNP Independent Councillor Laura Murtagh and ‘scandalous’ by another Independent, Councillor Brian McCabe.
He has lodged a Freedom of Information request asking for a breakdown of all councillors’ phone and computer use. Here’s hoping it comes back to bite him.