Michael Matheson has insisted that he did not lie to journalists about his £11,000 data roaming bill.

The Health Secretary was asked directly by STV on Tuesday if he had “at any point misled anyone about what has gone on here.”

He replied: “No.”

However, last week in his personal statement to the Parliament, Mr Matheson told MSPs he learned about his children’s use of his parliamentary iPad on 9 November.

But on 13 November, when asked directly if there was "any personal use" of the device during the family holiday, he told reporters: "No”.

When asked if anyone else could have used the device, he, again, said, "No".

READ MORE: Matheson iPad scandal: it was not supposed to be this way

On Tuesday, the minister told STV: “I have sought to be very clear that my use of that parliamentary device was only for parliamentary purposes when I was using it.

"But I wasn't aware, obviously data was being used by other family members, as soon as I became aware of that, I took action in order to address that question.

"There are those who question why did I not disclose that information earlier last week, and the reason I didn't do that was because I was genuinely trying to protect my children from getting involved in something that had significant parliamentary, political, and media interest."

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross described this as “another outrageous lie that totally undermines last week’s apology.”

“By the timeline he himself set out in his personal statement, it’s clear he lied last Monday. He insisted in interviews then that there was no personal use of his iPad, despite his sons having admitted the previous Thursday that they watched football on it.

“The Health Secretary has attempted to cover up his actions at every stage of this scandal – the fibs are just becoming more absurd and obvious.

“Michael Matheson is utterly discredited and must be sacked now by Humza Yousaf, who is being made to look a fool for standing by his friend.”

READ MORE: Scottish Politics: How Michael Matheson missed his moment

The latest intervention from the Health Secretary came amid confusion over the probe into the scandal.

In his personal statement, the Health Secretary told colleagues he would refer himself to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) under section seven of the MSP code of conduct, “so that it can consider whether to investigate the matter further to address any remaining questions to the Parliament’s full satisfaction.”

However, on Tuesday, the cross-party body said there was no process in place for an MSP to refer themselves to the SPCB in this way. 

They also said they would need to take time to carefully consider the scope of the probe as “the issues involved encompass a number of SPCB policies.”

Section seven of the code sets out rules on general conduct, including on expenses.

The code states that “no improper use should be made of any payment or allowance made to members for public purposes” and that “members must abide by the Reimbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme agreed by the Parliament.”

There is nothing about dishonesty in the code of conduct.

The closest it comes to dealing with falsehoods is where it tells politicians that they “must not behave in a manner towards… any individuals they are in contact with in their capacity as MSPs that involves bullying, harassment (including sexual harassment), or any other inappropriate behaviour.”

In a statement, a Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "The SPCB met this morning to discuss the correspondence from Mr Matheson and to consider the new information which came to light during his statement to Parliament last Thursday.

“There is no mechanism for the Member to self-refer in this way. 

“The issues involved encompass a number of SPCB policies so it is important that the SPCB takes time to carefully consider these and agree the scope of any investigation it may decide to undertake, and the process to be followed, into this matter including the use of £11k of public money.

“The SPCB takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the integrity of Parliament’s operations and acknowledges Mr Matheson’s intention to co-operate fully with any investigation.

“The SPCB will meet again on Thursday and will issue a further statement at that point.”

 

Mr Ross said the self-referral was “clearly a ruse by Michael Matheson to take the sting out of the scandal.”

“This statement underlines why we urgently need a debate in parliament to address the many unanswered questions in this scandal,” he said.

On Tuesday morning, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said she still had confidence in Mr  Matheson. She told The Herald: “He's got an important job to do in government. That's where his focus is.”