Michael Matheson rejects calls to resign as Falkirk West MSP as he returns to Holyrood

Michael Matheson has rejected calls to resign as Falkirk West MSP as he returned to Holyrood for the first time in weeks.

The former health secretary refused to answer questions from journalists about why he had been missing from the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Matheson quit his Cabinet role in February following months of pressure over a near-£11,000 data roaming bill racked up on his parliamentary iPad during a family holiday to Morocco.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) – the cross-party group of MSPs tasked with the running of Parliament – recently concluded Mr Matheson had broken the code of conduct for members over his handling of the bill, and referred his case to Holyrood’s standards committee to consider sanctions.

Asked if he is going to resign as an MSP, Mr Matheson told journalists: “No, and as you know there is a standards process at the present moment and I’m going to respect the confidentiality of that process, and I look forward to the process being completed shortly.”

He ignored questions about why he had been missing from parliament in recent weeks.

Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, previously described his ex-minister as a “decent person”. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Michael made a mistake, there’s no ifs, buts or maybes about that – and decent people can make mistakes.

“He’s paid a price for that, literally, he’s paid back all of the money and he’ll obviously now be referred to the parliament standards committee to make a judgment, and I won’t interfere in that process.”

Asked if the former minister should quit, the First Minister said: “No, I don’t think that’s the case. He’s a decent person that made a mistake. There are MSPs that have made mistakes and they’ve had to face the consequences of those mistakes.

“I’ve not heard Michael say anything other than he’ll accept what those consequences are, and I’m sure he’ll accept whatever the parliamentary committee decides and deliberates on.”

Opposition politicians have called for Mr Matheson, who has been an MSP since the dawn of devolution, to stand down.