Michael Matheson said there was no personal use on his Scottish Parliament iPad, despite being told four days earlier his sons used it to watch football while on holiday.

The MSP racked up £11,000 in data roaming charges, with more than £7000 coming on one day, January 2 when a Rangers v Celtic match was held.

The health secretary said on Monday this week there was no personal use of his Parliament iPad.

READ NEXT:Family watching football led to £11K iPad bill, Matheson tells MSPs

Yesterday, however, he told the Scottish Parliament that he found out about the personal use by his children to watch football four days earlier.

Here’s what he told reporters at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital on Monday afternoon when he was asked the direct question: “Was there any personal use?”

Matheson said: “No. As I made very clear on that and the Parliament investigated this issue, keeping mind, back in January when one of the senior IT officials looked into it and came to a view on this matter and that’s why an agreement was reached at that particular point.

“Notwithstanding that though, I want to put the question beyond any doubt whatsoever and that’s why I took the personal decision as I said in my statement on Friday that I’ll reimburse the parliament for the full cost of that so there’s no questions about what it was used for.”

Yesterday, however in a statement to Holyrood he said: “Following the publication of my expenses last week, there was significant media coverage of the charges.

“It was at that point, last Thursday night, when I returned home that I was made aware by my wife that other members of our family had made use of the iPad data. That was the first that I knew that the data had been used by anyone else.

“I had previously checked that, but the truth emerged only after the story had been in the news.

“I should have pressed harder; perhaps I should have been less willing to believe what I had been told.

“Presiding Officer, I need to be very clear with you and my colleagues that the responsibility for the iPad is mine. The responsibility for the data usage is mine. That is why my wife and I made the immediate decision to reimburse the full costs to the Parliament.”

Opposition MSPs said he must resign.

Scottish Labour deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, said: “It is simply unfathomable that Michael Matheson thinks he can keep his job after deceiving the public and parliament over his actions.

“Michael Matheson said the bill was accrued by conducting parliamentary business – that was clearly not true.

“While our NHS is on its knees and 820,000 people are stuck on waiting lists, the fact that we are discussing Mr Matheson’s conduct shows that he is no longer fit to hold his role.

“This ultimately was an attempt to cover up wrong doing and would have cost the taxpayer £11,000.”