Scotland's first minister has been accused of demeaning himself and "defending the indefensible" after announcing he will not be supporting a parliamentary committee's recommendation to ban Michael Matheson from Holyrood for 27 sitting days.
Former health secretary Mr Matheson is facing the suspension over a near £11,000 iPad data roaming bill.
He was sanctioned by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee on Thursday, which also included a recommendation for the Falkirk West MSP to lose his salary for 54 days.
The decision will now go before MSPs for approval, but John Swinney has stated he will not be supporting the sanction, claiming the process had been "prejudiced" due to public comments made by a member of the committee and could bring the Scottish parliament into "disrepute".
At First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Swinney described Mr Matheson as "a friend and a colleague".
He said Mr Matheson had "paid the roaming costs in question" with "no cost to the public purse", however the first minister failed to acknowledge his colleague was forced to U-turn after an initial bill to taxpayers hit the headlines and sparked a public outcry.
It was eventually revealed his teenage sons had racked up the eye-watering costs after using Mr Matheson's iPad as a Wi-Fi hotspot to watch football during a family holiday to Morocco around Christmas 2022.
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Mr Swinney said he had "significant concern" over the parliamentary committee's findings.
He said: "I believe this process has been prejudiced."
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The first minister referred to comments made by Tory MSP Annie Wells, a member of the committee, saying: "Annie Wells said that Michael Matheson's, and I quote, 'desperate efforts to justify his outrageous expenses claim have been riddled with lies, cover-ups and the need for us all to suspend our disbelief'."
Fellow Tory MSP Stephen Kerr stepped down from the committee earlier this year, admitting he could not be objective in the case, and was replaced by colleague Oliver Mundell.
Mr Swinney said that if a constituent had come to him facing disciplinary action at work when their employer had made similar comments about them, he would "come down on that employer like a tonne of bricks".
He added: "That is the situation that Michael Matheson if facing here, and that is why I will not be supporting the sanction."
The first minister said he would not support calls for Mr Matheson to resign.
He said his colleague had "suffered significant reputational damage" and his family had been impacted "as a consequence of losing office and the difficulties that have been created here".
Mr Swinney added: "This parliament needs to consider seriously the reputational issues that will arise from presiding over an unfair process."
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'Incredible and indefensible'
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said Mr Swinney was "defending the indefensible".
Mr Ross accused Mr Matheson of "deceit and abuse of trust" as he revealed his party will seek to push him to resign in a vote next week.
He added: "This is incredible and indefensible by the first minister.
"He told us, when asking for our support to make him first minister, he would be first minister for all of Scotland. What Scotland is seeing is he's a first minister that backs his pals."
'He has demeaned himself'
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described Mr Swinney's comments as "utterly unbelievable and embarrassing".
He added: "He has demeaned himself and the office of first minister.
"Two weeks in and the pretence of a new kind of government is gone. Party first, country second."
Be the first to get Breaking News Install the Sky News app for freeSpeaking to journalists following FMQs, Mr Matheson said he acknowledged the recommendations made by the committee.
He added: "I think it's pretty clear though that the process has become highly politicised, which has compromised the process and the fairness of the process.
"I also think the sanctions they've imposed are excessive and they are unfair."
Mr Matheson said it is now for parliament to decide on the next steps for the report, and said he would "abide" by whatever decision it takes.
