Michael Matheson, Scotland’s embattled health secretary, has apologised “unreservedly” after admitting he failed to properly disclose that his sons had largely run up an £11,000 iPad bill which he had initially charged in full to taxpayers.

In a personal statement to MSPs on Thursday, Matheson said he had referred himself for possible investigation by parliament for breaching its code of conduct, as he fought against mounting calls to resign from opposition leaders.

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Close to tears at several points, Matheson said: “Disclosing this information about my family has been extremely difficult. Mistakes have been made by me and by my family.”

Matheson said one of his sons had helped him set up a hotspot on the iPad in Morocco and told MSPs that parliamentary officials had agreed he could use the iPad as such. A Holyrood spokesperson said it had no record of that being raised or agreed.