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>> Swinney ridiculed for branding committee prejudiced' over Matheson >> Scottish Tory leader accuses First Minister of 'backing his pals'

- CHRIS McCALL

JOHN Swinney was slammed last night after he refused to accept a punishment handed down to disgraced former health secretary Michael Matheson.

The SNP leader was accused by Labour of "demeaning the office of First Minister" after he claimed Holyrood's Standards Committee was "prejudiced" against the veteran MSP.

The cross-party panel had recommended Matheson was barred from the Scottish Parliament for 27 days - the longest such sanction in the history of devolution and stripped of his salary for 54 days.

The investigation was launched earlier this year after the parliament's corporate body ruled the Nationalist had broken the rules over an £11,000 expenses scandal.

Matheson had initially tried to claim for a huge data roaming bill racked up on his official iPad while on a family holiday in Morocco - before being forced to admit the cost was caused by his sons streaming football.