A TORY MSP who used an enormous amount of data on his parliamentary phone has rejected criticism over the revelations.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request seen by The National found that Alexander Stewart used 395,927 MB of data on the device between December 2022 and October 2023.
The MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife also used a further 36,355 MB on his parliamentary tablet – bringing the total to 432,282 MB.
“Questions need to be asked about what’s going on here,” SNP MP Ian Blackford told The National.
He added that this was “particularly” the case given recent “attention on Scottish Government ministers" – assumedly referring to Michael Matheson.
Scotland's former health secretary was forced out of his Cabinet role after an investigation into an £11,000 roaming bill he racked up on his iPad while on holiday in Morocco.
Stewart rejected any criticism of his data usage - noting that the data was within his phone tariff.
Commenting, he said: “My data usage has all been incurred within the terms of my parliamentary phone tariff which is paid for in the same way that all other parliamentary phone tariffs are paid.
"No extra costs outside of the parliamentary phone tariff have been incurred.”
The Tory MSP's usage eclipsed all the other MSPs on the list by at least double – the closest MSP in second place being Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross with 210,062 MB.
This was followed by Deputy First Minister Shona Robison with 191,311 MB.
All of the data figures revealed by the FOI request of 19 total MSPs were within roaming bundle limits so no additional charges were incurred by the taxpayer or the MSPs themselves.
The Scottish Government doesn’t hold any information about data usage for devices owned by MSPs, only devices used by MSPs that are owned by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB).
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel