Come back, Michael Matheson, all is forgiven.
The former Health Secretary might have proved himself unfit for the position he held but at least he first revealed his stupidity when he was off duty.
Matheson was on holiday when his sons ran up the £11,000 roaming data charge that he then claimed as a legitimate expense.
His successor, Neil Gray, on the other hand was participating in a panel discussion about Alzheimer’s disease when he showed us who he is.
A report in last weekend’s Sunday Mail revealed that Gray had been trying to buy tickets for the forthcoming Oasis reunion tour during the event. The disrespect for those in attendance was jaw-dropping.
Gray was smart enough to realise he’d made a mistake.
He reacted furiously, online, dismissing the report as “total nonsense” and casting doubt on the professionalism of John Ferguson, the political journalist who broke the news.
The Health Secretary said he had “joked” about trying to buy Oasis tickets and insisted he had been “fully focused on chairing and contributing” to the session.
On Wednesday, Gray had a new version of events. He had been “in the queue” to buy tickets to see the reformed Britpop giants.
Neil Gray admits he was ‘in the queue’ for Oasis tickets
How the Health Secretary’s decision to enter the queue to buy tickets doesn’t mean he was trying to buy tickets, I simply don’t know. (I would be interested in the view of any linguists out there.)
If you’re a fan of watching foolish men squirm then the interview with LBC News Scotland in which Gray tried to explain himself while digging a deeper hole is worth seeking out online.
The Health Secretary said: “I was in the queue, and anybody that understands how being in a queue for tickets works, it wasn’t something that was fast-moving.
“So, my phone was in my pocket, there was progress getting made in this queue dispersing. I didn’t actually end up getting onto Ticketmaster, such was the demand for tickets.
“But no, I was fully focused at the meeting on hearing and chairing the discussion on an inspiring area of policy development that’s happening here in Scotland.
“I was fully focused on that, and both participants and the panel would be able to confirm that.”
What absolute nonsense.
Neil Gray was either trying to buy tickets, in which case he would have had to join an online queue or he was not trying to buy them, in which case he would not.
When Michael Matheson was caught trying to claim expenses to which he was not entitled, he started by dismissing it, then by trying to explain it, before – inevitably – he simply had to go.
Isn’t it extraordinary that Matheson’s successor appears to have learned none of the lessons of his predecessor’s stupidity?
I do not think it unreasonable that we should expect Scotland’s Health Secretary to be able to conduct himself with dignity during a meeting to discuss a disease that devastates countless families.
We should not have to worry that the man who stewards the health service is so disrespectful.
But the fundamental problem – as was the case with Matheson – is that Gray simply doesn’t understand the magnitude of the responsibility he has been handed. His behaviour shows that.
Scotland’s NHS is in crisis. Waiting times extend as staff numbers fall, and there remains little sign that this SNP Government has the slightest inclination to drive forward any kind of meaningful reform.
With all of this in mind, Scotland needs a health secretary of intellect, of strong moral courage, with the authority to bring together conflicting groups in the name of making the NHS the very best it can be.
Were I First Minister, John Swinney, I’d put the underused culture secretary Angus Robertson into the health brief.
He is clever, thoughtful and – this is really crucial – takes his politics seriously.
Of course, these “qualities” make Robertson unpopular with some colleagues who dismiss him as arrogant.
I think that says more about them. Robertson’s critics are of the “you think you’re smart just because you use big words” variety that you will find in any school playground in the country.
Whoever replaces Gray at health, let’s hope they’re in place soon.
Scots cannot possibly be expected to tolerate as Health Secretary a man so unaware of the great responsibility he has been handed that he thinks entering the queue to buy Oasis tickets during the meeting he was chairing is acceptable.
Neil Gray is not a serious politician, he’s a buffoon.
Euan McColm is a regular columnist for various Scottish newspapers
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