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What was Michael Matheson actually doing ?


superbigal

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67363645

 

I'm assuming Mikey boy was not using the WiFi as Porn and gambling is probably banned in Morocco.

11 Grand roaming is hard work even for some halfwit that ends up on the COMPO FACES thread.

Any P&B holiday makers been hammered by roaming charges, and then expected the Tax Payer to bail them out ?

 

image.png.17fd7736810339c07e63e3a8f1c856d8.png

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1 minute ago, superbigal said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67363645

 

I'm assuming Mikey boy was not using the WiFi as Porn and gambling is probably banned in Morocco.

11 Grand roaming is hard work even for some halfwit that ends up on the COMPO FACES thread.

Any P&B holiday makers been hammered by roaming charges, and then expected the Tax Payer to bail them out ?

 

image.png.17fd7736810339c07e63e3a8f1c856d8.png

Probably posting on here tbqh.

Hiya Mikey! Hiya Pal! 

Waves to Mikey.

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4 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

Could the bill be requested under Freedom of Information?  That is an insane charge.  How long was he in Morocoo for?

https://www.three.co.uk/Support/Roaming_and_international/Mobile_roaming?content_aid=1214306361761

 

Streaming or Zooming at £6 per MB would quickly add up. I worked out in 2015 that streaming a football game in Georgia would have cost me over £3000. The question is why he didn't bother using WiFi, presumably he didn't bother at home either.

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1 minute ago, welshbairn said:

The question is why he didn't bother using WiFi, presumably he didn't bother at home either.

I don’t actually know, but are there rules about logging on to the Parliament systems through public wifi? Could constitute a security breach?

I’ll caveat this by saying that I’m not an IT person, I don’t know anything about it and even if that is the case he’s a fucking idiot for this. 

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57 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Streaming or Zooming at £6 per MB would quickly add up. I worked out in 2015 that streaming a football game in Georgia would have cost me over £3000. The question is why he didn't bother using WiFi, presumably he didn't bother at home either.

I'd imagine it's highly likely just a raging case of technophobia/technological ignorance. 

I'm lucky in that I've built my own PC's since the 90's, so even smartphone tech didn't faze me at all when it first appeared as I was used to navigating OS's using a graphical interfaces, familiar with WiFi tech etc. 

Even then, I hate Smartphones and I'm resistant to upgrades, so when I got a new Samsung last Spring I was a bit surprised to realise that it automatically used data when there was no WiFi present, even though I still use a PAYG Sim and not a contract, and no previous Smartphone I've owned did that with a PAYG Sim by default. I switched it off pronto, but I'd imagine there are a whole load of folk out there who have no idea what the difference between roaming Data usage and Wifi usage is, and couldn't care less provided it "works" when they go online.

Edited by Boo Khaki
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Quote

Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservatives chairman, called on Mr Matheson to pay the full bill from his own pocket.

He said: "It's absolutely scandalous that taxpayers are picking up an enormous tab for Michael Matheson's mistake.

He said: "Even if we are to believe that he racked up this bill doing parliamentary and constituency work on a festive holiday in Morocco, the onus was on him to connect to the wifi where he was staying or check with the network provider to avoid brutal roaming charges."

Hmm, pretty certain that Tories were sure roaming charges were going to be a thing of the past no so long ago.

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4 hours ago, superbigal said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67363645

 

I'm assuming Mikey boy was not using the WiFi as Porn and gambling is probably banned in Morocco.

11 Grand roaming is hard work even for some halfwit that ends up on the COMPO FACES thread.

Any P&B holiday makers been hammered by roaming charges, and then expected the Tax Payer to bail them out ?

 

image.png.17fd7736810339c07e63e3a8f1c856d8.png

He was doing constituency work, it says so in the article.

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The charges per *megabyte* of data can be absolutely eye-watering in certain countries.

In my former company, an employee from Canada ended up with a $15,000 bill using his mobile data in Saudi Arabia to tether his laptop. He was there for a week and didn't have WiFi for some reason, so contacted his Manager saying he can't work as no WiFi and the network sent a message saying data was $6 a megabyte. The Manager was adamant that "we will have a deal" and told the employee to proceed as he needed to work. I would not like to have been the Manager when that bill came through, that's for sure. It was probably recharged to the Saudi office on the grounds it was their fault, at any rate. 

Anyway, this serves Michael Matheson entirely right for being a dick that decided to do work instead of enjoying his holiday. 

Edited by Michael W
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Rest easy - First Minister says it's a "legitimate cost", no story here folks :whistle:

Minister's £11,000 iPad bill is legitimate expense - Humza Yousaf - BBC News

Half a year's salary for hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland... third of a year's for a nurse or teacher... racked up on a tablet in the course of a long weekend supposedly while keeping up with business amid a family getaway. Apparently is more than the entire parliament claimed for tech bills in whole of last year. Yet there barely seems a sense of contrition on this; let alone any conceding of personal responsibility, even if we do accept it was just the minister's blind ignorance and gross stupidity.

Don't worry though he's offered £3k from his office expenses tab... which the parliament also funds anyway :rolleyes:.

These people must think we all button up at the back :lol:.

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For me it's just another case of shaking my head at the incompetence of a politician. We entrust these useless fuckers with running a country and they can't even work out roaming charges for their devices. 

I also read that he'd been informed about it previously but just ignored the warning. Do they never read emails?

 

 

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13 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Rest easy - First Minister says it's a "legitimate cost", no story here folks :whistle:

Minister's £11,000 iPad bill is legitimate expense - Humza Yousaf - BBC News

Half a year's salary for hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland... third of a year's for a nurse or teacher... 

This is much better as helps me understand the figure we are talking about. I always struggle for example with the length or height of something unless it is reported how many football pitches or stacked elephants it is the equivalent to. Did a few of my own to really nail down the sheer scale of this amount:

- half the cost of a new Hyundai Bayon;

- equivalent of 22 return flights from Glasgow to Rome (Ciampino not Fiumicino!) - haven't included getting to and from airport in costs;

- 7860 tins of beans (Tesco. Heinz not Branston). 

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