John Swinney has now said the SNP will not vote to sanction Michael Matheson in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.
On Wednesday, Swinney said "I won't be supporting the sanctions that are put in place."
On Tuesday night, the SNP told the media they would be supporting sanctions for Matheson.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “John Swinney seems to have u-turned on his u-turn.
“Confusion and chaos were the hallmark of Humza Yousaf’s time as First Minister and John Swinney is doing more of the same.
"The supposedly safe pair of hands has dropped the ball big time.
“John Swinney should be sacking Michael Matheson, but it turns out he won’t even vote to sanction his "friend".
"It's scandalous that he wants to let the disgraced former health secretary off scot-free for lying to the public, press and parliament about his £11,000 iPad bill.
“Independence is line one of the SNP manifesto and it seems incompetence is line two.
“On July 4th, voters can give their verdict on John Swinney backing Michael Matheson by voting Scottish Conservative to beat the SNP in key seats up and down Scotland."
Notes:
The BBC's reporting of John Swinney's comment is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c900n0dg97yo. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="Verified" data-linkindex="0" data-loopstyle="linkonly"> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c900n0dg97yo