Neil Gray has admitted he was in the queue trying to buy tickets for Oasis during a panel discussion on Alzheimer's disease at the SNP conference.

The confession from the Health Secretary comes just days after he rubbished a newspaper’s report on his bid to blag briefs for the Gallagher brothers’ reunion concerts.

Oasis are due to play a series of gigs next year

According to a report in the Sunday Mail, Mr Gray looked up from his phone following a speech from the University of Glasgow's Terry Quinn on how medical advances were giving new hope in the fight against dementia, and said: "I'm in the queue to buy Oasis tickets... on multiple devices.

"Hope is very important... that I get these tickets."

Then referring to one of the band's songs, he reportedly added he was "Half The World Away".

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On Sunday evening, Mr Gray, took to X, sharing a copy of the paper's front page: "Just to confirm this is total nonsense," he said.

In intros to a fringe session I was chairing another panellist jokingly referred to Oasis tickets.

"I said like so many I was in the queue, but felt Half The World Away from getting any. People laughed and we went into the serious business.

"I wasn't trying to buy tickets in the meeting. I was fully focused on chairing and contributing to what was an inspiring session on brain health research and how Scotland, by the experts' own words, is leading the world.

"The contributions from the audience and the panel were in-depth, insightful and inspiring.

"It was a pleasure being part of - with family experience of Alzheimer's and dementia, it is too important an issue for me to do anything otherwise."

Speaking to LBC on Wednesday, Mr Gray said he had been trying to buy tickets.

"I was in the queue and anybody that understands how being 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, and I was fully focused on that. 

"And both participants and the panel would be able to confirm that."

Mr Gray said it was a "flippant remark".

He added: "It was based after another panel member in introductions had made reference to Oasis tickets, and I had made a passing joke about it, but there was a very serious area of conversation that we embarked on.

"We spent an hour discussing how Scotland is leading the world on brain health research.

"I was fully engaged in that discussion. I was inspired by that discussion, and I've got follow up work to do with the expert panel panelists."

Mr Gray was made Health Secretary after Michael Matheson resigned for trying to claim an £11,000 iPad data roaming bill on his government expenses.