May strikes deal with Northern Irish party to prop up govt

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal Monday to prop up her minority government by agreeing to at least £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in extra funding for Northern Ireland in return for the support of the province’s biggest Protestant party.

May failed to win a majority in a June 8 snap election that she did not need to call, prompting two weeks of political turmoil. But the embattled prime minister has now secured the parliamentary numbers to pass a budget and a better chance of passing laws to take Britain out of the EU.

May and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster presided at the signing of a three-page so-called “confidence and supply” deal that is some way short of a more formal coalition agreement.

May agreed to extra funding over two years for Northern Ireland, to raise pensions annually by at least 2.5 percent and to keeping universal winter fuel payments for the elderly.

“I welcome this agreement, which will enable us to work together in the interest of the whole United Kingdom, give us the certainty we require as we embark on our departure from the European Union, and help us build a stronger and fairer society at home,” May said in a statement.

Leaders of Scotland and Wales voiced anger at the deal, saying it would weaken, not strengthen, the ties that bind the UK by “throwing money” at one of its devolved regions at the expense of others.

Meanwhile, May tried on Monday to reassure EU citizens living in Britain that their lives and those of their family will not be disrupted when Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

She told Parliament that steps will be taken to make sure the split with the EU is handled with care with regard to the estimated 3 million EU citizens living in Britain. She said Britain wants them to stay after Brexit.