MAY’S £1BN BRIBE TO CRACKPOTS
She seals grubby cash deal with the DUP to cling on to power
THERESA May yesterday blew £1billion of taxpayers’ money on a pact with the DUP to keep her in power.
The desperate PM handed the cash to Northern Ireland so leader Arlene Foster would prop up her weak government.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Let’s call this grubby deal what it is… a bribe to prop up Mrs May in office.”
AFTER years of insisting there is no money for public services, health and schools Theresa May yesterday found cash galore in order to buy herself more time in Number 10.
The PM blew £1billion of taxpayers’ money on a shady deal with the DUP to prop up her minority government as part of a desperate bid to cling to power.
Her bung to a handful of hardline politicians who are anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion and climate-change sceptics last night sparked fury across the rest of austerity-hit Britain.
And it comes just weeks after Mrs May arrogantly told a nurse begging for proper NHS funding: “There is no magic money tree.”
In exchange for the support of 10 DUP MPs, Mrs May promised to throw cash at Northern Ireland on schools, hospitals and mental health – all areas that have suffered badly from Tory cuts elsewhere.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The Government must immediately answer two questions. Where is the money for the Tory-DUP deal coming from? And, will all parts of the UK receive the much needed additional funding that Northern Ireland will get?
“This Tory-DUP deal is clearly not in the national interest but in May’s party’s interest to help her cling to power.”
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell added: “Let’s call this grubby deal what it is… a straightforward political bribe to prop up Theresa May in office.”
Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said it was “a bung to keep a weak PM and a faltering government in office”.
He added: “It is outrageous that the Prime Minister believes she can secure her own political future by throwing money at Northern Ireland whilst completely ignoring the rest of the UK.”
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “In concluding this grubby, shameless deal, the Tories have shown that they will stop at nothing to hold on to power, even sacrificing the very basic principles of devolution.”
Labour MP Emily Thornberry warned the confidence and supply deal could put
the Northern Ireland peace agreement at risk.
She said: “This is a shabby and a reckless deal which has taken the Government at least £1billion to buy, and whose true cost for the future of peace in Northern Ireland could be infinitely higher. The Good Friday Agreement is rightly seen across the world as a model for other countries seeking to end conflict, but it is also fragile and relies above all on trust, good faith and the impartiality of the British Government.
“So for the Government to be putting it in jeopardy just to prop up this dismal Prime Minister is nothing short of a disgrace.” London Mayor Sadiq Khan branded the money for Northern Ireland “gratuitous porkbarrel politics” .
He warned Mrs May not to cave in to any DUP demands on gay rights. He said: “The PM must make a clear statement that she rejects the illiberal and intolerant social views of the DUP and give a guarantee that LGBT rights and women’s rights will not stall at the expense of her staying in power.”
Even Tories had their doubts. Former party chairman Lord Patten said: “The DUP is a toxic brand and the Conservative Party has got itself back into the situation where there’s a danger of it looking like the ‘nasty party’.”
Mrs May did not even face MPs herself to outline the deal she earlier agreed with DUP leader Arlene Foster yesterday. Her chief whip Gavin Williamson signed the papers and she sent First Secretary of State Damian Green to explain what she had won in exchange for handing over £1billion to Northern Ireland, which has a population of 1.85million – one million fewer than Manchester.
The PM also agreed to gut her manifesto by shelving promises to means test the winter fuel allowance and scrap the pensions triple lock.
Northern Ireland will get an additional £400million to spend on infrastructure, £200million on health, £150million on broadband, £50million on mental health, £100million to tackle deprivation and £100million on schools and hospitals.
And the bill could rise further as the pact includes a promise to consult on cutting air passenger duty and devolving the power to set corporation tax rates.
It will also get an extra £500million already allocated in a previous budget.
The deal lasts for two years but the DUP can ask for more after that if the Tories are still in power.
Former Treasury senior civil servant Nick Macpherson warned: “£1billion for Ulster is just a down payment. DUP will be back for more… again and again... They have previous in this.”