DUP should hand back £220k opposition cash, says Watson
LABOUR is piling pressure on Northern Ireland’s DUP to hand back money it is getting for being an opposition party.
More than £220,000 is handed annually to the hard-right Ulster MPs under a scheme to help nongoverning parties with their costs.
It went up from £170,000 when the DUP won two more seats in the general election. But Labour deputy leader Tom Watson demanded they give it up as they are backing Theresa May’s minority Government. He said: “They can’t have it both ways. Are they an opposition party, or are they providing Theresa May’s majority? “It turns out they’re getting more than before to oppose a Government they support.” The DUP said: “The DUP is not in the Government and is therefore entitled to money to help carry out its duties.”