The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scotland won’t see any of £1bn DUP deal.
SNP and Labour launch furious attacks on Prime Minister over ‘grubby’ alliance
Scotland will not see a penny of Theresa May’s £1 billion deal with the Democratic Unionist Party that will see cash flow to Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister drew fury from the SNP and Labour after the agreement, which will see the DUP back the Conservatives on votes of confidence, as none of the money will travel to other parts of the UK under the Barnett formula.
Treasury officials said this was because the agreement was made under terms similar to those struck for Scotland’s City Deals – and for the V&A Dundee – an argument given short shrift by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
She 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.
“By ignoring the Barnett formula, Scotland will be missing out on an estimated £2.9bn in funding for our public services – that is the price to Scottish taxpayers for the Tories to stay in power.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has previously said he would not support funding which “deliberately sought to subvert the Barnett rules”, but the First Minister said he “appears to have just surrendered” on that pledge.
UK Government figures show that the Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness City Deals each have had £500m, £125m, and £53.1m announced respectively.
Meanwhile, the V&A Dundee was pledged £5m in the 2016 Budget.
Senior Scottish Government sources pointed out, however, that the City Deals investment has been match funded by ministers north of the border.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “It’s absurd for the SNP to criticise UK Government spending on top of Barnett in Northern Ireland, when the exact same thing happens in Scotland.
“And it is incredibly hypocritical for the SNP to complain when, under their reckless plans for independence, they would end the UK’s funding deal immediately – leaving Scotland with a £15bn black hole in our public finances.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale claimed the deal “risks weakening the bonds that unite the UK” and called for cash to come to Scotland “to end austerity” north of the border.
She said: “If Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has any influence in Downing Street at all, she will be demanding extra cash to reverse the spending cuts her government has inflicted on Scotland – aided and abetted by the SNP, which has simply turned Holyrood into a conveyer belt for Tory cuts.”