Holyrood could force showdown

● Minister says SNP is prepared to instigate dispute process after Northern Ireland given extra £1 billion of funding Analysis Scott Macnab

meetings with senior UK government ministers to “make the case” for Scotland receiving an extra £3bn which he claims the country should be entitled to as part of the normal funding allocation process if Northern Ireland gets extra cash.

Treasury minister Liz Truss has already rejected the prospect, insisting the money for the DUP deal was not part of the Barnett process. But Mr Brown said: “That means that the money for Northern Ireland has to be found from within other UK budgets, and we have no clarity yet as to whether that means Scotland. So Scotland, far from getting its share of the deal, is going to have to contribute towards the deal potentially in Northern Ireland.

“Everybody knows why they have given this money to Northern Ireland – it’s to sustain themselves in power. If that’s the case, then they should be treated other parts of the UK fairly as well.”

He added: “The transformation in terms of what we could do with £2.9bn in order to ameliorate some of the worst of austerity would be huge”

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has already threatened to trigger a formal dispute resolution mechanism with Westminster over the deal.

Mr Brown added: “There is action, which is through the disputes process of the statement on fair funding.

“That’s the action that should be taken, and Derek Mackay is considering that action just now.

“If there’s no resolution, then yes, of course, if it offends against the fairer funding principles, then we should challenge it. Of course we should challenge it.” The Memorandum of Understanding covering such disputes states that the measures which could be sought include an independent third party report into the row.

Alternatively, in “exceptional” cases there could be “a request by any party that the dispute be considered by a JMC Plenary meeting.”

This is meeting between the heads of the devolved and UK governments and would mean Ms Sturgeon, Mrs May and Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones would attend.

Downing Street has insisted the Barnett Formula does not apply to the new money as it is provided as an addition to the Northern Ireland executive’s block grant. The Barnett system concerns any additional spend by the UK government in England on matters devolved to other parliaments, and the Conservatives insist this is not triggered by the deal.

Mr Brown held talks yesterday with UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, minister for defence personnel, welfare and veterans Tobias Ellwood and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions David Gauke.

But a scheduled meeting with Business Secretary Greg Clark was cancelled by the UK Cabinet minister, in a move branded a “snub” by Mr Brown.

“Having arranged that meeting last week with him, having changed an engagement which I had with a number of people, he has now cancelled that meeting, which is very unfortunate,” Mr Brown added. He also urged the Ministry of Defence to reconsider planned site closures in Scotland after talks with Mr Ellwood.

It was announced last year that eight military sites in Scotland – including Fort George near Inverness and the Glencorse Barracks near Penicuik, Midlothian – are among more than 56 UK sites to close over the next 15 years.

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, left, Nicola Sturgeon and DUP

After the climbdown on its plans for a second independence referendum last week, the Scottish Government has been keen to get back on the front foot. And mounting public anger over the “confidence and supply” arrangement between the Tories and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at Westminster has allowed the Nationalists to do just that. The “grubby deal” has been slammed by SNP ministers.

It may seem a return to the familiar politics of grievance, that Scotland is being ripped off by an uncaring Tory government, but this time the SNP is on strong ground. This extra £1 billion for Northern Ireland was produced entirely out of political expediency to allow Prime Minister Theresa May to cling to power. If the normal funding allocation rules, the Barnett Formula, was to apply Scotland should get an extra £2.9bn.

The DUP may point to the vital public services in Ulster, including impoverished mental health budgets, which will benefit from this extra cash. -But public services across the UK have been battered by austerity in recent years and could do with such a generous boost. Couldn’t frontline services in England do with the extra £60bn in funding they would be due in proportion to the