‘It’s not about cash,’ insists Hammond over DUP talks

THE British chancellor Philip Hammond has rejected claims his government is offering extra cash to Northern Ireland to get the DUP to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

‘That’s not where the discussion has been at all’, he said, although he acknowledged that funding issues would come up in the forthcoming spending review.

Mr Hammond, who was involved in talks with DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds on Friday, said talks had focused on preventing a regulatory border in the Irish Sea.

Persuading the ten DUP MPs to back the deal is viewed as crucial by ministers as they believe allaying the unionists’ concerns about the Irish backstop will help swing Tory Eurosceptics behind the British prime minister. One option being considered is a ‘Stormont lock’ written into law so that any new regulations imposed on Northern Ireland would either be adopted by the entire UK or not at all.

Mr Dodds is also reportedly looking for a cut in air passenger duty, which is lower in the Republic than the North.

The British government may also have to find another £1billion (€1.17billion) to secure a further two years to the confidence and supply arrangement which underpins Mrs May’s minority administration.

On BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hammond said: ‘I regard it as crucially important that we do not allow differences to grow up between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. And we’re looking for ways in which the Government can reassure Northern Irish politicians about our clear intention to make sure that there are no such differences as we go forward, if the backstop ever had to come into force.’