It’s over to you, Ruth Davidson

THE SNP’s petulance about the £1billion deal for Northern Ireland may relate to the fact that 10 DUP MPs have achieved more for their patch in two weeks than 56 SNP MPs did for Scotland in two years.

Remember, the whole SNP offer in the 2015 general election was predicated on being part of a “progressive alliance” in government with Labour and the Lib Dems.

Of course, the SNP would have extracted “a price for Scotland” in that process – just as skilfully as John Swinney extracted a cool £7billion from George Osborne in part of the transition tax deal for the Scottish Government to fulfil the referendum Vow.

This deal is how politics works when it comes to coalitions.

It is how the SNP sustain themselves in power in Holyrood by granting the Scottish Greens whatever they want ... or they would if the Scottish Greens were adept enough to ask for something.

But the cost of this latest Tory-DUP trade-off is a disgraceful amount to keep a failed Prime Minister in office. On that level alone, it is right to condemn it as low politics.

Theresa May has no authority to be in Downing Street and she has just spent £1billion ensuring that, on motions of confidence in her Government, she will not be brought down. For now at least.

But who can decry handing some of the UK’s most deprived communities bumper investments in health and education?

The faux outrage of the opposition may melt if the “bung” helps get the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running again.

Having secured the loot, the DUP will be anxious to spend it and Sinn Fein – their power-sharing partners in the suspended Assembly – will want money spent on their communities too.

Politics is sometimes a game of low skulduggery in the pursuit of noble causes. This deal was one of these days.

And it is a day that will turn the spotlight not just on May, but on her key lieutenant north of the Border.

We now know what 10 Northern Irish MPs can achieve.

So the question is this: What will Ruth Davidson’s 13 Scottish Tory MPs – who guarantee May’s majority – extract for Scotland in exchange for their loyalty?