WHAT A SHADY, GRUBBY BRIBE..
PM can’t find money for schools or NHS but there’s plenty to sweeten DUP deal
DESPERATE Theresa May dished out a £1billion bribe yesterday to ensure she clings on to power.
The Tory PM’s shameless handout bought the loyalty of the Northern Irish DUP.
And it provoked fury from politcal opponents.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon branded it a “grubby, shameless deal” which “breaks the very principles which underpin devolution”.
THERESA May found a “magic money tree” yesterday to seal a £1billion deal with the DUP and prop her up in Downing Street.
The cash conjured up for health and education services in Northern Ireland will not be subject to the Barnett formula – and so will not mean extra spending in Scotland and Wales.
The deal provoked fury in Edinburgh when it was confirmed there would be no money for other devolved administrations.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the Conservatives had “found a magic money tree to help them stay in power” – echoing Tory taunts about Labour’s spending pledges in the election campaign.
The DUP agreed to a “supply and confidence” arrangement intended to last for the full Parliament, adding 10 votes to the Government majority in Westminster.
Nicola Sturgeon condemned “this grubby, shameless deal” which, she said, sacrificed the basic principles of devolution.
The First Minister claimed that if the Barnett formula is ignored, Scotland will miss out on an estimated £2.9billion in funding for public services.
She said: “That is the price to Scottish taxpayers for the Tories to stay in power.
“This breaks the very principles that underpin devolution and the funding settlement the Tories pledged to protect.
“This is the worst kind of pork barrel politics, which has shredded the last vestiges of credibility of this weakened Prime Minister.
“I know these concerns are shared by the First Minister of Wales and I will be seeking urgent talks in the days ahead to stand up for our respective nations.”
The Tories have claimed the funding is the same as city deals Scottish cities have received – but Sturgeon said they were trying to “pull the wool over people’s eyes”.
She added: “This deal also raises very serious questions for the Scottish Secretary.
“At the weekend, David Mundell was indicating that he would not allow a situation where Northern Ireland received extra funding while Scotland did not.
“But instead of fighting Scotland’s corner, David Mundell appears to have just surrendered.”
Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said the “outrageous” deal was a “straight bung” to Northern Ireland.
But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: “UK Government have always been able to spend outside Barnett, like the city deals which invested £500million in Glasgow, £125million in Aberdeen and £53million in Inverness.
“Or like the £5million for the V&A Dundee, the £5million for the Glasgow School of Art or £5million on regenerating Helensburgh’s waterfront.
“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’d end the UK’s funding deal immediately, leaving Scotland with a £15billion black hole in our public finances.”
Few on the opposition side were buying it, however.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Let’s call this grubby deal what it is – a straightforward political bribe to prop up Theresa May in office.
“The price of her political weakness is now becoming clear.
“The same Conservative Party who spent the recent election campaign saying there was no money available for the crisis in the NHS and schools have now found at least £1billion to buy a Parliamentary majority, with some reports suggesting it could be as much as £2billion.
“The public must be told whether this will be funded through spending cuts elsewhere, more tax rises or additional borrowing.”
The deal was signed at Downing Street by the two parties’ chief whips, with DUP leader Arlene Foster and May looking on from the side.
Foster said the deal confirmed both parties’ “commitment to acting in the national interest”.
But STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said: “After years of austerity, this cynical deal will inevitably stick in the throats of workers, particularly when the money is so obviously being spent to bail out an unpopular and weak Prime Minister.”
This is a political bribe to prop up Theresa May in office JOHN McDONNELL