Theresa May has faced a backlash from politicians in Scotland, Wales and parts of England after completing a £1bn deal with the Democratic Unionist party to prop up her Conservative minority government.
Political figures lined up on Monday to demand more money for their regions after Arlene Foster’s DUP agreed to a confidence and supply arrangement in return for the additional funding alongside relaxed spending rules relating to a further £500m previously committed.
The Guardian has learned that the DUP will be asking for more from the Conservatives to continue shoring them up later in the parliament, with a chance in two years when the parties will review the deal by “mutual consent”.
The former permanent secretary to the Treasury, Nick Macpherson, tweeted: “DUP will be back for more ... again and again. They have previous in such matters.”
The Labour first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, called the agreement outrageous, describing it as a “straight bung to keep a weak prime minister and a faltering government in office”.
His Scottish counterpart, the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, expressed anger that the money was being paid outside the Barnett formula, which is designed to distribute funds fairly between devolved nations.
“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,” she said.
But the Tory leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, accused the SNP of hypocrisy: “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 Nigel Dodds, a DUP MP and deputy leader of the party, said any outrage at the deal was “hypocrisy of the highest order”, saying the deal would deliver for all the people of the Northern Ireland – and the United Kingdom.
Under the terms of the deal, which will hand the prime minister the DUP’s support for a vote this week on the Conservatives’ Queen’s speech, May will also drop controversial plans to weaken the pension triple lock and means test winter fuel payments for older people across the country.
One government source said the election result had made it almost impossible for the prime minister to pursue the policies, calling it a “happy coincidence” that the DUP made the same demand.
However the deal could be an embarrassment for Scotland secretary David Mundell after he promised to block any “back door funding” that meant other devolved nations missing out.
The extra cash will be spent on hospitals, schools and roads in the region, the DUP said, with the money to be distributed by the Northern Ireland executive if a power-sharing agreement is completed by Thursday night.
If the talks collapse, then sources said the British government would still distribute the additional money to Northern Ireland.
The agreement, which comes to just three pages, sets out plans for the DUP to support May on the Queen’s speech and any confidence motions, as well as on future budgets and tax and spending legislation.
It confirms a Conservative agreement to meet the Nato commitment of spending 2% of GDP on the armed forces and commits both parties to the Armed Forces Covenant being implemented across Northern Ireland.
On Brexit, it says agriculture will be a critical policy area in negotiations.
The deal says “both parties will adhere fully to their respective commitments set out in the Belfast agreement and its successors”.
But the deal may not be sufficient to see the government through a five-year term. In a strategy that will be seen by critics as a mechanism for the DUP to extract maximum concessions on every potentially close vote, it emerged on Monday that the Democratic Unionists will seek further concessions from the Tories within two years.
Aside from the extra £1bn-plus the Tories have agreed to inject into capital spending and other projects in Northern Ireland, the DUP will be looking for more deals as it continues to shore up the Conservatives, party sources in Belfast told the Guardian.
The abolition or radical cut to the air passenger duty tax for the region’s three airports would be a “post-Brexit ask” by the DUP, the sources said.
The other major concession the DUP would seek in its ongoing support for a Tory government depending on the backing of 10 Democratic Unionist MPs would be special corporation tax status for Northern Ireland.
There were also concerns from pro-choice MPs on both sides of the Commons that the deal could mean that the Conservative party had made a commitment to the DUP on abortion.
Amid claims in a heated House of Commons debate that the DUP’s influence could end hopes of extending the right to an NHS termination to Northern Irish women travelling to England, Conservative MP Anna Soubry said: “It isn’t fair that women seeking terminations from Northern Ireland should be charged by the NHS here.”
The deal comes just days before May has to put her Queen’s speech – with its heavy focus on Brexit – to a vote in parliament. She will need the support of the 10 DUP MPs to have any chance of getting the legislation through and allowing the Conservatives to govern without a majority.
Speaking at No 10, May said the two sides “share many values in terms of wanting to see prosperity across the UK, the value of the union, the important bond between the different parts of the United Kingdom”.
She added: “We very much want to see that protected and enhanced and we also share the desire to ensure a strong government, able to put through its programme and provide for issues like the Brexit negotiations, but also national security issues.”
Foster said she was “delighted that we have reached this agreement, which I think works, obviously, for national stability”, and said she wanted Northern Ireland to have a strong voice, particularly on Brexit.
However, the decision led to criticism of the Tories after they attacked Labour’s spending promises, including for schools and the NHS, during the election campaign. Within hours “magic money tree” was trending on Twitter.
The anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller also criticised the deal, claiming Northern Ireland already had an advantage in public spending terms.
“Although the Conservative government has found a way of making sure the payment to the DUP isn’t ‘Barnettable’ – a bribe’s a bribe,” she said. “Even before the extra cash given to Northern Ireland, the province was already benefiting from £11,000 public spending per head of population, compared to just £8,8000 for England – how is this fair?”
The Tory former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine told the World at One he was reminded of a saying by Enoch Powell: “Once you have paid the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Danes.”
Party leaders also criticised the deal,. Jeremy Corbyn said: “The government must immediately answer two questions. Where is the money for the Tory-DUP deal coming from? And, will all parts of the UK receive the much needed additional funding that Northern Ireland will get as part of the deal?”
The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, said: “The nasty party is back, propped up by the DUP. “While our schools are crumbling and our NHS is in crisis, Theresa May chooses to throw cash at 10 MPs in a grubby attempt to keep her cabinet squatting in No 10.”
Meanwhile, the former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne criticised the government by using the Evening Standard to mock her as being under the control of Foster. The newspaper he edits depicted May as the Austin Powers character Mini-Me:
His intervention was followed by a tweet by David Cameron’s former director of communications Craig Oliver, who joked: “Not sure George Osborne got our former bosses ‘be supportive’ memo.”
Post a Comment