On The Marr show (2/7/17) Michael Gove, one of the Conservatives Brexit negotiators, described the £1bn deal with the Democratic Unionist Party as good for the whole of Britain because it keeps the Conservatives in power.
Mr Gove went on to say that the £1bn payment was nowhere near a bung as suggested by many media outlets and politicos on social media. He then went on to say the payment was about “strengthening the whole United Kingdom” – unless you’re a front-line worker sitting on a wage freeze or having to avail of foodbanks on a regular basis, Mr Gove!
With support from the DUP the Tory Government has a working majority of 13 when the Commons maths means that the Conservatives can also win any vote if the DUP abstain and do not vote against them; so let’s look at the Tory-DUP relationship.
The Conservative/DUP deal is intended to serve two main functions: to keep the Tories in power and to ensure that Brexit gets pushed through Parliament. There is also a school of thought that it’s to ensure that the executive at Stormont gets up and running, but let’s be clear about this; this isn’t going to happen without the DUP agreeing to equality measures set out by Sinn Fein, because they are in no hurry to move into an Executive that rebuilds the status quo that the late Martin McGuinness put an end to and that the Sinn Fein support base fully endorse.
When we take into consideration the DUP’s positions on abortion, religion and marriage equality, this will ultimately effect the Tory vote in any further elections.
Many commentators are calling this aspect of the agreement ‘toxic’ and it’s hard to see how the Tory party can side-step any challenge from the public on social issues such as these in the future.
The British PM will also have to negotiate with Scotland and Wales after the DUP deal. The Labour first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has called the DUP agreement outrageous. He has described 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.
She said: “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,”
Jeremy Corbyn has said that Mrs May must 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 astronomical increase in spending in the North will make it even harder for the Tories to win support from the electorate due to their continuing campaign of cuts in Britain; the DUP may have unwittingly further wounded May by getting their lump of flesh.
The DUP have also to answer the pressing question of the dark Brexit money, and refuse to be transparent in relation to the source(s) of the money.
To put it in context: In the 2016 Executive elections DUP had spent about £90,000 on its entire campaign, but spent £282,000 supporting the Leave campaign. The DUP went on to admit that this spending came from a much larger donation of £425,622 from a shadowy organisation, the Constitutional Research Council.
This raises obvious questions. Why did the DUP accept money and on what auspicious? And why are they avoiding questions on the issues of the donation?
An excellent piece on the DUP dark money scandal and its shadowy underbelly can be read here:
The DUP may also be in a spot of trouble by the recent announcement by Secretary of State James Brokenshire, that he will soon make a statement on the “steps needed to ensure that information relating to Northern Ireland political donations and loans can be published”.
Mr Brokenshire was responding to Independent MP Sylvia Hermon’ parliamentary question where she asked if “a timetable to introduce legislation ending the practice allowing anonymity for donations to political parties” would come into place.
This is all well and good, but will this transparency be back dated given the amount of speculation around the DUP dark Brexit money allegations? And why are the DUP the only party that are against donation/loan transparency? Only James Brokenshire can implement a policy of transparency; something society needs to boost confidence in austere times.
The DUP have boxed themselves into a corner and have allowed themselves believe they are kingmakers in a game where they will be on the losing side with British PM May and the Tory party.
Yes, the DUP have been given a blank cheque; but at the cost of being in the media spotlight in Britain, which in turn adds to their diminishing reputation in British media. Added to this is the inevitable shun they will face from the Tory party as the Tories try and rebuild bridges with society in the not so distant future. The DUP have developed Icarus syndrome, and the fall will be spectacular.
Think you are a bit jealous here-Sinn Fein aim to get into Government in the Republic-DUP beat them to it-logical conclusions of your analysis is Sinn Fein should not look for any goodies if they form part of a government in the Republic-which if true would suggest what are they doing there-unless permanent opposition is their aim-.In the meantime be grateful to our local MP’s who are producing tangible results for all of us
My job requires me to travel to London for a few days each week and I can assure you any British person I’ve spoken to is livid at this deal between the Tories and DUP. However, although the British press will start to scrutinise the DUP, sadly I still think it is a win win for them. They get the cash and people in Britain can’t vote them out – they will still get their votes here – I can’t see that changing materially.
“… they will still get their votes here – I can’t see that changing materially.”
That is true. But it overlooks the fact that any power, finance, influence over events they have is completely dependent on the whim of their benefactors in Westminster.
It will be interesting to see how their sponsors (whoever they turn out to be) see them after their upcoming time in the spotlight, and how generous they will continue to feel towards them and the basket case that is NI.
The tory deal is the worst move the dup could’ve made. It exposes them properly to British public scrutiny, spotlights the situation here and ties them to a regime losing popularity by the hour, building up a deficit of future political capital with the British public. By the way,much has been made of the dup’s “negotiating skills “. These are overrated as they were negotiating with a political party ever ready to compromise for their own “bigger picture” reasons. As the boul Nelson Mc recently said,”SF are always playing the long game “. Arlene’s doing a great job!