The deal is done

[Osc]

If I were English (or Scottish or Welsh), I would be furious that £1bn has miraculously appeared from the Magic Money Tree that Teresa May said didn't exist, in order to bribe the DUP so that May could cling on to power. NI already exists almost entirely on money from the British Exchequer and that money could have been spent on so many other needy organisations such as the NHS.

[Suff]

I wouldn't. Corbyn promised to spend over £1tn and to give most of it away. When I asked my father what he thought, his response was "Corbyn should be had up for Fraud". If you believe Corbyn's ordure, then £1bn is peanuts. Chicken feed. NI has done incredibly badly over the last decade and a half since the devolution of the assemblies and the funds being passed to each devolved assembly. Scotland does best because of it's Oil revenues and strong economy. Wales does next best because it has Labour and Lib Dem MP's and enough votes to disrupt stuff. NI? Back of the bus.

As a person who lived under a devolved assembly, I say more power to their elbow and any way they can do it, get it done.

The voters were asked to give a strong stable vote for Brexit. In the end they voted for their pockets. Now that it has wound up in the pockets of the voters in NI; I am very happy indeed!

[TheOstrich]

Small change compared with the costs of HS2 and Hinkley Point C, both of which are going to need a Magic Money Forest, let alone a tree.

NI already exists almost entirely on money from the British Exchequer and that money could have been spent on so many other needy organisations such as the NHS.

Anyway, surely there will be spin-off benefits for the Republic out of that £1bn, Osc - and at least we're paying to keep NI afloat and not you guys! With regards to the NHS, it's a pariah organisation, a bottomless money-pit, and probably the biggest drain on this country's resources other than pensioner benefits ... IMHO, of course ....

[Workingman]

NI has done incredibly badly over the last decade and a half since the devolution of the assemblies and the funds being passed to each devolved assembly. Scotland does best because of it's Oil revenues and strong economy. Wales does next best because it has Labour and Lib Dem MP's and enough votes to disrupt stuff. NI? Back of the bus.

What?

Since 2010 only four places (regions) in the UK have had public spending above the 100 point index mark: Wales ave 110.6; Scotland ave 112.2; London ave 114.4; NI ave 122.8. In terms of money those are: W £9948; S £10372; L £10215; NI £11136 above the average per person for the whole of the UK. How they equate to a bad deal for Northern Ireland will be a mystery to many of us.

Calling Corbyn and Labour into this is utter tosh. What Corbyn and Labour promised is as irrelevant today as any other promises made by any losing party in any election ever callled, because they are not in power.

What is relevant is what the Tories have done. There was no mention in the Tory manifesto of extra funds for NI, yet with one shake of the magic money tree and extra £1bn can be found to buy the support of the DUP. The bung itself is bad enough, but for it to be going to a party closely aligned with paramilitaries and also a major player in the dispute over power sharing beggars belief.

[Kaz]

Hear hear Frank! And yes Osc, I am pretty furious, amazing how TM can shake that money tree to shore up her minority government but not to give public sector pay rises, as raised by that nurse during the GE campaign. Money to save her own skin, not for the good of the rest of us

[medsec222]

I am disappointed that Theresa May has fallen from grace so quickly. I thought she started off well, promising to look after the whole of society and not just those at the top. I voted for her at the GE as I thought she was the best person to lead the negotiations on Brexit, but I was surprised that she ran the risk of alienating Conservative core voters with her pensioner-unfriendly Manifesto.


She has her work cut out now as Jeremy Corbyn is riding on the crest of a wave. Jeremy Corbyn seems like everyones kindly, caring uncle, but he reminds me of the Pied Piper, courting the young and making irresistible promises, so they follow him without question.

[Suff]

Calling Corbyn and Labour into this is utter tosh. What Corbyn and Labour promised is as irrelevant today as any other promises made by any losing party in any election ever callled, because they are not in power.

Honestly that's rubbish. Corbyn campaigned on a platform of uncontrolled public borrowing and spending on things which would not net the government any return on that money borrowed. To the tune of some £1tn.

That is fact and people voted for it.

For people then to stand up and pull down a deal meant to stabilise the UK government, because it had a paltry sum of £1bn in investement in NI attached to it, is, IMHO, disingenuous.

[Workingman]

The fact is that Corbyn lost. What he promised did not come to pass so is neither here nor there regarding the grubby DUP deal.

What the Tories promised, on the other hand, was strong and stable government. When that opportunistic promise failed to materialise through a totally unnecessary general election they suddenly found £1bn spare cash not mentioned in their manifesto to *buy* the support of the DUP and keep their minority government afloat.

Disingenuous: Not candid or sincere, lacking in candour; also : giving a false appearance of simple frankness. Lacking in frankness, candour, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically

Now which current PM and not quite governing political party might that apply to?

[Suff]

What the Tories promised, on the other hand, was strong and stable government.

One people had to vote for. They didn't. They voted for Corbyn's fantasy and made strong and stable government a fantasy.

You can't hold a government to it's promises when the people did not vote to enact them.

[Workingman]

Oh yes. I forgot. This is all the fault of the electorate. Not enough of them voted for Corbyn's fantasies... and not enough of them voted for May's unnecessary daydreams of more power.

You can't hold a government to it's promises when the people did not vote to enact them.

No, but you can hold the major party of a hung parliament to task for doing deals with minority parties with links to paramilitary forces, probably still active in some way within the country, in order to cling to power.