by Rab Bruce’s Spider

A great deal has already been said and written about the Tory / DUP deal, but much of it has been centred on the money element. There is, though, far more to the deal in terms of its possible ramifications, so here’s a wee run down of some of the wider issues.

First of all, it must be said that, in a normal country where the Parliament is elected via a more proportional electoral system, minority Governments are more commonplace. IN such Governments, the largest Party is generally required to concede some policy issues in exchange for the support of other, smaller Parties. Thanks to the bizarre First Past The Post, Two-Party system which generally prevails in the UK, a minority Government is something of an aberration, and forming a Government therefore more problematic since politics in the UK is about confrontation and argument rather than compromise.

So, as far as the parties to the new deal are concerned, one cannot attach any blame to the DUP for squeezing as much as possible out of the Tories. They would be remiss to do otherwise. Indeed, they have already built into the agreement that they have the right to come back after two years and demand even more. What they have already got is pretty significant, with a more than 10% increase in Northern Ireland’s budget, and the ability to influence the Brexit negotiations to achieve the hard Brexit they desire. They have also, very significantly, put Sinn Fein in a really awkward spot. This is because the deal is dependent on the Stormont Power Sharing Executive being reformed. The major sticking point to this has been the presence of Arlene Foster as leader of the DUP. Sinn Fein have refused to work with her and have demanded she step down before they participate in the Power Sharing Executive. If they stick to this position, they jeopardise the extra money now being promised, and that could seriously damage their political reputation in Northern Ireland. But giving in and agreeing to work with Arlene Foster will be a massive climb down for Sinn Fein and, again, could seriously damage their political aspirations in Northern Ireland. Whatever they choose to do, tensions in the Province will be greatly heightened, and this is perhaps the most worrying thing about the whole Tory / DUP deal, that the Tories are prepared to put peace in Northern Ireland at risk solely in order to retain power for themselves.

Indeed, the Tories do not come out of this at all well. Not only are they risking peace in Northern Ireland, they have created further rifts with Wales and Scotland, not to mention the citizens of England, all of whom will see Austerity continue in every part of the UK except Northern Ireland.

Let me be clear on one thing. I do not grudge the Irish the money being promised. What is depressing is that it takes a situation like this before the Tory Government considers providing money for much needed investment in a variety of worthwhile areas. These funds should be available throughout the UK because Austerity is a failed ideology. Yet, despite characters like David Mundell promising that Barnett Consequentials would mean more money for Scotland if the DUP deal went ahead, the Tories have sneakily claimed that these funds are entirely separate and there will be no Barnett Consequentials for England, Wales or Scotland. This is both underhand and foolish because they must know it will create an adverse reaction, thus further splintering the creaking anachronism that is the United Kingdom. They could easily have offered some sort of concessionary payments to the other devolved Parliaments and announced some further spending in English regions. Instead, they have shown that, while they cling to the false assertions about there being no Magic Money Tree for the NHS or Education, there is plenty of money available for things the Tories want – like preserving their fragile grip on power. This is cynical, and most people are able to see it.

As for Scotland, David Mundell has shown that he was either lying when he announced the Barnett Consequentials, or he was so far out of the loop that he wasn’t consulted because Scotland doesn’t really count. And Mundell’s reaction, like that of Colonel Ruth Davidson, is to simply back down and support the Westminster line. Mundell said the 13 Tory MPs would represent their Unionist constituents, but they haven’t even done that. When both Mundell and Davidson could have made strong representations to Theresa May that some sort of additional funding should be made available to Scotland to match the funds being pumped into Northern Ireland, they instead did absolutely nothing.

So the money is really the least of the issues here. The big questions lie around the constitution of the UK, the treatment of the devolved Administrations and, most importantly, the fragile peace in Northern Ireland. On all counts, the UK Government has shown itself to be uncaring because its sole aim is to retain power in order to drag the UK out of the EU. That’s a sad state of affairs and does not bode well at all for the Brexit negotiations.