No magic money tree, eh?
The Conservatives have reached an agreement with the Democratic Unionists which will see them support Theresa May’s minority government.
The deal comes after two weeks of talks between the parties since the general election on June 8 resulted in a hung Parliament.
In political terms, the most important detail is that the 10 DUP MPs will back the Tories in key Commons votes, starting with the Queen’s Speech later this week, and the Budget.
But it is not a formal coalition. Instead it is a ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement.
Regarding the financial cost for the taxpayer, the BBC have reported that the DUP has secured an agreement that will see improvements for the treatment of military veterans in Northern Ireland. The pension triple lock and winter fuel payments will also stay in place.
The party led by Arlene Foster have also played down reports that they were looking for £2bn in additional funding.
The confidence and supply deal will cost in excess of £1 billion – with a figure of £1.5bn being mentioned.
£1.5bn deal for the DUP – £1bn in "new money" according to the party
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 26, 2017
£1 billion for the DUP deal is £100 million per DUP MP/constituency. Not bad work if you can get it
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 26, 2017
Breaking: DUP deal done – Theresa May and Arlene Foster sign a £1bn confidence and supply agreement in No10.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) June 26, 2017
RTÉ News broke down what the money will be spent on.
- £400m will be allocated over two years for infrastructure development, such as York Street Interchange Project and “other priorities”.
- £75m per year for provision of “ultra-fast broadband” for the region.
- £100m per year on “health service transformation”.
- An additional £50m per year will be ringfenced for health and education.
- £20m per year will be used to tackle deprivation over five years.
- £10m will be provided per year for five years to support improved mental health services.
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