Conservative-DUP Deal - £1bn the price for strong and stable government?

Rasczak

Outstanding Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2002
Messages
27,709
Reaction score
10,519
Points
6,144
Location
Warwick
So, a deal has been done - the DUP will support Queen's Speech, Brexit and Security legislation whilst the Tories will direct an additional £1bn of funding to Northern Ireland. May now has an effective majority. I wonder if it will be large enough for strong and stable Government?

Conservatives agree pact with DUP to support May government - BBC News
 
I would have thought Stormont will have to be up and running before the money flows from this mythical fledgling money tree. An empowered Sinn Fein will have demands.
 
£1B out of several hundred of Government spending. Meh.

Disappointing that the DUP didn't get there way with APD or a change in VAT on touristy things though.

Both needless taxes, imo and should be scrapped/lowered.

Will take a look at what else has gone on later.
 
Cheap at twice the price if it keeps the neo Marxists out of Number 10.
 
It works out to £7 per year for each person in the UK to keep May in office essentially. More figures in this twitter thread
Chris Giles on Twitter

Also this is more of a down payment, the DUP will be back for more. I'll be surprised if this lasts 6 months let alone 2 years. When the Tories will either have to strike a new deal with the DUP or call an election.
 
£1B out of several hundred of Government spending. Meh.

Disappointing that the DUP didn't get there way with APD or a change in VAT on touristy things though.

Both needless taxes, imo and should be scrapped/lowered.

Will take a look at what else has gone on later.

Don't think the EU allow you to reduce VAT do they? I'm sure I remember that being said at some point when it was suggested we reduce the rate on gas and electric.
 
I would have thought that some people on here were against giving their hard earned away.
 
Don't think the EU allow you to reduce VAT do they? I'm sure I remember that being said at some point when it was suggested we reduce the rate on gas and electric.

We're only talking about reducing VAT on certain sectors (tourism/hotels etc).

Zero/reduced VAT = lower hotel bills etc etc.

I'm sure they do this in other countries (France etc)...?

We have a 5% rate on Gas/Elec to some extent too.
 
Didn't gas and electric used to be zero rated, but then upped to 5%?

I thought you could set VAT rates on stuff, but you weren't allowed to reduce it?

Could well have that wrong though, as we reduced the VAT rate to 17.5% not that long ago.

Knew I'd seen something about the EU and VAT

Reality Check: Does the EU control UK VAT rates? - BBC News
 
If the initial fund for NI was approx 1/2B but the government has found an extra 1B where is the extra 1B for my area. Its only an extra £7 a year to people.
Its not a fair society hence people are going against it. People wonder why more and more head towards JCs side.
"There is no magic money tree for nurses"TM
 
Last edited:
And now it seems labour are against increasing public spending?

I'm not sure I get the relevance.

The Tories fought an election campaign on the basis of criticising the opposition parties to the hilt over the possibility of forming a coalition.

They have now entered into one themselves, giving away tax payers' money (something I'd have thought many more inhere would be up in arms over, but hey-ho, we can all be hypocrites when we want to be, I know I certainly can) to a party in a move that goes against the impartiality terms set down for Westminster in the Stormont agreement for power sharing in Northern Ireland. They have actually bought votes with our money, not theirs.

If Labour had won the election and proposed they give £1.5 billion of taxpayers' money to Sinn Fein, this forum would have exploded with apoplexy. It's another example of how much of an echo chamber the politics forums appear to have become in recent months.

All we need now is for someone to link it to the threat of Islamic terrorist attacks and we'll have a full bingo card for our resident right-wingers.

As it stands, what Labour do now after the election has as much to do with this Tory-DUP cash for votes bribe as what I had for breakfast does.
 
If this cash for votes arrangement happened in another country, how quick people would be to point critical fingers with cries of corruption and bribery.
 
This is May's government though, there's an excuse for every lie, u-turn and complete cock up they've ever done.
If they do run out of excuses, then the blame for it all lies with Labour.
 
If Labour had won the election and proposed they give £1.5 billion of taxpayers' money to Sinn Fein, this forum would have exploded with apoplexy. It's another example of how much of an echo chamber the politics forums appear to have become in recent months.

Its another example of how posters dont know what they are talking about - the Tories haven't given the DUP anything. If Sinn Fein go back into power sharing they will also get to decide where this money is spent - if power sharing doesnt happen then the Northern Ireland Office decides.

So much for echo chambers..
 
Its another example of how posters dont know what they are talking about - the Tories haven't given the DUP anything. If Sinn Fein go back into power sharing they will also get to decide where this money is spent - if power sharing doesnt happen then the Northern Ireland Office decides.

So much for echo chambers..
I think people understand very well. The issue is the political capital for the uplift is with the DUP.
 
As it should be.

Sinn Fein don't even take up their seats. Why should they get any credit for a deal they refuse to have any part of?
 
This is May's government though, there's an excuse for every lie, u-turn and complete cock up they've ever done.
If they do run out of excuses, then the blame for it all lies with Labour.
No. It's just another time that labour are massively hypocritical. They tried to do a deal with the DUP in 2010 remember?

Means testing the winter fuel allowance was a horrid Tory measure, except when labour proposed it in 2015.

Grenfell Tower was due to the Tory council penny pinching over £5k. But labour controlled Camden having similar cladding issues and hundreds of missing fire doors they are silent about.
 
If this cash for votes arrangement happened in another country, how quick people would be to point critical fingers with cries of corruption and bribery.
It's not corruption or bribery. It's commonly known as pork barrel politics.

It's no different than what happened in the 2010 coalition or any minority government from the 70s.
 
It's not corruption or bribery. It's commonly known as pork barrel politics.

It's no different than what happened in the 2010 coalition or any minority government from the 70s.

Yes of course politics here is no more principled than anywhere else and it stinks, people would do well to remember that before casting aspersions on other global powers.
Imagine if Trump bunged a wedge of money to a party to secure his position, there would (rightly) be an outcry.
 
The money isn't going to the DUP. It's going to Northern Ireland to be spent by the DUP on things like construction projects. The same DUP that Labour wanted to do a deal with. Though that would have been ok.

Aren't some people wanting to see less austerity? Well here's money being spent and being spent outside of Westminster. Exactly what some forum members say should happen. Some are never going to be happy.
 
The money isn't going to the DUP. It's going to Northern Ireland to be spent by the DUP on things like construction projects. The same DUP that Labour wanted to do a deal with. Though that would have been ok.

Aren't some people wanting to see less austerity? Well here's money being spent and being spent outside of Westminster. Exactly what some forum members say should happen. Some are never going to be happy.

And of course the DUP will invest the money totally altruistically.
Don't get me wrong I'm well aware this is how politics works and as I said before, it sucks.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom