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It was one of the most appalling sights I’ve ever seen in the House of Commons .

Tory MPs cheering their defeat of a Labour amendment to give millions of nurses, firefighters and police officers a pay rise.

Emergency workers who have seen a 14 per cent real-term cut in their wages because the Tories froze their pay then capped rises to one per cent – less than inflation.

But on the same day, the same Tory MPs backed a plan to give £1billion to Northern Ireland to secure a grubby deal to keep Theresa May in Downing Street.

May told a nurse during a TV election debate there was “no magic money tree” to give her a pay rise . But she was able to shake its branches to deliver £100million for each Democratic Unionist Party MP to buy their support.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Even Cristiano Ronaldo can’t command that type of contract.

As one commentator pointed out, next time you get paid, take a look at your payslip. Those letters at the bottom saying NI now stand for Northern Ireland. Because it’s you who’ll be paying for that £1bn to cross the Irish Sea from our cash-strapped services.

It’s not as if Northern Ireland doesn’t get a good deal already. In 2015/2016, the average amount the Government spent on public funding per person in the UK was £9,076. But when you break it down to countries, the English got £8,816, the Welsh received £9,996 and the Scots £10,536.

And the Northern Irish? They received £10,983 per person.

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That’s 21 per cent higher than the UK average and more than £2,000 extra per person than the English get.

Now they’ll get over £11,500 per person in Northern Ireland – a five per cent “pay rise” when emergency and other public sector workers have to settle for a fifth of that. It seems the Tories are more than happy to end austerity for those who can keep them in power.

But nurses, police and firefighters who worked valiantly to deal with terrorist attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester and the fire at Grenfell Tower have no such power.

The May-DUP deal shames democracy and Britain. But it also highlights the desperate need to redistribute wealth equally and fairly across the UK.

It is pointless to bring back power and resources from faceless bureaucrats in Brussels if it’s just going to help to grow a magic money tree in the Downing Street garden.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

We can’t just let DUP MPs have a secret key to scrump for more cash apples when they feel like it. Because they will be back.

Which is why earlier this year, I joined Labour’s Devolution Taskforce with Gordon Brown , Scottish Labour’s Kezia Dugdale, Welsh Labour Leader Carwyn Jones and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett to look at how we can spread power, wealth and opportunity to every corner of the UK.

We’ll be joined by Labour’s Metro Mayors for Greater Manchester and Liverpool, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan .

This DUP deal proves our current constitution is just not fit for purpose. London continues to dominate and centralise resources. This Government will spend more than £1,943 per person on transport investment. In Yorkshire, we’ll only get £190 – less than a tenth.

But Brexit gives us a golden opportunity to redress that imbalance and make things fairer.

That’s why Labour’s Devolution Taskforce will look at a federal framework and set a key test for the right Brexit deal – will it deliver for all our nations and regions?

We’ll then share our findings with the people in a Constitutional Convention so they can have their say.

So let’s shake that magic money tree and make sure everyone gets to share the fruits of prosperity.