Defence secretary says cash is not a ‘bung’ and it is in all the UK’s interests to help Northern Ireland

A leading cabinet minister has rejected the idea that the £1bn of extra spending for Northern Ireland is a “bung” to the Democratic Unionists to prop up the government, arguing it is necessary investment for a more deprived part of the UK.

Following a backlash over the deal in Scotland, Wales and parts of England, Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, said the money for hospitals, schools and roads in the region was good news for the entire UK.

“Let’s be clear – we all have an interest in the future prosperity and security of the province,” Fallon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programe.

“This is £1bn that will go to improving some investment, improving the infrastructure of the province, growing the private economy of the province, and ensuring its employment rate – which is behind Wales and Scotland – catches up.

“We all as taxpayers, wherever we are, in England, Wales and Scotland, we all have an interest in Northern Ireland doing better.”

He added: “I saw it described, ridiculously today, as some kind of bung to the DUP. The DUP is not getting this money. The money is going to invest in the people of Northern Ireland.”

Under the terms of the deal, which will give the prime minister the DUP’s support for a vote this week on the Conservatives’ Queen’s speech, Theresa May will also drop controversial plans to weaken the pension triple lock and means test winter fuel payments for older people across the country.

This shoddy DUP deal will ultimately cost Theresa May far more than £1bn | Martin Kettle Read more

Fallon denied this all meant that the doctrine of austerity was over.

“We all understand that austerity is never over until we’ve cleared the deficit,” he said. “We’ve done a huge amount of work over the last seven years, getting rid of a large chunk of the deficit, but it’s still there. We still have to have fiscal controls, you’re still going to see that kind of discipline.

“But it’s right to invest in those parts of our country that don’t yet enjoy the prosperity that we take for granted in England.”

The Labour first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, called the agreement outrageous, describing it as a “straight bung to keep a weak prime minister and a faltering government in office”.



His Scottish counterpart, the Scottish National party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, expressed anger that the money was being paid outside the Barnett formula, which is designed to distribute funds fairly between devolved nations.

“In concluding this grubby, shameless deal the Tories have shown that they will stop at nothing to hold on to power – even sacrificing the very basic principles of devolution,” she said.

But Fallon argued that this was not the first time Barnett had been circumvented: “We’ve always made additional money available outside the Barnett formula, through city deals in Scotland and Wales, and we’ve made additional money available in the last few years to Northern Ireland.”

The Tory leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, accused the SNP of hypocrisy: “It’s absurd for the SNP to criticise UK government spending on top of Barnett in Northern Ireland, when the exact same thing happens in Scotland.”



Nigel Dodds, a DUP MP and deputy leader of the party, said any outrage at the deal was “hypocrisy of the highest order”, saying it would deliver for all the people of Northern Ireland – and the United Kingdom.

The extra money will be distributed by the Northern Ireland executive if a power-sharing agreement is completed by Thursday night. If the talks collapse, then sources said the British government would still distribute the additional money to Northern Ireland.

The agreement, which comes to just three pages, sets out plans for the DUP to support May on the Queen’s speech and any confidence motions, as well as on future budgets and tax and spending legislation.

It confirms a Conservative agreement to meet the Nato commitment of spending 2% of GDP on the armed forces and commits both parties to the Armed Forces Covenant being implemented across Northern Ireland. The covenant promises to give priority medical treatment, and special help with housing and school places, for children of former and current members of the armed services



On Brexit, it says agriculture will be a critical policy area in negotiations.

The deal says “both parties will adhere fully to their respective commitments set out in the Belfast agreement and its successors”.

But the deal may not be sufficient to see the government through a five-year term. In a strategy that will be seen by critics as a mechanism for the DUP to extract maximum concessions on every potentially close vote, it emerged on Monday that the Democratic Unionists will seek further concessions from the Tories within two years.

The deal comes just days before May has to put her Queen’s speech – with its heavy focus on Brexit – to a vote in parliament. She needs the support of the 10 DUP MPs to have any chance of getting the legislation through and allowing the Conservatives to govern without a majority.



Speaking at No 10, May said the two sides “share many values in terms of wanting to see prosperity across the UK, the value of the union, the important bond between the different parts of the United Kingdom”.

She added: “We very much want to see that protected and enhanced and we also share the desire to ensure a strong government, able to put through its programme and provide for issues like the Brexit negotiations, but also national security issues.”