Ni Budget

[Kromovaracun]

Theresa May’s £1bn for Northern Ireland put on hold - https://www.ft.com/content/8f12afca-bb26-11e7-8c12-5661783e5589 via @FT

(apologies, I was not able to find a non-paywalled source).

As the govt talks in NI are still going nowhere, London is preparing a budget to impose on the province.

But that budget does not appear to include the £1bn promised to the DUP by Theresa May in exchange for votes in parliament.

Could this mean that the two parties' parliamentary "arrangement" will fall through? Is this a serious threat to the Tories or have they already gotten what they needed from the DUP?

[ToraToraTora]

bit vague kromo!

[Kromovaracun]

How so?

[mikey4444]

Kromo....it would help if you could post a link with a firewall.

[mikey4444]

But I thought the Brown Envelope had already been passed under the toilet cubicle door ?

[Baldric]

///.it would help if you could post a link with a firewall. ///

How?

[Jomlett]

London will hold back the £1bn promised by Theresa May to the Democratic Unionist party as it moves to impose a budget on Northern Ireland, with hopes fading for a deal to restore the region’s government.

After months of fruitless talks at Stormont, near Belfast, a deepening schism over the Irish language has dimmed the prospect of a breakthrough in talks between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

“It’s going down the tubes as far as I can see,” said one official observer of the negotiation. “There isn’t really a deal on the table.” 

Sinn Féin collapsed the executive in January, after pulling out of a power-sharing deal with the DUP. An emergency election in Northern Ireland in March left the DUP with 28 seats and Sinn Féin with 27 and the deadlock has continued since.

The parties are also divided over Sinn Féin’s demand for the introduction of gay marriage in Northern Ireland, which the DUP opposes, and over funding for new inquests into the deaths of people who died during the 30-year conflict in the region that claimed more than 3,600 lives. 

James Brokenshire, Northern Ireland minister in the UK government, has warned the two parties that he will present a budget in Westminster within days if there is no deal by Monday.

[Jomlett]

A senior UK official said: “We imagine they’ll continue to talk through until Monday. We’ve made clear what will happen if they don’t reach agreement.”

A budget from Mr Brokenshire would bypass the Stormont assembly, which is not sitting due to the stand-off, and a draft does not include the £1bn funding package secured by Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, when she agreed to prop up Mrs May after the UK prime minister lost her parliamentary majority in June.

A budget imposed by London would simply execute the fiscal programme settled for Belfast before the DUP/Conservative deal, said two people with knowledge of the plan.

The “confidence and supply” deal agreed between the DUP and Mrs May’s Conservatives remains intact in Westminster. However, the £1bn of funding will only be released only if a power-sharing executive is restored or London imposes full-blown direct rule.

A spokesman for the Conservative party said their goal remained for the executive to be re-established, and for the £1bn funding to be provided.

But he added: “If it proves impossible for an executive to be formed, we have recognised in the confidence and supply agreement the need for additional funding to deal with Northern Ireland’s particular circumstances.”

Northern Ireland’s annual budget for day-to-day spending is about £10bn, with another £1bn for capital projects. Under the DUP deal with the Tories, the additional £1bn would be released over multiple years.

Mrs Foster has insisted in recent days that she is determined to achieve an agreement, and Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, said on Thursday that the only reason his party remains in talks “is to make them work”.

[Islay]

I think it is disgusting that both sides are getting paid for doing a job they are not doing!!
Best thing Westminster can do is bring in direct rule again!

[Kromovaracun]

I know, Mikey, but after my usual 5 minutes of required googling the FT was still the only site I could find reporting on this. Might have changed since I put the post up.

[mikey4444]

Mrs May should have known that its never a good idea to sup with the Bowler-hatted bigots, as it is with the devil....there isn't a spoon long enough.

[Kromovaracun]

Thanks Jomlett

[mikey4444]

Yes...a thanks to Jomlett.

[Old_Geezer]

I trust copyright has not been abused.