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#Brexit: Legal challenge claims that Conservative-DUP deal breaks Good Friday Agreement

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Arlene Foster, Leader of the DUP and Prime Minister Theresa May meeting in 2016

Ciaran McClean, a mental health worker and Green Party candidate in the recent UK general election for West Tyrone is challenging what he describes as “this unlawful action by our Government (UK) in buying the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) votes to keep it in power, a move that is in direct violation of its rigorous impartiality required by the Good Friday Agreement.” Writes Catherine Feore.

McClean has managed to raise nearly £50,000 through a crowd-funding site (crowdjustice) to launch a legal challenge against the Conservative’s confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP.

McClean’s pitch says that the DUP deal is “straight bribery – money for votes. The deal flies in the face of the Good Friday Agreement, under which the Government is obligated to exercise its power with 'rigorous impartiality' on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions. The Government is threatening hard won peace with their pact with the reactionary DUP.

“The Rule of Law and our democracy are at stake in this case. If these actions go unchallenged the values we hold as democrats are greatly diminished.”

Some have speculated that the agreement breaches the UK’s 2010 Bribery Act, where a person is guilty if he offers, promises or gives a financial or other advantage to another person, and intends the advantage to induce a person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity, or to reward a person for the improper performance of such a function or activity. One MP has described this claim as vexatious as the Prime Minister was fulfilling a constitutional duty to form a government.

Politicians from both nationalist and unionist parties in Northern Ireland will argue that the region is in need of public investment. However, Northern Ireland already receives a considerably higher level of expenditure per head than any other region of the UK

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UK Treasury's analysis of public expenditure by country, region and function

Under the confidence and supply arrangement, the DUP guarantees that its 10 MPs will vote with the government on the Queen's Speech (which outlines the government’s legislative programme), the budget, and legislation relating to Brexit. Northern Ireland will receive an extra one billion pounds over the next two years is spending and greater flexibility in a further £500 Million already allocated to the region.

 

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