The prime minister has agreed to find an extra £1bn to fund DUP plans in Northern Ireland, less than a month since she told a struggling nurse that there is “no magic money tree”.
As the squeeze on public services continues, with nurses and others forced to turn to food banks to make ends meet at home, the Conservatives have managed to scrape together £1bn to cling to power as a minority government. The figure could pay for around 26,000 nurses or 12,000 hospital doctors for the next year.
The DUP won 10 seats in the snap election earlier this month, which means that the Tories have agreed to pay as much as £100m for each additional vote in the Commons as part of their “supply and confidence” deal with the ultra-conservative party.
Since calling the election a few weeks ago when she expected a landslide victory, Theresa May has had a startling fall from grace with opinion polls now showing a substantial 3-6% lead Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. The swing towards an opposition party so soon after an election is “unprecedented“
