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John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, has today written to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond MP, calling on him to make public the cost of any secret deals the Government are making with the DUP.
Calling it “essential” that the details of any agreement are made public, the Shadow Chancellor lays out a number of questions that Hammond must answer around additional spending as well as the Barnett Formula implications of any potential deal.
Ends
Letter from Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP to Chancellor Philip Hammond MP:
Dear
Chancellor
I am writing to call on you, in the interests of transparency, to publish the financial consequences of any electoral deal reached between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party.
There has been speculation in the media about possible additional infrastructure and NHS spending for Northern Ireland, or reductions in Northern Ireland rates of corporation tax, VAT and/or Air Passenger Duty.
It is essential that the details of any agreement are made public, including any costing calculations and evidence for measures which are agreed, and how additional spending or reduced tax revenue will be affected by Barnett Formula considerations.
Specifically, will any additional spending or tax cuts offered to Northern Ireland be offset through reductions in the Northern Ireland block grant and if not how will additional spending be paid for?
Can you clarify whether any additional spending will be funded from general UK-wide taxation, or by increased borrowing, or by some other means?
Since your Spring Budget there has already emerged a ‘black hole’ of £2bn as a result of the Government’s U-turn on increasing Class 4 National Insurance contributions. Can you inform us how you are planning to plug this gap: with further spending cuts, tax rises, or additional borrowing? I note that this comes in the context of Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts for an increase in Public Sector Net Borrowing this year.
I look forward to receiving your reply,
John
McDonnell MP
Shadow Chancellor