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
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