Meep wrote:To be fair, the rest of the UK should be supporting extra investment in NI. Wages here are a third lower than in England despite workers generally being better educated, so until we get the structural investment and realise more of the north's potential we are going to keep being a drain on the UK treasury. If we can develop our infrastructure and attract more business we can pull more of our weight. Continued austerity will just lead to continued lack of progress.
The issue is whether Scotland and Wales as well as the more deprived areas of England should be betting the same investment, which IMO they should. The government should have been taking proactive measures to improve the worst performing areas of the UK seven years ago, but it would be better late than never. Unfortunately it seems the Conservative party are only motivated to invest in the public good when their own political power depends on it.
I don’t think most of the criticism, at least not from me, is that Northern Ireland is getting extra funding. It's because they are getting extra funding to keep the austerity champions in power. We should be investing in areas that need it. Why this is causing anger is because there are plenty of places in all 4 of the countries of the UK that are desperate for funding. England has deprived areas, Wales does, Scotland does. People will be looking at the extra billion and be feeling very jealous and very angry.
It’s a terrible deal for the rest of the UK and I suspect it will be a terrible deal for nationalist/Catholic areas of Northern Ireland as well.
Just imagine the right wing spluttering if Corbyn was PM and due to a deal that he made with the SNP announced an extra billion in funding for Scotland.