SNP claim Scotland owed £1.8bn after £650m funding announced for Northern Ireland

Labelling the payment a “Brexit parachute payment”, the SNP claimed the cash had left Scotland ‘short-changed’
Northern Ireland received £650m to help tackle Brexit and promote peace on the island.Northern Ireland received £650m to help tackle Brexit and promote peace on the island.
Northern Ireland received £650m to help tackle Brexit and promote peace on the island.

The SNP have claimed Scotland should receive £1.8bn after the UK Government announced a £650m funding package for Northern Ireland last week.

Joan McAlpine, MSP for South Scotland, claimed the payment had left Scotland short-changed because it had not been processed through the Barnett formula – the formula used to calculate block grant funding for the devolved administrations.

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Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, announced the £650m funding which will include £300m to the PEACE Plus programme to support peace and reconciliation across the island of Ireland.

Another £200m will be put towards a ‘Trader Support Service’ which will aim to help businesses who import goods into Northern Ireland after Brexit, and £155m to fund the development of new technology to digitise the new process.

If based purely on population, the cash would equal around £1.8bn, but the Barnett formula is also based on to what extent the equivalent departmental body in England is carried out by the devolved administration, meaning it is unclear how much Scotland would be due in any case.

Ms McAlpine said the UK Government should not ‘snub’ Scotland and said the funding was a “tacit acceptance” of high Brexit costs.

She said: “Any attempt to short change Scotland is not acceptable.

“Funding across the UK is supposed to be determined by the Barnett formula – the Tories can’t dish out large chunks of cash to Northern Ireland while snubbing Scotland.

“With less than five months to go until Scotland is dragged out of the EU with the UK, it’s clear that any deal is going to hammer Scotland’s economy. Now, by ripping off Scotland to the tune of £1.8 billion, the Tories are choosing to throw thousands of jobs and livelihoods on the scrap heap."

Ms McAlpine added that Brexit will hit Scotland businesses too, and said it was “no wonder” support for Scottish independence was growing.

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She said: “The fact that they are providing additional funds for Northern Ireland is a tacit acceptance that the costs of Brexit are going to be high – but Northern Ireland businesses aren’t the only ones going to be hit.

“Scotland’s businesses will be affected too, not least those who send goods back and forth to Northern Ireland. We will also feel the pain and burden of Brexit, compounded by the attack on devolution at the core of the Tories’ internal market proposals.

“Boris Johnson’s government think they can treat Scotland however they like and get away with it. With independence we will always be able to manage our own finances, grow our economy and protect Scottish jobs. It’s no wonder that prospect is looking more desirable every day.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: "We have guaranteed an additional £6.5 billion this year to spend on public services and support businesses in Scotland following the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have loaned more than £2.3 billion to 65,000 Scottish businesses and supported almost 900,000 jobs in Scotland through the pioneering furlough and self-employed schemes, and we are investing more than £1.5 billion in growth deals across the country.

“Rather than trying to sow division between the four nations of the UK, we should all welcome £650 million of new funding to help businesses, support reconciliation and avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland.

“This is a targeted package, focussed on cross-community reconciliation and specific new trade arrangements in Northern Ireland and therefore it is not subject to the Barnett formula”

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