Theresa May's £1bn DUP deal to face High Court challenge

Jack Maidment, Political Correspondent 26 October 2017 • 8:48am

Theresa May with DUP leader Arlene Foster (left), as DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (second right) and Chief Whip Gavin Williamson sign paperwork inside 10 Downing Street, London, after the DUP agreed a deal to support the minority Conservative government Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA

Theresa May’s £1billion deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up her minority government is set for a High Court challenge.

Northern Ireland resident and Green Party politician Ciaran McClean will make a bid to two judges today to grant him permission to bring a judicial review over the legality of the deal.

The crowdfunded legal challenge accuses the Government of “buying DUP votes” in order to hold onto power.

Mr McClean, a Co Tyrone father-of three and mental health worker, is pursuing the case as a private individual and has raised thousands of pounds to fund the legal action.

Mr McClean’s case will argue that the "money for votes" agreement breaches the Bribery Act 2010, and amounts to a "corrupt bargain".

The Tories' deal with the DUP, struck in the aftermath of the general election which saw Mrs May throw away her House of Commons majority, guarantees the Prime Minister the support of the party’s 10 MPs on key votes.

Theresa May, Damian Green (R), Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster (2L), DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds (L), as DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson (3L) shakes hands with Britain's Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, and Chief Whip, Gavin Williamson, inside 10 Downing Street Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

The confidence and supply arrangement ensures the DUP will back Mrs May on the Queen’s Speech and the Budget as well as Brexit and national security matters.

In exchange, Northern Ireland's largest party secured £1 billion of new Treasury investment in the region.

But the deal prompted a fierce backlash as other regions of the UK demanded similar funding boosts.

The DUP has insisted the Westminster arrangement will provide stability for the UK at a time of uncertainty while offering much-needed investment for the whole of Northern Ireland.

The Government has rejected any suggestion that its impartiality on Northern Ireland issues has been compromised as a result of the deal.

David Greene, a partner at London law firm Edwin Coe, which is representing Mr McClean, said that nothing in the Government's case relating to the court action "dissuades us from concluding that the DUP agreement is corrupt and very simply unlawful".

The application will be heard by Lord Justice Sales and Mr Justice Lewis.