A bung

Back-hander. Baksheesh. Kickback. Corruption. Sweetener. Payola. Brown envelope stuffed with cash.

Bribery.

Theresa May is offering the DUP £1 billion to be spent in Northern Ireland in exchange for ten votes. I am *so* glad that I resisted the temptation to vote Tory. It makes the Tories look dirty.

Let's look at the consequences of this.

1) It doesn't really get her any more votes than she would have got anyway; the DUP are very Tory and would have voted with the Tories anyway, rather than risk another election.

2) It means that our government is cosied up to one side of the Northern Ireland divide. But the peace in NI depends on the Good Friday agreement, and we said we wouldn't take sides on NI. Have we forgotten the Troubles?

3)  According to the Barnett formula, Wales should now get £1.7 billion, Scotland £2.9 billion.

4) Where did this money come from? Did she find the Magic Money Tree?

5) There's 12 votes in the Scottish Conservative party. What do you suppose they're going to say? They'll want their £2.9 billion. Maybe May has gained 10 votes and lost 12.

6) The DUP, founded by the Reverend Ian Paisley (remember him?) are anti-abortion, anti-gay, climate change deniers and creationists.

Tory MPs are defending the deal by saying Northern Ireland faces “special circumstances”. Indeed, the “special circumstances” being the need to bribe the DUP.

I'm guessing that this move is legal, because I don't see a team from the Serious Fraud Office raiding Number 10 right now, but it's immoral, unethical, and ...

... and it's a bung.