British shadow chancellor of the exchequer John McDonnell on Saturday criticized British Prime Minister Theresa May’s rumored approach to persuading Labour MPs to vote for her Brexit deal as “pork-barrel” politics.
His accusation followed reports that the British government was preparing to plough extra funding into deprived areas that supported “leave,” with Nottinghamshire MP John Mann claiming that a set of job-creation measures targeted at former industrial towns would make it “very difficult for Labour MPs in leave areas to vote against the deal unless they want a second referendum.”
However, Redcar MP Anna Turley dismissed the offer of “bribes or sweeteners ... which we know will make those constituencies worse off.”
McDonnell said on a visit to Stoke-on-Trent that “the Conservatives introduced pork-barrel politics straight after the general election because they gave a couple of billion [pounds] to the DUP [the Democratic Unionist Party] just to secure their votes,” McDonnell said.
“It was something like ￡100 million [US$131 million] a vote they spent to get the DUP supporting them, so they already introduced that pork-barrel contractual politics. I think it degrades our political system and to try and extend it in this way, I think it’s dangerous for our democracy,” he said.
“So what most MPs have said is, actually if there is money there to spend on our constituencies, it should be done anyway. It shouldn’t be done in return for votes,” he added.
Questioned on whether Labour rebels would be punished following Tuesday’s key vote, McDonnell said it was a matter for the Labour chief whip.
“We introduced a whip, we expect people to abide by it, but there’s an understanding that in some areas, you can understand why some people voted the way they did,” he said.
McDonnell said conversations about “contractual” arrangements pledging investment in the constituencies of MPs who back the prime minister’s deal, first reported in the Times, was “dangerous for our democracy” and would amount to MPs selling their votes.
“I don’t think any MP will sell their votes in that way — that sort of bribery and corruption,” he said.
A spokesman for May last week confirmed that ministers were looking at a program of “national renewal” following Brexit to tackle inequality and rebuild communities, but that he “absolutely wouldn’t characterize” the reported investment offer as “cash for votes.”
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