Dirprwy Lywydd, I’m grateful for the time allowed for this urgent debate today in response to the wholly exceptional circumstances created by the UK Government’s agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party. The terms of a deal to prop up the minority Government in London emerged yesterday and Members will be familiar with the details, but, essentially, the UK Government has earmarked almost £1 billion over the next two years for Northern Ireland, and much more in later years, and more beyond that, I suspect, will be extracted as the price of support from the DUP in order to keep the Conservative Government in office. In return, the DUP will support the Queen’s Speech, financial Bills, and EU exit legislation. We hear that the deal will be supervised by a co-ordination committee chaired by the UK Government.

Dirprwy Lywydd, this is the most destructive political agreement in living memory. It is unfair, wrong and corrosive. Only last week, we were told that the Prime Minister’s priority was to build a more united country, strengthening the social, economic and cultural bonds between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Well, this agreement undermines the very principles of fairness and solidarity that are the foundations of the UK.

The distribution of revenue across the UK must be carried out transparently, in accordance with established and publicly available principles and rules, with any departure from those rules properly explained and justified. It should not proceed on the basis of short-term, party political advantage. For all its faults, we are supposed to have the vestiges of a rules-based system centred on the Barnett formula. Now, as Members will know very well, I am no advocate for Barnett. It is, at best, imperfect and should be replaced by a more objective system where resources are distributed on the basis of need. But, for now, it is all we have.